As I’ve said before, I used to watch very little TV, but once Matt and I got together, I fell under his evil influence. His TiVonfluence. Whatever. Anyway, thanks to Matt, I now watch much more TV than I used to. Fortunately, the TiVo lets us skip the commercials, so our watching is more efficient. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve/we’ve been watching, night by night, since the new season began.

Sunday:

Desperate Housewives – Season 3. I watch this out of habit. I could probably stop. But I won’t.

Monday:

How I Met Your Mother – Season 2. My favorite sitcom on TV. I love the cast, I love the writing, I love the twists that occur, and even though it’s filmed in Hollywood, it captures New York better than Friends ever did. And the cast is half-Jewish – Josh Radnor (Ted), Jason Segel (Marshall), and half of Alyson Hannigan (Lily) (Alyson’s mother is Jewish).

The New Adventures of Old Christine – Season 1.5. I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus on this show and I love the character she plays. Christine has poor judgment and always “goes there” when nobody else would. She’s so cringeworthy. That’s why I love it. The episode last season where she shook her chest at potential dates was priceless.

Prison Break – Season 2. I like how they’ve moved away from the prison setting this year. It makes the show fresher. And they keep randomly killing people off, so you never know who’s going to survive from week to week. So much suspense, this show.

Vanished – Season 1. Well, I was watching this, but in the most recent episode, they killed off the main character, played by Gale Harold, and while his replacement, Eddie Cibrian, is nice to look at, his character seems like he’s going to be trashy and boring. Plus it’s moving to Fridays, when other stuff is on. I’m dropping it.

Heroes – Season 1. This is the biggest surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting much from this, and I didn’t even watch it right away, but then we downloaded the first couple of episodes and watched them and I immediately got caught up in it. I really enjoy this show. It’s like a comic book. It keeps me watching. (We don’t actually watch this on Mondays; we watch the repeats on Friday nights on the Sci-Fi Channel because it conflicts with something on Mondays.)

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – Season 1. Sigh. This is the biggest disappointment of the season for me. I was expecting so much – perhaps too much. The main problems with this show: (1) The sketches aren’t funny. (2) Harriet, Sarah Paulson’s character, isn’t funny. (3) Harriet and Matt (Matthew Perry) lack chemistry, and there’s too much focus on them. (4) Nobody really tries to get comedy writers’ autographs in real life. (5) Nobody really cares if network presidents have drunk driving convictions in real life, because (6) late-night comedy is just not as fraught with consequences as the American presidency and I can’t bring myself to care. I’ll probably keep watching, but the show just isn’t working for me. The main problem is that I miss The West Wing and I wanted this show to replace it. It’s not happening.

Tuesday:

Veronica Mars – Season 3. Near-perfect writing and acting. Weevil working on the campus is a bit contrived, but I can deal with that. Kristen Bell: television goddess.

Wednesday:

30 Rock – Season 1. Another pleasant surprise. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but the two episodes so far have been hilarious. It has a twisted Arrested Development sensibility to it. I love the goofy, grinning NBC page who shows up everywhere in his navy blue blazer.

Justice – Season 1. Victor Garber as an arrogant, high-powered lawyer. I wasn’t planning to watch this, because I don’t usually watch procedurals, but we happened to catch the season premiere and were drawn in. It’s fun. Not a must-see, but fun. I could dump it if necessary.

Lost – Season 3. One of the highlights of my week, TV-wise. Some people say they don’t reveal enough of the mystery from week to week, but that’s okay with me. I can just watch the show and enjoy the ride. So far it’s not quite up to last year’s suspense level. I miss the hatch, with its retro-70s environment, and I’m not too fond of the Others’ plot so far, but hey – it’s Lost. I trust the writers.

The Nine – Season 1. Very intriguing so far. It’s on right after Lost, but we’re usually drained at the end of Lost and don’t want to spoil the mood, so we watch it a couple of days later. I can watch Scott Wolf for hours…

Thursday:

Smallville – Season 6. It’s so-so, but I’ve watched it for five years and I’ll keep doing so. I don’t mind laughing at it when ridiculous plot holes develop, as they often do. And I’ll never like Lana. Justin Hartley has been playing the Oliver Queen, a.k.a. the Green Arrow, lately. He makes me quiver. Get it? Never mind…

Ugly Betty – Season 1. I’ve only seen one episode so far, but I really enjoyed it. It conflicts with something, so we download it.

Friday:

Battlestar Galactica – Season 3. Like no other show on TV. An incredible season so far, even if my brain always has to work hard to keep up with what’s happening.

Theater Talk, a show on New York’s local PBS station. Great way to keep up with the latest Broadway happenings. Hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins. The best episodes are the ones where they have a panel that includes columnist Michael Musto. He’s such a bitchy queen. I love him.

Saturday:

Saturday Night Live – Season 32! Fortunately, with TiVo, we can breeze through this in about 45 minutes.

So, that’s the TV we watch every week. I’ve also caught The Class, Two and a Half Men, and Brothers and Sisters occasionally. And Matt actually watches a couple of other things I don’t watch.

It strikes me now that this is all rather pathetic.

I do, in fact, have a life.

Honest…