Fall TV Preview--What I'm Watching (+ Thoughts on Breaking Bad's final episode)

I've finished my review of the new Fall TV Programming for 2013. I've enjoyed getting it done again and I hope that you've found some fun along the way. (I've even gotten some inspiration for how I will present things in NEXT year's edition, so that is also good news.)

But now I want to let you know what my potential TV watching schedule is going to be for this new season. Naturally, the demands of work--sadly MUCH more so than the demands of parenting--might force me into some alterations of this ideal schedule. But here is what I'm hoping for right now.)

Sunday (cable)

This night has been dominated by cable shows over the past several years and I plan to keep it that way. I finished watching the run of Breaking Bad last night (and have some thoughts . . . see below if you don't care about SPOILERS) and I will pick up with Mad Men when it returns for its final set of episodes. In the meantime, I'll be watching The Walking Dead (but upstairs to keep its away from Lynda).

(If I had premium cable--and I only finagle a free trial run of HBO to catch Game of Thrones, I'd also love to give Masters of Sex a try.)

Monday (CBS, Fox, ABC)

How I Met Your Mother and Sleepy Hollow are my definite shows to watch on this night. Most likely I'll watch HIMYM before I got to bed and maybe, if time doesn't permit, I'll push Sleepy Hollow to a different night. Because Lynda and I also like to watch Castle on Monday night's, and any excuse I can come up with the divert her from working all the time is a good excuse.

Tuesday (Fox, ABC)

My biggest issue on this night is trying to preview New Girl for appropriateness before Sarah can watch it. Depending on how Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. develops, I might try to watch that DVR-delayed with the girls. (They are fans of The Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man, so this might be fun for them to watch as well.) Sarah also likes Supernatural, so I've got to figure that out as well.

Wednesday (NBC, The CW)

Finally, the two weakest networks get on the board and its already mid-week. On NBC, I'll tape Revolution and find some time to watch it before the next week rolls around. But on The CW, I'm totally involved with the Amell brothers who are starring in Arrow and The Tomorrow People.

Thursday (CBS, NBC)

The Big Bang Theory is the main show on this night, along with Elementary--another guaranteed opportunity to get Lynda involved in the TV watching. But I'll be giving The Michael J. Fox Show a try for a while. But it might drop.

What won't be coming back this year? Glee. It should have ended two years ago.

Friday (Nickelodeon)

There is nothing on Friday that I am setting aside DVR time for. I watch Nickelodeon's Legends of Korra on Friday nights. It is not as good as the original Avatar: The Last Airbender was, but its getting better in its second season. (Which is only three weeks old.)

Also, I usually end up watching a movie with the kids on this night anyway.

Saturday (BBC America)

Well, whatever comes. I might be catching up on a backlog of DVR stuff or if I'm lucky Lynda and I might go on an occasional date. But there's nothing here that is appointment TV.

And when it returns late in the year, I'll of course be watching Doctor Who. I just didn't include it here as it is on hiatus.

(People also tell me that I should be watching Orphan Black, and maybe I'll try to catch up with Season 1 on Netflix before the next season begins.)

***

And now, on to my thoughts on last night's Breaking Bad.

And, no . . . I didn't truly think it was that level of bad. But, it did leave me feeling cold and unhappy--a bit.

And after thinking about it and reading some reviews today (that confirmed what I was thinking, not directing what I hadn't yet thought), I agree that it was all too neat in its precision and in the way that things were wrapped up for the audience.

Sure, we live in a world where if you piss off the fans at the end of a show's run, you get blasted. And maybe Vince Gilligan was a bit afraid of what happened to the Lost guys or to David Chase. But I don't expect Gilligan to ever admit this fear--even if it was mostly subconscious if it was ever there at all. But things had built up to such high heights. (And deservedly so . . . I loved the show like everyone else and was very impressed with how this 5.5 season of eight episodes just kept piling on and on and on without stopping.)

But it was just that build up that made last nights end seem sort of ordinary by comparison. Example--when Walt was standing and saying goodbye to baby Holly, I wouldn't have been surprised if he pulled out a knife and tried to slice her blanket. The scene was so quiet and still, I was conditioned to expect something terrible to explode all around it. I mean, that had happened each of the last four weeks, hadn't it?

