Watched this past weekend.

The Mentalist, The Daily Show, Smallville...

Doctor Who - the premiere of the 11th Doctor.

You know, I've got geek cred, comic book style - but I'm no long term Doctor Who fan.  I've a vague idea who the guy with the muffler was, but I never watched Doctor Who till the relaunch with Eccleston.

And I enjoyed the hell out of Eccleston's run, and thought Tennant verged on brilliance during his time as the 10th Doctor.

But I felt a bit trepidatious with the advent of Matt Smith and the new era, and watched the debut ep with a wary eye.  Clearly, I should not have worried.  Because it was deft, funny, and a bit awesome.  Should be a fun ride this year.  Karen Gillian as Amy Pond seems particularly sharp.

Finished watching NCIS Season 6, and can now say I've seen every ep of the series.

I blame my father-in-law and whatever basic cable channel runs the show constantly back in the US, for my addiction that started during last summer's visit back to America.

Here's the thing, at its core, it's another cop procedural, so it's not really breaking a lot of new ground - but it's a very well crafted and acted [particularly, imho, Mark Harmon and Rocky Carroll] procedural.

And you know, as a former jarhead I... appreciate... the fact that it emphasizes those parts of military service that are admirable and worthwhile, while never devolving into the chest-thumping jingoistic patriotism that it could very easily pander to.

Though it does, as a cop TV drama, far too frequently dip into the 'we are on the side of good and our hearts are pure, so we may break all the laws we feel like' cliche which irks the hell out of me.  And I continue to fail to understand why more folks don't simply lawyer up and tell Gibbs to kiss their ass.  But hey, let's not mix our entertainment with reality, yes?  And it is an eminently entertaining show.