Spend a Summer at The Vineyard

I’ve not kept the fact that I love ABC Family’s teen mysteries a secret.  Heck, I’ve only blogged about Pretty Little Liars at least five times; I thoroughly enjoyed the recently cancelled The Lying Game; I can’t wait to catch up on the new hit, Twisted (I lost all of the episodes in my latest DVR crash a few weeks ago, but luckily the network aired a marathon and I have them all recorded again… now I need to watch them); and I’m eagerly awaiting the PLL’s spinoff coming this fall, Ravenswood.

It’s because of the allure and success of these teen programs that I plan to watch ABC Family’s latest series starting tonight—The Vineyard.

Now, The Vineyard is not a mystery; nor is it actually a scripted drama.  What?  I’ve seen the previews and it looks like a “normal” series… but Wikipedia calls it a reality program, while ABC Family refers to it as a docu-series.

At first I thought the new summer program was going to be more like the WB’s Summerland, which I felt wasn’t bad after catching a few episodes here and there.  But now I’m afraid it’s going to resemble more of MTV’s Laguna Beach or The Hills.  I somehow managed to stay away from these shows back in the day and I don’t regret my decision one bit.

So, how do I feel about The Vineyard?  The series promises “summer dreams, summer love, and summer drama.” And knowing me, I’ll at least give it a shot.  Heck, if anything, I can use this as writing research… right?

ABC’s new show will follow a group of young adults as they work together and live together in paradise (Martha’s Vineyard).  Okay, now it’s sounding a little bit like MTV’s Real World.

As expected, most of the girls have conflicting backgrounds: the girls who grew up in The Vineyard; the girls who want successful careers; the girls who want successful men to take care of them for the rest of their lives; and the girls who just want a fresh start.

And then there are the guys.  It seems as though the guys are all looking for love.  No, I’m sorry—lust.  But the same stands true for them as it does the girls… we have the bad boy, the player, the partier, and the serious one.

Heck, two of the “cast” members even shared a romantic past…

Regardless of who they are or where they come from, all eleven are beautiful.  Surprise!

Who wouldn’t want to spend the summer here?

The Vineyard premieres tonight (July 23^rd) on ABC Family.

So what do you think?  Will you watch The Vineyard?  I’d love to hear from you!      

Tele-Tuesday: Summer Chaos, Part One

During the summer months, we are busier than usual.  Not only do we find ways to deal with the heat, like making frequent trips to the pool and water parks, but we also gather up the troops and travel to fun and sunny destinations.  All of these activities pull us outside and take us away from our televisions.  For our household, this leaves our DVR queue full.

One might ask, how in the world can your DVR queue be full right now?  Despite it not being the typical television season of September through May, we still find ourselves recording at least a few programs per night.  Most of the shows we are currently recording come courtesy of TNT and USA, but there are also a few others…

So, for the sake of today’s post, I’m going to share my absolute must see series in a special summer edition of a Pick or Two Per Night… okay, maybe three in some instances.

*****

SUNDAY

True Blood

This picture is missing the hotness of Alcide, but I think everyone gets the point.

But where I say True Blood, my guy would argue Falling Skies…

And I must admit, the sci-fi hit about aliens invading our planet is growing on me.

And before we go to bed, we take a quick hit of Weeds…

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun…

*****

MONDAY

The Closer

I started this series late and then went back and caught up courtesy of Netflix.  Having watched every single episode, I must say that I am VERY pleased The Closer is bringing back “the one” that got away… will Brenda Leigh finally find the evidence to arrest Stroh in these final six episodes?

Then, we end the night with an hour of Teen Wolf…

Everyone knows there are werewolves in this series, but without giving too much away, I just want to add that I love the addition of the lizard-like thing this year.  Plus the battle between Scott’s “army” and Derek’s “army” only adds to this TV with bite.  Who will win?  Probably Scott, but as long as Derek gets lots of screen time, we’re all good!

*****

TUESDAY

White Collar

Neal Caffrey is hands-down my favorite con-man on TV…

Plus, I always have to find time to sneak in my teen mystery fave… Pretty Little Liars

And enough time for a quick set of laughs… and sometimes gore…

*****

WEDNESDAY

Necessary Roughness

You know… because it has football. 🙂

And then we go back a day and watch Tuesday night’s Franklin & Bash

They may be unconventional, but they are totally lawyers!

*****

THURSDAY

Burn Notice

I watch for Michael Westen; but I honestly love Sam, Maddie, Jesse, and Fi just as much… My guy can’t get enough of Sam Axe (he’s a big Evil Dead fan).

Followed immediately by Suits…

Even though this would NEVER happen in “real” life… someone without a law degree working as an associate at a major law firm… when the managing partner knows his secret… but it’s great TV!

*****

FRIDAY

Common Law

Wes and Travis are really growing on me, especially when they role play…. and my guy laughs his rear off in every episode.

*****

Late Friday night and continuing through Sunday, we cram a lot more into our weekend television viewing.  Come back next week to see just how insanely long that list is… trust me, it’s long.

And in addition to the list of shows above that are or will soon be on my DVR queue, perhaps my favorite summer obsession starts this Thursday…

Big Brother airs one-hour episodes Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights on CBS, PLUS three hours of unedited and live footage every night of the week on Showtime.

Let the good times begin!

Do you watch any of these shows?  Which summer show/s do you absolutely have to find the time to watch?  I’d love to hear from you…