xtcian

I have never watched one episode of the shows that you have mentioned. I am not kidding! I don't know what it says about me, but I like to watch: Breaking Bonaduce, Laguna Beach, The Real World, Oprah (I love Oprah!), various HGTV programs (in a futile attempt to make my house look decorated), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (because my good friend from law school writes for the program). I was also addicted to Queer as Folk and the Sopranos, but my interest has waned lately. Oh, and Helen and I watch Animal Planet (I have a crush on Jeff Corwin and Animal Cops rock!) and Cartoon Network.

If the shows are as good as you say they are, I will give it a try. And, I will TIVO whatever you and Tessa write!

I think My Name is Earl is very funny. In last nights episode, they used Smokey and the Bandit in the plot line, and then had the closing credits outake-style just like the old Smokey movies. Very sneaky.

I watch Numb3rs if I am actually up at 10pm on a Friday night, which is rarely :-(. Being a mathematician by training, I give kudos to the premise that MATH SOLVES CRIMES. And they do a decent job making it realistic.

The Office is outstanding, esp Steve Carell (his wife in real life is hilarious, too) and the Jim and Pam interaction. Makes me crave an Awesome Blossom.

I watched the first episode of Inconceivable because our good friend's (who is actually out from L.A. staying with us this week) soon-to-be ex-wife was an extra. But her part in ep.1 was cut at the last minute (though she was still to be back for episode 3) and the show was terrible. It was cancelled after 2 episodes.

Last I got word, an old roommate from UNC, Laurie Baron is out in L.A. doing the assistant director sort of thing. I know she's worked on Nip/Tuck, Alias, and Arrested Development. Not sure what she's working on now, but there's one more UNC Mafia connection if you ever meet her.

Oh, and I will watch any Wife Swap/Trading Spouses show ever aired. Now that's good television! :-)

I confess to watching The West Wing, even though I fear I'm suffering damage to my orbital muscles due to hard rolling of the eyes at some parts. I love King of the Hill, too. My old college roommate has drawn for the show for about six years now. He's my only connection to reflected glory -- other than my pastor, who was a law school roommate of Jerry Springer. I'll be sure to TiVo Ian's show as well.

I am totally hooked on Lost.

Why is it that all the good shows are on at the same time as all the other good shows?

I watched 'Earl' last night for the first time....
As a southerner, i think the character potrayals are over the top. Why is it everyone down south is ignorant? It was midly amusing.

Unplug your TV, through it in the trash and enjoy your time on earth.

Ian--run, don't walk to your couch and watch the British "Office". It may be the best show I've ever seen (and I watch a LOT of tv). I wasn't able to watch the American version past the pilot because it was such a pale imitation. Ricky Gervais is a GENIUS, and the supporting cast will break your heart.

Best shows currently on tv (imho): Lost, The Amazing Race, Arrested Development, Family Guy, Rescue Me.

Best shows you can rent on DVD: Freaks & Geeks, the first season of Nip/Tuck, The Shield (seasons 1-3), the first 3 seasons of Alias (I quit this season).

Oh yeah, and "My Name Is Earl" and "Scrubs" are both amazing.

Oh yeah, and catch any rerun of "King of the Hill" you can, because they're amazing (F/X plays them often). The show never got the credit it deserved (although it did survive 10 seasons), and I find it better than most non-animated family-centric shows. OK, I'm done.

Ok--this is where I get to let off all my steam about ALIAS, which I LOVE, but which is a TOTAL and Complete,unmitigated rip-off of
La Femme Nikita--after all of the hulabaloo raised with the cancelling of one of the world's greatest shows, (i would add a million links that document this, but don't know how), who WOULDN"T have been able to figure out that a copy-cat would be a tvboxoffice smash??

sigh. Peta Wilson. sigh. Roy Dupuis. sigh. . . . .

i dont think anything can make saturday night live funny anymore. i still TIVO it hoping that it will give me a few laughs and i am always disappointed. one of my daughters friends writes for the show and i still dont think its funny (either does she). the only thing that makes it watchable is that the actors do some good impersonations but the writing is just not there.

and i stopped watching alias awhile ago after lena olin left the show. i found myself fast forwarding most of the show to just watch the human interaction portions of it and realized that i was fast forwarding about three quarters of the show (all the action crap) so i gave up on it.

