Catching Up on the New Season

Variety magazine reports that more than 43 new and returning shows will be broadcast between September 21 and 27. Thank the gods for the DVR, but is this really necessary? This is a bit like a buffet - you eat a bit of everything and basically remember nothing. And on top of all this, Ken Burn's finds it necessary to broadcast a 12-hour series on National Parks starting this Sunday and running each night thereafter. I am starting to get the impression that PBS really doesn't care if we find time to watch the program when it is broadcast. Just buy the DVD. P.S. PBS makes more money this way.

In addition to the DVR, we now have Fancast and Hulu. This allows you to catch up on what you missed and really put it all into context. For example, Hulu is currently showing this week's premiere of ABC's Flashforward (Thursdays 8pm ET/7pm CT), ABC's Modern Family (Wednesdays 9pm ET/8pm CT), the returning Fringe on Fox (Thursdays 9pm ET/8pm CT), and ABC's Eastwick (Wednesdays 10pm ET/9pm CT). Also, many of the network webpages offer free clips. So cheer up. You don't have to be glued to you couch all week. Instead, you can be glued to your computer for the next few weeks. Good luck.