Must See TV

Summer has officially come to an end. I know this not because of the date or the temperatures or even the falling leaves. I know because of the return of football. Some men- most actually- look forward to the start of a new football season. Little league, high school, college, NFL, you name it. There's just something about the game- two teams pitted against one another in a battle of brawn, strategy, and chance- that gets the blood going.

I like football. I'm a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan and that's something that, in and of itself, doesn't make me new friends. At least not often. It takes some guts to admit to being a Cowboys fan and I should know; I've lived in the South, the Midwest, and the East. If there's one thing that unites the people in all those regions of the U.S., it's their overwhelming dislike of America's Team. Oh well. They're all just a bunch of haters.

Or so I tell myself. It make me feel better.

I like the Fall. Of all the seasons of the year, autumn is my favorite. The heat of summer is gradually receding into memory and the bitter cold of winter isn't due to arrive for several more weeks. Fall is a thing all its own, a season of transition between two extremes.

The fall brings us football and that is a good thing, but what I like even more about the fall is new television. I watch what most (my wife included) would consider to be an embarrassing amount of tv. Give me a night of the week and I can easily rattle off two, three or four shows I regularly watch or record to watch later.

Fall is like a mini-Christmas for me. Shows I know and love return all wrapped up in big, shiny season premieres. The conflicts and cliffhangers of the previous spring get wrapped up in an episode or two and new territory (hopefully) is laid out to entice me to keep watching. I also get to acquaint myself with intriguing new shows that I think have promise.

This season is no different. The networks have put a lot of money and hype behind a batch of shows they think I'll want to watch because they're the next big thing. I continue to find it funny how the next big thing always looks a lot like last season's big thing repackaged with different actors and locales. I'm also old enough and wise enough to know that the majority of these shows will be gone before the year has ended. It's a Darwinian strategy I've become all too familiar with, much like that tired old college orientation speech where I was told to look to my left and right and ponder the fact that one or both of the people I'd glanced at wouldn't be graduating with me.

The big powerhouse programs also return and I get to see if they're still as good as they were the season before. Some undoubtedly will be, but others will fall and fade into obscurity. A few shows will enter into rebuilding seasons, where talent is consolidated, staff are let go, and a new vision for the future is plotted out, all with the ultimate goal of bringing in more money.

Which shows will have what it takes to make it through the season without being canceled or put on hiatus? Which actors will be released because of disagreements with the cast, crew, or the show's executive producers? What sleeper hit will emerge as the one to watch due to casting chemistry, compelling story lines, outstanding writers, or beneficial scheduling? Only time will tell.

I guess football and fall TV have a lot more in common than I'd initially thought.