Introduction

Well ... hi.

I've got no idea how many of you will be reading this, but I'll start off by saying hi, my name's Sam and I'm here because I got a little bored and decided I might like to write about the abundance of TV that I watch. So let me explain briefly what my plan for this "round-up" (I won't call it blog) is going to be.

I am a fan of a loooooooooot of TV shows. Besides writing my fiction novels at a questionable pace and with even more questionable stickability, watching good TV shows is how I like to spend my time: hopping from show to show, loving the characters and crying absurdly when a season ends (and retreating into my loving and comforting bed with a glass of milk and denial whenever a show is cancelled outright).

I'm not particularly good at (or fond of) over-analysing, so I won't be doing any of that here. I'll simply be giving my opinion on what I thought of all the plots covered in each episode I watch.

Beginning at the End?

I regret that I've come in late, at the end of the May sweeps, so my list will change as my main shows go off air until September, to be replaced with the midseason entries, until the networks return with their old and new TV shows.

So this will be a quick round-up of all the shows I am currently watching, to give you an idea of where they're at, what I think about them, and I'll also preview a couple of pilots that have been ordered for next season that I really want to see get full season orders.

Show List:

So let's begin:

• PERSON OF INTEREST - Season 5/Cancelled

• Sadly my second favourite ever TV show in POI is coming to a close with its final season, but for anyone who hasn't seen it I cannot recommend this highly enough. Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ) and Michael Emerson (Lost) play an ex-CIA hitman and reclusive billionaire respectively, who, with the help of Emerson's character's mysterious surveillance system "The Machine", try to prevent crimes before they occur. Now on 5x01, and with 12 explosive episodes to cap off a show which - to my eye - never put a foot wrong plot-wise, people should get viewing. This is long but addictive, and features Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman in supporting roles as NYPD detectives. An absolute must-watch.
• (Side note, of all the shows to mention, THIS will be the one I cry over tremendously in about six weeks when the show ends. Be warned!)

• CASTLE - Season 8/Renewal uncertain
• Castle is an incredible show about a famous author who pairs with a beautiful NYPD detective to solve crimes. It has a well-rounded cast, clever murders and a ceaselessly funny script - for seven seaons. If you don't want to see your love for the show obliterated, go no further than the end of s7, which provides a wholly satisfying conclusion on its own. Nathan Fillion (Firefly) and Stana Katic (errr....) star.
• NCIS - Season 13/Renewed for seasons 14+15
• Not much to say here. I've only recently begun watching this so I'm only 5 episodes into season 2, but the cast is undeniably incredible and their personalities a great deal more interesting than most other current police procedurals. Renewed for two more seasons purely on the basis that lead Mark Harmon has signed a two-year contract - and NCIS will continue to be renewed as long as he continues to sign contracts. I say give him a football/soccer contract and tie him to five years.
• NCIS LOS ANGELES - Season 7/Renewed for s8
• Funny, quirky, and vastly different in style and format to its father show, NCIS LA is one of those CBS shows that doesn't bring anything new to the table, but is good enough (and funny enough) that it will draw you in all the way. Fresh subplots include G. Callen's search for his first name (and don't search Wiki if you want to be surprised). Later seasons need more Hetty.
• NCIS NEW ORLEANS - Season 2/Renewed for s3
• This is a tricky one - I refuse to begin watching this until I've reached NCIS season 11 and seen the backdoor pilot, by which point it will probably just have been renewed for season 4. Good news, though, I have only 223 more episodes to go!
• SCORPION - Season 2/Renewed for s3
• A kind-of police procedural that doesn't feel like one because of its premise centred around high-IQ geniuses who solve crimes only their intellects can deal with. The lead character, Walter O'Brien (Elyes Gabel), is based off of the real-life guy who created the Scorpion business (coincidentally - or not) named Walter O'Brien, and the show also stars Eddie Kaye Thomas (Paul Finch, the American Pies), Katherine McPhee, Robert Patrick, Ari Stidham and Jaydn Wong.
• HAWAII FIVE-0 - Season 6/Renewed for s7
• Another cop show (and reboot of the late 60s show of the same name) that doesn't add anything to CBS's cop show line-up. Focused more heavily on plot than character, especially in the early seasons (and in nearly all romantic relationships ever), and with a beautiful setting, it's very nice to look at and slip in and out of. Eye candy here for everyone, and decent writing. Say yes, but attachments are hard to form here.
• THE NIGHT SHIFT - Season 2/Renewed for s3
• My favourite medical since ER was cancelled, this has a great cast list, not least my favourites include Ken Leung of Lost and the beautiful Jill Alexander as Dr Jordan Flint. Set in San Antonio, Texas, with a great all-round cast with some explosive reveals, season 1 burns slowly but season 2 is incredible.
• Tears for the departures of Freddy Rodriguez and Jeananne Goossen :'(
• LUCIFER - Season 1/Renewed for s2
• ANOTHER cop show (will it end?), but at least this one offers something different - the bleeding Devil has only gone and partnered himself with Lauren German's character Decker (Dancer in the pilot, I believe). Hilarious, but not overly well-written, it does get better throughout s1 as the plots advance and the ending will bring something very new to the table in s2. A good bet if you haven't already started to watch it, and only 13 episodes thus far, so easy to catch up.
• BROOKLYN NINE-NINE - Season 3/Renewed for s4
• Hilarious sitcom based around - you guessed it - police. Starring Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher and Terry Crews, get watching this. Just get watching it. It's amazing.
• ELEMENTARY - Season 4/Renewed for s5
• Last cop show, I promise. An American take on Sherlock Holmes, with Lucy Liu playing a now female Joan Watson; aside from the Kitty Winter blip in season 3, a very well-written show with excellent continuation of minor subplots, and very funny at times, too (see pretty much everything Sherlock is forced to do for help from hacker group "Everyone" on a semi-regular basis). A sort-of cross between Scorpion and every other cop show ever.
• THE 100 - Season 3/Renewed for s4
• Ahhh, finally the cop shows are behind us. Survivors of a nuclear apocalypse live in an Ark station in space, but when the oxygen supply system begins to fail they have to discover if Earth is yet habitable, and send 100 prisoners down to figure that out. I'm not a fan of where season 3 has gone, but I can't deny it has connected all the dots very very well, and for something different - and short, at only 13-16 eps a season - it's a very good bet. Pay attention though - miss one episode and you'll struggle to catch up.
• BLACK SAILS - Season 3/Renewed for s4
• A pirate show. Everybody loves pirates even if they don't admit it, and this is set as a prequel to the novel Treasure Island, featuring characters from that story (Flint, Billy Bones, John Silver) and also real-life pirates (check Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold and the legendary Calico Jack Rackham). Funny, smart, witty, and one hell of a ride to go on across seas. Season 3 was a bit dull for me, but will captivate nevertheless.
• OITNB - Season 3/Renewed seasons 4 through 7
• This had to be in here, didn't it? Everything a prison show should be, but light-hearted enough regardless. In later seasons, it will miss the unpredictability of Pornstache (Pablo Schreiber), the corrupt prison guard universally hated by staff and prisoners alike, but the other storylines can fill the void quite well. Taylor Schilling plays the lead incredibly and Laura Prepon as Alex Vause is captivating both for her attractiveness and excellent performance. Also features Jason Biggs and Natasha Lyonne of the American Pies. Why now would you refuse?
• DEADBEAT - Season 3/Too early to tell
• Literally has only just been released online, season 3 of Deadbeat is going to have to do well to keep me hooked given the shock ending of season 2. Features Tyler Labine (of Reaper [damn you, CW!]) as a stoner who helps ghosts complete their unfinished business so they can move into the light. Now reread the show title. Punny! I like.
• HELL ON WHEELS - Season 5A/5B will be the final season
• Set around a moving city during the building of the railways in America in the 1860s, an interesting look back at life in that time (for which I am a sucker!) with interesting characters and incredible acting. Anson Mount as lead Cullen Bohannon is incredible, though his purpose throughout the show wavers; and I cannot leave out Christopher Heyerdahl as murderous psychopath Thor Gundersen. Seasons can be recognised by Gundersen's hairstyles.

