My Fall TV Schedule - Sundays

Sorry about slacking off on my Fall TV Schedule posts, but I got caught up in something (which I’ll post about later) that got me tied up. 

But now we’re back with Sunday, arguably the busiest day of the week for television.  Pay cable and AMC roll out their finest hours of programming on Sundays, which marks it as a prestige day for viewing. 

What will I be watching? 

The Affair – I happened to catch the first episode of this series and it’s a pretty strong offering.  It’s a about a family man (Dominic West) who has an affair with a waitress (Ruth Wilson) that he meets on vacation. 

But the first episode poses so many questions.  When did they hook up?  Why are they both being interviewed by a cop?  Who is telling the truth?  Can this possibly show live up it’s strong first episode? 

Of course the cast is great.  I’d be completely fine with if Ruth Wilson worked exclusively with alums from The Wire.  And speaking of The Wire, there’s a scene in the first episode that was completely distracting, as a fan of The Wire.

Boardwalk Empire – Considering it’s an HBO show and a period piece, you’d think that Boardwalk Empire would generate more buzz.  But truth be told, it’s one of the least compelling shows on television.  It’s not a show that’s “must watch”, no one tweets about it and no one is talking about it Mondays at work. 

I’m basically just riding Boardwalk Empire out.  The fact that it’s an abbreviated season, has a time jump and a storyline that’s a flashback makes the degree of difficulty for this final season almost insurmountable. 

The Good Wife – One of the few network dramas that I watch with no ulterior motive.  The Good Wife is actually a good show.  It manages to balance character arcs and being an episodic show quite well. 

It will be interesting to see if the show can build on the buzz it created last year by killing off Josh Charles.  Hopefully, the show will continue to be the best show on Sundays, on network television. 

The Newsroom – I know if may be shocking that someone who devoted the entire month of July to Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip would also watch The Newroom, but what I can say; I’m a fan of Aaron Sorkin. 

Yes, he has his own tropes and while verbose, subtlety doesn’t appear to be in his vocabulary.  But if you did his rhythms, and I do, why wouldn’t you watch The Newsroom? 

Homeland – Homeland is up and down for me.  The first season had a good hook, some slaws, but overall it’s easily the best season Homeland ever had.  The second season was rocky and challenging.  The third season offered a bit of redemption as well as the hope that with the death of Brody, jettisoning everything else named Brody would make the show stronger. 

I’m an optimist.  So I hope this fourth season, effectively a creative reboot, will allow this show to live up to the hype it once had.  And let’s be real, adding Corey Stoll is never a bad thing. 

Like I said, Sunday is my busy day.