taking a moment to assess spring tv

nathan fillion looking cute and solving crimes on castle, which debuted earlier this month

spring means lots of things to lots of people, but to me and many other avid television geeks, spring means mid-season replacements and lots of new shows.

i have been trying to watch as many spring shows as have caught my attention. first, the winter reality shows started up again: biggest loser, american idol, dancing with the stars, amazing race and america's next top model, to name a few. next came the new hour long dramas and half hour comedies.

i tried watching trust me on tnt, and although my dvr is still taping it every week, i have lost interest. recently, tnt has been showing two new hour-long episodes of the show every tuesday night, which may indicate that they are trying to show as many episodes as possible as quickly as possible and then move on.

i have also started watching castle, which i am hopelessly hooked on. i think this love affair is mostly because i love nathan fillion, and he plays a mystery book author who solves murders with a nypd detective. i like the idea of an author who also solves crimes, mostly because i have always wanted to write murder mysteries, and my mysteries would feature a magazine assistant who solves murders on the side. but i'm getting off topic. the show itself is smart and engaging. its more like svu than csi, with witty banter and sexual tension between the leads like bones or fringe. i'm a fan.

another new hour-long drama on my dvr is kings. i have yet to really get into the show, but i'm going to keep watching it to see where it might go. sometimes the characters speak and scheme like they're in a shakespearean play, but i could do with more scheming and less fancy talk.

tonight was the debut of one of the more anticipated shows (by me) on the spring schedule: cupid. i was looking forward to the show because i love the two leads, bobby cannavale from will & grace and sarah paulson from the much-missed studio 60 on the sunset strip. i have to admit that the pilot was cute and intriguing, but i wanted more sparks between bobby and sarah -- who play cupid and his psychiatrist, respectively. maybe this chemistry will pan out as the season goes along, and i will definitely keep watching to see what happens, but it better get fun, fast!

as for half hour shows, i have been watching in the motherhood and better off ted. both are okay, but nothing too notable yet. i'm going to stick with BOT for the time being, because i just love portia dirossi, and see how things shake out.

i am most looking forward to the premiere of the new show by the producers of the office, parks & recreation. it promises to be hilarious and awkward, which i love.

spring has also brought back a lot of my favorite shows that have been mia recently, including samantha who, greek and my boys.* it won't be long now until so you think you can dance is back!

so, after finishing up this post, i do realize that the number of tv shows that i watch is a bit ridiculous. i will try to write about the ones i care about some more at length in the coming weeks, so stay tuned if you want to know how i really feel. and feel free to post in the comments and let me know what you're thinking about!