xtcian

For every great show like 'The Office' or 'Rescue Me', there are eight shows like 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and 'Two and a Half Men' which needs to change. I'd much rather watch ten episodes of a really well-done show a season than twenty episodes of diluted material to fit a network schedule.

I also adore documentary fare like '30 Days' and 'City Confidential' and even some of the home improvement shows. If you limit yourself to an hour or two a day, you can find some great stuff on TV.

I love TV.

My roommate and I seem to get into every piece of shit MTV reality show that airs (and Fox competitions, now that I think about it), but we can't help ourselves. We love The Hills, Laguna Beach, Run's House, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, Skating with Celebrities, Flavor of Love. I could go on, but I won't.

We had Bravo at our old apartment, so I used to watch Project Runway and Top Chef religiously. And Blow Out. Sadly, in Carrboro, channel 72 is Bravo and over here in Chapel Hill, channel 72 is the Inspiration Channel. We no longer have Bravo, so I have to find a friend in Carrboro to let me come over on Wednesdays... or I read the recaps on TVgasm.com.

I have a ton of TV shows on DVD, and watch them whenever I'm sick or bored - Seinfeld, Sex and the City, NewsRadio, Freaks and Geeks, Chappelle's Show, Keen Eddie, etc.

We decided to spring for digital cable and HBO in the new apartment, and I've just recently fallen in love with Entourage. What a great fucking show! Plus I get to catch up on Sopranos and Deadwood, which I used to have when I lived with my brother a couple years ago.

Hmm, what else? I guess whenever the regular TV season rolls around this fall, I'll be back to watching Lost (even though the show aggravates the hell out of me), The Office, My Name is Earl, and any other shows that look interesting. Then in January I'll pick up 24 again. I can't wait to see how Jack gets off that slow boat!

Looking over this post, I realize that I watch WAY too much TV! I should get out more!

Present:
House, Grey's Anatomy, The Closer

Past:
La Femme Nikita, Due South, West Wing

Future:
Whatever Tessa and ian can concoct! :)

I'm just as big a sucker for coming-of-age TV as I am for COA novels: My So-Called Life, Felicity, The Wonder Years--I'm sure there are more, but the first two are the ones I own on DVD in their entirety (sigh: yes, I'm a 36-year-old adolescent, and I'm not even a buyer of DVDs). I also love sharp, well-written romantic comedy: Ed (yes it was, in the first couple of years), Sex and the City (does that count, since it's HBO? well, I own it too). I like shows with a central character who does something interesting, as on Saved, my latest favorite; and what is Entourage, exactly? besides amazing. The first seasons of Alias and 24 were terrific, but I don't feel the need to watch any more--in fact, even though I needed regular doses of 24 when we were watching it on DVD, there were a lot of episodes that I thought were limp or just serving as the path from A to Z. I loved Friends in the same guilty-pleasure way that I love People magazine; I'll even opt for Friends reruns over a lot of today's TV. Although I proclaim to despise reality TV, I did get sucked RIGHT into America's Next Top Model, The Apprentice, and Black. White, so I'm clearly vulnerable to it. Oh: I love Clean Sweep, because it inspires me to keep the clutter at a minimum. Also because I like to look inside people's houses. And Tyler Florence on Food 911 is hot, plus I got a wonderful recipe for lemon blueberry scones from his show.

What's lacking? Let me think about that.

I forgot the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.

And I'd like to see more shows that make me care about the characters as if I know them.

I just started watching Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Rescue Me is my current absolute favorite and IASIP cracks me up every time.

Like Kate, MTV had me at "Seven Strangers, picked to live together". I love all the crap she mentioned. It's embarassing but so true.
The Bravo reality shows are my true favorites. Project Runway and Top Chef are great and my husband will actually watch them with me. If we end up at UNC for MBA school next fall, I'll be sure to ask realtors which TV zone we're in! I gotta have my Bravo.

I'm counting the days until Lost starts. I miss that off balance feeling the minute the final "Lost" flashes on the screen. I also can't wait to see what Meredith does in Grey's Anatomy and who finds her panties!

I had been missing my "OC" and "90210" type shows, but I've found "Windfall" and it's actually doing it for me. I luv Luke Perry! No . . .seriously . . . I do. I had my share of Brandon's, but I never had a Dillon. Sigh.

