Monday, January 09, 2012

TV - Good, Better, Been Better, and Bad

Late to the Party, But All Caught Up and Ready For More

Mad Men (AMC): Love this show, checked the DVD boxsets out of the library and easily watched them marathon-style, now ready for its return sometime this year. Great characters. We hesitated on this one because the trailers did not entice me. An actor friend of mine recommended it to me, and came up with this interview question for someone who wants to be a manager: "Which 'Mad Men' character are you?" If forced to answer that question, I would have to pick Peggy Olson. Which one are you? Another thing I like about Mad Men is that it has an end scheduled after a few more seasons. Things should end before they become pathetic, and I hope that Mad Men goes the distance.

The Walking Dead (AMC): a newly discovered series that we are now caught up with thanks to a box set and a New Year's Eve marathon. (I'd rather watch zombies than Ryan Seacrest.) It has great characters. Very intense. It's nice to be watching Laurie Holden in a series again, and being reminded of Marita Covarrubias and the X-Files.

Doctor Who (BBC/BBCA): For most of my adult life, people have been telling me that I would love Doctor Who, but it never sparked. MrB got me started on Torchwood (the 3rd season) so we watched all of that in reverse order. We liked the Doctor Who spin-off a lot, and I actually started watching The Doctor because of it, during David Tennant's reign (the 10th Doctor). Now all caught up with the 9th, 10th and 11th regenerations (plus a smattering of the old series), Matt Smith and Tom Baker are fine but David Tennant is still my Doctor. Some of the most recent DW episodes have not been as good as when Matt Smith first came on the scene, in my opinion. Have not seen the most recent Americanized Torchwood beyond the first episode, but it has not gotten good reviews. Please stop Americanising BBC programmes! Grrrrrrr.


Network TV

House MD (FOX): Still a damn good show. Not sure how long it can continue, seems like it is nearly used up.

Castle (ABC): The whodunnit gets figured out pretty quickly, but I like Nathan Fillion.

Bones (FOX): We are just tired of this one. My favorite characters are either gone, dead, or have gone all mushy. The occasional appearance of Billy Gibbons is not enough by itself to redeem it. We dropped it this season.

Fringe (FOX): Still very interested in this show and absolutely adore the character of Walter, but ratings are not good and I believe that this show will soon be gone. The title of the show kind of describes the loyal little niche that keeps watching.


Reality or Educational
Not much regular viewing in this category. I like Pawn Stars and Mythbusters sometimes, also science/educational - and don't mind at all if Professor Brian Cox is delivering the message.



Four or Five Days a Week

I watch these via a web browser during work lunches. We don't soak up much politics at home. I obsessed way too much during the Hillary/Obama wars and was rightfully reminded of it. At some point it's a good idea to stop driving yourself and others crazy, and leave the topic. Buuuut.... I haven't given these up:
Rachel Maddow
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Colbert Report


Biggest "How Did We Miss This One" show discovered this year

Arrested Development: missed the entire original run but watched it all on DVD last year. This show is hilarious and brilliant. They are making a movie version, hope it's just as good.


What we're not watching

Any of the live Republican debates. All I've seen are the few choice snippets that are worth watching the following day for their delicious awfulness. When they get down the the nominees, I will watch those debates. The American election process is far too long.

Reality TV that involves trying to become a pop singer, dancing, trying to marry somebody, wife swapping, or parenting. Enough!

Fox News (if I want to see a bunch of implausible made-up crap, I prefer a movie like Ice Spiders on SyFy, at least it's funny.)

7 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

My Rare One and I love "Mad Men" too. We watched it on NetFlix. Eagerly awaiting the new season too.

We just started watching a new series (on NetFlix again) called "The Big C." It's about a woman with terminal cancer but it's not a downer -- it's very funny and human. The glorious Laura Linney stars -- I love her in everything she does!

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

I tried Mad Men a couple of times but it just didn't do anything for me. I did get into Breaking Bad though, I highly recommend it.

Blueberry said...

DrMVM: We have simply GOT to get hold of a Breaking Bad boxset. It has been highly recommended many times. Hope the library has it.

Debra: Laura Linney is delightful, isn't she?

Professor Chaos said...

I'm not entirely convinced that Ryan Seacrest is not a zombie.

I watched the first episode of MadMen when it first started, but it didn't do anything for me. Since then I've been hearing all sorts of great stuff about it, so I added it to Netflix streaming. I will start in on it once we're caught up on Breaking Bad.

yellowdoggranny said...

I love Man Men and The Walking Dead, but I'm mad crazy about The Sons of Anarchy...soo good.and the music is wonderful

Connie, Orlando said...

Wow, talk about divergent tastes in TV. Tried Mad Men - hated it. Also for House. Haven't watched Walking Dead, Dr. Who or Fringe. I too love Nathan Fillion (ah, Joss I miss you), and Castle is okay, but not great. Bones, seriously? Still love the show, love that Bones & Booth are together. Thursday show scared the crap out of me. Love Mark Harmon & Paulie Perrette on NCIS.

I'm totally with you on Rachel & Jon and, occasionally, Colbert. This week's segment with Bill Moyers (love, love, love him) rocked my world.

I am strictly OLD fashioned: I like my protagonists mostly good and my villains mostly bad. I don't like the recent turn of events (Breaking Bad, Dexter, Mad Men, Sopranos, et al) where the leads, aka protagonists, are mostly bad people with a few redeeming qualities. Give me Roy Rogers & Quincy any day.

Connie, Orlando said...

How could I forget my latest Must See Tv? Downton Abbey on PBS. I'm an avid anglophile. And the lead, Hugh Bonneville, was darling in the movie Notting Hill, which is what drew me to the show in the first place.