Test Pattern #11

Homeland (Season 1) - The return of Claire Danes to television, and probably the best debut season to come out in a while. Claire plays Carrie, a gifted CIA officer who believes that a returning POW has been turned by enemy forces. That game of cat and mouse is already compelling on its own, but Carrie's a bit more complicated with her sexual habits and her secret mental illness.

In Treatment (Season 1) - A glimpse inside Dr. Paul Weston's psychology practice. The episodes follow one patient's therapy for each day of the work week, including Paul's own therapy with a colleague, for about 6 weeks. Season 1 has Laura and all of her relationship and transference issues, Alex and his PTSD and father issues, Sophie the teen gymnast and her attempted suicide, and Amy & Jake's crumbling marriage. Meanwhile, Paul is dealing with his own family drama, namely that his wife is having an affair.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 4) - Well the gang continues to act badly. Season 4 doesn't offer up anything particularly different, so I would assume that people have decided if they like this show or not by now. I do have to point out that this season contains one of my least favorites episodes - "Who Pooped the Bed?"

New Girl (Season 1) - I really wanted to not like this show. I've been saying that Zooey Deschanel is totally overrated for years - just a cute girl with her stupid cotton commercials. However, after accidentally watching an early episode, and being prepared to hate it, instead I found myself laughing aloud and relating a lot to the characters. I think the show is smart in addressing Zooey's brand of quirk and how it may be off-putting for some, but I also think it has a lot of heart in the interpersonal relationships between all of the roommates.

RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 4) - I think this season may have had the weakest competition yet. There really wasn't a clear frontrunner until the last few episodes. Also, I think the girls were not required to do as much difficult costume construction...previous episodes have made a big deal about who could sew and who couldn't, but that never really came up. I'm happy with the winner, but even she was a queen that I initially didn't like, but really came around to for her sense of humor throughout the season.

Skins UK (Season 5) - I don't think any generation of the Skins cast will be as compelling as the first one. This time we have Franky, an androgynous girl who experienced a lot of bullying at her last school. Matty and Nick, brothers who struggle with each other, but even more so against their father. Mini the bitchy virgin, Liv the slutty one, and Grace the good girl are all best friends. Grace also gets involved with metal rocker Rich. And then there's weirdo Alo. I think it's fair that this show is getting cancelled.

the Voice (Season 2) - Coaches got have twice as many people on their teams to increase show duration (apparently something that NBC needed badly to boost their ratings). The blind auditions were fun again, but during the battle rounds, I think the judges made some really poor choices. Even after many favorites were gone, I still felt compelled to watch. Some other noticeable trends were that America for a while only seemed like it was going to save the men in the competition. Also, Christina seemed to be on quite the bitchy rampage this year. Where last year Adam and Christina seemed to have a sibling type relationship, this year I felt like she made a point to criticize Adam and his final team member at every chance. She also cannot shut up about herself, even when trying to give someone a compliment. I hope she settles down next season.

the Walking Dead (Season 2) - This season immediately correct the problems with the ending of season 1. For most of the season, the group is staying on a farm. The family that still lives there vacillates between being on good or bad terms with Rick and company. There's also a number of shocking deaths, but I was glad that the show went there. 100% better than the previous season.

Test Pattern #10

American Horror Story (Season 1) - This show is ridiculous in the best way. The Harmons move to Los Angeles from the East Coast in order to get a fresh start after Dr. Harmon is caught cheating and Vivien suffers a miscarriage. They move into a large home that unbeknownst to them has quite a history of horrendous murders and suicides. They also have no idea that anyone who dies in the house becomes a ghost that cannot leave the premises. There's a ghost rape and a notorious rubber man, a snoopy bitch neighbor, and lots of guest stars.

America's Next Top Model (Cycle 17) - Oh boy! The first All-Star season, so we see the return of Allison (probably my favorite contestant of all-time) and sweet country Laura from the short season. Without giving anything away, there was also a huge surprise ending where one finalist may have leaked something online before the end of the season was aired, causing all kinds of internet controversy and speculation.

Boardwalk Empire (Season 2) - This season improves on an already impressive debut. Jimmy is setting himself up to challenge Nucky's authority, turning even brothers against each other. Michael Shannon's character is losing his mind even more. Margaret faces all kinds of trials, and finds herself seeking forgiveness from her Irish family and absolution from the Catholic Church.

Bored to Death (Season 3) - Sadly this was the last season of the adventures of Jonathan (Jason Schwartzmann), Ray (Zach Galifinakis), and George (Ted Danson). Really nothing different from the previous two seasons...still lots of white wine and weed, and bumbling but usually successful detective work. Jonathan learns that his father is not his biological father and that he is the product of a sperm bank. George has to deal with his daughter's engagement to a man nearly his age. Ray continues to struggle with Leah, but enjoys his baby.

Dexter (Season 6) - For most of this season, I was pretty thrilled to learn that there will probably only be two more seasons. The formula has gotten quite tedious, and this season had some serious WTF moments.  The first part of the season has Dexter exploring religion with his Reverend friend played by Mos Def. Simultaneously, the Doomsday Killer develops with a Professor of Religion (Edward James Olmos) and his former student (Colin Hanks) putting together tableaus from Revelations to bring on the "End of Times". The last moment of the season is a serious cliffhanger, so I am actually excited about the next season, despite the rest of this horrible plot.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Seasons 1-3, 7) - I had previously seen most of Season 6, and enjoyed Season 7 enough to warrant going back to watch the earlier episodes that I had never seen. The Gang is twins Dennis & Dee, and their friends Mac and Charlie. Danny DeVito joins the cast as Frank for Season 2. In general the episodes are not serialized, but there are jokes or characters that are returned to periodically to the delight of a regular viewer, but not crucial to the storyline. The humor is dark and pretty much a 20 minute episode will feature one or more character behaving badly. Highlights for me are "Charlie Got Molested", "Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person", and the more recent "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore."

Skins (UK) (Season 4) - This season features the conclusion of the group that hangs with Effy. Effy herself becomes even more vapid and unsympathetic, despite her mental illness issues. The love triangle between her, Cook, and Freddie is also finally resolved. Emily and her girlfriend Naomi have major drama all season. JJ dates a girl with a kid. Katie and Thomas mostly bumble around all season, but have a little affair between them...which is still better than Pandora because I barely remember her from the season.

the Voice (Season 1) - So I'm realizing that I can stomach certain kinds of reality shows, but there definitely needs to be a competition element. What sets the Voice apart from the other singing competitions is that it has a lot more heart. The judges may tease each other, but they genuinely seem to like one another and they refrain from talking much shit to the contestants. I like the opening episodes of the "blind auditions", but I also enjoyed the showier performances that happen later in the season. I'm looking forward to Season 2 to hopefully watch with some friends.