Why Is Everyone Watching That?

Looking over other people's list of top show and wondering what are they thinking. I will use Entertainment Weekly's Best of 2012 list as an example but most of the critics list have the same shows. This issue and some great list but most I disagree with but I get their rationale.

#1 Homeland
Agreed. A slowly developing drama with no gimmicks. Well written and well acted.

#2 Breaking Bad
Agreed. Another well thought out show that is slowly developing to a real life conclusion.

#3 Louie
Disagree. While I enjoyed the two previous versions of Louie's shows this one is uneven and not funny. Uncomfortable is his style but it also should be funny, the balance is not right.

#4 Girls
Disagree. Again more uncomfortable than funny. These women have been compared to Sex and the City and yes they are equally reprehensible with how the live there lives.

#5 Mad Men
Agreed. Although I do not watch it seems great and epic.

#6 The Colbert Report
Agreed. I stopped watching it because I sleep early and my TiVo is often too full. That said from what few clips I have seen the show is still topical and funny.

#7 Parks and Recreation
Agreed. When there is nothing left to watch I often watch this show because it is funny and you can always jump into it without feeling lost or out of the loop.

#8 Justified
Disagree. I know nothing about the show and as a TV junkie that is not a good sign.

#9 The Good Wife
Disagree. I tried watching it but it just feels like a typical serial drama. Nothing is special about it.

#10 Nashville
Disagree. Watched bits and pieces and while very true to life the whole country theme is not compelling.

#11 Parenthood
Agreed. A well acted drama that tends to get a bit whiny. These people have it all but ten to get hung up on the little annoyances of life, just like real people.

#12 Luck
Disagree. Gambling shows are never fun to watch and with all the dead horses around this one it just failed at every level.

#13 Fringe
Agreed. One of the few sci-fi shows left on TV and it does what great shows often do, that is leaves you asking questions and thinking about what you just saw.

#14 Sons of Anarchy
Disagree. Violence for the sake of storylines just never appealed to me. Maybe there is more to the sow but I just do not see it.

#15 Archer
Disagree. Adult themed cartoons are usually not funny or clever and this one is no different.

#16 The Walking Dead
Agreed. Should be higher on the list as the entire show is top notch. Great acting, great writing, great, scenery, and very compelling.

#17 Southland
Disagree. Another show I know little to nothing about and seeing how I watch too much TV that is not a good sign.

#18 Hunted
Disagree. See my previous opinion.

#19 NY Med
Agreed. Reality show that takes place in a hospital. It is compelling and filmed more like a documentary than a altered-overly-produced "reality" show.

#20 Bent
Disagree. Seriously never heard of this show until I read this list.

 
Sure not seeing the show should invalidate my opinion but half of a TV shows purpose is to bring new fans in. If you cannot even have a TV obsessed person like me to watch then the show is not worth it.

New Year, New Yawns

Well all the shows have returned from the Holiday break and they should have stayed gone.

My tolerance for predictable story lines has reached its limits. Add to that the horrible news and even worse pundits that love to start fights but then when one breaks out they blame others.

Oh well I have work, friends and a camera I can not seem to master so my TV habit may soon be kicked.

So what else am I watching repeats of Still Standing and Doctor Who.
New shows like Shameless are well acted but so unrealistic it throws you right out of the fantasy. The whole glorification of weed is getting ridiculous. The only nice moment the family has is when they get high together, that is truly shameless.

 

Shop, Buy Remote

Had this service for over a week.

HSN itv is a service provided from HSN to shop over your cable box apparently you need to be an account member to buy this crap.
First find the select icon floating on screen...

then hit select on your remote...

A menu of todays craptacular buys are displayed...

Then select payment option...

Select uneeded warranty plan...

Select amounts...

Enter your info and bam you got crap...Thanks for shopping.



Here is a video of the easy to shop way, I took this it on my camera so quality is less then great since TiVo and my PC are not being nice to each other.