I don't know, Ian. I think Alias (this season) has completely lost it's luster. It started to lose it last year, but now, it's gotten completely ridiculous. It was much better in Season one and two when Sydney was juggling her personal life with her spy life. Now it's just reaching for a storyline and is lame. I'm so sick of everyone on that show and even the new castmembers are boring. Maybe it will pick up, who knows. But it'll never come close to it's first few seasons.

My Name is Earl is hilarious and Arrested Development has not skipped a beat. I'm almost peed my pants watching it last Monday.

I think it might be worth mentioning that Jennifer Garner, besides being expressive and having good diction, is very good looking, especially in tight and/or revealing clothing. Two thumbs up for Alias.

>>>wasn't able to watch the American version past the pilot because it was such a pale imitation.

Ditto. The British "Office" is much more subtle, and much funnier than the American version...because you sort of want the boss to succeed even if he's a schmendrick, while in the American version, he just comes across as a jerk.

I'm not one of those people who are obsessed w/British humor, but definitely watch the first two episodes of The Office carefully, and you'll get into the subtle patheticness of these characters' lives.

I've been staying up for The Colbert Report - Its like The Daily show as a FOX/OReilly parody. They had me from the screeching eagle graphic at the opening credits!

At least it's not as pathetic as the American version of Coupling. They took the exact same scripts and gave them to hamfisted morons, and wondered why the show failed. I was halfway through the first episode before I realized that it was word for word the original... and yet somehow not even a tiny bit funny.

I'll second Deb's praise of The Amazing Race. I know it's very fashionable to bash "reality TV", and I understand that. But TAR is a great show in its own right. Yes, it was MUCH better in season 1 when the clues were actually clues, rather than explicit directions. But the competitions are real, the locations spectacular, and the editors are genius. And the team with the 5 year old kids got eliminated last week, so the stunt casting is no longer as painful.

The 3 shows I watch each week without fail are Lost, Medium, and Desparate Housewives. The characters in all three I find really funny (esp. in DH)in their own ways. HGTV has also inspired more home improvement projects than I care to admit. My husband is into the reality stuff...I find it totally boring. To each his own....

I wholeheartedly agree with Betty Rocker about "Alias". It started slipping in Season 3 (although I liked it more than others did), but this season I just couldn't continue. Then again, Oliver is also right...

And yeah, The Amazing Race is (not oxymoronically) quality reality tv. It's not "'7th Heaven' wholesome", but it's not trashy, either. Tim, I almost didn't include it in my list because of the reality backlash, but it would reward DVD renters tremendously. Go Linzes!

haven't seen Earl, yet, but that is the one I'm most likely to tune in of the ones listed. TV for me is sports, Animal Planet/Discovery with the kids, and the occasional Fox sitcom.

Question from me is this Numb3rs show - they solve crime with math, great, but is it real math or do they make it up and figure they're just putting one over on you like with the CSI and ER type shows.

Sit next to a doctor while watching one of those shows and turning it off is the only real solution.

Speaking of Family Guy, Deb, this clip is very funny: http://thatvideosite.com/view/1077.html

Although the American version of "The Office" is quite hilarious, I have to admit, there will never be a better show than the U.K Office version ever.

I have never loved a show as much and laughed so hard. Ricky Gervais is brilliant. Wait until you get to the "Christmas" special. You will die.

the british version of the office is uproariously hilarious. you will spit out whatever you happen to be eating at the time for laughing so hard!

I'm going to Jelly your stapler!

Deb: "Go Linzes!"

Agreed. And go home, Weavers!

I got hooked on Lost this summer. It's the only TV show I've actively watched in years.

How can you not include PRISON BREAK on this list? With the exception of a few minor leaps of faith (almost all shows have them, so don't get too high and mighty), the show is great. The guy who plays Abruzzi (I forget his name) is the crazy wood-chipper killer from FARGO, the crazy Russian from ARMAGEDDON, etc.

Well done. Goo suspense and plot lines and a great show.

OVER THERE was another great one, but I understand it didn't get renewed. Shame.

