The shows I’m watching right now:
- Medium (almost finished with the whole series): I love this show. I love Patricia Arquette. I love her teeth, I love her acting, I love the character she plays, I love that she’s a regular medium sized female lead in a television series. I also adore the Character Bridgette played by Maria Lark.
- Ultimate Force (still on season 1): This is a damn bloody and violent show with mostly men and guns. In spite of all the testosterone, the acting is really good. I may not be able to stick with it though. Not because of the gore. I’m not even sure why. It’s already been off the air for a few years but there are four seasons total. I really love Tony Curran‘s nose. It’s fierce. Right, but I also think he’s a great actor.
- Covert Affairs (just a few episodes): This one is already annoying me. I find the blind agent Auggie to be smug and have failed to really enjoy the main character. I am watching it because I miss MI5. I also need to say that the first time I saw the actor Sendhil Ramamurthy (also in Ultimate Force) my first thought was that it was probably a curse to be a man and be that pretty. He may be the most beautiful man alive and I can’t believe him in the roles he’s playing.
- Castle: It’s back. I’ve seen the first episode of the new season and I’m pretty sure my irritation is only going to grow in this season. I still love this show but it seems like one of the ones that will just string me along to the bitter fucking end where Castle and Beckett will never be able to get their shit together to be together and both of them are going to piss me off in the process. The thing is, I can’t hate the characters, I blame the writers of the show. This is a popular formula and I stop watching shows when they become tedious with their teasing and their “almost” hook ups. So stupid. Why can’t they be together and still be a team? They can still annoy each other and bicker- no need to have one or the other. Whether or not I continue watching “Bones” hinges on the same issue.
- Rookie Blue: I like this show. Kinda. I kinda don’t. I can’t decide. I think the main character, Andy McNally, is super stupid. But the rest of them are pretty okay. Mostly I’m just interested in the Dov character and I can’t stop looking at Gail just because she’s so striking.
- Combat Hospital: This show is really compelling. I love medical shows. I really do. I’m not even sure why. The acting and the story lines in this show are fantastic. It’s possible I’ll get tired of it by the next season, hard to say. Right now I’m bummed it’s done.
- Pan Am (Pilot): I watched the pilot episode and it’s not promising. The main thing I was left with is the nagging need to know how Maggie started off with long bohemian style curly hair and in a half an hour cab ride to the airport ended up with a Funicello-style flip? Did the cabby cut and style it for her? Does this character wear a wig while she works and then lets her wild side down when she returns to her sty of an apartment? I also dislike the blatant campy crap which dumbs down what could, maybe, turn out to be an interesting show. I do like the costumes. I’ll give it at least one more chance to impress but my brain will never let go of that hair thing.*
I interrupt this exciting television show list to ask “It’s 12 pm, do you know where your tuna is?” because my brain just shouted it in my head and I like to share.
It would apparently also like to suggest that “what’s good for the goose often isn’t good for anyone”. (These bits of brain flotsam were pulled right out of the nonstop stream of dialog inside my head.)
- Lie To Me: Such a fantastic show. I have nothing else to say. Except: Tim Roth! Oh, wait, I do have something else to say. The hair people who do Kelli Williams’ hair on the show are doing her a major disservice. At least through the whole first season. I think last season they wised up a little.
- MI-5: Excellent show. I’ve loved every season of it so far. But how could I not like a show featuring Richard Armitage as a bad-ass spy? As long as he doesn’t have a mullet, he’s golden. But he’s not why I watch the show. The whole cast is brilliant and it’s easy for me to invest myself in their future. I do love spy shows like this one.
- The Mentalist: I am afraid that Simon Baker gets cast as very similar characters in different shows. Luckily I like the character type he plays. But I like him better in the Mentalist than I did in the Guardian. Absolutely love the supporting characters too, with special emphasis on the (sadly underused) Kimball Cho (Tim Kang). Okay, maybe he’s not really underused but the focus has been more on Wayne and Grace and while they are good too, I like Cho the best. His deadpan delivery is unmatched.
