18 September, 2005

Whachya Watchin?

We've crawled on our bellies through the desert of summer TV, drinking at the oasis of Kathy Griffin and scoffing at the mirage of Dancing With The Surreal Bachelor. Now it's time for TeeVee proper, when the serious TiVo fills up with more than gardening shows. (By the way...never buy your mother a TiVo, unless you like to watch This Old British Garden endlessly.)

The season's just starting, but I've staked my Season Pass Territory pretty firmly.

Arrested Development

If you aren't watching this, you are letting yourself down. This is the most brilliant television created in the last 5 years. Seriously.

Kitchen Confidential

It's on after Arrested Development, and I liked the book. We'll give the show a shot.

Prison Break

They sold me on this with the Shawshank references. Since I love Shawshank to the point of having the entire movie memorized, I figured I'd give this a shot. Four episodes into it I'm not so convinced, but I'll give it another couple of bedoop-heavy weeks.

Medium
I love this show as much for the family dynamic as for the crime-solving aspect. This, more than any other program ever made, captures what it is really like to be a working married woman. Alison's true irreplacability mirrors what every woman feels about her role at work. I can't speak for every woman, but most women I know feel like wives and mothers as much at the office as they do at home. This show softly conveys the ensuing relationship issues and the inner grief of the working woman with too many hearts on her plate. Plus, the middle daughter is a riot.

Gilmore Girls SPOILER
This show won me over for the sheer fact that many of Loralei and Rory's conversations about movies and popular culture sound like either me and Tim or me and Beth. I've kept watching because I love all the characters. Except one. I cannot stand Jess. So imagine my thrill when I read about that heel returning to the show. Apparently he's Alexis Bleidel's real-life boyfriend. Remember what I said about how hard it is to balance working relationships with personal ones? Alexis must feel the heat every time she has to beg Amy and Daniel to write a story arc to keep Milo Ventimiglia in clove cigarettes and hair gel. I'm still gonna TiVo it, but there is some bedooping in Stars Hollow's future.

NCIS

A) We have two TiVos. B) I love Mark Harmon's character.

Supernatural
It's fun, but you should really watch it with the lights on. We really enjoyed the first episode, but I was scared to death.

My Name Is Earl
I like Jason Lee, and this show looks like it might be similar to Ed. More than that, constant exposure to it from The Twenty (brought to you by Christie Projectors) has worn me down. I'll at least TiVo it once.

The Office
It will never be the same without Ricky Gervaise--the Complaint dialogue from BBC Season One is the single funniest thing I have EVER seen on television--but if you don't like Steve Carrell after The 40 Year Old Virgin, then I don't know what to say to you.

Law & Order:SVU
Sex Fiends and Richard Belzer. Appointment TV at it's finest.

LOST

J.J. Abrams gets one more season to prove to me that he has an overarching story in mind. I was with him until the season finale last year, at which point I felt like I was on the receiving end of a drunken fraternity prank. He owes me a better exploration of Hurley's backstory and a serious playdown of Kate and her Krime Spree. Focus on Locke, Hurley, Sayid, Sawyer and the Hobbit. (Seriously, isn't Dom why half of us tuned in to begin with?) More than that--give us some answers. What are the numbers? What's down the hatch? Why was Hurley in the asylum? What's Walt's deal?

Veronica Mars
THIS is how you do a story arc, JJ. This is how you create compelling drama. And she better end up with Logan.

Joey & ER
NBC Thursday Night reminds me of the center from the high school basketball team. I have vague recollection of once being entertained by them both. Now they're older and sagging around the middle but you still feel some sort of obligation to see them through.

CSI
Tarantino's finale last year kicked keister, save for the painful locker room dialogue. They kind of lost me with last year's Holmes story, but I'm reeled back in by QT. Hope they can sustain another season from that momentum.

Reunion
They're my age (okay, 2 years older) and I like the reverse-24 style architectue of the show. So often I get involved in the lives of characters that it's nice to be able to see them grow and develop. I think that's been one of the strengths of the Harry Potter series, and it certainly kept us all focused on Friends long past it's expiration date. Reunion gives us the chance to really watch the effect that 20 years has on a group of people.

BSG
It's almost over, but then the DVD comes out! Woohoo!


I hope these shows are with us for the whole season. PLEASE watch Arrested Development. Please. Please.

