I don't mean to waste anyones time here but we have an important situation that has arisen. Specifically, the Monday night TV shows we watch have all apparently come to a season end.
Don't get me wrong; we are not consumed with TV shows. We aren't members of the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana fan club or anything, but we do record a certain group of shows and then watch them in commercial elimination fashion. The only night where we have an actual robust line-up we follow is Monday nights on CBS. But sure enough, tonight, the DVR refused to record the shows because it is smart enough to recognize re-runs. So instead, I will tell you about a handful of the shows we watch, and you can give me some suggestions for new ones.
Right off the bat, I do enjoy the Monday night CBS line-up of Big Bang Theory, How I met your Mom and Men, Men, Men. For several years we would watch CSI-Miami, but I have to be honest; I simply could not take Horatio Cane putting his hand on his hip and posing like each crime scene was a photo shoot for the ugly red head edition of Playgirl. Aside from the pure ickyness factor of Cane, I never could get over why the people all wore white pants and never got blood or anything on them.
It took my wife two full seasons to convince me to join the bandwagon, but on Tuesdays, I have to admit I like NCIS. Another one that just started this season is called The Mentalist, and although I do have some reservations about the main character always smiling, I have to admit we have enjoyed the episodes so far.
I was only a casual fan of Seinfeld (never even saw the final episode), but The New Adventures of Old Christine on Wednesdays is just so wrong that it is funny. Of course we like CSI-NY but we usually record several CSI's and CSI-NY's and save them up to watch in sort of a marathon session. I think it is going to be very interesting to see how Laurence Fishburne comes in and takes over for the guy who is the star of the show.
On Thursday's, we dig Grey's Anatomy, but seriously, if it goes the route of routinely having dead people on, I'll probably lose interest. I get my fill of dead folk from Ghost Whisperer on Friday's. And we've been finding that show to be more and more predictable, so ol' awkwardly dressed, big-headed girl may find herself on my list of ex-TV shows.
We don't bother with any reality shows. We watched the very first season of Survivor when they had the fat nekkid gay guy and his best friend, the retired Navy SEAL. What a hoot. How could you ever follow-up that mess?
Of course, We are huge fans of LOST! and can't wait. But we also have several shows on the cable channels that we love.
We joined the Sopranos bandwagon late and had to hold a marathon session of going to Block Buster so we could catch up on the first two or three seasons, and of course were saddened to see it end. But it was a great ending!
We also did the Block Buster catch-up deal on Deadwood and just hated to see that show come to a premature ending. Ditto for Carnivale.
So our new favorites from cable include Rescue Me and the just recently completed first season of The Sons of Anarchy. We did the Block Buster marathon session on Rescue Me and now, we just can't wait for the new season to start. We just happened to see the promos for SOA while watching the little mini-episodes of Rescue Me, and decided to give it a shot. Ron Peralman reminds me of the Beauty and The Beast, but somehow he works as a bad motorcycle club dude. And of course, Peg Bundy as his biker chick wife somehow works as well.
Okay, upon review I guess we do see a lot of TV shows but in actual ass-on-the-couch time, it isn't that bad. We DVR everything to the point that we will actually wait 10 minutes to watch a live TV show, just so we can skip through the commercials and catch-up to real time at the end.
I know there are numerous gems out there that we have just never made for. I'd love to hear your suggestions. We have every channel ever invented (UVerse U400 Package), so there is bound to be something we could be watching but haven't stumbled upon. Tell me what I have to see!
What about Monk and Psych on Friday nights? The Unit on Sundays is a very good show as well. Those are the non-reality shows I DVR.
ReplyDeleteI was also going to recommend Monk and Psych, on USA Network, but they're off-season right now. Watch all the old shows too, when they re-run them. There has been a lot of character development over the years with Monk.
