Mystery Diners airs on the Food Network Channel Fridays at 10PM.

“These Mystery Diners are undercover operatives who go into restaurants, bars and food service establishments with hidden cameras to perform surveillance to find out what’s really going on when the boss isn’t around.”

This show is a fun take on the hidden camera show.  I didn’t have high hopes for it but it turned out to be worth watching. One thing I found really interesting was the guy’s reaction to being caught. I only watched the first episode but it was so obvious that his bosses had been watching him because he walked into a room full of surveillance equipment and yet he tried to lie.  To see the way people act when you’re not around is something that I think many people wish they were able to do.  While doing it for recreational purposes is creepy, doing it to protect your business is smart.  The people behind this show, and actually mystery diners, are very smart in finding ways to protect an owner’s business.  Definitely an entertaining show and worth checking out. 

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Duets airs Thursdays at 8PM on ABC.

“The hosts will individually travel across America looking for undiscovered talent. Ultimately, each star will choose two singers to be his/her duet partners. Together the mentors and their protégés will take the stage each week and perform in front of a live studio audience. In the end, one of the pairs will win, with the amateur getting a recording contract with Hollywood Records.”

This show is not what I thought it was going to be.  Every time I saw an ad for Duets, I thought that it was a place for people who sing as duets to audition.  There are duets that audition for The Voice, some even make it through, so I thought that it was a decent idea as well as something to set it apart from other singing shows. Instead, the people who audition are auditioning for each individual judge because they will be singing with that judge on the show.  Why? The individual winner gets a record deal, so why do they need to be able to sing with a partner? For no reason. This show is something different than the other singing shows out there, but not in a good way. I didn’t even finish watching one performance before I turned Duets off.  I didn’t like the format, host, idea, or anything about it.  It gets kudo points for trying to be different, too bad it wasn’t successful.  Hopefully this show won’t last and that will be one less competition/singing show that we need to worry about.

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Richard Hammond’s Crash Course airs Mondays at 10PM on BBC America

“Richard takes on some of the world’s biggest and toughest vehicles that are not made for the show, but to get a job done.”

I don’t know how I forgot about this show! I watched it weeks ago but somehow it got lost in the shuffle. Crash Course is, in one word, an awesome show. At first I thought it would be much like the show Dirty Jobs, but while it has a similar idea it’s nothing like any show I’ve watched. Richard Hammond gets tons of cool points for doing the stuff in this show! I’m sure there are people who would love to do what he’s doing. In the episode I watched, Hammond went to a military base and learned how to use different parts of a tank. He also went through the physical test along with the soldiers. He also has to do a test at the end of his lessons. I’m sure he is likely to fail a few but he passed the episode I saw. The fun part is that they also give a lot of information on the vehicles he’s using, like fun facts.  It may be because I’m a nerd, but I loved that part. This show is definitely worth checking out. I may be bias because of my love of watching shows on BBC America but I believe that Crash Course is a great show.

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House aired on FOX from 2004 - 2012.

“An antisocial maverick doctor who specializes in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way using his crack team of doctors and his wits.”

House ended on Monday, so I decided to write a blog in memoriam of this fantastic show.  House was show that so brilliantly balanced humor, drama, mystery, romance, and medicine.  I didn’t start watching until around season 4 or 5 but once I did, I was hooked.  Between interesting story lines and lovable characters the show definitely worth watching.  ”Hugh Laurie is a sex god” - quoting the friend who got me to watch House in the first place (she’s not wrong). House definitely deals with some dark topics but it’s always balanced with the right amount of humor to make it worth watching. Bottom line is that House is an amazing show if you’ve never watched it then you need to get started. The end was wonderful, just like the rest of the show.  While some may say that the show lost some of its flare, all in all the show is one of my favorite dramas that I’ve ever watched.

Everybody lies and everybody dies - the world according to House.

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Here is a schedule for Fall 2012-2013 on ABC.  Descriptions of new shows are at the end.

MONDAY
8PM 90210
9PM Gossip Girl  (The Carrie Diaries NEW takes over in January)

TUESDAY
8PM Hart of Dixie
9PM Emily Owens, M.D. (NEW)

WEDNESDAY
8PM Arrow (NEW)
9PM Supernatural

THURSDAY
8PM The Vampire Diaries
9PM Beauty and the Beast (NEW)

FRIDAY
8PM America’s Next Top Model
9PM Nikita

NEW SHOWS

The Carrie Diaries - Carrie Bradshaw is in her senior year of high school in the early 1980s. She asks her first questions about love, sex, friendship and family while navigating the worlds of high school and Manhattan.

