Fall TV

With the State Fair over and school back in session it means summer has come to an end.  While this makes me a little sad, it also means the start to the greatest TV season of the year.  True Blood just wrapped up season 5, and that's our go-to summer show, but other than that all of our must watch TV is on in the Fall.  Here's a list (in no particular order) of my favorite TV shows.

From teenie bopper shows about vampires to "R" rated shows about serial killers- I like em all!

1. Vampire Diaries on the CW- Season 4 premiers October 11th

Oh Vampire Diaries, how I love thee.  This is the only TV show I have ever watched from its very beginning.  I started watching on day 1 of this series- back before we had DVR- so I had to be home and watching the TV right at 7:00pm sharp. Now that's dedication!  I have since introduced at least 3 friends to the show as well, they are hooked as well :-)

The show follows Elena Gilbert as she tries to navigate high school after her parents are killed in a car accident that almost claimed her life as well.  She meets and falls in love with Stefan Salvatore who is... dun dun DUN, a vampire.  What makes it not your normal tweenie vamp show is that she also falls in love with Stefan's brother, Damon, and over the course of the seasons the line between "good" brother and "bad" brother becomes very blurred. The love triangle chemistry is fantastic and the actors are too gorgeous not to fall in love with.  If you're thinking "oh lame, Twilight in TV form" think again.  The show is based off of a series of books that were written decades before Mrs. Mormon-pants penned the Twilight series and the characters have so much more depth than Bella or Edward.  For example, when danger comes to Mystic Falls (the setting of the series) and the only way to keep Elena save is to turn her into a vampire, she's heart broken.  She doesn't want to be a vampire.  Contrast that with Bella Swan who begged to be made undead from the instant she meets Edward and it's easy to see why Vampire Diaries is far superior to Twilight.

If I could only watch one show for the rest of my life, this may very well be it. 

2. Dexter on Showtime- Season 7 premiers Sept 30th
Here's one that Jason and I both love.  Dexter is a forensics blood splatter expert for the Miami-Dade Police Department who moonlights as a vigilante serial killer.  Sounds gruesome, and it definitely is, but it's sooooo good.  Dexter kills other murderers who have either slipped through the cracks or who deserve a punishment worse than prison.  Dexter wrestles with his own  inner "monster" while trying to put on the facade of being normal.  His personal relationships are strained and often awkward, but as the seasons go on and Dexter comes into his own as a man and killer, he finds he is able to connect with loved ones more than he would have ever thought possible.  Michael C. Hall is a classically trained actor who does an amazing job of convincing viewers that he actually is a crazed killer and watching him swing through his emotions is entertainment at its best.

I'll also add that Jason loves this show because Dexter reminds him of himself in some ways... I married an axe murder called, they want their story line back ;-) 

3. Sons of Anarchy on FX- Season 5 premiers Sept 11th
Oh Jax Teller, how I love thee, let me count the ways...

Sons of Anarchy is on the cable network FX and follows a biker gang in California as they attempt to be good, upstanding citizens all while gun running and breaking the law at every turn.  The main character, Jackson Teller, is torn between the club.  On one hand, he loves it; they are his family (literally, his mother is married to the president of the club and his father was the president before that) and yet he sees the club for what it really is, a group of selfish, power hungry, violent men all stuck together, fighting like dogs and leaving a trail of destruction where ever they go.  He is further torn between the club and a normal life when he falls in love with a women who is a doctor. 

The show has awesome actors and creative storyline, I'd say it's only downfall is it's so complex that you can't really skip a show or start watching mid-season.  You need to pick up season 1 and begin from there. Fingers crosssed they go until season 20 as I could watch these guys forever. 

I also love this show because myself, Noah, Baba and Jason all watch it together every Tuesday night.  Thank you, Sons of Anarchy, for bringing my family together every week even if it's only to watch people getting shot.

4. The Walking Dead on AMC- Season 3 premiers October 14th

Zombies! 'Nuff said.

AMC's hit show the Walking Dead follows Rick Grimes, a Sheriff from Georgia, who wakes up in a hospital after a catastrophic event that has turned people into zombies and driven those still alive out of the cities.  He is alone, yet resourceful, and sets out to find his wife Lori and young son Carl.  The show is very graphic in the first season but settles down in the second and delves more into the human aspect of living in a world that is, for all practical purposes, doomed.  Raw, gritty, real, heart breaking... the show is definitely not a happy one but it's done so well that you're sure this will actually be our fate within the next few years and, as such, you're glued to the TV for the entire hour.

I may be midly obsessed with all things zombie (28  Days Later = best movie ever!) but this show is a hit even for the non-zombie-loving viewer.  One word of caution, do not watch season 1 while eating... you have been warned.