I enjoy Surface because a lot of the plot takes place in Wilmington. I've TiVo'd all of the CRIMINAL MINDS, but I have not yet gotten to see them.

SCRUBS, however, is the best show on television. Bar none.

Regarding SNL, I agree that it hasn't been consistently funny in quite a while. It sounds like it is very politicized as far as what gets on and what doesn't. Bryan is a very talented writer and my hope is that once he gets established there, he can help bring it back.

I missed the boat on yesterday's posting of family photos, so in case no one goes back to look at yesterday's comments, here are mine:

http://uncbagwell.blogspot.com

I just started this blog for purposes of posting photos, so there isn't much to it.

My household watches Alias, and my suspension of disbelief has shattered. She'll be talking to someone and I'l mutter "you know that that guy is working against you, in order to work for you, because what you are doing is wrong, although the person who told you to do it is right, but for the wrong reasons. Oh, and that guy is also... YOUR BROTHER!!!"

You talk about TV in terms of "reversals" or at least you did back when you and I knew each other in the early aughts, but this show is so full of reversals that its like they are walking in ever smaller circles until they've ended up shuffling like geisha standing on a lazy susan. I just can't watch it anymore.

Also, when Donna left the West Wing, part of me died. When you watch the endless re-runs, Donna is the most human, most beautiful character on the show. When you go back to the episode where people are being told about Bartlett's condition, everyone gets pissed off, but Donna's first words are "is the President in any pain?" and when the answer is no, she just moves on. I miss her.

TV has gotten quite good, and will hopefully continue to do so. look for studio 7 on the sunset strip next year, and the fourth season of the wire (which HBO intelligently picked up, YET DID NOT GET ONE SINGLE EMMY NOMINATION?!? UNBEFUCKINGLIEVABLE!!!)

(sorry for the outburst, but come on, people. it's so layered, so subtle, so satisfying and sophisticated. also, kind of important, albeit very unglamorous and about people of a different race/social class/station in life than your typical emmy voter. still. it's, dare I say, nothing short of a masterpiece.)

but enough about that, here's a list of shows I want back:

1) chappelle's show
2) the job
3) freaks and geeks
4) two fat ladies (I think one of them died)
5) the white shadow
6) steampipe alley
7) the gong show
8) saturday morning cartoons (apparently, to my horror, I recently discovered this, as a concept, doesn't really exist anymore. my feeling is that if kids still have to go to church on sunday, they should at least get cartoons and sugar cereal the day before...)
9) mike white's pasadena

here's what I can do without, which is another season of 24. my disbelief, as well as my patience, is at an end. how many bad days can junior sutherland possibly have? how many days in which must he singlehandedly save the world from impending nuclear disaster. my pitch for season 6: his day off. at least 6 episodes would be an extended dream sequence (so that could be your "action"), one could be set in a shopping mall, he could have a hot date, go to the gym, get a haircut, have a doctor's appointment where he's mistakenly diagnosed with a life-threatening illness -- the possibilities are endless.

or...

jack bauer somehow fucks up, and the world actually is coming to an end. how does he spend his last 24 hours?

I'd watch that.

^ I miss Frank's Place

I must be the only one who watches total crap on TV. Viva La Bam anyone? My Fair Brady? How about that new Rev Run show on MTV? P Diddy's Making the Band 3? I admit it -- I love all of that crap!

I HEART Scrubs! I've already got the first season on DVD and I think the second season just came out, so I've got to pick that up. Scrubs rocks the free world.

I also love almost anything on TLC, but my favorite is While You Were Out. I adore Andrew Dan Jumbo and Evan Farmer and want to marry them. Both of them. Well, if my husband will let me.

Property Ladder and Moving Up are awesome shows, too.

Extreme Home Makeover makes me cry, but it rocks for the feelgood factor. Three Wishes is kinda growing on me.

Other favorites are Amazing Race, Flip this House (dude is completely nuts), Flip that House, Desperate Housewives, and Weeds.

