All in all, this was a weekend of botched opportunities. I started Carson Palmer in my fantasy league and that my cost me the game (since Kyle Orton threw for a country miles against the Colts). I need Mason Crosby to get my 11 points tonight to salvage a win.

Betting-wise I had a horrific weekend but I could have been saved with a Raiders win but SeaBass Drunkowski missed a short field goal to cost the Raiders the game and me a little bit of cash. The Niners bit me in the ass yet again; three weeks, they've let me down three times. After getting blown out by the Seahawks, they covered against the Saints, and then got blown out again by the Chiefs. Not that they were the only ones, I think I only got like three or four games right this weekend.

In the ol' personal life, I didn't talk to a girl who was staring me down... because I was intimidated by her hat. She was a pretty young blonde with a hat cocked to the side and I just kind of thought, "This isn't going to work out." I should have just made it work out for the night or at least given it the old college try (especially since most of the girls there were college age.) Which is another thing, my favorite Hollywood dive bar Power House has cleaned itself up and has become kind of a young hipster hangout. Kind of a drag. Granted, it's better for the bar owners and there will be pretty girls there now but it was just a place where I could throw darts, get drunk, and not hate myself for dropping the ball with some girl.

On the bright side, I checked out Juicy Burger on Hollywood Blvd. and it definitely goes on the list. I like it a lot better than 25 Degrees and the build your own burger approach they take is perfect for my picky tastes.

On Saturday, I basically just spent the day on my futon watching some new TV shows on my DVR so here's a breakdown of the shows I've seen this season.

Nikita: The following episodes were better than the premiere but the show still feels like a cable remake of Dollhouse. It's not bad but not something that I see myself keeping on the DVR. The main story of Nikita v. Division is still too weak and anything about Nikita or her sidekick's backstory is boring and pointless.

Outlaw: I'm hoping that the show can turn into a kind of legal version of House but I think the odds are slim of that happening. The premiere was kind of hokey and the supporting characters need a lot more depth if they are going to turn this thing around.

Detroit 187: This is basically a watered down version of Southland, with almost all of the focus being on the case instead of the personal lives of the cops. Everything about it was mediocre and forgettable. I'll check it out for another week or so but I can't imagine this show lasting to a second season.

Hawaii 5-0: This seems less like a remake of the original show and more like NCIS: Hawaii. It's not bad although I still don't get the appeal of Alex O'Loughlin. I like NCIS: Los Angeles better and I've only watched like two episodes of that so the prospects of me keeping tabs on this show seems slim. But since my tastes are not the taste of the mainstream, I fully expect this to be the most popular show of the new season and it should last at least three seasons.

The Defenders: I only caught the end of the show and it actually wasn't too bad. The problem with it (and the reason I probably won't watch it again) was that Jerry O'Connell seemed like he smoked a big bag of crack before every scene. Of course, he might have been directed to act like that so it would take attention for the piles of makeup caked on Jim Belushi's face (I can only imagine how bad it looked in HD.) Normally I don't notice makeup but Belushi looked ridiculous and they also managed to make Natalie Zea (Justified, Dirty Sexy Money) look kind of plain. But the casework was actually strong so I might try to give it another chance.

Terriers: The second and third episodes were a marked improvement as the Ocean's 11 type dialogue was toned down and Michael Raymond-James's sidekick character was more fully fleshed out. Although that's one of the problems with the show; James's character is much stronger than Donal Logues'. I might keep watching it but it's not as good as Sons of Anarchy and I tapped out of that show after one season (although I might Netflix it to see what came of it.)

Hellcats: So I guess the CW has given up competing with ABC and is now taking on ABC Family. The show was High School Musical without the musical. I stopped watching once the Glee-esque stakes of "We have to win or we'll lose funding!" came up.

The Event: Honestly, who cares what the event is? So much going on and the tangled time line just took away from the characters, none of whom I cared about. They were going for "Lost" but it reminded me more of a big budget "Persons Unknown" or "Happy Town". The show's premiere did well but I think this will be like V, a show that starts off strong but quickly loses viewers and probably has to be revamped a bit if and when it gets a second season.

