Joy and pain

The stars aligned in my favor today when I went by the library to return a book. I decided to take a pass through the CD section, and it was a massive success. Lots of stuff I've wanted to hear for a while, coupled with stuff I'd forgotten I wanted to listen to. Here's what I found:

Sufjan Stevens, Seven Swans
Maxïmo Park, A Certain Trigger
Pedro the Lion, Achilles Heel
Madvillain, Madvillainy
Paul McCartney, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
Matt Pond PA, Emblems
Aimee Mann, Lost in Space
Johnny Cash, Unchained
Various Artists, Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, Furnace Room Lullaby
Danny Gatton, Hot Rod Guitar

As I've been ripping, I mean, uh... listening to these CDs, I've been watching more of Arrested Development: Season One. What an utterly criminal waste to cancel this show. I guess because it's not dumbed down to the level of Two and a Half Men or Joey, the Average American doesn't get it. Hopefully HBO picks Development up and it takes its proper place in the best lineup of shows on television. Imagine a night of back to back eps of Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm...

Sigh. My dream world is a nice place.

Development Hell

So Fox has done it again. From the network that couldn't figure out how to get people to watch critically acclaimed shows with cult followings like Wonderfalls and Firefly (or just didn't care), we now get the cancellation of Arrested Development. Granted, AD was given a little bit more of a chance than either of the other two shows mentioned (2-1/2 seasons for AD as opposed to a half-season between the other two), but burying the show at 8:00 on Monday night in between baseball playoff games wasn't exactly going all out to help it find an audience.

Last year, when Fox reduced the episode order of Arrested Development, the cast and writers had a little fun at the expense of the network. This year, with cancellation looming, it seems like they're taking the same tack... only this time, they're not pulling their punches. Check out David Cross's analysis of the situation. If this ever airs, there will be more bleeps than dialogue.

And before the characters are blown from our short-term memory by whatever crap Fox replaces them with, figure out which one you are.

Getting Lost again

Damn, that's good television. Clearly, the writers of Lost heard the viewers clamoring for answers, because tonight's season premiere tackled a big one. But by finally showing us what's inside the hatch, they managed to give us several new mysteries and simultaneously set up up the path that Season Two will travel. And that is why this show is genius.

I haven't been much of a TV watcher for the past few years, but after a few years of reality-crap overload, this season seems to be full of interesting (and fully-scripted) programming. Mondays are shaping up to be a busy viewing night. I'm already addicted to Arrested Development, and both Kitchen Confidential and How I Met Your Mother showed some promise. Tuesdays have My Name Is Earl, and most likely Scrubs when it returns mid-season. Lost rules Wednesday, and after taking most of last season off, on Thursday nights I'm going to give Smallville a try again this year, since I hear Clark finally begins to embrace his powers and act like Superman. I'm beginning to appreciate my DVR more and more, since I can set it to record every episode of these shows and watch them on my schedule (damn, could I sound any more like a frickin' commercial?), even if I suddenly decide to have a life and leave the apartment once in a while.