My Cousin, My Friend

Kami and me. Matching Easter
dresses.  1980 something

Like most babies, I had a flock of family that loved me from the moment I was born.  But I was extra blessed because I have an older, girl cousin, Kami.  She’s five years older than me, and some of my earliest memories involve her. Kami grew up in Kansas, but she visited Oklahoma often to see our grandparents and I would always anxiously await the days she would come to town.

One of my first things I can remember – and I’m digging through 40 years worth of cobwebs in my brain, so this may be inaccurate – is Kami, me, and our great granddad, Jim, on the porch of his and my great grandma Ada’s house in Carmen, Oklahoma.  (That's Grandad Jim in the photo to the right with Kami and me on my first birthday.)  I’m pretty sure Grandad Jim had given us chewing tobacco, and we were spitting it off the porch.  I remember Kami saying, “don’t swallow it, Erica!”  And I wouldn't dare.  I did everything Kami told me to do.  She was my older cousin, I adored her, and wanted to play with her every chance I could.  I wanted to be just like her.

Kami took tumbling, and she was one of those kids that took three steps and did a cartwheel.  Took three more steps, did a cartwheel.  I wanted to be just like her, so she taught me how to do a cartwheel, and pretty soon I was also turning a cartwheel for every three steps I took.  She taught me how to drink pop from the bottle the correct way. She would make up little dances or gymnastics routines and teach me how to do them.  I would tell all my friends how cool my cousin from Kansas was.  I vividly remember telling them one time that she was a good enough gymnast that she could go to the Olympics. 

Easter. Probably 1977.

Kami was in gymnastics; I wanted to be in gymnastics.  She was into Barbies; I got into Barbies.  She wanted to play dress up; I wanted to play dress up.  She rode Grandpa’s horse, Skeeter; I rode Skeeter (years later, I had to tell her that Grandpa sold Skeeter, she didn’t run away like he told us). Kami was a cheerleader; I became a cheerleader (she was more of a legit cheerleader than I).  One year at Christmas, Grandma asked me what I wanted, and I was having trouble coming up with anything.  She handed me Kami’s wish list to help give me some ideas – I copied it word for word.  I really, truly wanted to do everything she did.

As we grew up, I realized that it was more than her activities that I wanted to do.  I wanted to act like Kami.  I was a bratty, mouthy kid, but for some reason, she put up with it and included me anyway.  She was always so pleasant and kind-hearted.  I would mouth off to her, and she would respond, not with tackiness, but with love and politeness.  When our little sisters came along, I treated them like pests. But Kami would make sure they were part of the fun, especially when I wasn’t being so nice.

Kami is the cool one with the fab 80s hair.
 I'm the dork wearing a hat.

Kami was the cool high school kid, and I was a very dorky (again mouthy), awkward junior high kid, and she would still include me. If we went to their house in Kansas, she would take me cruising and would even introduce me to her friends.  Most high school kids wouldn’t admit to knowing a junior high kid, but not Kami.  She was always, always nice, loving, inclusive, and again, pleasant. 

As she went off to college, she got even cooler and was selected as a cheerleader at Kansas State University.  I was still her little country bumpkin cousin, but she still would include me in what she was doing.  We would talk about boys, movies, sports, and life in general.  I was blessed again because my older cousin became one of my best friends.

Kami had her first baby girl 10 years ago, her second one came along eight years ago.  She was an incredible mom and loved those little girls so much.  She was so great at offering parenting advice to me when my little one came along.  She was always teaching them and molding them into good people. When we visited their house in May, the girls were fighting a little, and she kept telling them, "speak kindly to each other!"  What good advice, for now and the future.

Now, I adore Kami for a different reason.  She fought melanoma for more than two years with incredible determination and bravery.  When she received her diagnosis, she did not wait around to start treatment.  She did some research, and found some ways that she could start fighting the cancer on her own.  She learned that sugar could possibly feed cancer, so she completely cut sugar from her diet.  She worked very hard to keep her two daughters' lives as normal as possible. She continued exercising, especially playing tennis.  She grew in her faith.

She started going to MD Anderson in Houston for treatment, and the early treatments looked positive.  But for about a year, it seems like she took two steps forward, and two steps back.  Through it all, she remained positive and very rarely complained.  "Complaining makes it worse," she would sometimes say.  Each bit of bad news was just a setback to her, and she, her doctors, and God had a plan to tackle the next hurdle.  Through all the physical, emotional, and psychological pain, she has remained brave, beautiful, pleasant, positive, faithful, fun, loving, kind-hearted, inclusive, and strong. Oh my gosh, is she strong!  

