Television has been a growing part of American culture for the past 60 years. Yet, TV programming has been far from static; television has grown to reflect almost every different genre, time period, ethnicity and age group imaginable making its appeal more and more entertaining and irresistible.

In the 1950s families gathered around shows like I Love Lucy. The light comedy followed the various machinations and day-to-day activities of the highly imaginative Lucille Ball. The 1960s supplied the original Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie, which provided new special effects and toyed with the idea of life beyond the norm. Later decades saw the beginnings of cop shows, soap operas, medical dramas; plot development began to be key.

Today there are shows that you literally just cannot miss. Whether you schedule a biology lab so that it ends just before The Office airs on Thursday nights or whether you try to convince an organization you are a part of to schedule meetings around Glee on Tuesday nights, almost everyone at Gustavus has at least one television show to watch religiously.

“I like to watch The Office because there is a lot of random humor,” Heather Thurmes, a sophomore psychology major, said.

However, the culture of television has changed with the emergence of DVR and the ability to record television shows along with that novel, innovative and oh so helpful concept: TV on the Internet.

It’s safe to assume that Gustavus students haven’t invested in DVR for televisions crammed into dorm rooms. However, while many Gustavus students play sports or music, participate in clubs or organizations or commit their time to academics, those television shows could be forgotten as quickly as Sarah Marshall in Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime.

Thankfully, for us busy Gustavus students, we can resort to television on demand or via the Internet and catch up on our weekly fix of television as it fits into our schedules. With websites such as hulu.com or the major network websites, we are able to watch television shows merely one day after airing.

“I like to make time for Glee,” Senior Chemistry Major Derrick Berndt said, “it’s different than most anything else on T.V. and I love the music.”
So what are Gustavus students watching and why?

Whether it’s the hit show Glee expressing a variety of issues within the high school setting through popular songs or the creative love story told backwards in How I Met Your Mother, the current popular television series have a little something to interest everyone.

“I like Dexter because you are literally wanting him to kill people even though [you] know it’s morally wrong,” Senior Biology Major Logan Smestad said. “It’s sick, but it’s entertaining.”

And who’s to say we can’t take a quick TV break from studying for that dreaded physics test or writing that history paper?

Fall programming has, unfortunately for the busy student, several shows on its schedule. We’ve compiled a list of a few of our favorite hit television shows airing currently this fall or in the summer months. Gusties: make your television watching experience truly count.

The Big Bang Theory

Currently in its fourth season, The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom following the lives of four brilliant scientists and their attempts at career advancement, social interaction and romance. While all of these men possess exceptional intelligence, social smarts often remain elusive and they must enlist the aid of their friend Penny, who posses both common sense and normal social behavior.

The first season opens with the arrival of their soon-to-be friend Penny. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) are both roommates and physicists at Cal Tech in Pasadena, Calif. Penny comes to California in the hopes of being an actress and moves in across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. Sheldon and Leonard’s friends, Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), an engineer at Cal Tech, and Raj Koothrappali, an Astrophysicist, are frequently at a their apartment and become friends with Penny as well.

The focus in the past seasons has often revolved around the romance between Penny and Leonard, but as for now, those two are officially broken up.

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom that follows the story of a father telling his children how he met their mother. Each episode begins in 2030 with the narrative of Ted Mosby, the main character, telling his children a certain chapter of his journey to matrimony when the screen changes to 2010 New York City and the audience watches the events of five friends unfold.

The show is in its sixth season. Each episode switches loosely between the narration of 2030 and the action of 2010, but the show is unique in that it draws in scenes and events from past episodes with regularity.

Ted, played by Josh Radnor, is a professor of architecture at Columbia University. After watching his best friends Marshall and Lily get engaged, Ted is obsessed with finding someone for himself. He is passionate and intense, and these qualities often get him into devilish situations.

Marshall Eriksen, played by Jason Segel, is a lawyer a corporate law firm and Ted’s best friend. Marshall is married to Lily Aldren , played by Alyson Hannigan. Lily is a kindergarten teacher, and at the opening of season six, she and Marshall are trying for a child.

Robyn Scherbatsky, played by Cobie Smulders, is a Canadian journalist who moved to New York City to try and make the big time. She and Ted dated in previous seasons, but eventually broke up.

Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris, is a corporate businessman known for loving suits, using the words “awesome” and “legendary” profusely as well as being a womanizer.

Weeds

Beginning in 2005, Weeds revolves around Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), who is a widowed suburbanite mother and marijuana dealer. In order to support her two sons, Silas (Hunter Parish) and Shane (Alexander Gould), Nancy turns to marijuana to support her family after her husband’s unexpected death.

