SO WHAT'S GOOD ON TV?
Let's face it, the television landscape of today is a fricking wasteland that's about six reality shows away from being declared legally retarded. With the pickings so slim out there, one thing I'm always trying to do is to influence my entourage, or "peers" as they like to think of themselves (yeah, right) into checking out the few fine scripted programs that I currently enjoy. Because that's how it should work, that's what a friendship should be, an exchange of ideas. I should be able to tell them what I like to watch, they should give my recommendations a look-see so we can discuss and debate the shows in an open and spirited forum. And then when they try to tell me what they like, I pretend that my phone is vibrating and I leave the room to take the "call".
Alas, it's not happening the way God intended. I tell my crew what I'm watching and they blatantly defy my wishes by totally ignoring me and tuning into The Real Matchmaking Housewives of the Jersey Shore Season 8: Escape to Big Brother's Whore Island, or whatever brain rot they're into. As if me and my opinions don't matter or exist at all. My entourage sucks.
So in the interest of public service, I'll tell you, my legions… okay… my several loyal readers what I'm liking on the telly and then hopefully, if you're not already digging what I'm digging then maybe you'll give one or two of them a try and then I will have enriched your lives. Then maybe we can hang out and talk about it. Seriously, I need new friends.
The Walking Dead on AMC:
Probably the best thing on the air right now. Zombies, That's pretty much all I should have to say to get you tuning in if you aren't already.
American Horror Story on FX:
A haunted house tale with murderous spirits, demon infants, Jessica Lange acting bat-shit crazy and a chick banging a rubber-clad ghost. That's right, I said a woman banged a fetish phantom. There's your Emmy consideration right there.
Based on the U.K. series of the same name, this version features Maria Bello as a ballsy homicide detective running with the boys in NYC. Not quite as good as the original version in my opinion, but that version starred Helen Mirren and I may be a bit biased here because Maria Bello is no Helen Mirren. But then again, who is? 66 years old and she's still looking like… BA-DAMN!
Fringe on FOX:
Must admit that I stopped watching this one at the beginning of this season so I really have no idea what the hell is going on with it. But I used to think it was pretty cool before I got bored with it, so you might get a kick out of it. Go ahead, I'm done with it, you can have it now.
Mad Men on AMC, Justified on FX and Warehouse 13 on SyFy are all on hiatuses. (Is that how you pluralize hiatus? Doesn't sound quite right. Whatever.) They're between seasons right now, so really no need to worry about them at this time. When they return though, give 'em a peep.
Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and True Blood are all on HBO. Never seen any of them because I'm a too cheap to pay for premium channels. I only included them here to round out the list and give me ten television shows since these things generally work best when there's nice even numbers involved. Otherwise this would be a Top 7 list and no one wants that… just odd and sad. But I've heard good things about all of them so to be fair and not simply use HBO programming as seat filler, I'll be sure to check them out as soon as the collected editions are available. And by available I mean fall off a truck and into my Blu-Ray player… that just happened to fall off a truck the week before.
Only other thing worth mentioning, a bonus if you will, isn't on TV at all. It's a short run Internet series that I found amusing called Husbands. You can find it at Husbandstheseries.com. Fun little eleven episode romp, each ep only clocking in at an average length of three minutes, (perfect for even the shortest attention span) about a couple of gay celebrities who find themselves married to one another after a drunken weekend in Vegas and have to… you know what, I don't want to spoil it for you. And never mind how or why I got into it in the first place! How about you just open your mind, check it out and keep your accusations to yourself, all right? Don't judge me!
See, now you went and made me use my angry voice.
Well that's pretty much the list, folks. Anything that I left off probably ain't worth your time because it ain't on my radar. However, there might be one or two worthwhile shows that I've missed here. I've been wrong before… once, back in '98. Several people were lost forever as a result. But I've forgiven myself even if the victim's families can't… or won't. Anyway, got a show that you think I should be watching? Something you think I might be interested in? Then holler back, speak up, let me know and I'll… whoa, wait a sec, my phone's vibrating. Excuse me, gotta take this. In the meantime… look, there's Helen Mirren!
We have just recently started watching Prime Suspect. It seems to have potential. The first few episodes were annoying because we could never hear what most of the male detectives were saying since they were all mumbling. I didn't know about the English version - I'd probably like that one better (as would my parents being that they are huge Helen Mirrem fans).
ReplyDeleteWe are also fans of Boardwalk Empire. I'm too cheap to get HBO, but my boyfriend likes it so he's suckered me into watching that series with him. I'm thinking of getting season one on DVD (in UK format) for my parents to watch in England once it becomes available. You could pay them a visit and watch the series at their house. They may make you do chores around the house in return for room and board and DVD watching privileges.