Running WIlde: Too off-the-wall for its own good, this show will be one-and-done (if it even makes it through the full season.)

Raising Hope: Promising but just not my cup of tea.

The Whole Truth: The show has a drab look but I like the set-up. The first act sets up the case, the second act follows the prosecution, then the third act goes back and shows us what the defense team was doing (so there are some overlapping moments, such as phone calls that we see both ends of.) I'm not loving the way Rob Morrow's character is playing his character but it's a solid albeit kind of mediocre show. I'm not sure how long it will last since the premiere didn't get great ratings but I'll leave it on the DVR to check out on a rainy (or hungover) day.

Lonestar: Well made, great acting, but no matter how good the lead actor is (and he's very good) the premise of rooting for a con artist with two wives is a tough one to pull off. I think this show might have been better off on FX where the ratings expectations wouldn't have been as high and they would have launched it with a quick 7 - 10 episode order (ala Justified). On Fox, it might not make it past the third or fourth episode because the premiere tanked and most people aren't going to start watching a serialized show that seems on the brink of cancellation.

Blue Bloods: The premiere was OK and ended with an interesting twist of the younger son potentially investigating his own family and their involvement in "The Blue Templar", a secret society in the NYPD, but what bothered me the most was that they lifted the key moment of the pilot from a Law & Order episode. And not even an old one, it was a Dennis Farina ep. The stories were almost exactly the same; kidnapped girl, cop finds suspect, dunks his head in toilet/waterboards him to get the location of the girl. I'm rooting for this show, especially if Tom Selleck gets to play a bad guy.

All in all, this was a weekend of botched opportunities. I started Carson Palmer in my fantasy league and that my cost me the game (since Kyle Orton threw for a country miles against the Colts). I need Mason Crosby to get my 11 points tonight to salvage a win.

Betting-wise I had a horrific weekend but I could have been saved with a Raiders win but SeaBass Drunkowski missed a short field goal to cost the Raiders the game and me a little bit of cash. The Niners bit me in the ass yet again; three weeks, they've let me down three times. After getting blown out by the Seahawks, they covered against the Saints, and then got blown out again by the Chiefs. Not that they were the only ones, I think I only got like three or four games right this weekend.

In the ol' personal life, I didn't talk to a girl who was staring me down... because I was intimidated by her hat. She was a pretty young blonde with a hat cocked to the side and I just kind of thought, "This isn't going to work out." I should have just made it work out for the night or at least given it the old college try (especially since most of the girls there were college age.) Which is another thing, my favorite Hollywood dive bar Power House has cleaned itself up and has become kind of a young hipster hangout. Kind of a drag. Granted, it's better for the bar owners and there will be pretty girls there now but it was just a place where I could throw darts, get drunk, and not hate myself for dropping the ball with some girl.

On the bright side, I checked out Juicy Burger on Hollywood Blvd. and it definitely goes on the list. I like it a lot better than 25 Degrees and the build your own burger approach they take is perfect for my picky tastes.

On Saturday, I basically just spent the day on my futon watching some new TV shows on my DVR so here's a breakdown of the shows I've seen this season.

Nikita: The following episodes were better than the premiere but the show still feels like a cable remake of Dollhouse. It's not bad but not something that I see myself keeping on the DVR. The main story of Nikita v. Division is still too weak and anything about Nikita or her sidekick's backstory is boring and pointless.

Outlaw: I'm hoping that the show can turn into a kind of legal version of House but I think the odds are slim of that happening. The premiere was kind of hokey and the supporting characters need a lot more depth if they are going to turn this thing around.

Detroit 187: This is basically a watered down version of Southland, with almost all of the focus being on the case instead of the personal lives of the cops. Everything about it was mediocre and forgettable. I'll check it out for another week or so but I can't imagine this show lasting to a second season.