Once again, I want to be just like her. In the face of adversity like this, I pray that I am only half as brave and positive as she has been through this struggle.

She faced a really harsh setback two weeks ago when she developed pneumonia.  Ultimately the pneumonia took her life.  

I ask anyone that is reading this to please stop and pray.  Pray that God's strength and peace washes over her husband, her daughters, her parents, her sister, our Grandma, and the rest of her family and friends.  Please join me in supporting this wonderful family with your prayers.  She was such a wonderful person and the world isn't as nice without her in it.

Cancer sucks.

Cinnamon Rolls

Carmen Dacoma Elementary School, 1982-83

I went to a consolidated school from Kindergarten to my senior year. The high school/junior high was in Carmen, where I lived, and the elementary school was in Dacoma, 11 miles away--Carmen-Dacoma School.  

To say it was a small school is an understatement.  The photo above is the entire elementary school.  Yes, we could fit all the kids and teachers in one photo.  (I'm the goober in the second row, third from the left in the furry vest. I freaking loved that vest. My buddy Melissa Edmondson is next to me, and that's Austin Wallace on my left. I wonder whatever happened to him...)  On to my point...

Every kid complains about school lunch, but I was a particularly picky kid, and barely ate any of my lunch at school.  I thought I didn't like anything they served, and I still cringe at the smell of green peas.  Looking back, we had a wonderful lunchroom, and I didn't appreciate it at the time.  There were two sweet ladies that cooked delicious and nutritious food for us every day--Alice Shook and Cordelia Zahorski.  Although I was picky about A LOT, there's still a list of things I loved that Alice and Cordelia made:  taco salad, bierox, sauerkraut (I realize it's really weird that a picky kid like me liked sauerkraut), cooked carrots (don't make fun, they were delicious), Jello salad, and they spoiled us with homemade hot rolls at least once a week.  

Aside from those meals, we all got especially excited about soup and chili day.  You got to pick between soup or chili; I always chose chili.  But it wasn't the chili that we were so excited about, even though it was always really good.  It was the fact that along with our steaming bowl of deliciousness, we got a cinnamon roll.  Sometimes the cooks made them, and sometimes they would have Ruby Sharp make them.

Ruby was a very nice lady that lived in Dacoma that made the most delicious cinnamon rolls.  She made them for the school, and she would also make them to sell in the concession stand at the basketball games.  They were always really tall and pillowy-soft.  And on top of those cinnamony-sugary clouds of wonderful was an apricot glaze PLUS a powdered sugar glaze.  Oh, how we all loved Ruby's cinnamon rolls, and I have missed them so much over the years.  Until tonight.

Right before Christmas, Southern Living magazine inspired me to make cinnamon rolls to enjoy on Christmas morning.  I used the recipe that was published in the magazine, and all seemed to be going well until I tasted them.

Just look at that dough rolled out to perfection.  I had such high expectations, and they didn't pan out. 

I'm probably being a little hard on myself. How can bread rolled up with a pile of butter, cinnamon and sugar be all that bad?  They were okay.  But when you grow up getting cinnamon rolls from people that make breads as well as Ruby and my mom, you expect that your own rolls would be that good, especially on Christmas morning. 

I have since figured out that I didn't let them rise enough, I used a disposable aluminum pan, and I used a recipe from a magazine.  Not that magazine recipes are bad, but cinnamon rolls are one of those things that you need a recipe from someone who knows what they're doing. 

I told my mom about my failure.  My mom is a fantastic cook, and she's especially good at breads. She's another one that spoiled me with homemade goodies all the time.  She quickly equipped me with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission's bread contest winners cookbook and a few others.  And then, she she said, "Oh yeah, I have Ruby Sharp's recipe, do you want it?" "Heck yes I want it!"

So tonight, I mustered up the courage and made the cinnamon rolls for us to hopefully enjoy on our ski trip next weekend.  I was pretty nervous about it, but I took one bite and was taken back to sixth grade.  I posted a picture of them to Facebook and had at least three requests for the recipe. It was in one of Mom's cookbooks, so I don't have any super secret knowledge.  Here's the recipe for everyone to enjoy.  Note:  you don't have to do the apricot glaze.  These would be really good with the powdered sugar glaze or any other icing you like.

