Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

on the tube

The theme of the new additions to my television viewing schedule this season seems to be “support your Buffy alumni.”

The ensemble cast of How I Met Your Mother includes Alyson Hannigan (formerly Willow Rosenberg) — although I think my favorite character so far is the manic Barney, played by Neil Patrick Harris not too unlike his persona in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Bones stars former Angel David Boreanaz, who gets to tone down the angst and play up the humor. And the pastry chef of Kitchen Confidential is Nicholas Brendan (formerly Xander Harris) — though I have to admit, in the case of this show, I’m mostly watching for Alias alum Bradley Cooper. (Speaking of which … rumor has it, Cooper’s Alias co-star Michael Vartan may be making an appearance on Kitchen Confidential as a French (!) chef — and I love TV Squad’s theory about it.)

None of the three shows have really found their groove yet. But they have great casts and a lot of potential (and, in the case of Kitchen Confidential, great source material), so I’m holding out hope that they’ll come into their own. (Unlike My Name Is Earl, which had a surprisingly funny pilot but whose episodes since them have been fairly stale, the joke already worn thin.)

Other television viewing: The Office, which thankfully has developed an identity separate from its British counterpart; Desperate Housewives, although I’m not sure while I’m still watching it; The West Wing, same thing; The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, my required viewing (and my incentive to go to the gym, since I can watch the show while I work out).

And then there’s Alias, with which I’ve developed an intense love/hate relationship that last season’s finale and this season’s premiere did nothing to mellow. This week’s column in The Onion by a TV that’s tired of being screamed at may as well be directed at me. Yet I’ll continue to watch anyway, because I HAVE TO KNOW how it all turns out.