Morals, Music, and Cupcakes

As far as favorite television shows go, I have quite a few for someone who doesn't watch that much TV.  I guess the best way for me to go about organizing my post this week is to start with a few basic categories:

Oldies but Goodies
The Andy Griffith Show
I think it would be so nifty to go visit Mayberry for a day or two.  I know it's so sweet it should give you a toothache, but I think that's just part of its charm and the reason that we love it so much.  
The Twilight Zone (the original, not the series from the 80s)
On a completely different note, I have absolutely no desire to enter into any of the worlds created for this show.  I really like shows that urge the audience to think about what they're watching, and once you go past the creepiness of storyline, you can't help but wonder "what if..." and "what would lead to something like this?"  My favorite episode of the whole series is entitled "Back There," and it's about John Wilkes Booth on the night of Lincoln's assassination (I think the history tie-in was what pushed this episode over the edge in my book!)  Anyway, really, really good episode and good series.

A Somewhat Recent Show
Gilmore Girls
I wish everyone could talk this fast in real life (at least if we could all be as hilariously witty as the characters in this show).  I usually only understand about half of the references in any given episode, but the banter between characters was still great.  And on top of smart dialogue, you still cared about the characters because they were incredibly human.  I tended to like Rory's character less and less after about the middle of the 5th season, but I guess that's true to reality in that people change as they grow.  All of the characters made many mistakes, but they still learned to forgive each other and live with each other's eccentricities.
Law & Order
It's amped up drama, but it's entertaining.  During it's time, an episode would bring up some of the hot button legal and moral issues being discussed in the news at the time.  Like I said earlier, TV that makes the audience think never gets old.

Current Shows
Chopped, Sweet Genius, Cupcake Wars
All in a somewhat similar vein, I just can't pass up a good cooking show/ competition.  I don't know how they do it, but the creativity and knowledge that these people possess never ceases to amaze.  Seriously, if you can make a cupcake with hot sauce in it taste good, you deserve some serious props.
Glee
Once you get past the boundaries of reality and continuity, this show is pretty darn entertaining.  Despite the oft overworked audio engineering, the performances usually turn out pretty well, some are even outstanding.  And every so often when you're feeling fed up with the show's antics, a really amazing number comes from out of nowhere and you remember why you put up with all of nutzy stuff that the writers concoct.  "Don't Stop Believin'" is still my favorite number from the entire show.  The arrangement was excellent, the musicians sounded incredible together, and the story line really made me want to root for the characters without trying too hard.  I just wish this would happen more often.
The Glee Project
You know, I think that this show is more "glee" than Glee itself.  Some of the contestants are a tad bit annoying, but I really enjoy watching these people learn more about themselves as they go through a sort of "performing boot camp" after which one of them will win a guest starring role on Glee.  Sure, it's reality TV and a lot of what we see is either manufactured or cleverly edited, but I think this show does a really good job of capturing the spirit of performance while simultaneously showing the audience a small peek into the reality of show business.
The Newsroom
I've only seen a couple of episodes of this show, but so far so good.  I'll definitely have to watch these episodes again to understand what some of the characters are talking about (newspeople in this show tend to talk really, really fast, which I guess is accurate) but the show seems to be well written, and I'm excited to see where it goes.
Southland
Last but not least, one of my favorite favorites.  Again, very well written, but I think it also provides the audience with another (albeit fictional) point of view concerning law enforcement that we don't get to see in shows like Law & Order.  The show is well written and very well acted.  My great uncle is a retired state trooper, and I can see a lot of the way these characters act and see the world in him.






                

I Grew Up Without Cable TV.

... But I watched a lot of TV growing up.  I don't watch as much anymore, so it's a bit hard for me to identify my favorite TV shows, simply due to the fact that there aren't many that I watch on a regular basis.  I suppose, by default, the ones I do watch regularly would be my "favorites", so... I suppose I'll just talk about them, and whatever else may come to mind along those lines.  Ready?  Let's go.

My first show really has to be The Big Bang Theory.  I'm really not one to enjoy most sitcoms, but this show combines a lot of things that I either enjoy, or at least find fascinating.  There are a lot of references to science (and to a lesser extent, math), and video games (though there have been more than a few inaccuracies that kind of drive me insane), and relationships between socially awkward people and "normal" people.  I like most of the characters on the show, but I feel a particular affinity for Sheldon.  Sheldon is quite literal, deeply mired in his everyday routines, and supremely stubborn... but underneath all of that (deep, deep underneath) he's a genuinely good person.  I find the interactions between the different characters amusing (generally speaking), and the writing is good enough to keep me coming back.  The show's gotten away from its nerdy roots lately, which is unfortunate, but I still enjoy watching it.  One thing of note, though - there is conclusive proof that this show can be a powerful aphrodisiac.  Watch with care.

