Ok. Here we go. If you’re reading this you probably know me, so, thanks for stopping by. If you don’t know me, I don’t know how the hell you got here but stick around. Should be good times. We’re here because I’ve wasted way too much of my creative energy posting about my favorite TV shows on internet message boards. It’s an unhealthy obsession. See, I love TV. A lot. And almost as much as I love TV, I love talking about TV. Or typing – as the case may be… Hopefully this blog will spare my friend Jenny from Monday morning IMs: HOW HAVE YOU NOT WATCHED BATTLESTAR YET!? Or Tuesday’s: HOW HAVE YOU NOT WATCHED STUDIO 60 YET? Thursday’s: HOW HAVE YOU NOT WATCHED FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT’S YET? I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO ABOUT HOW CONNIE BRITTON DESERVES FIVE EMMIES FOR HER PERFORMANCE LAST NIGHT!!!
Let’s just get this out of the way. If you’re not watching Friday Night Lights, I don’t know how much longer we can be friends. Seriously, get thee to Itunes. If I were rich I’d buy everyone I know a season pass. Hell, I’d buy it for everyone with a neilson box. But I’m not. Sorry.
All right. Where was I? TV, right. I suspect I’ll feel the need to occasionally vent about my job or L.A. or people’s inability to drive in the rain here but mostly I’ll be ranting and raving about my favorite shows. I wish I was so frakkin’ classy that I thought “Reality TV” was another name for Frontline (though I do love me some PBS) but that would be a big fat lie. So we’ll get into some Top Model action with a little Real World/Road Rules thrown in for spice. Every year I try to avoid the monstrosity that is American Idol, and every year I get sucked in. I hate feeling left out at the water cooler. But I’m most passionate about the unsung hero of the Nigel Lythgoe empire, So You Think You Can Dance? (which will heretofore be referred to as So You Think You Can Dance Dance Revolution or SYTYCDDR). Mostly though, I’m all about the good old fashioned hour long drama. And The Office.
So, because I like lists, the following are the (unreality) shows I love, or love to hate and will spend most of my time rambling about, in no particular order and subject to change at any time…
THE WEST WING: This is my all time favorite show. I know, I know. It’s not on the air anymore. I don’t care. It’s my Stevie Wonder of TV. Whenever I’m sad, I pop in a DVD and it fills my lil pea pickin’ heart with joy. I will undoubtedly reference it repeatedly.
STUDIO 60: Oh Aaron, my Aaron. Why hast though forsaken me? Look, I get it. It’s not good. But as a rabid Sorkin fan let me just say that I think all the critics got it wrong. He was smug, high-minded and self righteous in Sports Night – a behind-the-scenes-of-a-tv-show show. And it worked. Not always, and not perfectly but it worked. The problem with Studio 60 is a really simple one. There’s no conflict. (And don’t say Matt and Harry’s on again off again showmance. That is not enough to drive a series). Sorkin writes bunker shows. For the most part, everyone likes each other. Everyone is in it together. The conflict is external. Sports Night worked because they were always afraid of getting cancelled. The West Wing – well, the conflict is obvious. Studio 60 was doomed as soon as Jack Rudolph became the pissy network chairman with a heart of gold. BAH, as my friend Jenny says. If S60 makes it back on the air, expect a whole lot of ranting.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Not being a fan of sci fi, I laughed out loud when this show was recommended to me. I was wrong. So, so wrong. This isn’t a sci fi show. It’s a gripping, smart, well written drama that happens to be set in a galaxy far, far away. It is also the source of the single most frustrating television watching experience of my life thus far, “The Woman King.” If you’re catching up with the series just skip that episode. Trust me.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Much like BSG isn’t a sci fi show, FNL isn’t a football show so if that’s why you’re not watching, well… I think I’ve already made it clear how I feel about that.
LOST: Oh sweet gentle infant Jesus. I hate this show. I hate it so much that I fear I’ll spontaneously grow heart cancer that will squeeze the vital organ till it bursts. And yet, I can’t. Stop. Watching.
DEADWOOD: Still holding my breath for those two wrap up movies.
THE OFFICE: I love you Jim. You can glance awkwardly at my camera anytime.
30 ROCK: Tina Fey is great, but I could watch Alec Baldwin and Kenny the page read Chinese take-out menus for half an hour and be perfectly happy.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: I have been so pleasantly surprised by this show. I’ve never been a big fan of the traditional sit-com. I’ll go through occasional bouts of Friends binge watching on the tivo. I get that Seinfeld was brilliant, it just wasn’t my bag. I tried to watch Two and a Half Men the other night…. Excuse me, I just had to change my pants on account of all the throw up. Everybody Loves Raymond? Really? But this show makes me laugh out loud more than once an episode. It’s clever. Neil Patrick Harris is delightful and for the first time, I don’t have the urge to bludgeon little button-nosed-red-haired-wiccan-flute-playing girl every time she shows up on screen. It’s a treat.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (RIP): Speaking of shows that make me laugh out loud… I think I can say, with out a twinge of hyperbole, that the top 5 most uproarious, painful, feared I was gonna crack a rib laugh attacks in my life thus far came from this show. Another I will reference repeatedly.
HOUSE: Well this one grew on me like some obscure, invisible, fever-causing parasite. In general, I don’t dig medical shows. I don’t dig cop shows. And I really don’t dig procedurals. But there’s an exception to every rule. This is one of ‘em. Hugh Laurie is fantastic. His character is beautifully written and he executes it flawlessly. And I never have to get pissed off, feeling like it’s all set-up leading to some black and white linoleum floored, velvet curtained room with a backwards talking midget, black smoke and a polar bear where nothing makes sense and no one ever answers a direct frakking question. Thank you for that.
THE SHIELD: (disclaimer for those who happened upon this blog by chance, I worked on the shield for 3 seasons) An exception to the “I Don’t Like Cop Shows” rule. I watched the first two seasons in one weekend. One of, if not the best pilot I’ve ever seen. It’ll be fun to watch it as an outsider again…
THE SOPRANOS: Boy am I late to this party. It’s been on my list forever. I just started this weekend. Yeah, it’s as good as everyone says. I’m stopping at Vidiots on my way home to rent the next DVD.
There are a few others on the list of “shows I should have seen by now.” Most notably, The Wire which I plan to get to as soon as I make it through The Sopranos. I also want to check out Dexter as I was head over heals in love with Jim Manos’ pilot script. Waiting for the DVD on that one.
That’s more than enough for now…
4 Comments
February 27, 2007 at 3:14 am
woo hoo! 1st comment… Ang congrats on the blog, somehow we share the same views on The West Wing, The Shield and Samkon Gado.
Brett
February 27, 2007 at 3:15 am
I can’t watch The Sopranos. I tried. Honest. My mom sent me the first season to try to get me into it, and I can’t get through the pilot. It’s like Ambien. Am I alone on this?
February 27, 2007 at 3:53 am
I actually wasn’t wowed by the pilot. After all the build up, I expected more but it gets stronger with each episode.
February 27, 2007 at 6:56 pm
well missy, with an intro like that, you’ve got your work cut out for you. im pumped to see whats to come. re: raymond, im among the converted. he grows on you – honest.