I like intelligent TV that doesn't use the same tired sitcom lines and plots over and over. I can't stand most of the half-hour comedies, but I'd like to see a GOOD half-hour comedy. I liked Malcolm in the Middle because it was clever.

Right now, mostly I just watch the suspenseful shows on DVD (Lost, Sopranos, etc.) I hate reality shows so I've nearly given up on TV. Of course, I'm sure there's good stuff on it, but I don't have time to sit through it all to find it.

Well, you know that I love all the reality stuff. And Ken's comment helped me realize why. The reality genre is the opposite of all that sitcom crap that I HATE! All that "King of Queens", "Everyone Loves Raymond", "Two and a Half Men" stupid crap. What IS that crap? I feel as though I spent my adolescence watching so much dumb TV -- the canned laughter, the idiotic "filmed before a studio audience", the predictable, scripted, brainless sitcom stuff. "Alice!" "Three's Company!" "Charles in Charge!" "Full House!" "Roseanne" was the exception because it had an edge, at least in the beginning.

After all the junk of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, when reality tv started, I was HOOKED! For once, there was no predictable script, no canned laughter, and you didn't know what the hell would happen! In my opinion, what happens over the nature course of reality TV is better than anything scripted that anyone can write (except you and Tessa, of course)

Scrubs
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Entourage

Those are the best shows on television. If you can duplicate that or improve on those, you'll be doing just fine.

BTW, nice B-52's reference. Just dealt with an attorney in a case who used to work in Athens, GA and did some peripheral stuff for the big bands like R.E.M. and the aforementioned bombers.

Follow Your Bliss is a better song, however.

I also forgot to add: JACK AND BOBBY as a tremendous show. Whatever happened to that one?

Oh, and I LOVE Entourage! I heart Jeremy Piven! He is my workplace hero. Curiously enough, while I am a married dull hetero woman, I LOVE "Queer as Folk" and "The L Word." I don't know if I fall into the shows' predicted demographic group, but I LOVE those shows.

Last January I made the jump to HD and got a big plasma and switched from Dish to DirecTV and am now paying around $120 a month...so I can watch sports.
Mainly for UNC basketball and football, and the NFL.

Otherwise it is mainly Discovery or Animal Planet with the kids.

Certainly needless to say, I never got into reality shows and probably never will. "Six Feet Under" and the prematurely countermanded "Commander In Chief" were some of the best TV fare I have seen in a while. I like news programs, but I pretty much limit them to "MacNeil/Lehrer" or, yes, I have become my parents, "CBS Sunday Morning" and "60 Minutes." I detest most sitcoms nowadays, which I find odd being I am an actor by profession and would admittedly KILL to be on a hit sitcom. But there is absolutely no originality in most TV programming anymore. I am so thankful for the release of DVD collections of older shows like "Mary Tyler Moore." THAT was good writing that was executed brilliantly by good acting and good directing!

Wow - I just read my entry and I'm only 35 and I would swear someone in their 60s wrote that. Ah, well, that's me. I'm off to listen to a little NPR.

I Love Love Love Love Love Love Love surgery shows. But they're too sensational!

"Will she make it? Will she not? We'll find out, after a word from Chrysler!"

I wish they were less sensational and more explain-y. "This is the widget; see the striations?"

I also hate the way most children and teenagers are portrayed in sitcoms. Casting directors could learn a lot from Zelda Harris and her film siblings in _Crooklyn_.

I think TV moms have gotten a little bit better, though. More multidimensional.

One of my favorite shows that no one has mentioned that only lasted two or three seasons was "Sports Night" with Joshua Malina, Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause and Robert Guillaume. You didn't have to like sports to enjoy the witty show, but it did help to get some of the sports references. I mourned the loss when it was cancelled. Of course, it had to be good, Aaron Sorkin was the writer.

I am having DTs right now for the next episode of Lost. Lost is my crack.

I got little boys, so my TV is often tuned to Noggin. If you got pre-schoolers and don't have Noggin on your cable system (it's a premium channel), you ain't living.

Grey's Anatomy and House are good. I am a sucker for all the MTV-style reality shows, American Idol, etc.

Hate all the CSI shows and their copycats.