But no. All of Walt's plans came together in Hannibal-like precision. But was that how the show had always been? For all of Walt's ingenuity and creativity and ability to imagine meth-cooking complexly, he was always sort of winging his way through it. Sure, he bluffed well. But it was always improvisation mixed with a healthy dose of luck that made his year-long meth ride work. We all loved it so much, we didn't want to really examine where all of the strings were connected, to see if they truly made the picture we thought they should. make.)

And last night, neat as you please, things worked. Walt got what he wanted and ended the way he believed it should. And that was the other thing that bothered me in the end. Walt got what he wanted. And after he inflicted so much pain and suffering upon others (for what he admitted in the end, was all for HIM)--I just felt a bit sad that he got to chose his own ending.

All that said, the show was great. And it wasn't WORST.EVER, I promise.

It just went off like one of Walt's famous cooks--without a hitch and without a flaw. But maybe some flaws should have bumped their way into the mixture? It would have made it more human and less clinical.

Fall TV Preview--ABC

I took a few more days off this past week to actually watch some of the shows that I've been talking about in these Preview posts. One of those was a highlighted show for ABC, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (9/24@ 8), a high profile effort that jumps off of the big, sparkly success of Joss Whedon's The Avengers movie and the decade-long (or does it just seem that way) build up of the Marvel superhero brand. All culminating in this weekly TV show that begins where Whedon's summer blockbuster ended--as everyone recovers from what is being called The Battle of New York.

The public is adjusting to the idea that super-beings exist . . . and that aliens and other super villians also exist. And if you live in a densely populated urban area, you are in severe danger of having your place of residence demolished at any time. Naturally, the government has been preparing for this for a while--probably since Peter Parker first donned his red & blue tights and started fighting crime in Brooklyn and the Bronx. But this show doesn't follow Sam Jackson's character, Nick Fury. Rather, it reveals (NOT a spoiler if you've seen the inumerable commercials leading up to last week's premiere episode) that his right-hand man Agent Phil Coulson is alive and leading a team of agents who investigate Supers and strive to make the rest of us safe from their potential damage.

The show . . . isn't great, to be honest. The premiere had to work hard to connect all the dots left over from the movie--and it doesn't feature any of the superheroes, mind you. Even Disney-owned ABC and Marvel can't afford those Hollywood guys on a weekly basis. Rather, it feels a bit like Alias, without all the sexiness and a lot like Alphas. (But ABC surely doesn't want this tent-pole show to be compared to that middling USA Networks effort.)

Joss Whedon is the executive producer, but not the creative leader of the show. Rather his brother Jed and his sister-in-law Mo Taucheron are show-runners. And they do provide a flavor of the Whedonesque speak that everyone expects. But the show just didn't snap. Its probably due to the needs of a pilot rather than the intrinsic weaknesses of the show . . . but we'll see. There have been reports that the show must answer to Disney, Marvel, and Mutant Enemy (the Whedon production company) and with that many cooks in the kitchen . . . the souffle might not rise as expected.

ANYWAY . . . on to the weekly lineup.

Sunday

Once Upon a Time (9/29 @ 8) seems to be the big draw--at least to my particular set of entertainment values. The show still smacks a bit of the Disney movie Enchanted, where fairy tale people interacted with the real world. But maybe it is a modern-day Fantasy Island, mixed with some of the drama and danger of a Lost-type show? (I've never watched it.) The commercials tell me that this season is centered around trying to get to Neverland and it seems like either Peter Pan himself is not the happy-go-lucky boy we thought he was . . . or his shadow is sort of murderous and ragey? Anyway, it might actually be entertaining if you are into that sort of thing. And it is surely the best textile porn this side of The CW's Reign.

If you like your drama a bit more centered in the "real world" you can watch Revenge (9/29 @ 9) or Betrayal (9/29 @ 10). One is about people righting wrongs done to them . . . and the other is about avenging murder and lies. I'll let you figure out which one is which.

Monday

Dancing with the Stars (9/16 @ 8) has already premiered its new set of hoofers and I'm not sure if Bill Nye the Science Guy has been voted off yet. But I hope not. I only see the last few minutes of this show as I am preparing to watch Castle (9/23 @ 10). And because of that I know that some sort of former football player was voted off last Monday night. But I can't remember who it was. Anyway, Castle is still going strong and the big deal this season will be to see if Nathan Fillion's character and Stana Katic's character can maintain their deepening public relationship while she is now working in Washington D.C. as a federal-agent-in training?