Ruby Sharp's Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

1 c. lukewarm water

2 pkg. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 c. lukewarm milk

6 c. flower

1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2/3 c. sugar

1 tbsp. salt

Filling:

1/4 c. melted butter

2 tbsp. brown sugar

desired amount of sugar

desired amount of cinnamon

1.  Stir water, yeast and 1 tsp. sugar together and let stand until yeast is dissolved.  

2.  Place warm milk and 2 cups of flour in large stand mixer and beat one minute. 

3.  Add the eggs, 2/3 cup of sugar, salt and margarine.

4.  Add the yeast mixture, then the remaining flour, a little at a time.  Mix until smooth.

5.  Spread flour on countertop, place dough on top and knead until soft dough if formed. The dough hook on the stand mixer will work just fine.

6.  Place dough in buttered pan or bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk.

7.  Roll dough out into a rectangle that's about one inch thick. 

8.  Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon.

9.  Roll as for jelly roll and seal seam.  Cut slices about one inch thick and place into greased pan.  

10.  Let rise until doubled in size.

11.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes (be careful with this.  My oven cooks hot and I nearly burned them)

12.  Cool and ice as desired.

Apricot Glaze:

1/2 c. Apricot Preserves

1/4 c. Honey

Mix well and top rolls while they're hot. Adjust the honey and preserves for your taste preference. Try not to let the honey overpower the preserves.

Powdered Sugar Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Dump it all into a mixing bowl and mix like the dickens with an electric mixer. Drizzle on top of the rolls.

  Take a look at the tall, pillowy, beautiful cinnamon rolls you will get!

Rain, Sweet Rain!

Most of the High Plains has been in a drought since late 2010.  Our area has experienced extreme wind and heat and very little rain to offset the extreme conditions.  The crop yields in this area have decreased dramatically, and on the livestock side, pastures have dried up.  Feed is hard to come by, and when you find it, it's very expensive. Many cattle producers have sold much, if not all, of their herds.

But Memorial Day weekend, it rained. A lot. It rained again last weekend, and there's a small chance of rain this weekend.  We're not out of the woods yet, but we're praying this is a change in weather pattern.

I do some freelance reporting for AgDay Television on occasion (very occasionally) and did this story about drought and the blessing of rain we have received in the last few weeks.

I pointed out this video in the story above, but I thought it was so precious, that I re-edited the baby calf video and posted it to YouTube.  I just love baby calves, and thought it was really cool that we got to see this little fella take his first steps and eat for the first time.  I was in a pasture with Eddie Griffis, a local farmer, cattle producer, and farm radio reporter.  You can hear some commentary from the two of us about this little guy. It's pretty funny.  However, this video is a little icky, after all, calf birth is not glamorous.  But it's part of life and I wanted to share this cool video.

And if the video isn't enough, here are a couple of my favorite pictures that I took while we were out there.

Lady, put the camera up. I just had a baby.

Finally, since rain is so rare in these parts, I am posting video of rain I shot off my front porch for your viewing pleasure.  Watch closely. This might not happen again for a while (let's hope not!).  You can hear Jett and Scott talking in the background.

CBS Lineup Fall 2013

Nothing like doing this the night before the big night!!  CBS has more new shows than usual this year--eight!  Looking back, in 2011 it offered six new shows; last year it only had four newbies, and boy was I wrong about nearly everything.

I said Partners and Vegas would make it. I quit watching both of them after a few episode.  I said I wouldn't like Elementary--I still don't, but it's still on the air.  I was right about Made in Jersey. Anyone remember that one? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Take a look at the Fall lineup. Only one doesn't make the cut.

Here are my thoughts by night and time (Central time).

We Are Men (Monday at 7:30)--I added this one to the DVR. It looks really funny, and the cast is great! Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Jerry O'Connell (lots of stuff) and Kal Penn (Robin's phychologist boyfriend in How I Met Your Mother) star in the show along with a couple of newcomers.  Sweet, young Carter gets dumped and moves into transitional housing.  Several other divorced guys live there too, and they take Carter under their wing and help him get back in the dating game.  I'm kind of excited about this one.