- Downton Abbey: I can only see it online on PBS so it will be a while before I see the new season. It is really engaging and well done. The costumes are superb and I’m still hoping the show won’t go down the tragic route.
- Bones: I was done watching this show last season but then I saw the last few episodes and now that Bones and Seely have finally gotten together and she’s apparently going to have his baby, I have to see if they’re going to actually work it out. If they decide to have it but not be together, I’m not going to keep watching. My needs are simple and they’re classic and they’re very boring. I always want the girl to get the boy. Or the boy to get the boy. Or the girl to get the girl. Whatever, I want the couple I’m rooting for to get together and if I get strung along and teased for too many seasons, I abandon ship. So this show is on probation.
That’s my lineup for right now. I have entered into a complete book lull. At this time in my life I don’t want a show or a book to turn my world upside down or inside out. I’m not an intellectual (as is obvious to most people) and I don’t have lofty or major expectations from my entertainment. I want interesting stories with happy endings. I want the couple to get together and work things out. I want the killer to be caught. I want the broken people healed.
I just want it to be well done.
I finally finished the boring book I was reading. It met all my criteria for entertainment except for that last one. It was not well done, it was not well written, and it was not engaging. I need to find some new books to read but I don’t want to be disappointed.
There you have it. I just needed to share my thoughts on all those shows because I largely watch them alone (a couple of them I watch with my mom) and I want to put my comments somewhere. Now you can read them and agree or disagree. And please feel free to tell me what you’re watching right now- I’m totally interested to know!
*Not the show’s fault my brain is obsessive to a clinical level.
I watch Castle too – When I saw the very first episode I thought it was the WORST WRITING ever…..but for some reason I can’t stop watching it.
Okay, it’s been a long time…I wish o comment on the tv show thing-y. I have recently dumped Comcast because they suck and are VERY expensive (assholes). Because I have streaming video w/Netflix, I watch a lot of tv reruns, so here are my favorites but not all are available on streaming video:
Inspector Lewis -Inspector Morse’s long-suffering DS- now he’s top-dog and has a terrific partner played by Laurence Fox- they have terrific chemistry
Breaking Bad -yes, it’s horrible that a high school chemistry teacher is cooking meth but at least his standards are top notch- Bryan Cranston R=rocks and so does the chick who plays his wife and, their “son” has cerebal palsy – how often do you see THAT on a tv show?)
Weeds- wasn’t sure I really cared about this show but I’ve got to say, it’s pretty funny and that’s coming from someone who gags at the idea of smoking maryjane. The cast is really good here, especially the bitchy suburban socialite played by Elizabeth Perkins- so funny…
Malcolm in the Middle- currently a favorite in my house- really a total classic and completely necessary to combat all the horrid teenage dramas being produced bt the ABC family channel- Gag! I knew this show was for me when in a recent episode, Malcolm’s older dufus brother wears his inline skates in the house and rolls dog shit all over the living room rug. His mom gets so mad that she throws out her back yelling at him- priceless. She then spends the rest of the episode yelling at her kids through the baby monitor. I love the mom!
Trial and Retribution, a series by Lynda LaPlante, the writer and producer of the Prime Suspect series. Gritty and procedural, what can I say, I’m a dork.
Cracker, an oldie but a goodie. I rent the whole series every year and I gotta tell ya, I think I might have a crush on wee Robbie Coltrane…scary but true. I also love the actress who plays his wife, she’s awesome.
Shameless, the original series with James McAvoy and Anne Marie Duff- outrageous and offensive, highly addictive. Subtitles are required unless you can navigate a Manchester housing estate dialect.
Little Britain- Monty Python? WHo cares! This is brilliant and a little creepy even, but so so funny! I guess they have a show on HBO now but I like the original UK series.