Hate all the shows that force you to watch the entire season. Have never seen 24 or Lost, but I am sure they are good. I simply don't have the life that allows me to watch a show each and every week -- job, kids, wife, hobbies, church, etc. Yes, I have a DVR, but I also prefer to have a life (my watching of reality shows notwithstanding).

I try to catch 80% of the UNC basketball games, 15% of the UNC football games and 50% of any athletic contests where dook or a dookie is losing.

I made a conscious decision no longer get cable and have had only peasant TV for about 4 years (with a 1 year exception of rooming with other people in MBA school).

So my TV consumption is limited to network TV, of which I love LOST, House MD, the Office (UK and USA versions) and watch Grey's Anatomy. I also have an affinity for Brit Sitcoms, my favorite of all time being "Black Adder".

I like LOST because it is so different than other TV shows, you have no idea really what is going on, everything is a mystery and everyone is learnign as it goes on. Unlike most sitcoms where you learn 99% of everything you will need to know in the Pilot.

The Office is special because it simultaneously makes you cringe and laugh at the same time. Any show that can make such different emotions appear at the same time is definitely on my list.

Finally one of the things I love about Black Adder is that they set a comedy during the some of the worst periods of brit history, like the Middle Ages and WWI, for some reason that just makes it that much funnier. I don't think this would translate well to a US show because I don't see a comedy set during the Civil War, WWII, the Vietnam War or anything similar not being an issue. Many of my fellow Americans take themselves and their history too seriously and can't laugh at themselves. Imaging making George Washington, General Grant or Martin Luther King a comedic figure? There would be anarchy, chaos, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! Of course Hogan's Heroes was a success so I could be wrong.

Forgot:
Dangerous Catch (or whatever that show is called about Alaskan crabfishing)

This week, History Channel is showing the entire HBO series Band of Brothers based on the book by Stephen Ambrose. It is 100% one of my favorite TV events of all time and I get sucked into it every time it is ever on -- God bless my DVR.

Lee Coggins loves Good Times. She can't stop watching rerun after rerun. I'm reaching out for an intervention for her. Will someone help?

The Wire. 4th season starts in september. hands down the best show on (ahem, cable) television.

I completely agree with you, Ken: quality can be found in spades on television, if you know where to look. I do think, however, that "Raymond" is the most benign and often laugh-out-loud funny of the "dumb guy-pretty wife" comedy subset. Can you imagine if they took that formula and made a drama out of it? How mean the pretty wife would be to this poor schlub if there were no laugh track?

Anyhow, so much to say. Cable usually beats out network, in terms of quality, but occassionally there are some winners. I just got into the first season (on DVD) of "Veronica Mars", and it's quite engrossing. But it's peanuts, compared with something like HBO's unparalleled "The Wire", whose next season I am foaming at the mouth in anticipation for.

Summer is slim pickins, but in the Fall I'll definitely be watching "Lost" (although I'm not sure I'm gonna dig the lack of mystery/influx of romance plot proportions), "Scrubs", "House, M.D.", "The Shield".

There are even some quality reality shows. Fine, don't believe me. But "Project Runway" and "So You Think You Can Dance" are two examples of major, exciting talent on display, without any (for SYTYCD) or much (PR) catiness, or "living together in a house" forced drama. "30 Days" is terrific, if agenda-driven. Can't wait for "The Amazing Race" to start up again. "Treasure Hunters" was surprisingly fun and interesting this summer.

TV on DVD: PLEASE rent "Freaks & Geeks". Perhaps THE most criminally cancelled show of all time. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it.

I had to add a comment because no one has mentioned what was absolutely the funniest TV show in years: "Arrested Development." It is also a perfect example of what is wrong with an America in which "Two and a Half Men" is the number one comedy and this show gets canceled.

I watched an episode of this show when I was starting labor (and the doctor told me to wait 45 minutes before coming to the hospital) and I was crying, not because of labor pains, but because I was laughing so hard between labor pains. (For those who followed the show, it was the episode where they show Tobias' unfortunate business cards proclaiming him both an analyst and a therapist).

If you missed it, do yourself a favor and buy the DVDs. Also, have to mention that "The Simpsons," in it's prime (Seasons 3 through 6), was the funniest and most original comedy ever on television.