Emily Owens, M.D - At long last, Emily Owens feels like she is an actual grown up. She can finally put her high school days as the geeky-girl-with-flop-sweats behind her; she’s graduated from med school and is now a first year intern at Denver Memorial Hospital, where she’ll have the chance to work with world-famous cardiologist Dr. Gina Beckett - and where, not-so-coincidentally, her med-school crush Will Rider is also an intern.

Arrow - As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow - a vigilante - to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory.

Beauty and the Beast - Detective Catherine Chandler is a smart, no-nonsense homicide detective. Vincent has been in hiding for the past 10 years to guard his secre - when he is enraged, he becomes a terrifying beast, unable to control his super-strength and heightened senses.  Catherine agrees to protect his identity in return for any insight he may have into her mother’s murder.  Thus begins a complex relationship between Catherine and Vincent, who are powerfully drawn to each other yet understand that their connection is extremely dangerous for both of them.

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Here is a schedule for Fall 2012-2013 on ABC.  Descriptions of new shows are at the end.

MONDAY

8PM Dancing with the Stars/The Bachelor(in January)
10PM Castle

TUESDAY

8PM DWTS Results
9PM Happy Endings
9:30PM Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23
10PM Private Practice 

In January

8PM How to Live with Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life (NEW)
8:30PM The Family Tools (NEW)

WEDNESDAY


8PM The Middle
8:30PM Suburgatory
9PM Modern Family
9:30PM The Neighbors  (NEW) 
10PM Nashville (NEW)

THURSDAY

8PM Last Resort (NEW) 
9PM Grey’s Anatomy 
10PM Scandal

FRIDAY

8PM Shark Tank
9PM Primetime: What Would You Do?
10PM 20/20

In November

8PM Last Man Standing
8:30PM Malibu County (NEW) 
9PM Shark Tank
10PM Primetime: What Would You Do?

SATURDAY

8PM Saturday Night College Football

SUNDAY


7PM America’s Funniest Home Videos
8PM Once Upon a Time
9PM Revenge
10PM 666 Park (NEW)

NEW SHOWS

How to Live with Your Parents - Polly and her daughter Natalie have moved back home with her eccentric parents, Elaine and Max. But Polly and her parents look at life through two different lenses.

Family Tools - When it comes to his career, Jack Shea always screws things up. But now that he’s taking over his father’s Mr. Jiffy Fix business, he’s got another shot at nailing it.

The Neighbors - Marty Weaver buys a new home only to discover, to his wife’s horror, that the neighbors are aliens masquerading as suburbanites. From Dan Fogelman comes this new comedy about close encounters of the 3rd kind, in New Jersey

Nashville - A legendary queen of country music struggles to maintain her place in the spotlight while dealing with an ambitious rising pop-country vixen who wants to knock her off the throne.

The Last Resort - 500 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receive their orders. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they’re told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.

Malibu Country - Her life reads like a country music tune: Her husband cheated on her and spent all of their money, and after she gets mad, she’s going to get even. From country music superstar/executive producer Reba McEntire and executive producer Kevin Abbott comes a hilarious new comedy about new beginnings that will make your heart sing.

666 Park - At the ominous address of 666 Park Avenue, anything you desire can be yours. Everyone has needs, desires and ambition. For the residents of The Drake, these will all be met, courtesy of the building’s mysterious owner, Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn) but every Faustian contract comes with a price.

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Here is a schedule for Fall 2012-2013 on NBC.  Descriptions of new shows are at the end.

MONDAY

8PM The Voice
10PM Revolution (NEW)

TUESDAY

8PM The Voice
9PM Go On (NEW) 
9:30PM The New Normal (NEW) 
10PM Parenthood

WEDNESDAY

8PM Animal Practice (NEW)
8:30PM Guys with Kids (NEW) 
9PM Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10PM Chicago Fire (NEW)

THURSDAY

8PM 30 Rock
8:30PM Up All Night
9PM The Office
9:30PM Parks and Recreation 
10PM Rock Center with Brian Williams

FRIDAY
8PM Whitney
8:30PM Community
9PM Grimm
10-11PM Dateline NBC

SATURDAY

Encore programming

SUNDAY

7PM Football Night in America
8:15PM NBC Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY (Post-football/Winter 2013)

7PM Dateline NBC
8PM Fashion Star
9PM Celebrity Apprentice
10PM Do No Harm (New)

NEW SHOWS

Revolution -  Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working? Well, one day, like a switch turned off, the world is suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Unlikely companions set off on a daring coming-of-age journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future.