There is a slight delay on this channel plus it locks out most of you remote controls other functions to escape you must hit the channel up/down key.

If they make this possible for food and on commercials I'll never leave my home again. Let's pray.

Pleasant Surprises

Made the appointment to register for classes late and they didn't hassle me.

While TiVo recorded The Closer unexpectedly and I liked it.

The Closer: Pilot/An officer investigates crimes.
Stars Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson a new person joining an L.A. police team that investigates high profile crimes.
This first episode was great. It was very graphic and smart. Johnson comes in as deputy chief out ranking veteran officers and everyone hates her. She also is a bit quirky and has a sweets fetish.
The first crime involved a computer millionaire's murder with a gender twist. Of course she solves the crime with ease.
The story was secondary to the acting, such great performances from Sedgwick and J.K. Simmons as her boss. The cast is very New York, by that I mean the actors from Oz and Law & Order are there and other New York faces you commonly see.

Great now I have one more show to add to my, way too long, list of things to watch. Thanks TNT.



Also as some may know I leave my TV on when I'm home during the day despite what else I do. It was on ABC during All My Children and I heard this high pitch distinctive voice of Mrs. Foreman. When I look it is Debra Jo Rupp playing a crazy alcoholic lady. I always thought people only did soaps when they have nothing else to do or as a means to revive their career. Why was she there? Is she related to someone there?

That 70's Show has not filmed there final episode as far as I know.

Update: I found some website that claimed this--She[Rupp] actually played Sheila, the topless waitress on AMC 25 years ago.

TiVo Fall Preview

For those of you who don’t have TiVo they sent a small fall preview for FOX, UPN and the WB. It shows previews of each show in commercial form. I’ll give my impressions of each show and whether or not I will watch any of them. THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG POST.

First on FOX:
Reunion: Six relatively unknown actors play six friends whose life unfolds into death for one of them over twenty years. We see one of the rich kids let his friend takes the blame and go to jail. The investigator is Matthew St. Patrick, of Six Feet Under.
Verdict: I may watch but it seems kinda wandering & pointless.

The War at Home: Anita Barone and Michael Rapaport play parents of a sexy girl, weird middle son and a young cool trouble making boy. They seem to be a New York family with the typical white stereotypes. The funny moments were when the middle boy is accused of being gay when he isn’t and when the sexy girl bring homes a black boyfriend like her mother did years ago.
Verdict: Typical sitcom and narratives from dad I’ll watch the first episode.

Bones: David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel play FBI agnets who solve crimes, along with four others.
Verdict: I think this is the first failure, I’ll still watch the first episode.

Killer Instinct: Three detectives including Chi McBride solve San Francisco crimes.
Verdict: Crime show nothing special, may watch if nothing else is on.

Head Cases: A wacky legal show with Chris O’Donnell and Adam Goldberg, Goldberg is the wacky one.
Verdict: Seems funny I may watch if it doesn’t conflict with anything else.

Kitchen Confidential: A comedy in a restaurant with many familiar faces and from Darren Star, of Sex and the City fame.
Verdict: Looks funny and good I’ll watch it.

Next on the WB:
Supernatural: Two brothers witnessed something strange when they were kids and now they are adults and after their father goes missing after a “hunt” the brothers reunite to find him.
Verdict: The show looks great I can’t wait.

Twins: Melanie Griffith, Mark Linn-Baker, Sara Gilbert and Molly Stanton. An all-star cast that center around a plain twin versus a trampy twin. Baker and Gilbert are my favorites and Griffith and Stanton, of Passions, play perfect airheads.
Verdict: I also like it even if the sitcom is unoriginal.

Just Legal: Another lawyer show with Don Johnson and some kid. A comedy with heart from Jerry Bruckheimer.
Verdict: I won't watch it unless nothing else is on.

Related: Four hot chicks and one guy are rich and good looking. Jennifer Esposito and Callum Blue, of Dead Like Me, are the married couple. Oh yeah they live in NYC.
Verdict: A new Sex and the City clone, the youngest one is the most interesting, it looks decent I'll watch it if I remember.

