Mondays, Busy Mondays

So, next week I have to make a decision. Thank god Chuck isn't back until next fall (can't believe I just wrote that) because come next week I have to decide which two of Gossip Girl, Bones, and Big Bang Theory + How I Met Your Mother I'm going to FauxVo. Damn you, 8pm.

Meanwhile, I watch nothing at 9pm or 10pm (which will change when House returns in two weeks).

For now...

HIMYM - Funny, but unremarkable episode. Nice to know that Ted is still dating Stella, though it's making me think that she CAN'T be the mother... because I feel like there's going to be some "and that is how I met your mother" voice over (and then the series will just continue has a non-linear romantic sitcom).

Big Bang Theory - Too early in the show's run to bring in a Sheldon 2.0 (the kid who is out-Sheldon-ing Sheldon). Remember when Wonderfalls did it in the second episode that aired? Even if it was supposed to air third (or whatever). Too soon! Still, this is a punch line-y episode full of LOL and I'm enjoying it. I'm confused, though, wasn't there an episode that aired earlier this season with Sheldon and Leonard presenting a paper together (and then they were fighting so Leonard did it himself since it was his experiment in the first place)? Way to work the marketing slogan ("smart is the new sexy") into the dialogue.

Bones - Last season, I wouldn't have been so excited about the return of Bones. What a difference a year and an incredibly intriguing serial killer mystery makes. I've always loved the banter and the unresolved sexual tension, but this fall, Bones moved from "save for the weekend, if you get to it" to "watch the night it airs, or else". Even if tonight's installment isn't Gormogon-related... welcome back, Squints (and Booth)! I don't have a ton to say about the episode... it was, for all intents and purposes in a show that has added some serial elements, filler. But there's also something wise about that... do a solid episode without the serial elements when you come back to invite people back into the tent without the back story that would be necessary in a serialized episode (or for a serialized show). "You said no changees and no take backs!" Booth has a Philadelphia Flyers mug in his office (David Boreanaz is a Philadelphia native).

Next week: the long-delayed murdered college basketball player episode (with some alterations because the Angela/Hodgins story is in a different place now that it was last season when the episode was pulled). So, probably no Gormogon next week.

The strike hiatus has, in the ratings, hit comedies less than dramas, and procedural shows less than serialized shows (did you see the Desperate Housewives ratings? Even with its creative upswing, it lost a ton of viewers in the three month break... Grey's Anatomy is gonna be hurting bad when it comes back on the 24th, I suspect). I'm curious to see how Bones is affected as it is a hybrid and given that it's also returning on a different night than it was airing on in the fall.