DISCLAIMER: No, I do not watch GoT. I DO watch Walking Dead, although when I say that I've finished season 1 and all of the above have taken priority. I'll get back to it.

Honourable mentions:

• Younger
• A 40-year-old woman pretends to be 26 to get a job in the modern publishing world after 15 years of unemployment.
• The Librarians
• Based off the films, 4 Librarians and a Guardian save the world from magic and villains exploiting it.
• Death in Paradise
• A British cop show written in a Conan Doyle style set on a fictional Caribbean island.
• Criminal Minds
• I can't need to explain this one?
• Blue Bloods
• Cop show. This one's about a family.
• Ripper Street
• Cop show, but in 1890s London (FOR WHICH I AM A SUCKER)

OTHER DISCLAIMER: These lists are by no means comprehensive; of shows I watch or want to watch or even plan to watch, these are simply my current favourites. More will come.

Pilots I want to see get series orders

This round-up has grown much longer than I thought it would, so in the interests of not boring you I'll only do a couple of pilot shows.

• DREW
• Set to be another unimaginative cop show, this is based around Nancy Drew, who is now 30 years old and a detective in New York. Could be a winner given the long list of unimaginative cop shows who have lengthy tenures on CBS, but my main attraction to this is the casting: Sarah Shahi (Shaw, Person of Interest) as Nancy and Anthony Edwards (Mark Greene, ER; Goose, Top Gun) as her father. Two of my favourite people. This better make it past the pilot.
• APB
• Yes, I'm as unimaginative as CBS (and this is an ABC pilot I believe), but this is a cop show with a slight twist. A billionaire buys a precinct and tries to bring the old-fashioned boys in blue into the modern world. Should, if it makes a series order, be interesting to see this clash of technologies. Will probably serve, if it gets that series order, as a replacement for Castle.

Honourable mentions:

• Conviction
• Bull
• Bunker Hill

ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: Again, not a comprehensive list. There's more I want to see get series orders this year.

Final words

This is it for today and probably for this week! I'll hope to update these regularly until the May sweeps and then I aim to get through an episode of each show in one week and review them all! Thanks for reading and please do come back!

Sam