Mom (Monday at 8:30)--Chuck Lorre, the genius behind 2 1/2 Men, is the executive producer of this comedy, so it has a chance of being really good.  Like the aforementioned show, they have a talented cast. Anna Faris of the Scary Movie movies and Allison Janney (she's been in everything), and French Stewart (the annoying guy on 3rd Rock) are just a few of the stars. Anna Faris' character is a newly- sober single mom, and she's trying to re-connect with her estranged mom (Janney). I think this one will make it.

Hostages (Monday at 9)--Thank you CBS, this is the show I have been waiting for!  It looks smart, suspenseful, well acted, and all around good.  CBS really pulled out the cash to hire good talent this year--Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott, and Tate Donovan star, and I love all of them, especially Tate. I've been a fan of his since he was in Space Camp, Friends, (as Rachel's boyfriend Joshua) and then in The O.C.  Plus, he shares a birthday with Scott (and so do Barbara Walters and Heather Locklear).
Collette's character is a surgeon, and she and her family are taken hostage by McDermott (I can think of worse things), only to be released if she kills the president while he's on the operating table.  I'm extremely excited about this one. Give it a try!

The Millers (Thursday at 7:30)--Even though Beau Bridges is a co-star in this show, I'm just not feeling it. I think it's going to be over-acted and generally not funny.  I could be wrong though.

The Crazy Ones (Thursday at 8)--I'm really surprised at CBS's decision to make Thursday a comedy night, but I'm supportive of this decision, especially with this show.  Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar are father and daughter ad agency executives. Williams' character is kind of crazy in his approach to advertising. Gellar's character is pretty professional.  And they got Kelly Clarkson to guest star, so it has my vote.

I'm sad to see Hawaii Five-O moved to Friday--not a good sign.  However, I'll admit that I have not been such a loyal fan in the last year.  One other change:  I have divorced The Good Wife. It's a good show, and I have really enjoyed it, but I'm a little tired of the story line and want to give some other shows my attention.  Best wishes, Alecia Florrick.  Plus, the show aired on Sunday nights, so during football season, only half of the show got recorded.

How I Met Your Mother is in its last season. We have watched that show since its first episode, and I don't really want to see it go.  It's a great show, but it has run its course, and I really, really want to know how Ted meets the kids' mother!

So here is our CBS DVR list:

Sunday:  Nothing.

Monday:  All but 2 Broke Girls.

Tuesday:  Nothing

Wednesday:  Survivor (eyes rolling, heavy sigh, yes, Scott still watches this foolishness).

Thursday:  Big Bang Theory, The Crazy Ones

Friday:  Hawaii Five-O


P.S. Thank you CBS for having a nicely navigable website with easy to find information.  Other networks should take a cue from your web designers.

ABC Lineup Fall 2013

I'm extremely late to the party this year.  I have never done my show reviews this late and I'm freaking out!! Fox already started its new shows this week; however, its website wasn't playing video so that I could review its shows, so that network is dead to me.  Except for Brooklyn 99. I'll give that one a try.

OK, back to ABC. I have been a pretty loyal ABC fan since NBC took a dive, but I have to say, I'm really disappointed with this fall's shows.  Plus, they're not making it very easy to do this blog...I had to go to some rando website to find this graphic, which is helpful to those that switched cable companies and have to re-program the DVR.

It looks like ABC is in a bit of a slump.  They had five new shows last fall, and only two of them, Nashville and The Neighbors, made it.  It appears someone may need a new program director....

Here are my thoughts of the eight new shows by night and time (Central time).  Eight!  That's a lot!! Tuesday nights are completely new shows, and I'm not all that interested in them. 

Betrayal (Sunday at 9)-Meh.  It kind of reminds me of Desperate Housewives but in a different package.  

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Tuesday at 7)-This isn't my type of show; however, I think this one will make it.  There are a lot of people that really get into super hero shows, just not me.  ABC has put a lot of air time into promoting this show, and it was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly several weeks ago.  If you like super hero movies, you may like the super hero t.v. show. Here's the trailer:

The Goldbergs (Tuesday at 8)-OK, I'm pretty curious about this one.  The trailers make me laugh (out loud!) and I think it's a cute, creative concept. Plus, George Segal plays the goofy grandpa, and I think that will be a nice touch.  It kind of reminds me of Little Miss Sunshine, but without the pageants. It's set in the 80s and a lot of the show is through the lens of the little brother's Super 8 camera.  I hope this one works out. It looks really funny. 