I'm ashamed to admit I watch Real World, both Apprentices, and America's Next Top Model, American Idol, and Martha (I've even developed a drinking game for watching Martha). Guilty pleasures - we all have 'em. But I'm going to finally give up RW. Honest. (Laurie - do you think Breaking Bonaduce is for real, or do you think he's only acting that messed up because of his need for attention, positive or negative? Not that I'm admitting that I watch it. Nope, uh-uh, not me.)

Thank goodness for tivo because I obviously watch way too much tv. But it passes the time when the boy is nursing and I don't have anything good to read.

Oh! And Bravo's show BLOW OUT with Jonathan Antin and THE RESTAURANT with that adorable chef Rocco DiSpirito were excellent! I admit it! I am Phi Beta Kappa from Carolina and I love mindless entertainment!

C'mon, Ian. Fess up. You are working on that Ashton Kutcher show, aren't you? Maybe PIMP MY RIDE -- the hybrid edition?

Laurie, we need to exchange e-mails so we can discuss the crap we watch. My Fair Brady - what was up with that proposal? Blech. Peter Brady done gone lost his mind. And I don't think Diddy has any good choices left for the band.

Again, not that I actually saw any of this. Uh, someone told me about it. Ahem. ;-)

I've switched from "Lost" to "Veronica Mars."

Ok, so here's where I fess up to the fact that I also watch all of the BAD reality TV. But I'm fully aware that it's bad while watching, I swear! Just because I watched every single episode of Paradise Hotel does not mean that you can't trust me. I am still able to make rational recommendations of TAR to people who don't share my addiction.

Grey's Anatomy is my med-com-dram of choice, but I suspect Scrubs is opposite something else I watch, as I don't even know when it's on.

And KTS - the Lost/VM problem killed me last season, but this year I've got dual-receiver Tivo, and the problem magically went away. I watch Lost on "tape", as I can be reasonably sure that nothing is going to happen anyway.

JJE! You can't have Evan Farmer because he is mine, all mine, I tell you! He is a total cutie pie.

And, I am afraid to say that I think Breaking Bonaduce is all too real.

I think that I have got to give up on Real World. Sad to say, I have watched EVERY single group of RWers. . . ever since the days of Norm and Julie and Heather B in NYC (summer of 1993, while I was studying for the bar exam). Every single group! I think that I am just too old for it now. I just don't "get" these young people! Ever since the Las Vegas group with Trishelle being such a floozy and everyone working at the bar and then the group in San Diego where they were all drunk and punching strangers on the street and being arrested. This Austin group is really boring. Remember when Danny got punched on the street and needed serious eye surgery! If he were my kid, I would have smacked him for being so stupid.

I digress. Of course, I ALWAYS watch the REAL WORLD/ROAD RULES CHALLENGES! I love to see all of the fighting,etc. Crystal: "I don't wrestle girls, I beat bitches up! . . . She'll go home in a stretcher, and I'll go home in handcuffs!" Now, that is what I call entertainment!

LFMD - I'm afraid we're going to have to share. Maybe we have the makings of a new show - "Trading Evan Farmer." LOL!

Yeah, sadly, I think if you name a season of RW, I could name at least four members of the cast, if not all seven strangers. My only excuse is that it's a bad habit left over from college when a group of my pledge sisters would get together on Wednesday nights to watch RW and RR.

JJE! I just read your comment. Girl, I am all about trash TV! My husband is so embarrassed that I can name every single Real World "celebrity" by city and year, yet I can't remember the exact amount of our mortgage payment each month. And, yes, I agree with your assessment of Peter Brady's decision. I think that next year, we'll be watching MY FAIR BRADY GETS HITCHED followed by MY FAIR BRADY HEADS TO DIVORCE COURT. Did you watch the episode when Florence Henderson counseled the couple? Not to be missed TV, I tell you!

Diddy may as well send all those girls home! The only girl of interest is Aubrey, and she is not that talented. One cute blonde chick does not a musical group make.

I feel like we are at our first meeting of Bad TV anonymous. "HI. My name is Katie and I still watch the same crap I did in high school" LFMD, I watch every show you do and if Bev Niner(90210)came back I'd watch that too! I also love The Amazing Race(Linz fan) and Lost has absolutely blown me away. I didn't watch last season but caught up this summer.

