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It is still early in the Summer TV series season - sure a few new shows have debuted, but most stuff for the summer rolls out in mid and late July. So what are you watching, what do you plan on watching and what do you look forward to seeing again?

For me I’m currently charmed by The Middleman on ABC Family and to a lesser degree In Plain Sight. I’m looking forward to the return of Burn Notice on USA and I’m mildly interested in seeing if I’ll still hate Mad Men on AMC.

Lots of interesting reality is out there too…. I know Stefan is a big fan.

Funny you should ask, because I just recently decided to take a break from Buffy (I’m down to the last season and feel the need to savor it) and try out another couple of shows on DVD that have been recommended to me.  So last night I watched a few episodes of Weeds, and guess what?  I don’t like it so much.  The long and short of it is that, in the few episodes I’ve watched, I feel as though the creators and writers of the show are desperately trying to prove to me that “they get it” and that “this ain’t your granny’s late night, pay cable comedy about weed.”  I’m not buying it, but I’ll finish out the season to see if the elderly black woman who deals drugs to Mary Louis Parker’s character descends any deeper into overwrought cliche.

Also thinking about The Wire, but there’s only so much room in the queue.

I have a very similar reaction to Weeds. Mostly I think Mary Louise Parker is lovely and has gorgeous hair and skin. And then 30 seconds pass and I’m ready to stab myself.

Weeds gets a lot of critical acclaim, which we’ve never really understood. Deeps regularly refers to it as a show about the worst mother in the world. I like to think she’s also incredibly stupid.

I’ve downloaded a bunch of the new fall shows and watched the pilot for Pretty/Handsome, Life on Mars, True Blood and Fringe, the other pilots sucked.  Fringe has an X-Files feel to it and while the pilot was a bit silly, it has potential.  Pretty/Handsome is amazing.  It’s not often a 250 lb lesbian can make you want to cry but the wife and I were almost in tears.  I’m sure many many people will shed a tear or two over her scene.  It’s from the guys that brought us Nip/Tuck but it’s not exploitive and silly like NP.  The pilot is amazing.  Aaron will love it.  Life on Mars is good but I need to see the BBC version before I can really comment on it. True Blood is a white trash southern vampire series on HBO that should get lots of fans. It’s based on a book series that the wife read and really liked.

Currently loving Black Gold, the second part of the Doctor Who three parter is sick it’s so good, Swingtown isn’t bad but not great, Fear Itself is miles better than Masters of horror but isn’t all that great and Middleman is silly fun. 

After three episodes, In Plain Sight finally got good.  Penn & Teller’s Bullshit is back and better than ever.  I like 30 Days but the last episode was crap.  Venture Brothers is really good this season and Leverage is a very sad rip off of the BBC series Hustle.

In the just over 24 hours since Dr Who has finished over here, either I will see a few seconds of Big Brother UK as I walk through the lounge or I won’t be seeing any TV.

Obviously, the last just over 24 hours have seen the sunny skies and gentle breezes turn into grey clouds of drizzle and gusts of wind - just to mock those of us planning on getting some fresh air for a while.  I love the British summers so much…

Man, did the season finale of Dr. Who suck or what?  I’m not going to spoil anything but it was the worst ending to date.  The final 10 minutes I thought would never end and the music was smurfin awful.

I’m so glad Moffat is taking over the series.

Aw man! You guys have already seen it? Well, that makes sense since you’re all global and such.

I liked the Season 1 finale and the season 2 finale - but while I didn’t hate the season 3 finale as much as the rest of the world, I recognized it wasn’t that great.

I think we still have like 5 episodes left in the US.

Actually, I thought it was all a little too messy UNTIL the last ten minutes. 

The following shouldn’t really count as spoilers since you lot in the US already know Rose will be back, so:

They settled the alternative universe thing really, really well.

They settled what would be happening to add more to Torchwood in a logical way that will make the third series (or the number of specials, as would appear to be the case) something I’m looking forward to.

They left the Dr with an amazing amount to dwell on, and I think this one episode will do more to define any Dr than episodes distant past or of the last few years.  It was about time he was made to stop being so superior without Donna having to cut in with a put-down - I think he have more depth now.

The villians were, as expected, just brilliant - you can’t go wrong with you know who.

The final scenes seemed a little clumsy in how they HAD to happen (Really? How did that work the last time something like this happened to a character? Why didn’t the Dr repeat how he solved the problem on that occasion?) but they were wonderfully dramatic and I got quite emotional (I loved that character).

If you haven’t already spotted it, there was an item we saw at the end of the third series that was very prominently displayed in the last couple of minutes of the end of this.  It won’t be the last we’ve seen of someone, I’m sure.  And having seemingly tied up so many loose ends, I love that they left something trailing here all the same.

MINOR Spoiler too follow - it just won’t be the same without the wonderful Bernard Cribbins around, and I hope the producers recognise this.