Happy Memorial Day!

Wow, time sure flies when you are listening to the world's worst student presentations for five days straight! The picture above is directed to them, although it might be a useful message for us all. Anyway, I apologize that I was unable to provide you my weekly update last week, but I should be back on schedule now.

Truth be told, I doubt that I would have been able to update today if it weren't for the wonderful three day weekend I'm enjoying. Jennifer and I have done a whole lot of nothing with our time, which is exactly the rest that I needed, although we did do some mall-crawling and grocery shopping earlier today. Needless to say, I hope that if you were able to get some time off this weekend, you took advantage of it.

I was asked by Kent a few weeks back to do a post on the recent network upfronts. The honest fact of the matter is that what was presented has really failed to spur my interest. However, since I have nothing better to talk about in this post, I will give you my top ten highlights of the upcoming schedule. A grid detailing the full fall line up can be found here. Alright, here they are:

10. The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, Sundays at 8:00 CST, Midseason)- I'm not big on rehashing old ideas, but a made for TV version of the Terminator franchise could be a lot of fun, and one featuring Summer Glau of Serenity and Firefly fame is a must see. My excitement for this show, of course, is tempered by the fact that it is on Fox and will be cancelled after three episodes.

9. Journeyman (NBC, Mondays at 9:00CST)- A lead in from Heroes will certainly help this series, which revolves around a man who suddenly develops the ability to time travel (without the cuteness that is Heroes Hiro). From the descriptions I have read, the series will be equal parts going back in time to set right things that once went wrong (which is cool) and reminicing about the girl that got away (which will be considerably less cool).

8. Moonlight (CBS, Fridays at 8:00CST)- Mick St. John is a vampire, but he has dedicated himself to protecting humans instead of feeding off of them. This naturally will put him into conflict with the rest of the vampires that are hanging around, including his former bride, who sixty years ago ended his life and began his eternal death. For the record, Angel did this better, but since Angel isn't on the air anymore, this will have to do.

7. New Amsterdam (FOX, Fridays at 8:00 CST)- In what is becoming a trend in this countdown, New Amsterdam features a mysterious man with deep secrets. In this case, it is John Amsterdam, a NYPD detective harboring the secret that he is actually a 465 year old immortal. I would go more into depth about this show, but again, it's on FOX and will be cancelled before you get a chance to get hooked on it.

6. Pushing Daisies (ABC, Wednesdays at 7:00 CST)- You have to give any show that bills itself as a, "forensic fairytale" a shot. In this story, Ned utilizes his gift of bringing things back to life to quickly solve murders by having the victim name their killer. When his childhood sweetheart is one of the victims, however, Ned rashly brings her back and keeps her alive.

5. Reaper (The CW, Tuesdays at 8:00 CST) - Sam learns on his 21st birthday that his parents have sold his soul to the devil and he must now act as Satan's bounty hunter. Reaper is almost a parody of Marvel's Ghost Rider, but a series could have worse aspirations.

4. Chuck (NBC, Tuesdays at 8:00 CST) - To be honest, the set up ( a computer geek becomes America's most important secret agent when he is accidentally encoded with government secrets) didn't really appeal to me, but a preview on NBC.com and the fact that Adam Baldwin from Firefly and Serenity is in it makes it worth the watching.

3. Kid Nation (CBS, Wednesdays at 7:00 CST) - While on the surface this seems like CBS exploiting the Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader? phenomenon from last season, there seems to be far more than that going on. In Kid Nation, 40 kids will work together to build a functioning society, including cooking food, running a business, and fashioning a new government. As a teacher, watching a bunch of arrogant kids fall on their faces week after week may become my new guilty pleasure.

2. The IT Crowd (NBC, Midseason Replacement) - I love puns in titles! This is the unofficial sequal to The Office, insofar as it is an American take on a British workplace comedy. Several of the Executive Producers for this series also produce The Office, which makes it good enough for me. The fact that it features the very funny Joel McHale is a plus.

1. Heroes: Origins (NBC, Mondays at 8:00 CST, Midseason) - Perhaps in the most telling comment on this season, what I'm most looking forward to is a rehash of something from last season. One of the worst trends from the last few years is hit series going on break for a few weeks instead of airing reruns. It was a bold plan to keep people from complaining about the encore episodes, but it appears to have failed miserably, as everything from Heroes to Lost, well, lost viewers when they came back from their breaks. In an inventive move, Heroes will take their break, but will be replaced by Heroes: Origins, where we will meet new super-powered folk, with one of them winning a spot in season three of the main show. That is a well thought out plan, and it will get my viewership.

Okay, those are the positives, but there are complaints. Here are two (in no particular order).

1. Cancelled Series- Tough year on this front. I will really miss Veronica Mars, The Class, and most of all, Jericho. I'm blaming Kelly for the last one, as she steadfastly refused to watch the show no matter how strongly I extolled its virtues.

2. Cavemen- No, Seriously? This is a joke, right? You cancelled Knights of Prosperity for this?