Fall time, 2015-style

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Hooray! We're finally in autumn mode once again. Lately wet leaves have been littering lawns, gutters and most all, sidewalks and roads. It can get quite slippery on those outdoor runs, walks, cycling and skating. College and pro football fans alike are back to tailgating and attending games. I cannot believe that's all back in full swing already after such a long, hot summer.

Now that we're in autumn, television is heating up again with the return of some great shows including Scandal. After viewing Scandal's season premiere, I'm still into the show. I'm sure there are plenty out there who think that the plug ought to be pulled on the show, but I think Scandal has some life to it, but doubt it will run as long as Grey's Anatomy.

While I'm on TV, I enjoyed this year's Emmys for the most part due to host Andy Samberg's brilliant comedy. I think the academy fell a bit too much in live with Olive Kitteridge, but I'm quite happy for actor Bill Murray who won for his role in the limited-run HBO series. I am also pleased that the academy threw one last bone to Mad Men with actor Jon Hamm's win. Still, I wonder where Mr. Hamm's career will go next. I think he's still typecast with the Don Draper role - even though Mr. Hamm has attempted to go into comedic roles over the years with guest stints on NBC's Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. I think that Jon Hamm could do well in good dramatic roles in the future, say on something like the classic drama Damages.

The late night shows are into full swing. I'm still into CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The program has a different show structure from rivals including NBC'S Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. It's refreshing to see Colbert expand his talents with this new 'vehicle' which contains some of what he did with Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a more unstructured 'monologue' in the show's cold open and plenty of musical comedy. Analysts say that it Colbert will continue to evolve and seeing the creativity going on now, I trust the analysts.

Beyond traditional television, Netflix continues to produce compelling entertainment. In addition to House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, the most recent series installment is Narcos. The series based on drug cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar is beyond riveting. I highly recommend Narcos. It's tough to complete on a binge, but then again with me, it's tough to ever binge on a series. I'm okay with one to three episodes in one sitting.


Even though fall is quite young at the moment, it's already been a show with Pope Francis' U.S. East Coast visit with a compelling speech to Congress as well as appearances in New York and then Philadelphia.  The Pope inspired millions and millions of people across the world of all faiths. Now that The Pope is safely back in Rome, life is back to normal in those east coast cities, it's time to settle back with "pumpkin-spiced-everything." Ah, fall time. 

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