I like Veronica Mars.. I think it may take a quality dive in season 3. At least they are not letting her stay perpetually in High School. I too like Lost, Everybody hates Chris.
I am not a big fan of Earl, but that show has at least one or two lines every episode that are hilarious.
Like the baby would not sleep at night wanting his babybottle of Mountain Dew every hour... or getting his ex-wife a box of flavored condoms. I wish there was a way TV could portray southerners in such a way that they do not appear slow-witted.
The Closer does a decent job of that.

God, I could talk about this for hours.

Ken, I agree with you about "Earl". I was way into it in the beginning, being whole-heartedly in love with Jason Lee. And the concept was intriguing. But it slid into dumbness and being impressed with itself, so I gave up. Jamie Pressley, however, was a major stand-out.

I heard "Mars" will be changing its format around to attract new viewers, much like my once-beloved "Alias" did. And those who watched know how well that fared. Makes sense, as "Mars" is basically "High School 'Alias'", with even some of the same disguises!

"Sports Night" is another MUST rent/heart-breaking cancellation. It amazes me, too, to see how many CSI/L&O, Jim Belushi/Kevin James shows do so well, while masterpieces like "Sports Night" and "Arrested Development" have no staying power. Who has Nielsen boxes, anyway?

Love "Entourage". Piven deserves an Emmy. I feel like "The Sopranos" is already over, with this frustrating dragging out of the last season. I enjoyed last season's "Big Love", aside from the soul-numbing performance of Bill Paxton.

I adore The Food Network, but have recently become addicted to "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.

"The Daily Show" is beyond amazing when Jon Stewart is "anchoring". The correspondent interviews don't thrill me, and Stewart's interviews consist of too much plugging, hooting/hollering, and Stewart trying to out-funny his guest.

I should also emphasize that "House, M.D." is not just a show I watch, but it's probably in my Top 2, after "The Wire". Laurie is BRILLIANT and was robbed of an Emmy nod.

Yes yes yes: Freaks & Geeks. The scene when Nick sings to Lindsay still wrecks me every time I think about it. And that is the last representative of my entire DVD collection.

(Oh, and Donnie Darko.)

No tv, it all sucks..... dragging our culture, society, health, and mental ability collectively into the toilet.

Besides anything MTV can throw at me (LC & Jason broke up! Doesn't she look dumb now for passing on Paris?), I watch a lot of HBO/Showtime because my boyfriend has digital cable.

'Huff' was good until the end of the 2nd season where it was too heavy and you knew it was going to end without a resolution. 'Weeds' is incredible and I can't wait for it to start again on Monday! Go Mary-Louise Parker! Of course I watch 'Entourage' obsessively and 'The Wire' is great because we live about 40 minutes from Baltimore and I have a friend whose dad worked on a case they featured.

Off digital cable, I watch a lot of Nick@Nite before bed, with 'Roseanne' being my favorite show they feature. 'Simpsons' and 'Seinfeld' reruns are good for when I don't feel like concentrating since I've seen each episode at least twice.. but they still make me laugh.

I just realized that "Doesn't she look dumb now for passing on Paris?" should be clarified to "She was dumb for passing on Paris, maybe now she'll realize it."

We've been going without cable lately to save some dough, so i've been watching alot of PBS... News hour, Our State etc. they had a touching documentary on children's home reunions the other night. we've been renting old sopranos lately as well.

I was watching way too much cable, so its been a nice break for me. Still, I absolutely loved the movie channels, especially AMC and TCM - I was able to catch so many movies i might never have seen otherwise - classics, westerns, etc. i caught "birth of a nation" late one night on TCM; that was weird. Watching TVland re-runs of shows like "what's happening" and "flip wilson" is like time-traveling back to my childhood.

re: reality shows - although they are entertaining to me in small doses, i've grown to resent them over time, especially on mtv and vh1 as they have replaced music programming. Don't get me started on american idol. There are no doubt some talented young folks on there singing great songs and the drama is real, but it depresses me that our culture is more supportive of what is basically glorified karaoke than the abundant music created under the radar by people out there with true artistry and vision.

y'know, bob dylan was "pitchy" and "had a lack of range" as a singer in idol terms, what would the simons of the world say about him? Will it ever be about great ideas expressed through song again? (reminds me - i loved that "no direction home" doc on PBS).

