For the first time ever Survivor will be in High Definition! The next season doesn’t start until the fall, but I’m super excited. Survivor was the first major reality show, and now it’s going HD! Here’s hoping this leads other reality shows to move to HD. I’m crossing my fingers it’s true HD and not 16×9 SD (like some of Hell’s Kitchen), though either are better than what we’ve got now.

Thought it was about time to discuss the shows everyone is watching…or at least what I’m watching. :p

Mondays
Prison Break – A fan since season 1, this season is a step-up from last season in my opinion. While it’s a little cheesy that they’re back in a prison, it’s back to the formula that made the original so great: find a way to escape. I think season 1 will stand as the best, but they give me enough to come back each week.

How I Met Your Mother – This is the show with Doogie Howser. We started watching it last season, and it’s amusing. It’s a good half-hour show to watch when you need something short.

Two and a Half Men – A very raunchy show, but very funny at the same time. Not a big Charlie Sheen fan in real life, but he’s hilarious on the show.

HEROES – The breakout hit of ’06-’07 is back and better than ever. The formula hasn’t changed, and it’s something I love about the show. The writers are awesome at keeping your interest peaked from episode to episode. I love it.

Tuesdays
Beauty and the Geek – Yes, we like our reality shows, and this is a fun one. It’s fun to see the crazy stuff they do and the big changes that a handful of them go through.

House – Still a great show, and it’s fun seeing where the new hiring process is going. I still don’t know who will join the show permanently and who is temporary, and House is still one of the best characters on TV.

Wednesdays
Kid Nation – It’s all about Jarrod, who hasn’t been in the last couple episodes a ton. What a rip. It’s funny how 6 or 7 episodes in, there are still kids who you have never seen or heard from. The interaction between the all is both annoying and entertaining at times.

Thursdays
Survivor – Still our number one reality show, I don’t think we’ll ever get tired of it. The characters change each season with new people to love and hate, and the strategy of the game is unlike anything else.

My Name is Earl – The jail twist is fun. I don’t know if it will last all season, but they’ve already had one episode that wasn’t almost all a flashback. The creative writing episode was definitely outside the box.

The Office – Season 2 was the greatest, but there have still been some awesome moments in season 4. I haven’t watched episode 5 to see what Denise is talking about, but this is still my favorite comedy.

That’s all the shows we watch each week. Feel free to discuss them or anything else that you like. I’ll also preempt Angelo’s comments that you still don’t watch Heroes, Prison Break isn’t as good, and the Office isn’t as funny. I’ll also predict that Doogie Howser isn’t funny, and reality television is lame.

On Monday Treasure Hunters will end, and Prison Break will start. This marks the end of the many reality shows we’ve watched this summer, and the return of regular primetime programming. Here’s a recap of all the shows we’ve watched:

Last Comic Standing 4
I’d watched bits and pieces of previous seasons, but I never got into it enough to watch the entire season. For whatever reason we watched it from start to finish this year. Josh Blue won the whole thing, and I was cheering for him the entire time. I have to admit, Ty Barnett was really good. Josh was really funny at times (Gabriel, stop calling me!), but there were sometimes when I think he was just up there grabbing stuff off the top of his head. Ty had great material everytime he went out. But props to Josh for being naturally funny!

America’s Got Talent
We watched the first episode, and it was painful. I think we then skipped the next couple episodes, and started watching again in the semi-finals. The girl that won, Bianca Ryan, was beyond annoying. Her singing sounded like an annoying whine, and just becaue you can fluctuate pitch does not mean it always sounds good. This is what escapes me about professional singers. Just because you can do something difficult with your voice doesn’t automatically make it sound good.

The more I think about this show the more annoyed I get. Hasselhoff just wanted everyone to like them, Brandy had retarded hair every night, and Piers Morgan, though correct a lot, was a jerk.

Treasure Hunters
By far my favorite reality show of the summer! I’ve never watched much Amazing Race, but this show makes me want to. Take Amazing Race and throw in tons of puzzle solving, and you’ve got an exciting show. This one isn’t over until Monday, so I’ll finish this when the finale airs. Update: The Geniuses won, but I wanted Air Force to win.

Others
We’ve also have been watching Windfall (not a reality show, but it does have Luke Perry). It’s about a group of people that win the lotto and they each get $20 million. It started off as an interesting premise, but slowly turned into "we’ve all got problems and are retarded!" If this show sticks around past the summer, I don’t expect it to stick on our viewing schedule.

We also watched bits of several other shows. We watched the last couple episodes of Hell’s Kitchen, and it was fun. We were also watching a show called How To Get The Guy, and it followed around four different women in their quest to date and find the right guy. It was very authentic, especially for a tv show, but it was on a couple times and then disappeared.

Prison Break begins this Monday night, don’t miss it!

Last night we watched a new show called Treasure Hunters, and I’m hooked. Da Vinci Code meets Amazing Race. Ten teams (now 9) race across the globe chasing clues and solving puzzles in pursuit of a treasure. I’ve never watched The Amazing Race, so I’m not sure how much it differs, but I get the feeling they’re similar. So far Treasure Hunters has been physically demanding, but equally about solving puzzles and interpreting vague clues.

Right now I’m rooting for the Brown family, but the redneck fellas are hilarious. He’s turning over trashcans and looking under totally random rocks for clues. At one point he holds up a rock, and turns it over and over, and finally decides it’s just a rock. At another point he looks under a trash can, finds a folded up piece of a paper flag, and starts to ponder the "hidden meaning" in his "clue." On again next Monday at 8 pm on NBC, starting with a recap of the opener, and a new episode at 9 pm.

Other than this there are a ton of reality shows hitting primetime while everyone else is on break. Since there’s nothing to watch I’ve decided to record pretty much everything. Reality Stars Fear Factor was interesting, though I only recognize the Survivor and Apprentice players. I’ll be checking out the America’s Got Talent show, mainly just to see David Hasselhoff talk to his wristwatch. There’s another called How to Get the Guy, and I’m sure there are more, but might as well fill the DVR.

Finally, most the networks are already hyping their new Fall shows that are still months away. So far the only one I’m looking forward to is Heroes on NBC. Basically a bunch of people wake up one morning with superhero type abilities. While not an original concept (X-Men meets Rising Stars), I’m curious to see what can be done in a TV show format.