I'm waiting for the TV execs to get wise to the fact that we are all broke right about now. For the most part we are sitting home on Twitter with a glass of wine (2 buck Chuck HOLLA!!) wishing there was something good on TV since the cable bill is soo damn expensive. As my friend Phil points out "I don't pay my cable bill only 8 months out of the year." That is to say this summer hiatus crap is BS!
That being said a few things have emerged to entertain us over the summer mostly on premium cable.
The Gold Standard of TV
courtesy of tiny picTrue Blood HBO Sundays 9:00 PM
Vampires are making a come back just like a lot of early 90s trends. (Think NKOTB and doc martens were def in style along with Interview with The Vampire).
Although I am HUGE fan of the Twilight series I can understand its lack of appeal to my peers. HBO has the answer for that with True Blood now entering its second season, this show has romance, suspense, the supernatural and humor.
Bought to you by Alan Ball who was also responsible for Six Feet Under this show can be watched on the surface level but also on the deeper level which Alan meant for viewers to watch it on. On the HBO website Ball who has won an Emmy and an Academy award calls this show "popcorn for smart people". Ball as an openly gay screenwriter seems to want society to really explore the truths and consequences of our trends towards evangelicalism as well as our treatment of those in our society whom we do not see as mainstream, in this case vampires. It is a thought provoking exciting show that makes you wish everyday was Sunday.
courtesy of tiny picPsych USA Network Fridays 10:00PM EST
You probably have never heard of it, yet it is entering its 4th season for a reason. This show is hilarious and it doesn't take a whole lot of DVD watching to catch up as each show is a separate mystery. I would however recommend the DVDs for a lazy day they are really fun to watch.
The basic premise is that the son (Shawn) of a former police detective in Santa Barbara, California opens up his own detective agency rather then become an officer. His claim to fame is that he is psychic and along with his non -psychic best friend Gus they are able to solve crimes. The police detectives call on them or more often than not they invite themselves to join in on cases. In reality Shawn is not pysychic at all just smarter then the whole police force.
This show definitely comes on when those of us with lives are out doing what we do, but I def recommend you DVR it so that when you can't move from your hangover on Saturday morning you have something hilarious and easy to watch to help pass the time.
Hits so far...
Weeds SHO Monday 9:00 EST.
This show has become beyond absurd, however the charcters are so engaging you can't give it up. It's kind of like getting high, its totally bad for you, a waste of your time, but for some reason the laughs make you keep going back...
I'm in it for the long haul, but I am eagerly awaiting the return of Conrad who I predict will be coming back right around the third trimester.
courtesy of tinypicHung HBO Sundays 10:00 EST
So far we have only seen the season premiere, but I think this show has an interesting concept and a very well laid backstory. The main character Ray is a middle aged high school basketball coach who has fallen upon hard times. After losing his wife to another more successful man, the custody of his twins and then being forced to live in a tent due to a house fire its time for him to find a new way to make ends meet. Unfortuantely for him he only has one blessing and that is that he's "hung". We are left at the end of the finale with Ray having realized that his original marketing plan for his skill wasn't quite right and that he needs to hire a pimp. I like the set-up so far and feel much more inclined to watch this show then Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl. I don't know if that show was boring becuase I'm not British or just cause it sucks but whatever, I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find anyone singing it's praises.
Not so sure...
Nurse Jackie Mondays SHO 10:30 PM EST
I gave this show a shot because I can still remember how I thought Edie Falco was the best actress ever when she confronted Tony Soprano. She def set it off. And for the real HBO heads she was pretty decent on Oz too. She does not disspoint in her new home on Showtime, however the show does. I have watched only four episodes of the show and I am not left wanting more. There is no story line that has me intrigued enough to not change the channel after Weeds goes off.
I almost wrote a letter to the Channel for this crap...
Jon and Kate plus 8 TLC Mondays 9:00 PM EST
Unlike most of the people who know about Jon and Kate based upon their sudden popularity in the media, I have been watching this family for a long time. I have no qualms about sitting and watching hours and hours of these kids running around to the dentist or on vacations. However, last season I must admit my attention turned away from the children as I began to realize that the interaction between Jon and Kate was getting increasingly uncomfortable for them but more and more entertaining for me. I even got my boyfriend to watch a couple episodes just because we secretly were in awe of Jon having his manhood stomped on on national television.
Still I was shocked, intrigued and had my DVR set (with extra time at the end just in case) for the season premiere. What I witnessed along with the other millions of people was an actual real life family crisis being played out on TV. At the time I was a little bit taken aback by how raw it was but I still wasn't quite bothered by the invasiveness of it all. In the back of my mind I thought TLC had taped the whole season and knew everything was going to work out and was just trying to show that everyone is human and all couples hit bumps in the road.
Not so much...
No less then 4 weeks later TLC had everyone abuzz that there was a big announcement on this week's Jon and Kate. After a half hour of Kate claiming that she didn't know who Jon was anymore and all but saying he's abandoned her and the kids, as well as a half hour of Jon patting himself on the back for getting from under Kate's foot, calling her oppressive and stating how glad he was to get away from her it was apparent what was going to happen...
I turned the show off as soon a they announced their divorce as I just couldn't believe that two adults saw nothing wrong with playing out such a personal matter on tape so that their kids can in the future see them each talk so badly about each other. I also don't know what TLC executives were so greedy as to think that the ratings on a show airing on THE FREAKIN' LEARNING CHANNEL were worth the heartache to those 6 young children.
O well this isn't my soapbox, but you get the idea, the show is playing reruns with a return still up in the air in August. I encourage people NOT to watch it.
No comments:
Post a Comment