14 April 2010

TV shows

So it's happened. My TV addiction is back. Sort of. I watch most of the shows on hulu though.

I was addicted when a child and adolescent. Then I went to college and had better things to do with my time but still had a couple guilty pleasures (Dawson's Creek, anyone? Did I just admit that?). Then the last thing I remember watching were the returns for the 2000 Presidential election and I went into TV blackout for the majority of the last decade. And I didn't miss it. I did useful things with my time mostly. I know - weird, right? I also did a lot of reading and writing and some pretending to be a rockstar and going out and occasional exercising.

I'm still pretty active when El Esposo's around <---- and that was my downfall. I started watching stuff on the nights he works late after we got married and now since the baby . . . Well here are the shows I usually watch and why they are kind of awesome:

GLEE: Actually I think I might dump this show. It's campy and fun and Jane Lynch is particularly awesome, but I watched it last night and weirdly now that the completely stupid and ridiculous intrigue is over, you know the pretending to be pregnant and pretending someone got you pregnant that didn't, I don't so much have something sucking me back in. Still, there is Jane Lynch, so we'll see.

FRINGE: OK, I'm on again off again with this one, but I recently got rehooked when they did a bunch of origin episodes -- like how things came to be so messed up. I'm a sucker for those "origin of" movies like Spiderman I and Unbreakable (aka the last actually good movie M Night Shamalama whatever did) because that's the creative part. Everything after that is just like "the continuing adventures of..." and I don't really care. Still I like the Steward of Gondor (Denethor, is it?) in that show and the super intensity of everything. It's pretty much a re-imagined X-Files, but hey that was a really good show for a while.

COMMUNITY: This is my favorite new show and my new favorite show. The characters are so awesome and hilarious. I think there's a lot of inherent comedy in the pathos of each one of them being at least partially humiliated to be going to community college. I'm still laughing about the fight scene from the Christmas episode.

30 ROCK: This is a good show. Again with the awesome and hilarious characters. I can't decide which of these two shows is more over-the-top.

THE OFFICE: Everyone knows this show so let me just talk about the recent childbirth episode which brought to life the closest thing to what it is really like in the hospital that I have ever seen on a TV show. Of course it's a sitcom so everything has to be solved by the end but kudos to the writers for doing that and still making the show pretty darn funny after these many years.

If only we got NBC reliably with our digital antenna I would not have to wait for hulu for the three previous shows. Oh and for this one:

PARENTHOOD: So no one's got a newborn on this show but somehow I'm hooked anyway. This is a new show and most of the actors are pretty good at what they do and okay I haven't really figured out what keeps me coming back for this show but maybe I just needed a non-terrible family drama in my repertoire. For fun I recently saw the Steve Martin movie that this show is based off on Netflix and I like the show better than the movie but that is partially due to just how dated the movie seemed. Is it just me or did everyone in the eighties/early nineties seem older? Lauren Graham's 38 year-old character in the new show seems soooo much younger than what's-her-face's parallel divorcee character.

Oh I almost forgot, my new guilty pleasure:

TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU: Yes they made this 90s movie into a show. Yes it is pretty stupid and relatively vapid. The fun thing is that the show seems to be very self-aware, kind of like the movie was. I mean its been a while, but I remember this being the best of that bunch of teen romantic comedies in the mid-nineties.

I think that's it. I don't watch every single episode of these (except Community) but I do watch a lot. I think I need to get a life/some work to do. I've got a couple contracts in the works but nothing to do right now besides be a mom (which, don't get me wrong, is a lot of work) and these keep me busy when I'm feeding the little miss. What's your favorite show? It's probably LOST, huh? I've never seen that show and am afraid to since I hear you then have to watch every single episode.

8 comments:

Amanda said...