The Last Detective- I don’t know why it took me so long to watch this. “Dangerous” Davies is a 50+year old Detective constable who just wants to do a good job, which is hard to do with all the plonks and assholes he has to deal with at work. He loves his dog, ex wife and his job, and his buddy Maud, who is a chronically unemployed Irish intellectual with no shame- hysterical.
That’s i for now- gotta get up early, will write soon!
love me
Oh yeah,I forgot…I loved Downtown Abbey, great casting and Maggie Smith is perfection, as per usual. Heard they are shooting a sequel- that should be good.
I LOVE Inspector Lewis! I’m chomping at the bit for the next season to come out because I’ve seen them all. I really love the Lawrence Fox character. He often plays a bad guy so it’s good to see him playing this role. And Lewis – how could I not love him from Morse- I always knew he could stand on his own in a series. (I think his name is Kevin Wheatly?)
Breaking Bad was recommended to me but I haven’t been able to get myself to watch it. Maybe I will now. If I can love Dexter, why not a meth cooking school teacher? It is fiction, after all.
Weeds I watched a few episodes of a long time ago and got tired of it pretty quick. I can’t remember why but there was something tedious about it. The acting is definitely great and it is pretty funny but the story itself, I think, wore me out.
You know I don’t have cable either. We rent from the movie rental place and my mom has streaming netflix. If it has Malcolm in the Middle I should watch it and see if Max would like it. Sounds pretty funny. Trial and Retribution- haven’t heard anything about this one before now- I loved the prime suspect series and if the writing is as good as that (and why shouldn’t it be?) then I need to check that out. I love the gritty and procedural so if that makes you a dork, I’m a dork too.
Shameless I haven’t heard of either so I need to see if I can get that and check it out. Ditto with Little Britain – you’ve told me about this one before and I never managed to watch it so maybe it’s time. My mom just started watching The Last Detective and is loving it. She was watching when I was doing a bunch of canning and couldn’t sit down to check it out but, as you know, I love detective shows. Hey- I finally saw a George Gently episode- I’m pretty sure you told me about that one a long time ago. My mom watched the whole series already so I need to watch it when she’s in the mood for reruns. And what about Zen? Have you caught any of those yet? I watched only one before PBS took them down off the site- I want to watch the others when I can do it on the big tv downstairs (I watched them all online-not ideal).
It’s good to hear from you! Miss you!
I can’t wait for it! It’s coming out in January I think.
Hated Zen which was sad b/c I love Rufus Sewell- I couldn’t find anything redeeming about the story lines and couldn’t stand the “culture” of the politics of policing- it was ridiculous.
Little Britain is available on Netflix and George Gently is quite good. They just added Murder in Suburbia which is a silly, kitschy (sp?) police dramedy, it’s ok. You can watch the PBS mystery shows online, if you are interested. I’m thinking of going to Radio Shack to buy a cable to hook up my computer to the tv.
Oh, and they just put Law and Order on Netflix- god, it’s horrible, it’s like crack to me- I especially like the older seasons, especially 2-4, when Ben Stone was the assistant DA not the gravelly hothead played by Sam Waterston- yuck, hate him.
I had a look at Little Britain and I just don’t think it’s my cup of tea. I like a lot of British comedy, as you know, but some of their stuff is too gross and silly at the same time for me to appreciate. I have not made up my mind about Zen yet – I share your love for Rufus- that man is fantastic! I just started watching Murder in Suburbia this week with my mom and your assessment is, to my thinking, right on the money. Very silly but all in all I’d say it’s enjoyable. I’m watching the new Inspector Lewis online this week. They only show a certain number of Masterpiece videos at any time so there’s not always something to watch on there- but they have three new Lewis episodes I haven’t seen yet. Well, two, cause I watched one last night. I love Law and Order. But I haven’t been in the mood lately. Most of those series’ I’m interested in right now aren’t available to me yet (I am always a season behind). Though I’m watching Castle on Hulu so I’m current with that one.