Hawaii 5-0: This seems less like a remake of the original show and more like NCIS: Hawaii. It's not bad although I still don't get the appeal of Alex O'Loughlin. I like NCIS: Los Angeles better and I've only watched like two episodes of that so the prospects of me keeping tabs on this show seems slim. But since my tastes are not the taste of the mainstream, I fully expect this to be the most popular show of the new season and it should last at least three seasons.

The Defenders: I only caught the end of the show and it actually wasn't too bad. The problem with it (and the reason I probably won't watch it again) was that Jerry O'Connell seemed like he smoked a big bag of crack before every scene. Of course, he might have been directed to act like that so it would take attention for the piles of makeup caked on Jim Belushi's face (I can only imagine how bad it looked in HD.) Normally I don't notice makeup but Belushi looked ridiculous and they also managed to make Natalie Zea (Justified, Dirty Sexy Money) look kind of plain. But the casework was actually strong so I might try to give it another chance.

Terriers: The second and third episodes were a marked improvement as the Ocean's 11 type dialogue was toned down and Michael Raymond-James's sidekick character was more fully fleshed out. Although that's one of the problems with the show; James's character is much stronger than Donal Logues'. I might keep watching it but it's not as good as Sons of Anarchy and I tapped out of that show after one season (although I might Netflix it to see what came of it.)

Hellcats: So I guess the CW has given up competing with ABC and is now taking on ABC Family. The show was High School Musical without the musical. I stopped watching once the Glee-esque stakes of "We have to win or we'll lose funding!" came up.

The Event: Honestly, who cares what the event is? So much going on and the tangled time line just took away from the characters, none of whom I cared about. They were going for "Lost" but it reminded me more of a big budget "Persons Unknown" or "Happy Town". The show's premiere did well but I think this will be like V, a show that starts off strong but quickly loses viewers and probably has to be revamped a bit if and when it gets a second season.

Running WIlde: Too off-the-wall for its own good, this show will be one-and-done (if it even makes it through the full season.)

Raising Hope: Promising but just not my cup of tea.

The Whole Truth: The show has a drab look but I like the set-up. The first act sets up the case, the second act follows the prosecution, then the third act goes back and shows us what the defense team was doing (so there are some overlapping moments, such as phone calls that we see both ends of.) I'm not loving the way Rob Morrow's character is playing his character but it's a solid albeit kind of mediocre show. I'm not sure how long it will last since the premiere didn't get great ratings but I'll leave it on the DVR to check out on a rainy (or hungover) day.

Lonestar: Well made, great acting, but no matter how good the lead actor is (and he's very good) the premise of rooting for a con artist with two wives is a tough one to pull off. I think this show might have been better off on FX where the ratings expectations wouldn't have been as high and they would have launched it with a quick 7 - 10 episode order (ala Justified). On Fox, it might not make it past the third or fourth episode because the premiere tanked and most people aren't going to start watching a serialized show that seems on the brink of cancellation.

Boardwalk Empire: I enjoyed the first two episodes but, then again, I like gangster shows/movies. Michael Pitt is like a sociopathic Leonardo DiCaprio and the rest of the cast is pretty amazing. It's a slow burn but I like where it's headed. I don't think it will live up to the hype or go down as one of HBO's greatest shows but it should be very interesting and an entertaining ride.

Better With You

: After seeing "Privileged", I thought Joanna Garcia deserved a push as the next female TV star. After watching "Better With You", I don't think I want to see her again. It's hard to build a show about relationships when almost none of the characters come off as realistic. Garcia and her love interest in the show are incredibly irritating which makes matters worse.

This week marks the opening of No Ordinary Family and Law & Order: Los Angeles, which boasts one of a fairly intriguing cast of Terrence Howard, Alfred Molina, and Skeet Ulrich. Hopefully these can win me over because right now I'm not seeing much that interests me out there. Although that might be a good thing since I should be writing instead of watching TV.