I have been chatting back and forth via email with my friend Robin this week about the new fall television season starting and how thrilled we both are that some of our favorite shows will be back on. It turns out we have a lot of the same shows on our list of favorites, along with enough differences to keep it interesting. And our respective lists were pretty long... which made me wonder if I watch too much TV.

The truth of the matter is, though, that I am completely incapable of watching TV without doing something else... I'm usually on the computer designing or doing site admin or emailing. Or I'm looking through a pile of magazines for work. Mike has to review a lot of TV-on-DVD for work, so I often find myself completely roped into shows I would have never watched otherwise (case in point: the first season of Dexter, which we finished watching this past Sunday night -- it is an amazing show and so twisted but extremely well-done and compelling. Would I have normally chosen it to watch of my own accord? Doubtful. But there are a number of shows that I didn't think I'd get into and Mike watching them got me hooked -- The Sopranos, Carnivale, Lost, Heroes, The Shield, Mad Men -- the list is actually pretty long...). So while I do end up watching a lot of TV, it's not completely mindlessly staring at the screen, I'm almost 99.9% of the time also occupied with something else.

An article appeared in the NY Times earlier this week entitled "You Are What You Watch." Given my conversations with Robin (in which we both determined that we are complete and utter TV dorks), I found it a fascinating read. Because it appears that I'm not the only one watching a lot of shows on TV (and I certainly wouldn't be watching as much as I do if we didn't have DVR!). There are so many options, and there is so much more quality television than there has been in the past. More channels, more choices, more segmenting of audiences. We can all find plenty to love on the old tube, no matter what our preferences may be. So I decided to come clean and put together a list of all of the shows I've watched with more than a passing interest in the past 12 months. Guilty pleasures and all. Why? Because, like the NY Times says, I am what I watch. Wonder what this list actually says about me? (These are in no particular order.)

24
Lost
The Shield
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Flight of the Conchords
Entourage
The Sopranos
Mad Men
Psych
Jericho
Heroes
Eureka
The Unit
Weeds
Californication
The Office
My Name Is Earl
Design Star
Scrubs
Ugly Betty
The Bachelor
Prison Break
Dexter
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Damages
Burn Notice
Robot Chicken
Rescue Me
Big Love
The Tudors
Dirt
Sarah Silverman Show
Extras

New Shows We/I Plan To Check Out This Season:
Dirty Sexy Money
Journeyman
Reaper
Chuck
Gossip Girl
Pushing Daisies

And I've probably forgotten some!!!! Tell me what you watch and how -- do you DVR things or do you have stuff that you watch when it airs?

[Edited 9/26, 11:30 p.m. I knew I forgot some! Saving Grace and The Riches. And I actually DVR a lot of stuff on HGTV and the DIY Network that I watch when I have time: reZoned {my fave}, Color Splash, Creative Juice, Scrapbooking, B Original, Carol Duvall, Craft Lab, Crafters Coast to Coast, and I also tape old episodes of Changing Rooms on BBC America.]