Tee Vee nation

I seem to have picked up -- or at least resumed -- a TV-watching habit, though really it's kind of small in scope.

I've been renting "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" discs for a while now, and I'm finally in that season where it 1) starts getting into more darker, better written plots, and 2) is about where I was unable to continue the show due to moving way out here outside of TV reception range and not being able to get it on the sattellite dish I was using at the time. It's good stuff, and probably the least annoying of all the Treks. I've really got to stop watching all 4 eps per disc in a row, though, and spread them out a bit over the week.

In the new season, I've decided not to bother with "Dexter", and even dropped Showtime entirely. It's quirky, sure, but it was kind of predictable and I really didn't think it could sustain it's gimmick beyond that first season. If I'm proven wrong, then I can always catch up again. No biggie.

I've picked up another quirky-and-predictable one for now -- "Pushing Daisies". A bit of an oddball show with an amusing presentation, but the dialogue seems to veer from moments of charmy wit to rough spots that seemed inserted after-the-fact to "punch it up a bit". The premise might possibly wear too thin too fast, though, and a couple of the characters will probably beat the premise to the punch in that respect. But for now, it's a good looking, quirky bit of different in the otherwise lame landscape, and it's worth giving a shot.

Speaking of "wearing thin", that seems to be the buzz about the second season of "Heroes". I don't exactly subscribe to that notion. Still, it's been kind of a jarring "reset" to have to work up building up the tension and layering the connections again. Though it's kind of beating us over the head with the sheer extraordinary ordinariness of those connections. Complete with product placement (that car in Mexico was Claire's lamely announced one, part of a dumb Nissan promotion). Supposedly this week there'll be a lot of new "twists", which was kind of the draw of the show in the first place, so hopefully they pull it off.

"Bionic Woman" is kind of hanging on by it's opening momentum right now, and that's mostly because of Katee Sackoff's totally over-the-top psychosis is keeping it interesting. The oh-so-special sisterly moments and valuable lessons and such are kind of draining the fun out of it otherwise. And, let's face it, it really is kind of a dumb thing to remake and the lack of plot depth seems to reflect that. But, like I said previously, there's a bit of ass-kicking to be had, and Katee.

Supposedly there's been a show on the BBC about Doctor Who companion Sarah Jane, but I keep forgetting to go looking for it over on the 'Bay or the 'Nova. That might round out the season for me if I find it (and it's watchable).