The first three seasons take place in the fictional town of Agrestic, Calif. The first couple seasons involve many subplots and develop the story of Nancy’s pot-dealing business in a stereotypical suburban town and the struggles to keep it secret from her two sons.

Beginning in season two, Nancy’s kids become more aware of her illegal activites. Thanks to the help of Nancy’s dealer’s nephew Conrad (Romany Malco), they develop a new strain of plant that becomes a major hit and almost gets them busted.

The show evolves in seasons four and five as the Botwins move into Nancy’s ex-husband’s father’s house immediately north of the San Diego and Tijuana border. Nancy’s ex-husband’s brother, Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk), moves with them. After partnering with his mother in the pot-dealing business, Silas sets up a grow room in a gourmet cheese factory.

The sixth season, currently airing, follows the Botwins as they take to the road to try and avoid capture, while joined by Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon), a family friend from their old community of Agrestic.

Grey’s Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy is a medical drama that presents the personal and professional lives of doctors, residents and interns at Seattle Grace Hospital. The protagonist of the story, Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo, is the daughter of the author of the famous medical text-book, Grey’s Anatomy. Each episode begins with a voice over by Meredith Grey which develops the theme for doctors and patients at the hospital.

Most of each episode takes place at the hospital. The first season began with arrival of new interns to Seattle Grace, including Meredith Grey, Christian Yang (Sandra Oh), Izzy Stephens (Katherine Heigl), George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). The seasons follow these interns progress to residents and bring in the story lines of various other characters who work at the hospital.

Grey’s Anatomy is a mixture of suspense and romance. Each episode follows two or three patients with different illnesses or injuries—some are chronic, others are emergency trauma cases. Sewn constantly into the activities of medical procedures are various torrid love affairs. The relationship that has been developed through each season is the romance between Meredith Grey and her attending Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey).

This show has been followed by millions of viewers for six seasons and just began its seventh on September 23r, 2010.  Throughout the seasons the cast of Grey’s Anatomy has seen the addition of many new characters and the exit of many season regulars. Last season saw the departure of two major characters—Izzy Stephens and George O’Malley. The new seasons picks up in the wake of O’Malley’s death and promises many more drama-filled episodes.

The Office

The Office, an adaptation of the BBC series, is based around the everyday lives of office employees at a fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company based in Scranton, Penn.

Currently in its seventh season, The Office is filmed as a mockumentary. The “confessionals” in the show accentuate this format with the characters speaking one-on-one with the camera crew about the day’s events.

Regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is known for his friend first, boss second and “entertainer third” mentality, along with his inflated view of himself as the office comedian. Michael is known for his inappropriate jokes, lack of maturity and commitment to make himself the center of attention. Almost everyone in the office, with the exception of Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), considers Michael inept and a terrible manager.

Dwight Kurt Schrute III: “Star salesman, beet farmer, bed and breakfast proprietor, aspiring freelance bodyguard. Add to that list, owner of this building. Then, burn the list.” Schrute recently bought the office park on the advice of Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates), the CEO of Sabre Corporation, a printer company who bought out Dunder Mifflin in the previous season.

Schrute, along with Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), Pam Beasley (Jenna Fischer), Ed Helms (Andy Bernard), Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey), Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner), Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez), Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker), Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling), Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery), Phyllis Lapin-Vance (Phyllis Smith) and Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), make up the majority of the remaining office workers, who compose the essential ensemble cast and create the unique work atmosphere.

Unfortunately for The Office lovers, Carell confirmed he will leave after this season when his contract expires, which leaves the future of The Office in doubt.

Dexter

Currently in its fifth season, Dexter’s first season was loosely based on a novel by Jeff Lindsay called Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

The show centers on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Departement, who also moonlights as a serial killer.

Dexter does not kill randomly, instead structuring his killing as a vigilante, which is instilled in him by his Miami cop adoptive father Harry. He calls it: “The Code of Harry.” He often escapes suspicion due to his genial personality, despite maintaining mainly superficial relationships.

Dexter’s main confidant is his sister Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter), a detective for the Miami Police Department. His attachment to his sister complicates his lifestyle. Other prominent characters in the series include Dexter’s deceased father Harry (James Remar) among his co-workers Lt. Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez), Sergeant Angel Batista (David Zayas) and lab technician Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee).

Dexter’s love interest, Rita Bennett Morgan (Julie Benz) evolves from a cautious mother of two, slowly recovering from an abusive ex-husband. They eventually fall in love, have a child and get married. Dexter’s unforeseen emotional attachment to his wife and her two kids Astor (Christina Robinson) and Cody (Preston Bailey) lead him to further question his duplicitous family lifestyle with his serial killer alter ego.

Despite not airing on a popular cable network, Dexter has received rave reviews, making it one of the best psychological thrillers on television.