ReplyDeleteWhen moving in 1997, I abandoned a perfectly working 19" color TV set. In early 1998 I dug my VCR and fairly decent tape collection out of storage and sold the whole lot for $125. After reading The TV Report, it appears I'm not missing much. And chance encounters with television when visiting friends confirms this.
ReplyDeleteI'll take a reading a book or listening to the radio, thanks.
Monk: We have heard nothing but great things about Monk and in fact, even made the effort to try out one of these deals where you go online and order a stack of DVD's and they mail them to you, then when you return one, they send you the next. I'm sure it was through BB trying to compete with NetFlix. Anyway, Monk was going to be my "trial" of this program.
ReplyDeleteThe first discs they sent me were of the second season, telling me the first season was not available, but they would send it next. WTF!
Needless to say, I canceled that program and we never did watch Monk. I'll have to give it a shot.
Psych: It sounds like this is a comedy version of the show, The Mentalist. How strange. I'll set the DVR.
AlienJeff: You offer great advice and we should probably take it. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to try the book thing once I've caught up on all the episodes of Monk and Psych.
I also got an e-mail from reader Gail who suggests both Dexter and Eli Stone. I should tell you that we are huge, huge fans of Eli Stone (no relation), I just forgot to mention it. I did not know they were going to cancel it. That blows!
I have watched episodes of Dexter and I do like the whole creepy idea of him being a serial killer working for the police. We have that "On Demand" thing from either HBO or Showtime where Dexter originated, and we just haven't made the time to go back and watch from the beginning. Thanks for the tip!
Stuff that I'm currently recording on my DVR or otherwise enjoying:
ReplyDeleteCurrently airing on U.S. TV:
My Name is Earl (Thursday): Trailer trash heaven!
The Office (Thursday): Best comedy on TV?
Dog the Bounty Hunter (Tuesday): Reality trailer trash w/ mullets.
Dirty Jobs (Tuesday): Icky and enjoyable at the same time.
Cops (Saturday): I hope to be a guest star someday.
Dexter (Sunday): A serial killer with a conscience (worth renting to catch up.)
Storm Chasers (Sunday): Geeks and tornadoes are a fun combination.
Family Guy (Sunday): As good as The Simpsons used to be.
Coming in the next few months:
Breaking Bad (AMC): High school chem teacher cooks meth. Worth catching up.
24: Cheesy, but fun. Tango down!
Many of my favorite shows - new and old - air in the UK. A few shows I like:
Spaced
The League of Gentlemen
Green Wing
Outnumbered
Nathan Barley
Inbetweeners
Survivors
I'm Alan Partridge
Phoenix Nights
Little Britain
Saxondale
Charlie Jade (an awesome sci-fi series from Canada/South Africa, I believe)
We do record Earl. Funny stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think the guy from the office is funny, but just never got into the show. I know people who would shoot me for saying such, but I just don;t have time for it.
I watched Dog for a few seasons, but seriously, I can only take so much white trash (see My Name is Earl).
My wife is addicted to Dirty Jobs. I like it when Mike has to clean the septic tanks.
Cops. Used to watch it. My favorite line was from a scene in Boston where they have apprehended an older fat alcoholic and they suggest to him A.A. He says, "I tried Alcoholics Anonymous but all those people wanted to talk about was booze, booze, booze. I'm trying to get away from the booze." Pure classic TV!
Dexter: Gonna try to start watching.
Storm Chasers. My son took a picture of them out chasing a storm on his way to Alabama. But I have never watched it. Probably wont.
Family Guy. Who could dislike the Family Guy? I just can't make a habit of it. I'm already too immature as it is.
I have never seen a single episode of 24. Someday, perhaps when my wife is on a year long vacation, I'll rent the entire series and watch it in, what, a full 24 hours?
UK Shows: I lived in England for a year and loved the TV there. (Not all Brit TV is Mr. Bean or Monty Python.) But I'm afraid I haven't heard of a single one on your list.
Thanks for the list. My DVR is gonna get a work out!