MUST-SEE TV

MUST-SEE TV

Now that the holidays are behind us, many of my favorite TV shows will be coming back on the air.  It's been a while since I've had regular appointments with my television, the only recent one being Thursday nights at 9 for Project Runway All-Stars, so I'm looking forward to hanging out with some of my favorites.

Justified is coming on again, and I can't wait to see what Raylan's up to this season.  I love his relationship with Boyd, and can't help thinking about what a team they'd make if they were both on the same side of the law.  Plus, Timothy Olyphant is just so pretty to look at, and I admire how grounded and honorable he seems to be in real life.

Game of Thrones should be back soon.  I've been very lazy in not having finished the third book in the series, so I'll have to get to that soon to keep up with the show despite the many changes.  I feel like I would enjoy it nearly as much even if I hadn't read the books, but that OCD part of me needs some closure.

I'm interested in a new show, The Face.  It's a modeling competition set up like The Voice, with Nigel Barker (formerly one of the judges on America's Next Top Model), as host.  Tyra Banks has got to be upset that one of her people has gone over to the dark side, since her arch-enemy Naomi Campbell is one of the team captains.  From the previews I've seen so far, however, the girls on this show are much prettier than most of those who have appeared on ANTM.

My son has turned me on to a BBC show, Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, most recently seen as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.  I've been reading the forums at www.televisionwithoutpity.com and watching youtube clips of these guys on various chat shows, because I just can't get enough of "the 'Batch," as they're calling him on twop.  That deep voice is extremely compelling.  I'm also quite looking forward to the new Star Trek movie, due out in May, in which Cumberbatch plays the villain.  He's got a big career ahead of himself here in the States if he can keep the momentum going, and with his upcoming roles as Smaug and The Necromancer in the next Hobbit installment, that's almost guaranteed.  I love Martin Freeman as well, although it always feels like there's something profoundly melancholy in his eyes, even when he's smiling.  He doesn't smile often on screen, but on talk shows, he's very funny and charming.  The new Sherlock episodes are due later this year, and I can't wait to see the aftermath of Sherlock's dive from a London rooftop.

Last but not least, I've been waiting impatiently for the second half of Season 3 of The Walking Dead.  I have a serious crush on Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon, and when last we left the show, Daryl was in deep doo-doo, having been captured by the evil governor of Woodbury.  I must find out how he gets himself out of trouble. 

Of course I'll be glancing in on a bunch of other shows, but these are the programs that will be ruling my DVR.  Here's to a wealth of watching in 2013!