Let me know if you've seen something I've missed that I should add. Right about now I'm really tired of Shark Documentaries.

16 Comments:

At 2:08 PM, September 18, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This blog is fantastic! I'm going to save it to my favorites!
I have a yard decoration website. It pretty much covers yard decoration related stuff. Come check it out if you get time :-)

 
At 2:13 PM, September 18, 2005, Blogger Kat Coble said...

Congratulations! You are officially the MOST BORING NERD on earth.

 
At 2:41 PM, September 18, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

$#&! I don't have time to comment on this entry right now ... but Gilmore Girls! NCIS! Mark Harmon! Veronica Mars!!! CSI!! .. argh ... I'll be back tonight after church.

Lacy (I refuse to get a blogger id ... be an MT or wordpress girl ... come on ... )

 
At 9:23 PM, September 18, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK - GG rocks. I've been watching since the beginning - and these characters are wonderful. The writing is amazing. Jess is only coming back for max 2 episodes -- and he's not there to stay thank goodness. Can't stand him!! But I do like Logan ....

Veronica Mars ... LOVE LOVE LOVE this. It's my new Buffy. Also like Logan on this show. Steve doesn't like either Logan. Is it a guy thing -- not liking Logan?

Lost. Mmmmmm. As soon as the opening haunting music plays - I'm glued to my tivo. We'll have to see what happens this year. Can they sustain the suspense? Can we lose the irritating french woman? Is Hurley ever going to lose weight? WHAT DO THOSE NUMBERS MEAN????????

Two Tivos. When we finally got our second tivo last year .... the world seemed like a happier place. Now if only they would have joint scheduling (you know - where if one tivo was busy, it would go do a show on the other one.) I'm hoping this will be included in a future update.

NCIS. Will miss Kate ...but I feel better knowing that the actress wanted off the show and that's why they killed her off. Don't you love Abby? Not too sure about Lauren Holly joining the cast though. And Mark Harmon is H - O - T.

Medium. I hadn't ever thought of the show how you put it ... but you're so right. It probably IS the most realistic portrayal of working moms. Good thoughts there.

The american version of The Office just doesn't do it for me. English can be insulting and it be funny. When a guy here is saying the same stuff ... for some reason it isn't as funny. Perhaps because no one can rival Gervais - who has comic timing genius.

Wouldn't it be cool if i could send your tivo suggestions of programs I think you would like? That would be nifty. I'm always wanting to send my brother suggestions -- or even better -- whole shows. At least we can burn DVD's off our main tivo -- which is very cool.

Have you ever watched Stargate? I love Richard Dean Anderson. This new season basically sucks ... but the previous ones ... great.

Lacy

 
At 9:54 PM, September 18, 2005, Blogger John H said...

As we've discussed before, G Girls is Dorothy Parker for the 21st century. Still fun, still goofy, and it has the best supporting cast on TV.

I fell in love with Veronica Mars this summer when I finally caught up to the show in re-runs. Wow! Kristin Bell IS the new Buffy, and I loved the Buffy. They really did know how to spin the arc, AND have fun stand-alone episodes along the way.

It is amazing how few really really lol current funny shows there are..Simpsons and Arrested Development are pretty much it. English version of Office was that funny, but the American is just clever without the superior wit,imo.

Only show I really like that you didn't mention is Grey's Anatomy. Gotta have a good hospital show around, now that ER is spinning down and the ghost of St. Elsewhere still haunts.

I like your taste.

 
At 9:53 AM, September 19, 2005, Blogger Michael Hickerson said...

Hmmm...I must say I'm willing to give Threshhold a chance..but I haven't had time to watch the pilot yet.

2.5 Men is consistently hiliarious and must be watched.

 
At 12:09 PM, September 19, 2005, Blogger Michael Hickerson said...

VCR alert--BSG runs two minutes long this week!

And ya know, I am thinking about Lost nad would it not have been worse to give us all the answer at once. I mean, compared ot X-Files we got tons of answers...LOL

 
At 12:30 PM, September 19, 2005, Blogger Stella said...

Yes...Grey's Anatomy!!! I never watch TV and don't know half of the shows you guys discuss, but I immediately got addicted to this one. It figures that the season premiere is going to be the weekend I'm driving hundreds of miles a day to get to Cali.