First of all, we just got a DVR, which is already dramatically changing how we watch TV. Big ups to the DVR.

Huge fan of Scrubs -- can't say enough good things about this show. Rescue Me continues to impress; I'm glad the Emmy voters took note.

Loved Ed, even though I arrived late to the scene. On that note, Love Monkey was a good but short-lived show too...I think. It was on like three times, so who knows.

The usual stuff as well -- Lost, Office, Earl, Arrested Development before it croaked. Trying to stay with the new Julia Louis Dreyfus show, because I like her, but it's tough going.

Guilty pleasures: procedural reruns, like Law & Order, CSI, Without a Trace, etc. Supernanny, just to see how nuts other parents are and make us feel better about how we're doing. Airline -- rubbernecking at crazy travelers via TV.

Speaking of good TV, saw Dave Chapelle out on the street near my S.F. office yesterday. He was with some other guys/actors I recognized but can't name. Oh, and Dave Atell was also in the neighborhood a few weeks back -- I like Insomniac when I run across it, but I don't plan for it.

Is there a them in here somewhere, as in "this is the TV I love"? Not that I can find. What's missing? More well-written TV of any sort to replace most of the reality crap and contest shows that dominate the airwaves no. I don't really care who can dance, sing, invent, skate, cook, sew, model, design, clean, race, survive, etc.

I hear you on the "AI" bent, Grumphreys. Mainly because the demographic that spends HOURS voting for these wanna-bes couldn't be bothered taking a few minutes out of their day to vote for president.

Joe Jackson nailed it for me: "The public doesn't know what it wants; it only knows it wants something GOOD." He was talking about the general public's response to pop music, but he could have been talking about my opinion of, well, anything and everything, including TV.

Like Greg, with cable I consume movies like they were narcotics, without I watch Lost and PBS.

This fall's lineup does intrigue me more than usual, though....

Back to what I deem as "quality" reality: I think I like "So You Think You Can Dance" because it's a) pretty wholesome, b) solely about dance, and c) basically a variety show that loses a member every week. If you like watching kick-ass, varying styles of dance, you'll like this show. I mean, I've taken from this show that I enjoy the Samba, but not the Mambo, and that Modern dance can be incredibly touching as well as fiercly primal.

The two others worth watching are "The Amazing Race," which is just plain exciting, heart-warming, has fun and exotic locales I'll never visit, and "Project Runway", which...well, maybe it's not all that 'redeeming', but trust me, it's good.

we did watch alot of project runway for awhile there, deb - although i find it impossible to make it through an episode without constantly making multiple snarky comments!

I think its that drawing out of one's "inner judge" that makes competitive reality tv so compelling, but its also a reason i've begun to resent it - its like a million schlubs (like myself) sitting there in sweatpants and a t-shirt sitting there going, "she's pitchy" or "he really f@#ked up this time..."

I hear you. If this summer has proven anything, with the influx of "talent" shows (other than my beloved SYTYCD), I think it's gonna finally get old...soon.

good comments! (even tregen's...)

30 rock this fall. it's amazingly funny.

LFMD: you do know that most reality shows are somewhat if not predominantly "scripted", yes? my friend chad used to write for one.

I have an idea for the next season of 24. it's jack bauer's day off. will he get his laundry done? where's that missing sock? what should he have for lunch? should he call that girl? etc. there could even be an action sequence (like a 3 or 4 episode arc to start the season) that's revealed to be a dream, since he's about to die at the end of say the 4th episode. (how do you fix it? he wakes up. and the real drama begins...)

ps -- I HATE shit like lost and 24. they bore me to the point of tears. but that's just a matter of personal taste because they're actually really (no, REALLY) good for what they are.

pps -- everything's so serialized lately that in 5-10 years I predict this trend will reverse or at least ease/morph into something else. this trend is not natural evolution or necessarily better (or worse) than the best not quite as serialized/more episodic shows from the recent past, just a way of telling story that's very prevalent right now.

I'm late to the game (per usual) but now I'm wondering what Ian's thoughts (and then fellow commenters') are on the developing liquid-explosives-on-planes-from-UK-to-US story...

Good TV= Project Runway, House, Lost, Colbert Report, Daily Show, Ellen Degeneres Show, Arrested Development, The Office, CSI franchise.

