My Olympic addiction is back in full effect.  It’s been four years since I last filled up the DVR will so much sports recordings.  I’ve never really watched that much of the summer games, but I love the winter games.  I guess my years of playing hockey and my recent snowboard addiction help to fuel this.  So far I watched most of the opening ceremonies on our flight to KC on Friday.  We were tuned into speed skating, ski jumping, luge, and freestyle skiing during our KC pub crawl on Saturday.  Sunday was spent glued to the TV watching biathlon, nordic combined, and women’s hockey, along with more luge and freestyle skiing.

I stayed up to date on the events yesterday on nbcolympics.com and watched snowboard cross, men’s downhill, and figure skating pairs last night after work.  Today I’m working remote which allowed me to watch the USA curling match over lunch.  I also have the USA men’s hockey game on in the other room so I can listen to it for the rest of the day.  So far I have really enjoyed watching these games, and have been surprised by the curling action along with the freestyle skiing.  Not to mention the snowboard cross, which is something I’d love to try.  I can’t wait for more of the snowboard action to start up either.

I’m so glad that Chuck is back on the air again, finally!  If you don’t remember, there was a big online campaign to keep the show alive late last spring.  The third season started earlier this week with a two-hour special on Sunday night followed by an hour-long episode last night in its normal time slot.  I was a little nervous that the show might “jump the shark” but I have been really impressed with the storyline so far this season.  I don’t want to give much away, in case there are those that still have it on the DVR.  All of the action and comedy that was there before is still there, and perhaps even improved upon.  If you haven’t started watching this show, there is still time to get addicted, all the episodes are available for viewing on the official site.

Last night I finally finished watching The National Parks: America’s Best Idea series on PBS.  The six-episode series, directed by Ken Burns, details the full history of the National Park Service.  Though it was a bit lengthy at times, most of the old photos and updated videos were amazing to see.  Some of the narration was slow, and I did fall asleep a couple of times, but watching the series made me realize how badly I’d like to see many of the various national parks in the system.  By my count, I have only been to nine of the fifty-eight national parks.  So I still have a long way to go in seeing all the parks, but fortunately there are some on the list that are nearby and I would love to visit those soon.

My DVR is quickly filling itself up now that the fall TV lineup is back on.  So far we’ve watched our long time favorites How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, House, Survivor, and probably a few others I am already forgetting.  Plus another season of our all time favorite, Amazing Race, is about to begin on Sunday.  My question is simple, are there any new shows that are worth watching?  I’m such a slacker when it comes to finding new shows to watch, so hopefully I haven’t missed too many episodes if there is indeed something worth tuning into.

Once again this year I’ve been pretty addicted to the coverage of the Tour de France on Versus. With little to watch on TV during the summer, this is a nice way to kill a couple of hours each day. I’m sure everyone already knows that Lance Armstrong is back in the tour. It’s fun to watch him and his unbelievably talented team each day. And now that the race is in the Alps, the action is super exciting and will remain that way all the way to Paris. All of this really makes me want to get a road bike, or at least buy some slicks for my mountain bike.

I finally got around to watching the second season final of Chuck last night. And all I kept thinking is how is it possible that this series is still in jeopardy of being canceled. It is easily my favorite one hour show currently on TV, and there are many others that would agree with me. In fact, the show won top honors in USA Today’s Save Our Shows poll. There is even a twitter account dedicated to the cause. Zach Levi, the star of the show, is now saying, “the chances are good that we’ll come back.” The decision is to be made Monday.

After work yesterday I spent some time searching grocery stores, drug stores, and department stores for special 3D glasses that were given away the past few weeks for use during the Super Bowl and for last nights episode of Chuck. No one at the party we attended for the game had the 3D glasses so we couldn’t use them for the commercials, but I really wanted to get a hold of some for the Chuck episode. Unfortunately, my search didn’t turn up any results. I still haven’t watched the episode in hopes that I can find some glasses, but I’m beginning to think it’s a lost cause. Has anyone seen any of these things?

With the onset of fall weather comes the new season of TV shows. Just as it starts to get cooler outside, the good old DVR goes into double time recording all of the new episodes of our favorite shows. In fact, I had to find a way to tune into a third channel this past Monday to watch something live as we can only record two shows at a time. Tonight, a new season of the show Survivor starts and I’m pumped! Also, I’m glad to see My Name Is Earl back with new episodes once again. And obviously I can’t wait for the second season premier of Chuck next Monday. Anyone watching any new shows that are worth trying out?

The Olympics start tonight. I’m pumped and have already set the DVR to record everything. I wonder how long it will take before it gets full, especially since I’ll be away this weekend and early next week. Go USA!

Where have all of the good TV shows gone? I know that things typically slow down during the summer with the nice weather outside, but having been on crutches recently there isn’t much I can do. Though I must note that my ankle is getting better by the day. I am back on my own feet, though things are still a bit tender, so no activities yet. Back to TV though, we’ve been forced to watch crappy shows like Farmer Wants a Wife and re-runs of shows from our DVR backlog. I’m not sure how much longer I can take it before I swear off TV completely.