 
At 12:34 PM, September 19, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

AD rocks!! Love it. I'm also liking Boston Legal and I may let myself get sucked into Lost.

Law & Order: SVU has been a favorite for a while now and I hope to be able to keep up with the new episodes. I've finally yanked myself away from the syndicated episodes on USA.

 
At 12:58 PM, September 19, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just had to point out that we're TV FREE!!

Okay, call us freaks. I like it.

I'm glad you mentioned Ed, though. After reading your "I am a writer" post a few days ago I wanted to ask you if you've ever seen the episode where Carol realizes she can be a writer anywhere. The exchange between her and Ed still can bring tears to my eyes:

"You're a writer, Carol"

"I know"

You just have to see the look on her face. It's the joy of someone who has granted themselves a temporary stay from the Inner Voice that constantly tells them they're just a hack.

Jason

 
At 10:49 PM, September 19, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kitchen Confidential rocked. It's like Sex in the City meets It's a Living. Did anybody else ever watch that?

The AD premiere is a MUST SEE. I've already green-dotted it for future laughs. I nearly fell off the couch.

 
At 11:15 PM, September 19, 2005, Blogger Kat Coble said...

Lacy, I can't tell if Tim likes Logan Mars or not. We both dislike Logan Gilmore, whereas I lurv Logan Mars. If it ain't him at the door, I'll be crushed so much.

I'm glad Milo's stay will be short on GG. He tries my patience with his sturmundrang.

Tom, I watched that show with you. but I guess you weren't asking me, per se. I won't get to watch AD until Mom Coble leaves on Wednesday....I'm already frothing at the mouth, although that could just be allergies.

Jason, I'll believe that you are truly TV-free when you aren't watching DVDs either. Hah. That day will never come.

Michael, I totally forgot to add Threshold to the list, even though I've Seasonpassed it. I should hook up with 2.5men. Are you watching that other one with Doogie Howser? The "mom" thing? I forgot to TiVo it so I went spoiler-trolling on TWOP. If you ARE watching it, I have a theory about who the babymomma is.

Muffy, you gotta be watching Lost. It's still great TV, even if it's like the boyfriend who never proposes.

Jill, now that you're gonna be out there with all the TV people you gotta keep them on their toes for me, okay?

John, you and I are latecomers to VMars, I guess. Better late than never. This is the best show. You guys really like Gray's, huh? Okay, answer me this: What's the Med to Sex ratio? I've got to have at least 60-40 Med favour to get involved in any more hospital shows. Cannot stand the whole let's-have-sex-oh-here's-a-free-gurney type of shows that forget those of us guts geeks in the audience.

 
At 8:29 AM, September 20, 2005, Blogger Michael Hickerson said...

I taped the new Mom one as it's got Allyson Hannigan and as a worshipper of all things Whedon I am morally obligated to give any show with a fromer Mutant Enemy cast member person on it at least three eps....

 
At 9:07 AM, September 20, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Grey's Anatomy .... more than 60/40. It's like ... 80/20. It's pretty much a doctor show - with a little sex in there ;) I like it ... it's become my new ER now that ER pretty much sucks.

Lacy

 
At 11:33 AM, September 20, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Kitchen Confidential", did not rock. It was lame. So, yes, it was kind of like "Sex in the City" and "It's A Living".
The fake Bourdain character had none of the dark edginess that the real Bourdain embodies. His show on the Travel Channel has more laughs than this warmed over turd sandwich of a show contains.

And if your retort is "But it's a sitcom, they have to tone it down some." My answer is "Exactly". If you want to see how Bourdain should be played, as an arrogant-yet-talented jerk, not Hawkeye-Klinger-Radar-and-Henry Blake work in a restaurant, try catching tonight's episode of "House". How is it that a medical drama will be funnier than "Kitchen Confidential".

Oh, and "Arrested Development" kicked ass.

 
At 9:37 PM, September 20, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just surfed in here from somewhere, but I just wanted to comment because our taste in TV shows is so similar. I didn't know there was anyone else out there who loved both Arrested Development and Veronica Mars, but apparently, we might be the only ones! LOL. Seriously, why aren't more people watching these shows? Veronica is the best lead TV character like in forever (at least on a network show), and the Bluths are a laugh riot.

 

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