Re terrorism: I'm REALLY sorry I bought plane tickets for two weeks from tomorrow, yesterday.

hell to the naw! ;)

lots of my old and new faves have been mentioned, like freaks and geeks, lost, project runway, 6 feet under, scrubs, etc.

here's some stuff that hasn't been mentioned, i think:

past:

profit - one of the most provocative and edgy shows, way ahead of it's time, just fantastic. now out on dvd!

samurai jack - what happened to this? i don't think it's on anymore, but it rocked.

the muppet show - didn't you used to love that when you were a kid? remember those old heckling guys and that weird bird with the crooked nose who loved chickens (i think)

twin peaks - say no more

chapelle show, RIP

strangers with candy!!! - BIG UP! BIG UP! what an amazing show, i can't wait to see the movie.

now:

lucky louie - (i think that's what it's called) show with louie c. k. it's like the roseanne of our generation, with awesome characters and lots of good swearing.

taxicab confessions - this is the candid camera of our generation, with added sexiness.

intervention - riveting reality.

avatar - really good for both grown-ups and kids

penn & teller bullshit - this is really good and pretty original

fairly oddparents - this is a new cartoon classic, i'm convinced. they are even having those weird spin-offs where timmy from fairly oddparents meets up with jimmy neutron, kind of like back in the day when you'd get those odd shows where scooby doo would meet up with josie and the pussycats or something.

what i'd like to see:

some kind of really captivating creepy/eerie/horror/mystery type thing, along the lines of american gothic and twin peaks. maybe something about a creepy victorian family like from flowers in the attic where there is something supernatural going on.

how about a show with a pam grier type kick ass girl hero in the 'hood.

maybe a straight-up variety show like the carol burnett show? probably the person who could do that might be cedric the entertainer. chapelle show had this angle locked down in a similar way.

i also think a really edgy and modernized version of fantasy island could be hella cool and interesting to watch if it was done well.

and seems like there hasn't been enough puppet vs. live human or robot shows these days, like there is no more muppet show or alf, etc. this could be revived and turned into a cult hit. even mystery science theatre had that angle. i know comedy central has dabbled in it, but i just don't think it's really hit the mark. if there was a show with strangers with candy or family guy type humor, and it had a puppet? SCORE!

I guess I'm the only TV hater.... A long time ago, when I lived in a tiny town in Texas I liked to watch Mohammed Ali fight and a few years later, Suger Ray and Thomas Hearns...since then, I've owned a TV for a collective four years, three of which I used the TV to survive a miserable relationship. Much happier now not worring about what Michael Jackson is doing, or whether Paris Hilton is sucking someone new on video. Sometimes I miss the Sunday morning news shows but since everyone sticks to talking points these days, it easier and more informative to read the news on th internet.

Don't people miss hanging out with the neighbors, playing games with their significant other (in and out of bed), teaching and loving their families, long walks, good books, and generally screwing off together.

It is not to say that people who love TV or watch TV occassionally do not do so but I have to many friends who have relationship disasters, family problems, etc. etc, who never have time to fix or work on their problems but somehow managed to get in 14 - 20 hours of TV a week, at a minimum. Sorry for the rant but the lost potential (economic waste) is just overwhelming when you think about.

Tregen--I respect your view, but I think it's extreme. I'm a tv junkie, but last night my husband and I broke out the 70's card game, Mille Bournes. Not on the computer, mind you, with actual cards, and pen and paper to score. I think there's tremendous potential for education, information and decent entertainment, that to completely tune out would be a loss. I'd be sad if my kid never saw Sesame Street. I'll also never forget watching the second tower fall in real time on September 11. And yeah, I'd miss my "stories"; the made-up shows that entertain me.

I actually worry more these days about the addiction to computers/the internet. People don't see it as harmful, but check out the hours some folks log in front of THOSE screens.

Veronica Mars reminds me a lot of Joss Whedon's shows, and not just because of the teen blonde heroine. I love the way the story arcs fit together on those shows -- there would be a story arc on each individual show, one that covered two or three shows, and one that fit the whole season; a really cool way to round off individual shows (someplace where the X-Files erred) but to also keep you hooked on the watching the whole year long.