Tuesday

This night begins with the aforementioned Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But the network hopes that this provides a strong lead-in for the new comedy The Goldbergs (9/24 @ 9) and Trophy Wife (9/24 @ 9:30). Goldbergs seems exactly like I [heart] the 80s + The Wonder Years. And while the voiceover by Patton Oswald is interesting to me, I don't think much else of it will be. Its probably a well-done show that I might catch up with some day on Netflix.

There is also a show called Lucky 7 (9/24 @10), but I initially forgot to even write about this show. So . . . maybe it is not capturing my imagination as much as a show about a group of people who won the lottery and then faced dramatic changes should?

Wednesday

This is ABC's big comedy night and half of these shows are returners from the past. This includes The Middle (9/25 @ 8) and Modern Family (9/25 @ 9)--which just won the Emmy for Best Comedy again. New comedies include Back in the Game (9/25 @ 8:30) and Super Fun Night (10/2 @ 9:30). Dean has already announced his deletion of Back in the Game, so I feel justified in never having started. And I don't think I care that much about Rebel Wilson's show. I am not sure about some one named Rebel and this feels like something that might have been created to take advantage of Melissa McCarthy's popularity, without paying for Melissa McCarthy. (Wilson was also in Bridesmaids.)

If you don't want to end your mid-week viewing with comedy (and why would you since The CW is serving up two hours of drama?), you could stay with ABC and watch Nashville (9/25 @ 10).

Thursday

If you liked the idea behind Once Upon a Time--and maybe are planning to watch the Sunday night version of the show . . . then why not try Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (10/10 @ 8), a spin off of the original that follows the Alice character in her "natural" habitat. But don't get too attached. This is a one-season tale only.

Here is the part of this year's Fall TV Preview when I marvel that Grey's Anatomy (9/26 @ 9) is STILL on the air. And here is the part of this year's Fall TV Preview when I don't even try to distinguish Scandal (10/3 @ 10)  from the ABC shows Revenge or Mutiny or Betrayal or Evil. (Some of those names are made up.)

Friday

I wish that Last Man Standing (9/20 @ 8) was actually based on Y: The Last Man which people tell me is very good and that I think I should read. But it is a sitcom starring Tim Allen and I think you know all that you need to know.

I'll leave it to Dean to even try to explain why The Neighbors (9/20 @ 8:30) should be given any more time to prove itself more than a terrible idea for a TV show. And . . . speaking of terrible TV shows, I guess you could do worse on a Friday night than watch Shark Tank (9/20 @ 9)--might I suggest America's Next Top Model? But really, you should just watch a rerun of the excellent Sleepy Hollow instead.

And then there is 20/20, which is still going and provides new-journotainment for junkies at the start of a weekend. But I think it would just be better if you read the local paper and thought about what life would be like if the events of Sleepy Hollow could be plausible.

Saturday

Football, football, football!!!!!

(But what might it be like if the quarterback was headless and he threw a pumpkin instead?) Hmmm?

Fall TV--Revolution "Born in the U.S.A."

I took a break from writing another entry in this year's Fall TV Preview series to watch the premiere of NBC's Revolution, season 2, "Born in the U.S.A."

And let me tell you, I can't remember a grimmer hour of television that wasn't hidden on cable and on later in the night. This was NBC, at 8 pm, on a Wednesday. And this show featured the sort of depressing stuff that I expect to see on the premiere of The Walking Dead, over on AMC later in October. I saw enough of Revolution last year to understand that this show is set in a difficult dystopia full of hardship. And I know that last season ended with the threat of a nuclear missile strike.

But when this season began with the fact that ICBMs did, in fact, obliterate Philadelphia and Atlanta, and that this sent our heroes into a tailspin of depression . . . well, that was unfortunate. But then stuff just started stacking up. Miles was hiding some sort of secret that left him covered in blood and so afraid that he had to burn the evidence. Charlie was alone, stalking Monroe to exact the revenge she couldn't get last season. Rachel and Aaron were trying to put the past behind them (and their inability to stop the nuclear strike) by finding a new beginning in Texas with Rachel's dad.

