The month of June is one of the boring periods of the year for me, where it is the off-season for America television.
The third Writers Guild of America strike disrupted America television from November last year to Feburary this year, leading to the cancellation of some shows and the disruption of many others. The two series that I followed, Heroes and House ended up having only 11 and 16 episodes each. American Idol, although not affected by the strike, ended up being the most boring season ever.
American Idol
In what was touted to be the most exciting season with the most amount of talent, AI ended up boring and predictable where the only delight was listening to Paula Abdul's incoherent compliements. Also where winning AI was once considered to be a fast track to success in the music industry, one only need to look at the album sales of the last few winners to see it isn't the case anymore. I wonder how David Cook is feeling now after the euphoria of winning when he realized that his ass is now totally owned by Simon Fuller.
Heroes
The debut season of Heroes won me over as a fan but it suffered the sophomore slump. After the buildup to the characters' discovery and acceptance of their powers, many people (myself included) were hoping for an action filled second season. But the writers chose to stick to the same theme which resulted in quite an anti-climax experience. I probably won't be following series anymore.
House
The fourth season of House was uneven in parts but it had some great moments. The idea of an Survivor theme to select the new ducklings at the start was an interesting idea but it kinda made the show lost focus a bit. The decision to replace the team was a brave one - my jury's still out on the new ducklings but it will hard to recreate the same sort of chemistry that the old team had offered.
The spectacular two-part season finale has created a lot of potential for a mouth-watering season five, especially in the relationship between House and his best friend Wilson. I hope the writers will take advantage of it.
And so between now and September, I will be downloading old shows to fill the gaps.
Top 3 shows to download this summer: Jeeves and Wooster, Blackadder Goes Forth, Band Of Brothers