I am always surprised by the ebb and flow of the television schedule. Nights that once overloaded my TiVo now find it vacant and vice versa.

Sure, Sunday nights have been terribly popular for years. Various combinations of “Simpsons,” “X-Files,” HBO and AMC series, “Apprentice,” “Amazing Race,” and more have filled my evening. The list of shows that I have watched—and do watch—on Sundays is large and not worth completely recounting.

For a long time, Thursday nights were massive for me – there was way too much to watch. Now, not being a huge fan of the Shonda Rhimes ABC block and with NBC’s Must See lineup having gone the way of the dodo, there isn’t much there for me. I will absolutely admit to watching “The Odd Couple” and being completely unsure what to think of it and also confess that “The Big Bang Theory” has never made me laugh all that much.

What is really surprising to me at this moment is Tuesday nights. I got home a little after 9pm this past Tuesday and saw that my DVR was recording four different shows at the same time. That was just in the single hour, there were other shows I recorded that night as well. When did Tuesdays get that way? How did Tuesdays get that way? I don’t know, but I don’t have time to watch all that record on Tuesdays.

What, you may ask, am I recording on Tuesdays (specifically in that 9pm hour)? Very good question, quite fair, and I’m going to tell you.

“New Girl,” “iZombie,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” and “Undateable.” So, yes, the number of shows I was recording dropped at 9:30pm from four to two, but I think arguing that misses the point. After all, I also recorded “The Flash” and “Cougar Town” (farewell cul-de-sac crew!) on this past Tuesday. Beyond that, “iZombie” is unquestionably one of my favorite new shows, “S.H.I.E.L.D.” has done amazing things this second season, and at some point in the middle of its first season, “The Flash” began being tremendous.

If you had asked me in early December whether I preferred “Gotham” or “The Flash” (you know, because we were both being reductive and tossing them into the same pot as comic book series), I would have said “Gotham;” it wouldn’t have even been a question. Now though, I’m saying “The Flash.” It could just be that they have been on a roll for the past few weeks and “Gotham” has been off the air for the same period, but man, if you haven’t been watching Barry Allen and friends, you’ve been missing out.

The story of Barry’s mom’s death and father’s imprisonment wasn’t one that had struck me as terribly interesting until recently, I had seen it as just another story they would tease out forever and which would prove less and less fun the longer it went. The producers, however, have opted to not stretch it out. More or less, we now know what happened even if we don’t have the specifics of how it happened. Plus, as we’ve now gotten to see the backstory from an omniscient point of view, it would be hard for them to walk it back at this point.

Honestly though, that deserves a whole piece analyzing the full season. “S.H.I.E.L.D.” does too, or more than that as what we’re looking at there is a great course correction that began in season one and followed the events of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

As for “iZombie,” I think we’re only three episodes in at this point but I’m loving the detective/zombie thing it’s worked out so far; the show really jumped out of the box with a great tone. The interesting thing will be to see how the overarching mystery of how this all came about gets juxtaposed with the case-of-the-week aspect. If they can manage to make both of those things work, it could be a truly great ride.

Eventually, of course, all this will change. My TiVo will be wholly empty on Tuesday nights once more. Right now though, I’m riding the wave and loving it.

photo credit: ABC/Adam Rose

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: ABC, FOX, iZombie, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., New Girl, SHIELD, The CW, The Flash, Undateable