Then we find out that a band of marauders are surrounding the Texas town. And the invade and Aaron gets killed fighting off these bandits. But the sheriff and Miles are captured and led to the headquarters of the marauders (decorated with hanging bodies that you would expect to see on Game of Thrones.

Just misery on top of misery. It makes me wonder about the zeitgeist of the time, as we so willingly embrace these tales of despair. It is too easy to say that all of the global problems and fears of the past twelve years have led us to this sort of prime time television, but maybe there is a portion of truth about it.

Fall TV Preview--Fox

Last night I finally watched the premiere of Sleepy Hollow which has been the show highest on my radar of New Shows to Watch. This is because I had some childhood fears about the Headless Horseman that I needed to resolve. (Plus, the premise of the show seemed bananas, but maybe bananas-good like in a ice cream and split way rather than in the you've waited too long to eat those things way.)

And it WAS the ice cream way.

At first I didn't even know that the show was developed by Kurtzman & Orci, the same dudes who were involved in Spiderman 2, Fringe, and lots of other shows that I love. It's got the weird elements of mystery that remind me a bit of Twin Peaks. It's got the occult of Buffy. It's got the sinister conspiracy of X Files. And I wasn't even scared of the Headless Hessian. Who knows what it'll be like going through this first season, but I'm totally in! 

What else does Fox have under way this season?

Sunday

The Animation Block begins again at 8 pm with The Simpsons (9/29 @ 8), then flows into Bob's Burgers (9/29 @ 8:30), Family Guy (9/29 @ 9), American Dad (9/29 @ 9:30) and then run into a screeching halt at 10 pm with the dreaded local programming. I think that the Sunday night local programming on Fox is probably just an hour of YouTube videos talking about how bad The Cleveland Show was, how The Simpson hasn't been consistently good for the last decade, a few people trying to convince me to watch Bob's Burgers, and many, many people who just wish Seth MacFarlane would go away. 

Monday

At the start of the work week, Fox is already off to a shaky footing it seems. Bones (9/16 @ 8) will hold down the 8 pm slot until Almost Human (11/4 @ 8) arrives. But that might be a good thing as Almost Human brings Karl Urban into the role of a 2048 LA police detective that isn't partnered with an android like all the other cops on the futuristic beat. The show runner has a Fringe pedigree and I've enjoyed Urban's roles both in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and as Dr. McCoy in the Bad Robot Star Trek reboots. So, pencil me in for this show when November gets here--especially if it leads into . . .

Sleepy Hollow! (9/16 @ 9). I won't say anything more about this show but I will speculate that the 10 pm local programming block on Monday nights is going to be people reading my blog post recaps of the show as the season goes on.

Tuesday

I should let Dean blog about Dads (9/17 @ 8) since a.) he's actually watched the first episode and b.) his posts always get more hits than mine. [Dean: if you want to comment below, be my guest.] I don't know if anyone has watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine (9/17 @ 8:30), but it seems to have piqued some people's interest. I'm skeptical of Andy Samberg combined with Andre Braugher, but I guess a cop show played for laughs is probably better than yet another cop drama.

I really loved New Girl (9/17 @ 9) and look forward to more craziness this season. But Nick and Winston and Schmidt have a lot to live up to in my eyes this year. (Their biggest fan, however, may end up being Sarah, who fell in love with the show on Netflix over the summer and spends her spare time following stuff about it on Tumblr.) I didn't get involved with The Mindy Project (9/17 @ 9:30), so I don't have lots to say about it.

Tuesday's 10 pm local programming on Fox? Those same dudes who disliked Seth MacFarlane are further incensed by Dads and get into protracted arguments with other dudes who argue that Andy Samberg shouldn't just stayed on Saturday Night Live already.

Wednesday

You are not surprised to hear me say that I am not at all interested in The X Factor (9/11 @ 8). But are you surprised that Fox devotes the ENTIRE prime time schedule on Wednesday to this show? Why not give us a repeat of Sleepy Hollow, Fox? Or perhaps you might reair the first few seasons of Fringe that were so, so good. Or maybe get down on your knees and BEG Joss Whedon to develop a new show for your network--even though he's turn you down in a flat second. But any of these ideas would be better than two solid hours of yet another singing program.