Next on my list (and coming as a bit of surprise to me) is Hell's Kitchen.  I'm really not that "into" cooking - I can do it passably well, but I have no real passion or drive to be a world-class chef in my life.  Also, I generally don't like reality shows - I used to watch Survivor, but that eventually bored me out of my mind.  Why Hell's Kitchen, then?  Two words - Gordon Ramsay.  If any of you have no idea who he is, go Google him and skim his Wikipedia page (it's the third search result).  ... I find him really fascinating and just kind of all-around awesome.  He's so passionate about what he does, and it just... it really shows.  Plus, I admit that I get more entertainment than I probably should out of him completely ripping apart the chefs (contestants?) when they make mistakes.  I'm a bit hard-pressed to really explain why I enjoy the show, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say it's mostly because of him.

I'm hesitant to include this next show on my list, because I've only seen a single episode of it -- but what the hell, I'm gonna go for it.  I just recently tried out a new series on HBO called The Newsroom, and I thought the first episode was pretty entertaining and interesting.  It deals with a semi-over-the-hill news anchor who's disliked within his station, and his interactions and experiences with a new staff that want to make the news prominent and trustworthy again.  I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this show, given my lack of experience with it, but the first ten minutes of it had me more than a little intrigued.  It's set very firmly within the framework of real life (the first episode revolves around the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico), but... I don't know.  I enjoyed that first episode, and I have the next three saved on my DVR, waiting to be watched.

My next-to-last pick is Avatar: The Last Airbender.  It took a while for this series to grow on me - my first experience with it was in the middle of the first season, in the middle of an episode that didn't seem to make any sense.  It was airing on Nickelodeon, and I dismissed it as "another kid's show" pretty much immediately.  Somehow, I got started on watching it, though, and now it's one of my favorite animated shows out there.  The show strikes a really good balance between silliness and seriousness (though it tends to lean more toward the former in the first half of the series, and the latter in the back half), and the characters are genuinely interesting and likable.  The show was popular enough to spawn a live-action adaptation of the first season (which was absolutely terrible), multiple games (most of which were absolutely terrible), a graphic novel epilogue (which was been pretty good so far), and a spiritual sequel (which was alright, though not as good as the original).  Not bad for an original series from Nick.

The last entry that comes to mind off the top of my head is Married... With Children.  This is an older series that I grew up watching (... not that I'd recommend letting children watch it.  I was a special case), and it has a lot of the same basic plot devices as any other sitcom.  The main characters are a supremely dysfunctional family of losers that fight and argue with each other, and ultimately always work things out as a family.  There's more than a little bit of adult humor within the show, but it's never done in a way that's distasteful or unnecessary (... not in my opinion, at least).  The quality of each episode can vary decently, even within each season, but this is a show where I'm almost guaranteed to laugh while watching it.

Quick mentions:
Firefly - still haven't seen it.  Watched the first ten minutes of the first episode.  Will watch one day.
Power Rangers - specifically, the original series, and the latest one (Samurai).  Because I'm a sucker for both samurai-related things and giant dinosaurs beating the hell out of stuff.
Super Mario Bros. Super Show and Legend of Zelda - these were really awful animated shows from 1989 that I enjoy because of their base material.  Also, the latter show gave us the (classic?) line "Well excuuuuuuuuuse me, princess".
80's/90's cartoons - Thundercats, Silverhawks, Wing Commander, Mega Man, Teknoman, Garfield and Friends, Beetlejuice, X-Men.... I could still watch any of these and enjoy them.  Well, mostly.

I've never seen Seinfeld.  People seem to gape at me when I tell them that.  I'm not sure why.

TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life

I put a lot more thought into television than is really healthy. I'm pretty sure that most of the reasons that people bitch about television as an inferior medium for telling a story are full of shit, and it has just as much potential as literature or film, if not more. The entire idea of watching characters evolve over an extended period of time and seeing how the world, both in and out of universe, affects how that happens.

