While it may not sound productive to my thesis advisor or to those who remain concerned about my academic future, there’s nothing like television to bring productivity back to the forefront after the lethargic post-Christmas period. In what is normally a fairly quiet time for television, as series go on extended hiatuses until mid-January in order to extend their seasons into May, this year is obviously quite different: there might not even be a May for a majority of series, and the television landscape remains a battleground as opposed to a form of entertainment. The result is a rather busy first week of the new year, which will be reflected here at Cultural Learnings
For this blog, as opposed to some others, the New Year signals a time to look forward as opposed to backwards. With 2008 on the horizon, and shaping up to be a sparse yet volatile year for television, I want to take a look at what we might be looking forward to in the new year. As a result, I’ve prepared a list of The 10 Shows to (Hopefully) Watch in 2008. This is not a list of the shows to actually physically sit and enjoy, but rather those which pique my curiosity for good or bad reasons. These are the shows which are in need of improvement, those making their triumphant return, or those which face an uncertain future and some unique opportunities in the new year. Look for numbers 10-8 in this countdown to debut on Monday, with the remainder of list emerging throughout the week.
The week is not devoid of new television programming, however. Sunday brings the latest episode of The Amazing Race, while Wednesday brings both a new episode of Gossip Girl and the premiere of the new lineup for Law & Order. This is followed by Celebrity Apprentice (Which is being blogged about purely for the sake of entertainment, as opposed to true interest) on Thursday, and then the first of a rather large number of new Friday Night Lights episodes to air in 2008 on Friday.
As a result, after a rather large period of Cultural Learnings being a bit outside of the curve so to speak, it looks like this week will provide plenty of fodder moving forward. Check back for the 10 shows to watch, and for reviews/commentary, throughout the week, and look for more news about future developments on New Year’s Day.
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