The local programming block on Hump Day is just a terrible, terrible hour of that horrible Geico commercial with the camel. You know what I'm talking about and I'm NOT going to link to it.

Thursday

Oh my glob . . . REALLY, Fox? Two solid hours of The X Factor wasn't enough for you last night, so you need to set aside ANOTHER hour at 8 on Thursday to examine the results of the previous night's voting? Wow. But okay. That is less programming that I need to write about tonight which will let me end this blog post sooner, which will let me watch New Girl and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sooner. So I guess that is okay.

Fox does have one semi-new bit of programming on at 9 . . . Glee (9/26 @ 9). I gave up on the show last year as the wheels came off and I'm not planning on coming back. Cory Monteith's suicide is just sad and half of the people aren't even cast members any more. Returning this show again is just like that feeling you get when you return to visit high school after spending some time at college. You might have some old underclassmen friends who are still there, but everyone should just agree to move on.

Thursday night's local programming is devoted to spreadsheets and charts that details how surprised everyone is that The Michael J. Fox Show is beating the 25th hour of this week's X Factor nonsense.

Friday

MasterChef Junior (9/27 @ 8) is what you get when you get tired of seeing Chef Gordon Ramsey berate adult cooks until they cry and instead wonder what it would look like if they asked him to scream at pre-teens who think they know how to cook. Something is wrong with this country when it devotes twelve hours of the week's programming to The Voice and then follows it up with this? Why did Fox cancel Firefly again?

But all is forgiven when the network decides to fill its 9 pm hour with a rerun of this week's Sleepy Hollow! Way to go Fox! You know that the nerds who are all in on this show are doing nothing else. Keep them involved.

Saturday

Do some push ups, you nerds! Do you want to end up looking like Ichabod Crane 1.0? And don't get your hopes up. You won't end up looking like this one. Or this one.

Fall TV Preview--CBS

Maybe it's because I sitting down to write this on a Sunday and maybe it's because my hit counts indicate that no one cares about NBC or The CW. But, for whatever reason, after taking two days off to relax, recharge, procrastinate, and do other things, I'm ready to tackle another network's offerings and existing schedule for the fall TV season.
As always, these opinions--such as they are--are mine alone, except for Dean's views on Cable, of course. If you would like to catch up on what I've written about this year, or examine what I've written about networks and shows in the past, all you have to do is click here or take the Fall TV Preview page link at the top of the blog.

Tonight, we'll take a look at the schedule of shows for CBS. As you may know, CBS has been the ratings winner for the past several years. I suggest that these ratings wins are the result of the mass market appeal of Chuck Lorre's comedic writing style combined with a style of drama that appeals to the nation's older TV viewers. For whatever, reason, it works for the Tiffany Network. And I think this Fall is more of the same. Let's take a look . . .

Sunday

After showing nothing but football from noon until 7ish, CBS leads its Sunday night with 60 Minutes, which has been on TV longer than God. It's not primetime, per se, but I felt I should acknowledge it like one acknowledges the sun when you get out of bed in the morning by squinting in its general direction.

The Amazing Race (9/29 @ 8) continues to bring whatever class can be found to the reality genre. It has won Emmys and continues to be an interesting show, I guess. Me personally? I've never watched it.

I've also never watched The Good Wife (9/29 @ 9) or The Mentalist (9/29 @ 10). But if you want to watch them, they start in a week.

Monday

CBS shifts from Sunday night dramas to a variety of comedies at the start of the work week. First up is How I Met Your Mother (9/23 @ 8) which finally lived up to its name in the waning seconds of last season, introducing us to Ted's future wife. I've been sort of hot and cold on this show in the last few years, continuing to watch out of obligation. Here's hoping that this final spin through the Ted Moseby memory bank will justify some of that obligation.

We Are Men (9/30 @ 8:30) takes a comedic look at men facing divorce, modern marriage, fatherhood, and all those sorts of issues that men didn't used to have to worry about at all. I don't know if it will be funny, and I sort of expect it to be rather ordinary.