Trophy Wife (Tuesday at 8:30)-This is another one with a fun concept, and they have some good talent--Malin Akerman (I know her from How I Met Your Mother), Bradley Whitford and Marcia Gay Hardin!  Marcia is the smart, successful, but sort of boring first wife; Malin is the hot, fun, new wife.  This one may work out, but I'm not considering it DVR worthy. I'll watch it at my desk at work to see if I like it.

Lucky 7 (Tuesday at 9).  I can't figure out what is going on with this show. The only thing I know is that several people win the lottery.  Maybe they all did a pool to buy the ticket, maybe seven people each randomly won. I just can't decide what's going on.  So if the trailer confuses me, I'm not going to give it the time of day.

Back in the Game (Wednesday at 7)-This one looks cute, and James Caan plays the grumpy old dad.  I'm not terribly excited about it, and I don't think it'll work.  Too bad. I really like James Caan.

Super Fun Night (Wednesday at 8:30)-I can't decide if this one is going to be awesome or stupid.  Rebel Wilson, the super weird roommate from Bridesmaids is the star.  She was also in Pitch Perfect, which apparently, I am the only person in the world that has not seen that movie.  The previews look funny--a group of roommates decide they're done with staying in their apartment every night, and they decide to go out to chase boys. Hilarity ensues. I'm curious to see what kind of depth the show will have after the first episode.  I'm willing to give it a try, but it's on a three episode probation period.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (Thursday at 7)-I was very wrong about Once Upon a Time. It ended up being a hit, and I said it looked dumb and wouldn't give it the time of day.  But I'm too stubborn to go check out the show, and I'm going to stick to my stubborn guns and pass on the new version.  Plus, I was never a huge Alice in Wonderland fan, which I realize makes me a wierdo, but because of my lack of Alice knowledge, I'm afraid I wouldn't understand much of the t.v. version.

Here are my ABC shows:

Sunday:  Revenge

Monday:  Nothing--and I realize that I'm one of two Americans that doesn't watch DWTS. That other American is Scott.

Tuesday:  The Goldbergs

Wednesday:  The Middle, Modern Family, Super Fun Night, Nashville (Wednesdays will be awesome!!)

Thursday:  Grey's Anatomy and Scandal (I LOVE THURSDAY!!!)

Friday:  Shark Tank and 20/20

Saturday:  Football when it's relevant to me.

The Carmen Home

This week, Gaylen Culver of KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City did a story on a piece of my childhood.

The Carmen Home, or "The Home" as we called it, is about a half a mile north of my parents' house. In fact, the first shot of the story was taken almost directly in front of their house.

The Home was built to be a orphanage, and it was later turned into a nursing home. My great grandma Ada lived there for the last few years of her life. We visited her nearly every week.  Our 4-H club went out there frequently. We would go Christmas caroling, perform our talent show acts, go visit in our Halloween costumes, and one time we even took our pets out there and let the residents play with them.

The Home closed when I was in college, or maybe right after I graduated.  The building is empty now, and is slowly turning into a state of disrepair.  It makes me sad to see it, but it was really neat to see the video shot from inside in this story.




Lots of people say that it's haunted now. Several years ago, some ghost hunters went through it and shot some creepy pictures. I tried to find them online, but they must have taken them down.

Fox Fall Lineup

This fall, Fox is only premiering three shows.  I think it needs to do a little more than this, but I’m not running the network, am I? I’m not totally excited about these shows, but I am adding two of them to the DVR which is way more than Fox has received in the past. 

The Mob Doctor (Monday at 8) It’s Sopranos meets ER.  A Chicago doctor is in cahoots with the mob.  They saved her brother, and now she owes them a favor.  Never owe the mob a favor.  At the beginning of the preview, I was thinking no, but now I think I’m going to give this a shot.  I’m kind of fascinated with the mafia.  I like Chicago-based shows.  I like feeling like I’m a real doctor because I have a wealth of medical knowledge based upon ER and Grey’s Anatomy.  Dr. Irlbeck needs some continuing education, so I’m going to give this one a shot.

Ben and Kate (Tuesday at 7:30) This one looks seriously funny, AND it comes on right after Raising Hope, so this fits nicely into my Tuesday night.  Ben and Kate are brother and sister, with a less than wholesome childhood. Kate had a little girl when she was really young, so she had to miss her young adult years, and Ben never left the young adult years.  Maggie Elizabeth Jones from We Bought a Zoo is the little girl.  She’s so stinkin’ cute! I’d watch the show just for her.