As many people have mentioned, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a pretty fantastic example of what a television show should do. I would say Joss Whedon in general is pretty good at that, but honestly... I dunno. Angel kind of sucked, and I'm not all that familiar with his other work. Honestly, I think that I'd probably hate Firefly if I watched it for the same reasons that I don't like Doctor Who or Mass Effect or Monty Python. I'm also pretty sure that I'm going to get shot for most of what I'm saying in this paragraph, so back to Buffy. It did a lot of things that most shows just don't do well. Long-running plots (*cough* Angel), consistent and meaningful character development (*cough* Glee), and even the musical episode was pretty damn fantastic. As other people have mentioned, it was able to seamlessly go between serious and comical, and that's just something that is hard to pull off.

One show that I've been knitting to lately has been Grey's Anatomy. I went into it not really knowing what to expect, and after getting through the first seven and a half seasons, I think I really like it. In one episode, someone brings a gun to the hospital and begins a killing spree. Despite knowing exactly who would die and who would survive, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was emotionally involved in the episode, and I think this is a huge factor in what makes a show good. Too many shows today try to get by on shocking twists as a substitute for actual momentum, and that's terrible. If a show is going to throw curveballs at you, they should serve a meaningful purpose. They should not be cheap, and they should make you feel something.

Another show I've been watching has been Glee, and if you haven't watched it, dear god, don't. It's a terrible and addicting show that's actually as awful as it sounds. I only still watch it because I'm too invested to get out, but I can't think of many episodes that ended in something other than wanting to punch Ryan Murphy in the face. This show has done things that I consider offensive on multiple occasions, and I really don't think I have any positive things to say about the show aside from the music occasionally being really good... I'm not really sure what the point of this was.

Special mention goes to Friends, which I have seen all the way through multiple times. It's kind of my go to example for what a sitcom should do. It also has a lot of issues that I'm very critical of in other shows, but I can overlook them for the most part because it has that special place in my heart. I really like it, and I'm not sure that I can provide much reason beyond that.

All of this being said, I'm looking for new shows to start watching as I'm running out of Grey's Anatomy. Any suggestions?

At the Heart of it, is Science Fiction.

Television is for sure one of the great forms of entertainment. With a long rich history, and a number of forms and genres people would enjoy, it is not surprising people often complain we spend too much time in front of the TV. And with such variance, it is difficult to promote once single television show to the place of "favorite" above all others. Instead, there are slight paths I would like to take you through; different shows to show you that all do have a place in my mind as some degree of "favorite."

I will start of mentioning Stargate SG-1, because it is the show that first got me into television, into lurking about fandom and enjoying a lot of what I do for entertainment today. It is science fiction, a follow up to the 1994 of approximately the same name. It is not a perfect show, nor is it truly close to the greatest ever created, but it is fun, it has good characters and interesting mythology and it will always be one of the first I name when people ask me which are my favorite. It is the first show I ever really got into to the point of having to watch every week, looking up interviews, spoilers, following spin offs because they were related to the original. I would suggest that anyone who enjoys science fiction to check it out because it certainly deserves a larger fan base than I ever thought it got.

Now possibly my true favorite show, the one I would mention first, falls to Battlestar Galactica, the 2004 remake. Also science fiction, and a lot darker, rooted in human survival more than extreme and quirky science fiction. It fulfilled my needs for serious television, yet the characters were good, the story lines within the realm of sci-fi and used real world parallels and commentary. It was just good, and although people debate how much they enjoyed the ending, I was personally satisfied. It was good sci-fi, and stands up there as one of the best science fiction shows of all time.

Well, because there is so much television, I usually divide my view of "favorite" down to overall favorite and to favorite television currently on air. After all, if it is currently running and it could be cancelled, it deserves all the help it could get. Even then, it is hard for me to choose one. There are the ones on HBO like Game of Thrones or the Newsroom or the major networks like The Good Wife or Once Upon a Time. And then there is the British television that some of my fellow bloggers have already mentioned.  But since it is summer, I think I will discuss in more detail my favorite summer show - Suits. It's on USA, it's a lawyer show, but it's really good. Like all the things I love in my television, the characters are great, the dialogue is nice and snappy, and I just love the relationships between the characters. Plus there is great background music. It is definitely the best show USA is currently airing. And next episode, which comes on Thursday at 10, looks to be really really intense. Although there are tons of lawyer shows on television already, this one is good, focusing not on murders but corporate cases and the office politics and struggles within the own firm. It's just damn enjoyable television.

There is a still a lot I could mention, but I think I will leave with the explanation of those three. Although I don't watch a lot of science fiction, the ones I do usually mean hold an important place in my view of television. I hope there is something interesting to find from what I've noted and that my explanations push you into discovering something new.

