Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- Honorable Mentions

E vs. Vince take one

It's that time again. The Quiet Pool Perspective's Bi-Monthly Power Rankings are back for its second September version. I can't believe I've kept this up for an entire year. Before we talk about our honorable mentions, let's take a look back at where my head was in September of 2009. I obviously wasn't watching as much tv, because I only had six honorable mentions. Now I have to just rotate who gets a mention in this first post of the power rankings because there are too many that deserve a nod.

The six series were (in alphabetical order) The Amazing Race, Entourage, Gary Unmarried, Gossip Girl, Mad Men, and Rules of Engagement. Right off the bat I notice that the Jay Mohr comedy has been cancelled. Next there are those that I still watch but aren't on this month's edition; The Amazing Race, Gossip Girl and Rules of Engagement. Gossip Girl is the only one of the three that I feel got considerably worse over the course of last year. And Mad Men, as is noticeable by many of the previous rankings, has moved up the chart since this time last year. But that may be because I've catered to the masses.

Anyway, these are some of the shows that you might want to think about watching.

Honorable Mentions

Show- (last time)...red=moving down, green=moving up

American Idol- (20) Tuesdays on FOX
This time last year Idol was 10th. Just two months ago it was still in the top 20, but with the departure of Simon Cowell and the unknown of who will be judging come January, I can no longer rank this in the top 20. It is now out of my current top three for reality competition series. Which is that third series you may ask. Find out tomorrow.

Covert Affairs- (-) Tuesdays on USA
I posted on the new spy series last week, but I think it deserves another mention here. It's light but fun. The characters are great. There is definitely less serialization than I thought there would be at the start, but it's still worth it during the summer.

Entourage- (-) Sundays on HBO
Since it's my job to review Mad Men and Hung on Sundays, I have yet to speak about this season of Entourage. It has definitely been a marked improvement. Steven James Snyder wrote a nice piece over at TIME about how the story lines were much more interesting, and I couldn't agree more. Finally seeing Vince get punished for his foolish actions is a nice change. In a Don Draper-ish fashion we're watching to see how far he can sink this season. The addition of Scott Caan and the evolution of a much less irritating E has made for a good season overall.

Hannah Montana- (-) Sundays on Disney Channel
I didn't go out and buy The Last Song on Blu Ray, like some other people I know, but I love me some Miley Cyrus. Both the rise in effectiveness of Emily Osment's Lilly and the loss of Mitchell Musso's Oliver have been an added bonus to an already stellar comedy.

Hard Knocks- (-) Wednesdays on HBO
One of the best fringe benefits of getting six months of free HBO. I would have downloaded True Blood, Entourage and the like, but I probably wouldn't have gotten around to Hard Knocks. Having it on my DVR? Great! It's just a great inside look at the sport I love to watch most. It doesn't hurt that Rex Ryan is loud and cursing all the time, Antonio Cromartie can't remember his kids' names, and Mark Sanchez acts like a little baby during practices. All good stuff.

Ron and Sam fight

Jersey Shore- (-) Thursdays on MTV
As Bill Simmons and the Czar of Reality TV Dave Jacoby talked about, it's hard to find someone who watches a bit of Jersey Shore and doesn't like it. When I first heard about it, I was like "ehhh another reality show where the people are ridiculous but uninteresting. No thanks." Well after my boys in NYC talked it up, I started watching, and began to really enjoy it. Most of these people actually are interesting. My only problem with the second season so far is that every episode has dealt too much with Ronnie and Sammy. No matter what Simmons says, Situation is the MVP. Always has been, always will be. The dude is awesome and he needs to be the focus of every episode.

The League- (-) Thursdays on FX
With the start of football season coming up, The League needs to get mentioned here. A show that improved over its first season, I wouldn't be surprised to see it take another step forward. If it has more fantasy football plot in the second season (as is rumored by Alan Sepinwall) then I will be much more happy with it.

Rubicon- (-) Sundays on AMC
Here's a show that has taken advantage of the situation. It's the third original series on AMC. Coming after the critically acclaimed Mad Men and Breaking Bad, everyone assumes this is automatically going to be fantastic. I'm intrigued so far, but not overly excited about it. It's slow and none of the characters are interesting at this point. James Badge Dale is great, but he hasn't shown me anything good thus far in Rubicon.

Spartacus- (-) Fridays on Starz
Now that Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee have admitted to loving this show, I feel that I can actually write that I watched and enjoyed the first season. It is now socially acceptable. By no means is it great television, but there are moments of action and drama that are extremely watchable.

Ultimate Catch- (-) Sundays on VH1
I am not one to enjoy a reality dating show, but I'll make an exception on this. As a football fan, I'm enjoying watching Chad Ochocinco do his thing with the ladies. His taste and decisions are extremely suspect at times, but it's still interesting to see what he thinks in every situation.