It’s time for another post from my feature, When I Didn’t Have a DVR! When I launched this feature this past April, I talked about Monday nights in the fall of 2007. You can check out that post here.
Today, I’m going back to Thursday nights in the fall of 2009…
In the Fall of 2009, Primetime TV Looked Like This:
8pm
ABC FlashForward
CBS Survivor
The CW The Vampire Diaries
Fox Bones
NBC SNL Weekend Update/Community
8:30pm
NBC Parks and Recreation
9pm
ABC Grey’s Anatomy
CBS CSI
The CW Supernatural
Fox Fringe
NBC The Office
9:30pm
NBC Community/30 Rock
10pm
ABC Private Practice
CBS The Mentalist
The CW Local Programming
Fox Local Programming
NBC The Jay Leno Show
FX It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
I Watched:
8pm
The Vampire Diaries on The CW instead of FlashForward on ABC. Both series premiered in 2009. The Pilot for FlashForward was way better in my opinion than the Pilot for The Vampire Diaries but the minute I saw FlashForward and the reaction (or lack thereof), I knew it wouldn’t last. It was so good but ahead of its time and the viewership just wasn’t there.
Still, for shows as good as that one, even knowing it will end up canceled (which it was), I continue watching until the end. So I watched FlashForward on Hulu instead of live at 8pm when it originally aired which may account for why this show was canceled. I couldn’t have been the only one watching the show on Hulu rather than when it counted during its original airing. Ah well. It was fascinating while it lasted.
I reviewed just about every episode of FlashForward and The Vampire Diaries in 2009 when I used to do my TV Week in Review feature. The archive of this feature is at the bottom of this page.
As for The Vampire Diaries…the Pilot and season one of this show in my opinion were… not terrible but not great either. But there was so, so, so much potential and boy am I glad I stuck it out because this show reached and surpassed its potential and boy would I give just about anything to be a fly on the wall in this writer’s room.
It’s also worth mentioning that I love Parks and Recreation but the first season was bland and I wasn’t sold on it so I let it fall off of my watch list and watched on Hulu whenever I got around to it (unlike in the case of FlashForward where I would watch on Hulu as soon as the next new episode was put up). Also, I could never really get into Community. I keep trying.
9pm
The Office on NBC and Fringe on Fox instead of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC. I started out the fall of 2009 watching The Office because everyone in my house loves this show so we’d all gather around and watch together. Then, I decided to catch up on Fringe and I can remember watching most of these episodes on Hulu but I also remember watching a few of these episodes live and saving The Office for Hulu and also if my memory serves correctly, *I think* On Demand instead.
As for Grey’s Anatomy… I have a love, hate relationship with this show so I can watch two seasons of this show straight through and skip another two seasons before catching up or not even catching up (right away) but just jumping right in again and figuring things out as I go. I love the show but it’s one of those shows I just need a break from and probably not even need, moreso I want to let the episodes pile up so I can marathon through them. So I wasn’t even thinking about this show when The Office and Fringe were on. I’m a very twisted faithful viewer when it comes to this show.
Also worth mentioning:
Supernatural is a show I love when I watch it but when it first premiered, I was too freaked out to continue watching it so I am still catching up on this show on Netflix today. Slow and steady. I’m not trying to catch up in time for next season, I’m enjoying my slow viewing pace. Loving every moment.
I love 30 Rock and watched the show on Hulu plenty! There are very few episodes of this show that I watched on TV when it originally aired and for that, I am sad but hey, I still watched this show and loved it! And thankfully, a viewership caught on for this cooky show so I didn’t even have to feel guilty over time about not watching it on ABC. Because the guilt is real for this TV viewer. I want to watch ALL THE THINGS when it counts. I hate show cancellations. 🙁
10pm
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX and there was no need for a DVR during this time slot because that’s all I watched! This show is hysterical! It’s politically incorrect and brilliant and absurd so it’s not for everyone but I highly recommend you watch and see if it’s for you!
What were you watching on Thursday nights in 2009?