Go On - An offbeat comedy about a cocky sportscaster dealing with his issues.

The New Normal - Two gay dads and a baby mama create a totally new kind of family comedy.

Animal Practice - A veterinarian’s office comedy with plenty of horsing around.

Guys with Kids - Focuses on men in their thirties who are trying to adjust to life as parents.

Chicago Fire - America’s everyday heroes face life and death in this thrilling drama about firefighters.

Do No Harm - A neurosurgeon deals with his dangerous alter ego in this two-sided drama; a “Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”-inspired medical drama.

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Here is a schedule for Fall 2012-2013 on FOX.  Descriptions of new shows are at the end.

MONDAY

8PM Bones
9PM The Mob Doctor (NEW)

TUESDAY

8PM Raising Hope
8:30PM Ben and Kate (NEW)
9PM New Girl
9:30PM The Mindy Project (NEW)

WEDNESDAY

8PM The X Factor

THURSDAY

8PM The X Factor (Results Show)
9PM Glee

FRIDAY

8PM Touch
9PM Fringe

SATURDAY

8PM Fox Sports Saturday

SUNDAY

7PM NFL OT
8PM The Simpsons
8:30PM Bob’s Burgers
9PM Family Guy
9:30PM  American Dad

NEW SHOWS

The Mob Doctor - A fast-paced medical drama featuring a brilliant young female cardiothoracic surgeon who is split between two distinct worlds as she juggles her promising medical career with her lifelong debt as a doctor to Chicago’s Southside mob.

The Mindy Project - A new single-camera comedy from Emmy Award-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) that follows a woman who, despite having a successful career, desperately needs to break bad habits in her personal life.

Ben and Kate - A single-camera young ensemble comedy, follows these odd-couple siblings as they push each other out of their comfort zones and into real life.

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Around the World in 80 Plates airs Wednesdays at 10PM on Bravo.

“Around the World in 80 Plates takes culinary to the next level as 12 chefs travel across the globe testing their skills and determination. In each episode, the contestants will travel to a different international city where they will learn the local customs, cultures, and cuisines as they participate in a gauntlet of culinary challenges.”

I’m so jealous of the people on this show! It looks like so much fun, but it is a competition so it can’t be all fun and games.  The chefs travel from city to city doing different challenges until eventually the teams face off and must takeover restaurants and serve food from the area.  It’s a new take on the cooking show.  Around the World in 80 plates is a lot like The Amazing Race, plus food. The only thing that I’m not crazy about is the fact that the chefs on the losing team have to vote off one of their team members.  Not only do they have to vote, but they have to talk it over with their teammates saying “I’m probably going to vote for you because (insert reason).”  This leads to a lot of sneaky backstabbing that reminds me of when I used to watch Survivor and the people would find ways to get other people voted off.  Other than that part of the show, I really like it and enjoy learning about all the food from places around the world.  

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Here is a schedule for Fall 2012-2013 on CBS.  Descriptions of new shows are at the end.

MONDAY

8PM How I Met Your Mother
8:30PM Partners (NEW)
9PM 2 Broke Girls
9:30PM Mike & Molly
10PM Hawaii Five-0

TUESDAY

8PM NCIS
9PM NCIS: Los Angeles
10PM Vegas (NEW)

WEDNESDAY

8PM  Survivor
9PM  Criminal Minds
10PM CSI

THURSDAY

8PM The Big Bang Theory
8:30PM Two and a Half Men
9PM Person of Interest
10PM Elementary (NEW)

FRIDAY

8PM CSI: NY
9PM Made in New Jersey (NEW)
10PM Blue Bloods

SATURDAY

8PM Crimetime Saturday
9PM Crimetime Saturday
10PM 48 Hours Mystery

SUNDAY

7PM  60 Minutes
8PM  The Amazing Race
9PM  The Good Wife
10PM The Mentalist

NEW SHOWS

Elementary - Stars Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime solving duo that cracks the NYPD’s most impossible cases.

Vegas - A drama, staring Dennis Quaid and Micheal Chiklis, inspired by a true story of former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher tasked with bringing order to Las Vegas in the 1960s.

Made in Jersey - A drama, staring Janet Montgomery, about a young working-class woman who uses her street smarts to compete among her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues at a prestigious New York law firm.

Partners - A comedy based on the lives of creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, about two life-long best friends and business partners whose “bromance” is tested when one of them is engaged to be married. 

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