The appeal of reality tv for me is just watching people whether their being "real" or trying to act real. People are crazy as a whole and watching other crazies makes me feel more normal. My huge dilema tonight is do I Tivo Lost or the crazy mother break down on Trading Spouces?

Anyone watch Kill Reality on VH-1? Admit it, I know you did.

SLS - don't forget that Martha's on at the same time! 4 shows on simultaneously, when there can be whole days with nothing to watch. I'm looking at you, Saturday. Not that I watch Trading Spouses normally - I swear! - but that breakdown looks far too awesome to miss.

I may or may not have taped "The Scorned". You can't prove anything.

Oh My God!!! Salem's Little Sister (you and your son are so CUTE by the way!) -- thank you so much for reminding me of the crazy mother break down on Trading Spouses!! I forgot it was on tonight! I would have spent my evening with the usual household drudgery, missed it, and I would have been so bummed. I can't quite figure out what is wrong with that woman, but she is a whole lotta crazy, that's for sure. I am going to pick up some wine on the way home -- it will be my evening's entertainment.

I LOVED 90210. The summer when Brenda was in Paris and Dylan and Kelly hooked up at the beach club was the best EVER. I caught some kind of 90210 reunion the other night. . . I am sure you can see it on re-runs.

Of course I watched Kill Reality. Who didn't?

And Ian, I hope the fact that the topic has degenerated does not depress you. As I said, I will watch whatever intelligent programming you produce. I will sit and concentrate and watch it all.

Oh God, Tim has reminded me of the other shows that are on. I gotta get a TV Guide while I am the liquor store so that I can keep all of this straight. Why oh why don't we have TiVO at my house????

Gotta run. I will be thinking of SLS and Tim during the Crazy Mama Freak Out. Cheers! Ian, maybe you should watch it too . . . see what your competition is!

Ian, may I introduce the Crazy Mama.

http://www.fox.com/tradingspouses/bios/perrin.htm

Don't miss it!

Thanks LFMD. Ben looks just like Salem when he was a baby.

I've kept this one a big secret because it shames even me. . . Battle of the Reality TV Stars on Bravo. It was a smorgasborg of egos, tears and Coral talking trash.

Last week's Trading Spouses was such a teaser because the real breakdown is tonight. But its people like her that keep me watching!

*slowwwly raises hand on "Kill Reality"*

Sweet cracker sandwich, that show was a trainwreck, especially with Johnny Fairplay. What I have to wonder is did those people seriously think they were good actors or that it was a film the world needed made? My two dogs could do Shakespeare more convincingly than those people could do that inane cheesy horror film. I actually thought the film was just a fake setup to bring all the various reality people together for a tv show. They really made the movie?

LFMD - you need tivo. It's like crack, but the good kind.

Other than Scrubs, my favorite "regular" tv show of all time was Party of Five.

deadwood, carnivale, firefly (i don't have cable, so everything i watch i have to get on dvd.)

and everything people said about the office. "you know that phrase 'softly softly, catchy monkey?' i could catch a monkey."

SLS -- Argh! I was actually quoting CORAL in the handcuffs comment, but I called her Crystal above. I knew there was something wrong about what I wrote. Perhaps you are the true trash TV Diva! No? Even I was not able to keep up with the Battle of the Reality Stars, as much as I like to watch Coral and the Miz. I hand over the crown to you, Sister!

Firefly was good! A shame the movie tanked, as I would have loved to see a sequel. I also liked Farscape - once you got past the fact that there were actual muppets, it was clever, funny and intense.

But then, I'm a sci-fi junky, and both shows came with the pretty, so that made for some enjoyable TV.

LFMD - anyone who watches that much tv and doesnt have a tivo is on a collision course! you MUST get a TiVo. It will change your life. on the list of necessities of life i think the Tivo comes right after running water and the electricity needed to run the damned thing!
and here's one more vote for the amazing race - and linz family.

ian - i notice you put that adorable photo of you and lucy on the front page of the blog now - nice selection.

TiVo will change your life: http://thatvideosite.com/view/893.html

I wasted a full hour at this site today.

