My favorite TV shows
I haven't written in a while, and I don't have the stomach now to address my two front-burner issues: the invasion of Iraq and the Hydrogen Myth. Given that sage thrasher has misconstrued my exasperation with Commander in Chief as endorsement of that awful program, I thought I would take some time to discuss the shows I actually like.
I should mention that I was a big fan of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: I own all five seasons on DVD, plus the two seasons of that crappy spinoff on UPN. I also enjoyed Angel, and own all those DVDs as well. But those shows are off the air, and it's time to move on.
I record four shows during the week: Desperate Housewives, Bones, House, and Veronica Mars. The first is out of habit: my wife likes it, but I don't care much about it now. I started out recording Kitchen Confidential and watching How I Met Your Mother -- out of a sense of loyalty to the Buffy alumni on those shows, but I lost interest. I also recorded Nightstalker, because I never got to stay up late enough to watch the original series, but since it was basically a regurgitation of X-files, without the fun banter, I stopped.
So the remaining three shows all have the following in common: they are plot-driven, but have sufficient characterization and are sufficiently well-written to have interesting and amusing interplay among the characters, and resolution of the plot comes through reasoned analysis by the principal characters. Plus, Veronica Mars has a cute blonde chick, which is something I've missed since since Buffy went off the air.
I hate reality shows, because, frankly, I have a life. Lost, and the whole brood of shows that one spawned, is too much driven by characterization and character development: the plots are too situational, too vague and ephemeral. Alias, with the cute but somewhat horse-faced Jennifer Garner, just got too weird.
The other shows I watch, obizatel'no, are Nightly Business Report (my son used to like it a lot, too, because of the music and the little up and down arrows for the stocks; also, because Paul Kangas is like a big muppet), The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and, when the wife lets me, The MacLaughlin Group, or Five Heads Shouting.
We don't have cable anymore, otherwise I'd be watching Nip/Tuck and Carnivale -- which between them are probably as weird as Alias, and as vague and ephemeral as Lost et al. So what do I know?
I should mention that I was a big fan of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: I own all five seasons on DVD, plus the two seasons of that crappy spinoff on UPN. I also enjoyed Angel, and own all those DVDs as well. But those shows are off the air, and it's time to move on.
I record four shows during the week: Desperate Housewives, Bones, House, and Veronica Mars. The first is out of habit: my wife likes it, but I don't care much about it now. I started out recording Kitchen Confidential and watching How I Met Your Mother -- out of a sense of loyalty to the Buffy alumni on those shows, but I lost interest. I also recorded Nightstalker, because I never got to stay up late enough to watch the original series, but since it was basically a regurgitation of X-files, without the fun banter, I stopped.
So the remaining three shows all have the following in common: they are plot-driven, but have sufficient characterization and are sufficiently well-written to have interesting and amusing interplay among the characters, and resolution of the plot comes through reasoned analysis by the principal characters. Plus, Veronica Mars has a cute blonde chick, which is something I've missed since since Buffy went off the air.
I hate reality shows, because, frankly, I have a life. Lost, and the whole brood of shows that one spawned, is too much driven by characterization and character development: the plots are too situational, too vague and ephemeral. Alias, with the cute but somewhat horse-faced Jennifer Garner, just got too weird.
The other shows I watch, obizatel'no, are Nightly Business Report (my son used to like it a lot, too, because of the music and the little up and down arrows for the stocks; also, because Paul Kangas is like a big muppet), The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and, when the wife lets me, The MacLaughlin Group, or Five Heads Shouting.
We don't have cable anymore, otherwise I'd be watching Nip/Tuck and Carnivale -- which between them are probably as weird as Alias, and as vague and ephemeral as Lost et al. So what do I know?
posted by heavynettle at 14:57
2 Comments:
Maybe Paul Kangas can start doing a broader type of news coverage you could call The News Hours with Jim Henson.
I watch South Park about once or twice a week and the excellent series Battlefield Britain whenever it's on before my increasingly earlier bedtime.
But, I don't have cable either, so who knows what I might be missing? I do seem to get more reading done by not having more viewing TV options, but that's out of preference, not snobbery, since my taste in literature is increasingly banal.
By the way, concerning Commander in Chief, there was an op-ed piece in the paper this weekend by a Democrat saying that we should all bind together and vote for the woman, any woman (regardless of her positions or relative qualifications to the male field), next presidential election because, gosh darn it, it's time to send the world a message.
The qualifications of Condi and HILLARY! aside, the writer (a man) failed to recognize that he was advocating the same arguments and logic that disgust so many reasonable people with the Democratic Party in the first place. Me, I have this dream about people one day being judged on the content of their character, but I realize it's just a fantasy.
Kuiper belt object Buffy said to be a potential "theory killer."
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