Ok, best post ever. (a little exaggerated) but. I love Parenthood. That's one that Jeff actually watches with me too. We both love it. Community is another we think is so funny. I like abc family too but I couldn't get into the 10 things I hate about you. I'm into Greek and The Secret life of an American Teenager (that's my guilty pleaser) and of course we love the classic Office. It took me a bit to get into Glee. I actually didn't like the pregnancy lies. But I am a little curious about what they will do now.

mj said...

Yeah I didn't like the pregnancy lies either but I kept coming back to see if they would ever figure it out. And now I guess I miss them -- weird. Anyway I'll probably be back on board if they start branching out to the other characters again. Last night was a little too much of the Rachel character for me.

Amanda said...

I think that's what had me coming back too. And last nights episode...I think Rachel is a little annoying. Strange but my favorite character to see is Brittany. The white cheerleader with little emotion and ever smaller wit. But I think she's hilarious. I love her lack of emotion in contrast to what she's actually saying. It makes it even funner.

abby said...

I was into Glee in the Fall, but I decided this show is going to go downhill fast like The OC (yes I watched this show). The first season of The OC was awesome (in a soapy way) and then it became ridiculous. The morals of Glee are also a bit disturbing to me. There is a lot of lust between Will and the guidance counselor lady. The lying going around with the pregnancys is horrible. I do love Kirk the gay kid though. The episode where he played on the football team was hilarious.

The two current shows I watch are The Office and Being Erica. Being Erica is a CBC show that made it the Soap Network (I stumbled upon it while watching tv at my sisters over Christmas) and it's now on Hulu. I like the time traveling concept of the show of how Erica can relive every regret of her life and essentially have a do over. It doesn't always work for her because sometimes when you do things the way you want them to go they will come out worse. Erica is our age so it's more fun to time travel through her life in the 1990s and early 2000s. It is CBC and there was one episode I had to skip entirely because it was way too adult for me.

modestmuse said...

I totally hear you on having a decade-long TV blackout. But now, also like you, I have been watching more TV with the baby. I am really out of the loop though -- of the shows you watch I have only seen 30 Rock and The Office (which I have tried to watch a few times recently and I just don't think it's funny anymore :/ and I have never heard of Fringe, Community, Parenthood or 10 Things! I have been watching ridiculous amounts of Overhaulin' and Little People, Big World. My favorite is Overhaulin' (who'da guessed?). And with the hormones, sometimes I want to cry when the people get the surprise of their overhauled car.

mj said...

muse - i hear you on the hormones. i still cry about everything, but only in a good way now. we don't have cable so i have a limited selection and have not seen most of the shows you talked about. the first month when chris was home with me all the time we watched waaay too much daytime TV like all the stupid small claims court shows.

Unknown said...

Watching on my computer makes me think it's okay because it is not TV...and so I get into the time suck that is Hulu. However, I do have to say I'm a huge fan of Fringe. And of scifi in general. Way better than the X-Files. X-files was all aliens, as so many sci fi shows are. This, however, is totally different. Parallel universes, the watchers, weird contraptions that communicate to the other side, and LEONARD NEMOY guest stars! Plus, the dad/doctor/mad scientist is a genius actor. I couldn't have asked anyone to play him more perfectly. I do like me some witty comedy, but Fringe, I love this clever, creative show.

Steve said...

I was forced to watch an episode of Glee and was left not impressed. It's like American Idol humping Degrassi High. Just not my thing.

30 Rock is probably the funniest show on tv the past 2-3 years.

I've been intrigued by every preview of Fringe I have seen, but can't fit another show into my rotation. Probably watch it via Netflix in Africa.

Kelly really wanted to watch Parenthood, but clearly we missed it's premiere.

Lately, all we seem to watch are reality shows like Project Runway and ATNM. Oh, and The Soup is the best weekly wrap up of pop culture! Even though I couldn't get into Community. I tried for 3-4 episodes. Oh, but Parks and Recreations is probably my second favorite sitcom right now after 30 Rock. EVERY character is hilarious, much like The Office.