Too Much to Watch

Sometimes being a media junkie can get a little overwhelming. I know I'm lucky to have the free time to indulge in watching movies and television at all, and that I have access to so much content, but lately my "To Watch" list has been getting out of hand. Here's a sampling:

- I'm currently about two weeks behind on "The Daily Show." I usually watch the shows online the next morning before I go to work, or I catch up on multiple episodes over the weekend. However, lately the morbid hijinks of the would-be Republican presidential candidates has been depressing, so I put them off for a couple of days, and the backlog built up, and now I'm seriously considering just skipping all the ones I missed and moving on.

- A few months ago I saw ads announcing that a new season of "Project Runway" had started on Lifetime, and I made the mental note to seek it out. And then I turn around and find news articles popping up about the upcoming finale. Already?! It turns out that season nine is currently about two thirds of the way through, so I still have time to catch up if I want to. It used to be that I never missed a season of "Project Runway" or "Top Chef," and now I have no idea how long it's been since I watched either. What year was Mondo on "Runway"?

- The new fall season just started, which means I should be out there gobbling up pilots and reporting back on what's good and what isn't and what may need a few more episodes to render a verdict. I haven't watched a single premiere so far. Not one. Fortunately most of the shows that have made their debuts so far haven't been getting very good reviews, which assuages some of the guilt. However, I need a replacement for "Law & Order: SVU," and I need to figure out if it's going to be "Prime Suspect," "Person of Interest," or something else. After those two, "Pan Am," and "Terra Nova," I think I'm in the clear until the fairy tale stuff lands in late October.

- And of course, all my regular shows are coming back. "Big Bang Theory" and "Community" are both on at the same time tonight, as usual. I just realized I missed the season premiere of "Criminal Minds," which reversed course and brought back AJ Cook and Paget Brewster after the spinoff crashed and burned. And "Nikita" starts again tomorrow. And "Mythbusters" is back next week. And Charlyne Yi is on "House" this year! I love her! And the season premiere has House incarcerated, which feels a little too much like that premiere they did with him in the mental hospital, but whatever. I have to see how they're going to write off Cuddy. I guess I should at least watch the premiere of "Law & Order: SVU" too, to see what happens to Stabler.

- Meanwhile, I'm still trying to keep up with a few summer series like "Breaking Bad" and "Doctor Who." They've both been really strong this year. Writeups are forthcoming.

- Gee that new "Thundercats" reboot looks good. And "Young Justice" is back. And I really need to check out that new "Batman" cartoon, "The Brave and the Bold." Wait, what do you mean it just ended after three seasons on Cartoon Network?! This may be the year I finally stop watching cartoons since they keep getting pushed farther and farther back in the mental queue. Don't even get me started on the anime. Five years ago I was among the most hardcore otaku you ever met, and now I have no idea what's popular anymore. What's "Tiger & Bunny" about? And when did I last watch "South Park"? I used to love that show.

- Oh boy. "60 Minutes" is coming back soon too. And I'm so far behind on "Frontline," I don't even - gah.

- September is traditionally a slow month for movies. The blockbuster season is over but the awards contenders haven't started campaigning to the masses yet. However, there are more than a few films still in theaters that I'm debating over whether I want to see now or if I can wait for DVD. I might sneak off to a matinee of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in the near future. And my Netflix queue is still full of titles from earlier in the year and I'm picking through the last few stragglers from last year. I think once I get through this batch of September releases, that'll be it for 2010 and I can finally put that Top 10 list out. This is about the same time that I did it last year, so I guess I'm still on schedule?

Okay, so what's my game plan? Usually I watch a movie a day, but with the influx of new TV programming I think I might take a break after this month of Netflix expires and I get the Top 10 list out, and I'll just play catch-up on the TV side for a week or two. There are going to be a couple of series I don't see myself keeping up with regularly anymore, like "Hawaii Five-0," and as much as I like my news and information shows, I'll probably end up picking and choosing among episodes based on what they're covering. Consequently, you'll probably be seeing a lot of blogging about TV shows for a little while until I regain my media equilibrium.

Whew.
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