Finally on UPN:
Everybody Hates Chris: 1982 Chris Rock's life growing up in Brooklyn.
Verdict: It's the most anticipated show and hopefully it will last, I will watch it.

Sex, Love & Secrets: Denise Richards in a drama about young horny people.
Verdict: Most likely the second failure, I won't watch it.

Veronica Mars: TiVo recapped last season in about a minute and showed nothing of the next.
Verdict: Great show I will watch it.

Top Model: Reality crap.
Verdict: I won't watch it and I hope no one else will, please don't tell me if you do.

Weeds and Anger

Monday and except for repeat of CBS's Monday line-up, which was funny, there are no regular shows to watch. Instead I started watching new shows.

Weeds: You Can't Miss The Bear
This new Showtime sitcom is about a housewife with a dead husband and two boys with bills piling up. In this episode we see all the stereotypes for America. Nancy Botwin played nicely & hotly by Mary-Lousie Parker is getting berated by her neighbors at the PTA meeting even though her husband just died. Later we see Nancy with black people make racist jokes and packing marijuana. She leaves claiming to be the biggest seller in her gated community.
She gets an underling who is gay and has a father,Kevin Nealon a pothead, he is warned not to sell to children but does anyway, hmmmm no honor among drug dealers surprising. Throw in some teenage sex, a Mexican housekeeper and a nerdy boy and that what I left out. The reference to missing a bear is about a show they watch that claims "don't miss a bear when shooting or he'll come after you".

Best line is when Nancy's best friend says "...I should of have had an abortion." in reference to her slutty 15 year old daughter.

Too Late With Adam Carolla: First Episode
A Comedy Central talk show after The Daily Show. Adam Carolla is angry and doesn't hide it, calling this week of his show pissed off week. He rants about panda's and specifically panda sex. Also he rants about a car commercial and takes calls from other peeved people. He does an interview with The Crystal Method that goes nowhere and has an audience member open a package in under 30 seconds but his timing was off and she loses but he gives her $60 anyway. He's no Jimmy Kimmel.


Another thing I stumbled upon was Telemundo from Puerto Rico this is a station that shows only about 5 or 6 bad shows from Puerto Rico, I can't believe anyone watches these shows on purpose. The worst of which is Mira Que T.V.O a version of Candid Camera/Punk'd except they use racist and sexist jokes. I understand Spanish well and it's even more annoying when you know the language. I'm just bored and trolling all the channels so you be the judge. Watching bad TV is the spice of life because remember as bad as American TV can get foreign TV shows are always worse.

Alternative Channels

No I don't mean the new Logo station which debuted this week in a fairly low key way. I tried watching it after the countdown and the official launch show came on. The first show was basically describing the channels content I got bored and changed, I haven't checked back since.
The real alternative channel I was talking about The Outdoor Channel a channel dedicated to mostly to hunting less to outdoor adventures. They also have lots of racing and off-roading programs. There were two shows that I watched and loved because it brought out the true American in me.
Prospecting America has Perry Massie using different techniques to find gold, the episode I saw had him using a metal detector. It was fascinating since my dream was to retire at 35 and search beaches and old barns for buried treasures ever since I first saw The Goonies and heard of Indiana Jones.
Gold Fever was the second show it also had a couple of Massie's Tom and his young daughter. They dove into creeks and came up with gold nuggets. At the end of the show Tom got a little preachy on how activists are trying to deprive people of the joy of prospecting. While he made a very valid point and I would love to prospect if only a few people do this it's fine but if there is a modern day "gold rush" his community would be destroyed.
I like the symmetry of these two channels while most people who love the Outdoor Channel would find Logo repulsive so would the Logo fans about hunting and skinning on the Outdoor Channel.
A tag I'm just testing Outdoor channel

When rainbows and gold collide.