I also loved one of the techniques both authors have said they picked up from Alan Moore's "The Watchmen" -- interesting little tidbits and asides tossed in that end up being a major part of the plot later on. And the subtle stuff was sometime *really* subtle, like an object sitting on a table somewhere. (On veronica, season 2, the key chains on the convenience store counter is an an example.)

It takes courage to admit it, but "Days of our Lives" is my secret vice.

I know, I know...but now that I'm a stay-at-home grandmother, it's my hour of escape during Lucy's naptime. I started watching it almost 40 years ago and it's fascinating that some of the original cast is still there, and even after a 10 year lapse I was still able to follow the "story!"
Many would say that I am easily amused...

Other than "Days" I almost never watch TV, but miss shows like BBC's "Bloodline" and other serial mysteries that used to come on Bravo. Are there any such shows now?

From time to time, I also enjoy the Cooking Channel, and almost forgot to mention "Sesame Street" from 4-5 p.m. every afternoon!

“I’m smitten, while playing badminton. Where’s my kitten?”

I leave my TV on almost all the time, while doing other things, or watching with intensity. Forgetting about the news shows and movies and sports, and beginning on Monday including the new/old seasons:

Las Vegas (very pretty). Twenty-four (go Jack, go). The Closer (tense, female power, and all that). Saved (so what’s the younger generation up to?). Medium (love Ms. Arquette.). Stewart (smartest guy on TV). Colbert (second smartest.) Surface (like that little nim). Bikini Destination (to cool out).

House (a major favorite!). Veronica Mars (bad reception; Time Warner sucks). Bones (smart, sexy and cool). Boston Legal (flashes of brilliance, lots of dumbness).

Do not watch Lost any longer. It’s contrived and endless.

All about Earl, and the Office - now and then. They’re OK, but as the week winds down, one gets tired.

Monk (had a hard time getting used to his new assistant, but now I think it was a sweetheart nice move)! Psych (not bad, could use some improvement).

Tried the Simple Life, but jeez, how stupid.

Refuse to watch “reality” shows. Reality… yeah, right.

Alias in HD. (I still don’t have a big flat screen, godfucking damnit.)

“Mia, Mia, I have nothing to do with this!”

I got DVR last August and it really does change the way you watch television. My parents never really had the cash or the patience for cable growing up, so I saw some stuff, but not a lot. Mostly, I got my tv education from watching it at my grandmother's house in the summer, and those Golden Girls and Designing Women (hey, I was watching with an old lady in the South in the early Nineties. Don't judge.) still get my every time. And I always preferred Roseanne when my friends watched Full House. But I will admit that when I'm feeling particularly low, the sight of Uncle Jesse is therapeutic.

But on to my current watching habits . . .
I DVR 90210 and am pretty addicted to reliving the days of vests, babydoll dresses, and very special episodes about gay fraternity presidents.

As far as new stuff, I watch MTV reality shows, How I Met Your Mother, Weeds, The L Word, Gilmore Girls, Project Runway (though I'm in Kate's boat and lost it when I moved from Carrboro to Chapel Hill. Damn Inspiration Channel.), American Idol, and tons and tons of the Food Network. Alton Brown's new show, Feasting on Asphalt, is so much fun. He might be my new celebrity crush. And I always fall back on reruns of Sex and the City, Queer as Folk, and Dawson's Creek.

About five years ago one of my friends said that he wanted to see American television embrace the idea of the limited series. I think that's what is so interesting about the premium cable shows. They're not meant to last forever, so they have kind of an overarching story that is expected to end. It somehow makes them richer. Art is not supposed to go on and on forever, constantly recreating itself.

I also like shows that have smart, fast dialogue. Well, with the exception of the MTV reality shows, which have terrible dialogue, but hilarious situations.

I really want to see shows be given a chance to find an audience. I am still mourning the loss of My So-Called Life, which featured tenth-graders the year I was in tenth grade. And I want shows about adults, and for adults. With the exception of MTV reality shit.

I clearly need to reevaluate the way I spend my time.

Deb,
I can see your point of view but your view leaves out all the things you could have had memories of....other than sesame street or the twin towers falling. I'm not saying these are not important happenings or memories but that collectively, we lose far more than we gain. I don't buy the "I learn so much from TV" line people give me. If this was the way to learn, why spend money on public education or college, just sit down in front of the TV for the first 22 years. I hate to sound extreme, and I do in fact, spend to many hours looking at my computer screen. Most of it is work related but I admit to reading the comments on various blogs and taking a peak at the Wash Post every morning. So, I'm a bit of "flip flopper".
A bit of a test.

