TV. cleaning out the tivo

i watch too much tv. i know this, but i justify it because i tivo everything and can fast forward or skip whatever i want. but the time has come to say goodbye to a few shows. a couple that are getting the boot:

x-play.

why its good: this is a half hour show on G4 dedicated to video games. it was always a bunch of fun because the two hosts, adam sessler and morgan webb, are usually pretty funny, and their game reviews are entertaining. even the games that i didn't have any interest in were usually pretty fun to watch. also, they often have funny skits about different game characters with a lot of inside jokes that only gamers would get, and i would often be knowledgeable enough to get the jokes.

why i'm done: a while ago they 'updated' the show. now it features in-studio demos of games, interviews with game makers, tips and guides from professional gamers, and previews of games that are coming out. all this sounds good, but it is really boring to watch ten minutes of a game demo for a game i couldn't care less about. the best part of the show was always the game reviews, but they now only have one or two per show. the cut down on reviews means they could go a whole week of episodes without even mentioning a game i care about. and all the stuff with the pros is really lame. its to the point where it takes me about three minutes to watch a whole show- i fast forward through everything and just watch the gamer news update. they have been skipping the update lately, so now all i do is fast forward through it looking for something good, and get to the end of the recording without seeing anything i am interested in. sorry, 'x-play', its been a good few years, but its time for you to go.
numb3ers.

why its good: i've never been a fan of procedural dramas; shows like 'csi' and other cop shows have always bored me. but for some reason, i really enjoy 'numb3rs'. at first i started watching the first season because sabrina lloyd was on it (i loved her in 'sliders' and 'sports night'), and by the time she left after the first season i was hooked and liked all the rest of the characters. the hook of this show is that all the plots are solved using different math theories and equations. its kind of a nerdy premise, but the way they visualize the different math stuff always reminded me of the movie 'pi', which i really loved.

why i'm done: with some reluctance, i am moving on from this show. its one that i still enjoy watching, but its one of the casualties of cutting back my tv watching. the formula of the show is very repetitive, but the character moments are frequent enough that it made the different episodes worth watching. this one was never one that i eagerly looked forward to, but a good one to have on while i was doing something else. but unfortunately, something has to be cut, and this one fell just below the line.
terminator: the sarah connor chronicles.

why its good: this one is obvious- its terminator! i watched all of the first season and really enjoyed it, they do a great job of adding to the mythology of the terminator series. the first season dragged a bit at the beginning, but once they added john connor's uncle, brian austin green, it was a ton better. one of the best parts of the show is its pacing. i start watching an episode and it moves along at such a good speed, that it feels too short by the time i get to the end of an episode! oh, and summer glau is really cool!

why i'm done: well, i'm not actually done... last year i watched the first half of the season as it aired, but the second half i just stockpiled episodes until the summer and watched them all in one go. this was perfect due to the speed of the show- i finish one and get to move on to the next episode right away, no waiting a week in between! this season i have done the same, i currently have about 15 episodes saved on the tivo which i havent even started to watch! the reason why i'm deleting this from the tivo is because i will just rent season two when it comes out on dvd. the first season came out so early in the summer that it was already out before i watched my recorded episodes. i figure i'll do the same this summer. so, even though i am getting rid of the show, i am very much looking forward to watching it later.