JJE, thanks for the tip on the second Scrubs DVD--it's due out on Nov. 15--I just preordered it! (I watch almost no TV but will drop everything for Scrubs. I also used to be very fond of Ed, at least the first couple of seasons, and I was flat-out shamelessly addicted to the first season of The Apprentice.) Now the question is, when does this season of Scrubs start? I've read that they're filming...

Do I get bonus points for following former pro-wrestler Ric Flare around South Park(mall)? Two days after my stalking incident, Tammy Faye Bakker-Resner was in line behind me at Hobby Lobby! I actually had the guts to tell her hello and she was very sweet. She looks so much better in person. She actually looks like a person and not a character. I even called my mom to tell her about Tammy Faye! I really need a Mother's Morning Out program . . .sigh.

Bonus points for the weirdness of talking to Tammy Faye. Now I have to get back to "Veronica Mars", in which, before the last commercial, it was said, "Well, I guess this will screw up your Tivo."

I know no one's reading anymore, but Ian, SERIOUSLY: watch "The Wire". It is the most well-crafted (I'm loathe to say) tv show ever. "The Office" is brilliant, but I think I'd have to say that "The Wire" is the best thing I've ever watched on a television set. It's more of a movie cut into hour-long bits, and it's dense at first (we didn't know what was going on for the first long while), but it pays off in spades. There's never been and doubtfully ever will be anything like it.

KTS - say it ain't so! What happened? I was watching the crazy woman melt down, and then checking in to make sure Howie got the boot.

Ian, I like the new picture of you and Lucy on your main page.

just reread.

john wells, while VERY GOOD at making television (no small feat), is NOWHERE NEAR aaron sorkin.

aaron sorkin is michael jordan. john wells is john grisham.

I don't know this deb person, but whoever she is, she's smart.

I agree with Betty Rocker too, Alias has lost the plot for me. I also happen to think that Jennifer Garner is the most gorgeous woman on Earth, but that still won't compel me to watch it anymore.

I also feel that Maury Tierney and Linda Cardellini and a close second and third in the looks dept. yet I still can't watch ER. The helicopter falling off the roof of the hospital onto Dr. Romano who had lost an arm to the same helicopter weeks prior was just bananas on top of bananas. That's when I stopped watching.

That being said, the US Office is great and Prison Break is good filler til 24 comes back.

SLS - you are my new hero! Sightings of Tammy Faye AND Ric Flair?? Wow! My little brother was such a wrestling fan. . . he loved Ric Flair. Do you watch the Hulk Hogan reality show? When he put a tracking device in his daughter's car? Did you watch Tammy Faye in the Surreal Life?

What did you think of the Crazy Mama? I honestly don't know why she was so upset with the New Age family. . . Crazy Mama was more frightening than any of the Solstice stuff. You would have thought that New Age family were Satan worshippers, for all of her crying and wailing.

Well, at least she agreed to take the money and get gastric bypass. All's well that ends well! Next week's Hot Mama episode looks interesting!

Yes, yes and yes! Salem and I grew up on wrestling much to our Mother's dismay. My parents were friends with Jim Crockett who produced all of the early wrestlers. Dusty Rhoads used to play Santa Clause at their Christmas parties. I promise I'm not a redneck though!! I loved the crazy mom breakdown. She completely lost her hold on reality. It does however continue perpetuating the "Crazy, rigid Christian" stereotype. She needs to take the gastric by-pass money and get some therapy.
I thought about all of us who posted today while I was watching tv and I felt like we were our own little community. That can be Ian's next project. A show about his blog and the people who read it!

You crack me up, SLS. Crazy Mama definitely needs some therapy. "I don't want anything DARK-SIDED!" "I am a SPIRITUAL WARRIOR!" "In the name of Jesus, I rebuke you!" Good grief. Screenwriters could not have written such berserk rantings. Did you see how scared her family looked? Yeah, I was hoping that Ian would watch, seeing how he feels about radical Christians and all.

Dusty Rhoads as Santa! My brother will be SO jealous.

My husband is horrified that I watch this stuff, but I am glad that I am in good company. I topped my evening off last night by watching the new MADE. Did you watch? That cute little high schooler had me in stitches. When she was offered the scholarship, I cried.

you NAILED Scranton..rofl! i tell people that it's the only place I know of that makes Camden, NJ look good. heh.