Ask a junky/alcoholic about quitting his/her habit and then sit back and listen to the rationalizations.
Ask a TV person to turn off their TV for two weeks and then sit back and listen to the rationalizations.

If I can figure out a way to do my job without MS Word for a while I'm going to try a two week hiatus from the mac.

String,
sorry it had to go down like that.

Tregan--Again, I think your view, while certainly not harmful, is just so extreme. Anything you spend time on means you aren't spending time doing something else. If you're jogging, you're not learning French. If you're playing with your dog, you're not calling your mom. The difference is, you see TV as unworthy of *any* of your time, so of course any other memory is mor precious.

Schools use TV all the time, by the way, as a learning tool. There's amazing educational programming on the Discovery and History Channels. It makes accessible what kids might tune out in the form of a textbook or lecture.

You sound like an open-minded person, willing to test your own boundaries. I'd love for you to give some of the shows I've mentioned a chance. Do you go to the movies? If so, why is that any less a waste of time? TV, as anything, as meat, junk food, partying, internet use, can be abused. But I don't think, in moderation, it is the devil you say.

Present: The Closer, Rescue Me, re-runs of "Band of Brothers" on History Channel, and American Justice. "Without A Trace" is fun sometimes, especially when Malone is interrogating someone and gets verbally forceful with them--he has the look of a wolverine closing in for the kill.

Past: Playmakers on ESPN was a jewel with Tony Denison and others on a fictional pro football team.

Way past--as in black and white--The Great Adventure (dramatizing US history events) Rescue 8 and the TV show "Wild Wild West" that was 100 times better than the idiotic movie. As for reality shows--arrrghhh-- most people it seems will do anything in front of a camera. Enough said!

I like television shows where the writing is consistent and there isn't a constant reinvention of the cast or dropping of story lines without conclusion.

It still bugs me to this day that on the first season of Happy Days there was a brother Chuck who inexplicably disappeared from the show. I always watched it afterwards wondering what happened to him or waiting for them to explain why he wasn' t there anymore.

I loved the West Wing in its prime for giving the viewer some credit and how story lines would weave themselves throughout the season. There is nothing better than feeling like you are in on something. Aaron Sorkin would never let Chuck disappear without explanation.

Home (no tengo la cable TV): The Office
a work of fiction that addresses my former reality

Away: Pimp My Ride
a reality show that addresses my former fantasy: what if somebody just stole my car and fixed it up to surprise me?

(Ian- I cleaned house to "Cosmic Thing" a couple of days ago; tx for the lyric blog header)

I agree with most of the multiply-mentioned ones. A couple I don't think I've seen mentioned moltiple times yet: "Weeds" and "Deadwood." They're especially great to watch with my ten-year-old (kidding...)!

Re; the cancellation of Arrested Development, it bummed me out but I also understand why. I didn't like it all that much on regular TV. I only fell in LOOOVE with it on DVD. There were so many things on that show that required you to watch it every week in succession: Tobias's blue paint, references to Saddam Hussein; I'm sure there's a lot more that I can't recall right now.

Aigh. "multiple times."

I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but I don't watch tv. Even the sound of it makes me tense. Instead, I read. Blush.

TCM & sports (real not X). Once in a while xtreme machines or somesuch on the Discovery Channel. Nutting else. These modern shows move the cameras around too much. Vertigo inducing. Reality TV? No way. I like my own reality, thanks.

Real entertainment not persona: On "Treason's Harbor". Second time around throughtthe 21 books of the Aubrey-Maturin series.

B2

B2

Love --- Discovery Channel's Dog Whisperer,
Curb Your Enthusiasm, Americas Top Chef, Project Runway, American Idol (appreciate contestants talent and determination to win but not Cowel's exploitation of young hopefuls), Rachel Ray's Food Network shows, Dancing with the Stars, PBS, Leno, Letterman.

Television is overloaded with too much "drummed up" news all day everyday 24/7. TV has sunk to new lows by airing Flavor Flav on VH1. Oprah and Dr. Phil are on the way out. Extreme makeovers and surgical procedures should be performed behind closed doors.