Speaking of rather ordinary and not funny . . . 2 Broke Girls (9/23 @ 9) most likely doesn't care at all what I think about its show. But what about Mom (9/23 @ 9:30), a show starring Anna Faris. She's not broke but she is a single mom who is battling her previous alcoholism. Faris got some critical acclaim for her role in The House Bunny and she played everyone's favorite weatherperson in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (1 and 2). Also this is another Chuck Lorre show, so I would not be surprised if it is successful. How will the show play recovering alcoholism for laughs, I wonder?

The last new show of Monday night is Hostages (9/23 @ 10), which I've seen many commercials for in the last month. It involves the coercion of a surgeon and her family into tanking the next days schedule operation on the president of the United States! It stars Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott and kind of makes he think of Panic Room mixed with Dave? I don't know where it goes from the first few episodes, but maybe it'll be like a female 24? Or maybe it'll be something else entirely.

Tuesday

Tuesday night is NCIS night! The original (9/24 @ 8) and the LA one (9/24 @ 9) will draw its share of viewers. But I expect it'll get crushed by Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on the same night, starting at 8. (More on it in a different post.) But if you are settled in to watch NCIS, then you'll maybe want to also watch Person of Interest (9/24 @ 10). I gave PoI several tries in its first season, but it just didn't click with me. I wanted Michael Emerson to succeed post-Lost and I was sort of interested in Caviezel, post-"Jesus." But the concept of the show just didn't grab me.

Wednesday

Mid week is like Homecoming week for CBS. The shows offered have been on for a looong time and you likely know all that you need to know about them. This seems like the 300th season of Survivor (9/18 @ 8). The hook this time around is all stars versus their family.

Then there is Criminal Minds (9/25 @ 9). I honestly don't know how to describe this show. I've never watched it and I think it is just another police procedural drama similar to NBC's Law & Order:SVU that is its Wednesday night opposite. Why not switch over The CW at nine and give The Tomorrow People a try?

And speaking of 300th season, here is CSI (9/25 @ 10) for another season of intricate laboratory work and evidentiary examinations. Who is the William Peterson/Lawrence Fishburne/Ted Danson lead of the show nowadays? Are the junior CSIs still toiling in semi-obscurity? Wouldn't this show be that much more engaging if Joss Whedon wrote it?

Thursday

Like Monday, this night is fronted by a block of comedies and anchored by a 10 o'clock drama. First, The Big Bang Theory (9/26 @ 8) asks you to wonder how things between Penny and Leonard will be while he is still at sea on some research trip. Will Raj ever learn to talk to girls without having to get drunk first? Is Sheldon learning to display human emotion in a convincing fashion . . . outside of his love for flags?

The Millers (10/3 @ 8:30) probably makes me sadder than almost any other show on any night for any network. And that is because it will most likely be yet another opportunity for Will Arnett to not be as good as we want him to be--either because of bad writing or maybe because he's turning into the Jim J. Bullock of recent television (he's in many things and not entirely successful at most of them).

And then there is The Crazy Ones (9/26 @ 9), starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Williams. I would have sworn that this show was an hour-long dramedy . . . and now I see that it is only 30 minutes? I was already sort of skeptical, but now I'm more so. I would like Gellar to succeed. I gave Ringer a try a few years ago. But I'm sort of ambivalent to Williams. He's an easy target at times, so I guess I should be sympathetic. Maybe it'll be okay.

I'm going to skip Two and a Half Men (9/26 @ 9:30) as it needs no help from me or you. Rather I suggest that you watch Elementary (9/26 @ 10). It is not up to the quality of BBC's Sherlock and Jonny Lee Miller & Lucy Liu do not a Cumberbatch & Freeman make. But it's still an engaging hour-long drama/procedural with some flair to it.

Friday

Ugh. Undercover Boss (9/27 @ 8)--what? Yes?!  Hawaii Five-O (9/27 @ 9) and Blue Bloods (9/27 @ 10) are the forgettable shows being served up on Friday night. These have all been on for a few years--in the case of Boss . . . an unconscionable number of years at this point--so there is probably not much in the way of new things here. I suggest you spend your fall Friday nights attending the local high school football game and only rooting for the marching bands that perform at halftime. Those musical athletes have practiced hard for your entertainment and that stuff is harder than it looks.

Saturday

Take a walk on your neighborhood bike paths while the weather is still good. The tv will be there when you get back.