Television, Glorious Television

Okay, so I'm going to try to keep this post to a manageable length.  We'll see how success that is.

I didn't used to watch a lot of television.  Until the later high school years, I never had a favorite t.v. show.  Then I started watching NCIS and other shows with my parents.  It's all their fault.  So I'm going to try to make a list that is somewhat organized.

I watch a lot of crime shows.  NCIS, occasionally NCIS LA because I like the main guy, Criminal Minds, White Collar, occasionally Hawaii Five-0 because it's in Hawaii, which is new, and Bones are the ones that I can think of now.  I'm kind of behind on Bones, but I'll catch up eventually.  White Collar just started a new season, which is fantastic, mostly because Matt Bomer can rock a fedora.  And then there are the crime shows like the Mentalist, Castle, and Psych, which are just different enough to make them interesting, and Psych has a great sense of humor.  Okay, so Burn Notice gets an honorable mention on this list because I like it a lot, but am several seasons behind on it.

Next.  Hmm, sci-fi and supernatural television next?  I watch almost all of my television on the internet, so getting episodes from way earlier is not a problem.  Brandon got me hooked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, which I still watch when I don't feel like watching anything else.  This in turn led me to Charmed, a fabulous show about witches that ran for seven or eight seasons in the late nineties and ... the decade after.  Next would be Firefly, another show by Joss Whedon that I watch whenever I feel like it, since it only has fourteen episodes.  Firefly's Nathan Fillion is also the reason I started watching Castle.

Okay, so Britain's Doctor Who and Torchwood would not have fit in that same paragraph, so they get their own.  One of my roommates got me addicted, so I've now seen almost all of the new revamp of Doctor Who, plus some of the 1960's episodes (or possibly more than I should have seen, considering how long it takes for anything to happen back then in t.v.).  Torchwood I've only seen most of the first two seasons, but that's okay because I'm pretty sure I could watch John Borrowman's character all day doing nothing.  Or making out with whatever guy or girl happens to come along...  Which may be the real reason I watch.  So, I tried not to go too fangirl-y in this paragraph, and I think I was successful.

The last shows I'm going to mention are kids shows.  My roommate informed me that I need to get caught up on watching Avatar, because I don't remember the episodes I saw previously very well, so that I could watch Korra.  And I'm not sure if this last one makes me super weird, but I also am trying to get caught up on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  It's okay if that gets me shunned, because I have three roommates that also watch it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at my list of television.  It is quite extensive, and I apologize for that.  I'm not sure if writing them out in a list made me feel good or bad about the amount of time I spend watching electronic screens...  Oh well.  Kathleen's up tomorrow, and enjoy reading about the rest of the television shows that people watch.

I still haven't watched Firefly

This week's topic is somewhat unfortunate for me because I have a fairly passive attitude about most passive media. I don't watch movies unless I'm forced to and though I enjoy television more, it's not by much. There are a lot of television series I like, and many I'll await seeing every week, there aren't a lot I feel passionate about. As far as shows that are currently on the air, I watch Glee, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and The Glee Project.

As far as older shows that either I'm catching up on or I used to watch, there's Desperate Housewives and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Almost all of these fall more or less under the category of dramedy (though with The Big Bang Theory having admittedly little drama and Glee having an overabundance). I enjoy shows that can be serious and thought-provoking and also ridiculous at the same time. I think both Buffy and Desperate Housewives did that fantastically, with Buffy in particular keeping a light, humorous tone in the midst of very dark plots. I really appreciate shows that can play with that dynamic and feel comfortable at either side of the spectrum.

The main outlier is The Glee Project because I love singing contest shows and, liking Glee, I really enjoy their take on it. It's nice because it's a combination of the typical talent show like American Idol and the Big Brother-style "watch personalities interact" thing. It lets you get to know the contestants as performers and as characters and I really enjoy that.

So that said, do you guys have any recommendations of similar things I might like? I'm always looking for things to watch while I'm knitting. XP

Week of 7/15 - Breather Topic: Favorite Television Shows

Hi everyone! Since we've been discussing some more serious topics during these last few weeks, we're going to lighten this week up a smidge with a breather topic. This week, we'll be talking about our favorite TV shows and why we love them (even if it is sometimes a love/hate relationship.)  Maybe by the end of this week, we'll all have some new shows on our must-watch lists.

Thanks so much for reading, and feel free to respond to posts (part of what makes this fun is reading other people's thoughts, so feel free to jump in!)