The Mindy Project (Tuesday at 8:30) Mindy Kaling of The Office is the star of this show. Mindy is a doctor looking for the perfect guy. In the process of this she works in a hospital with a bunch of jerks.  I wanted to like this show, but I’m just not feeling it. Sorry, Mindy. Maybe next time.

One big change this year:  We are done with Glee. I was sort of done with it last season, but I’m not going to bother with it again this fall. I give it until Christmas before cancellation.

Here are our Fox shows by night and time:

Sunday:  Nothing

Monday:  The Mob Doctor

Tuesday:  Raising Hope and Ben and Kate

Nothing for the rest of the week

NBC Fall Lineup

Normally, I review the new shows in alphabetical order by network, but jump back! NBC pulled a doozie.  Instead of putting all of its new shows into premier week like the rest of the networks (which is, by tradition, the last week of September), it released two new shows on September 10.  I’ve been hard on NBC for the past few years, but I gotta say that this move was genius.  There is nothing on the tube at this time of year anyway, and oh, how I long for non-reality t.v.  Thank you NBC for making a bold move.  If the network execs walked into my office, I would start the slow clap for them. Because of this, I'm going out of order to review NBC ahead of Fox.

So not only has NBC made a very smart move by releasing two new shows, it also has some shows that are worth watching this year.

Revolution (Monday at 9) I like it.  This is a “what if all the power went out world wide?” type of show.  In this scenario, everyone puts their own small civilizations back together again, the militia rules the world, and a band of rebels try to find family members and get the power back on.  This show really reminds me of The Hunger Games.  It looks cool and creative, but unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to last.  I hate that, because Billy Burke (A.K.A. Charlie Swan/Bella’s dad) is one of the stars, and I would like to see him be a Hollywood A-lister.  This is one of those shows that I’m going to watch on Hulu during lunch to see if I like it. 

Go On (Tuesday at 8) Matthew Perry is back!  This is one of the shows that I had to watch the pilot episode before I could watch the preview, but it was worth it.  Matthew Perry plays a radio show host that just got out of a relationship and doesn’t like his life.  So, he joins a support group with a bunch of other misfits.  I love Matthew Perry and will give any of his shows a shot.  I really liked Mr. Sunshine, but apparently no one else did.  This show seems a little different and has better momentum and a more talented cast.  I’m excited to see what happens.

The New Normal (Tuesday at 830) I wasn’t going to like it. But then I watched an extended trailer, and then I watched the pilot, and now I'm a fan.  NBC did a Jedi mind trick last week by premiering two new shows, and since I am judgmental and had already made up my mind without all of the information, I did not record this show. Shame on me.  I watched it on Hulu, and this show is hilarious.  Ellen Barkin plays the insane bigot grandma, the little girl is named Shania, Justin Bartha from the Hangover plays a gay dad, and NeNe Leakes from the Real Housewives of Atlanta and Glee plays a sassy secretary.  It’s awesome; I love it!

Animal Practice (Wednesday at 7) I’m shocked that I’m about to say this, but I think this looks funny.  It’s something different, and I like that.  Instead of yet another hospital drama, this is set in a vet hospital.  There’s a funny monkey that is a nice reminder of Marcell from friends.  I’m not completely convinced that this is going to work out, so this is going to be one that I watch on Hulu during my lunch breaks. 

Guys With Kids (Wednesday at 7:30) Meh.  Doesn’t look that funny. The trailer looked like forced acting.  I give it two weeks until cancellation.

Chicago Fire (Wednesday at 9) This one looks okay.  I’m afraid it’s going to be one of those shows that I say won’t make it, and then it’s a huge hit (i.e. Grimm.) The show is set in a Chicago fire house, and follows the fire and rescue crews. It kind of has a similar feel to ER.  I’m not adding this to the DVR, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this one makes it.

NBC has some other mid-season shows that look really interesting, and I see that Smash doesn’t return until later, which makes me want to cry. I love that show.

In summation, way to go NBC. This just  might be your season to shine.  Here’s our list of NBC shows by night and time:

Sunday:  Nothing

Monday:  Nothing

Tuesday:  Go On and The New Normal

Wednesday:  Animal Practice maybe

Thursday:  Nothing—The Office got cut from the DVR

Friday:  Nothing