Idiot boxing
It seems that this fall I am watching more TV then I have any time recently. This has obviously been the cause of my slow de-evolution into a slack-jawed, thick-browed grunting simian of a couch potato, but I digress. Here's what I have been wasting brain cells on so far this Fall...
Lost
This show has really hit its stride this season. I got hooked very quickly last season, but got tired towards the end when the show's producers held back so much and refused to give anything but the tiniest hints as to the mysteries of the island. This year, they are revealing some major items and moving the story forward in a much more aggressive way. If last year was a sipping whiskey, this year is a hard-drinking shot that hits you all at once.
Prison Break
I like this show, even though I missed the pilot episode. It comes from the 24 school of outrageous and completely impossible plot twists, but it is fun and very entertaining. It is also useful for picking up handy prison lingo to use at work. I also am intrigued by the fact that by its very nature, this show can only last one season in anything like its present form.
My Name is Earl
The best of the new season's comedies. Very sweet and homey, with a rollicking sense of narration that carries each episode forward without any of the dull moments or laugh-track interruptions of your typical set-piece sitcom.
Kitchen Confidential
Another show in the same vein as Earl, Kitchen Confidential has the same fast-paced plot development and "along for the ride" sense of following the characters' crazy lives. No time for sentiment, just laughter.
The Office
What can I say that hasn't already been said? The Office is one of the funniest half-hours on television, although from what I am told, the humor generally passes over those who are (a) older then 35 or (b) haven't worked in an American white-collar job. This show is unique for having probably the most outrageous racial and sexual humor on prime-time network TV.
The Simpsons
Still a pretty funny half-hour, reliable each Sunday, even after all these years. Has more clunker episodes now then ever before, but when it is good, it is sublime.
American Dad
Seth McFarlane's "A" material is all going to American Dad which is consistently funny and sharp, unlike...
Family Guy
A wretched shadow of the original series, the new Family Guy is still on my TiVo season pass more out of habit then anything else. This show sucks.
Malcolm In the Middle
It's not as good as it used to be, but even stale (and with rapidly aging actors) it provides a solid half-hour of laugh-out-loud weirdness each week.
Law and Order
Like classic Coke, the formula stays true, and I know exactly what to expect. "Ripped from the headlines" with a "shocking twist," Law and Order is the best crime show on TV. CSI is still but a pale impersonation.
Law and Order: SVU
If the original show is like Coke, then this is Cherry Coke...a bit sharper, more dramatic, and it is always fun to see the "perv of the week" get his or her comeuppance.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
This show, strangely, is not really Law and Order at all, expect for the title. It is more of an old-fashioned detective series, with very little legal wrangling or "big issue" litigating. It is cops tracking down bad guys, and they do the genre very well.
Stargate:Atlantis
The best of the "ridiculous" sci-fi, and a worthy successor to the Star Trek tradition of ridiculous plots, crazy science, and way-too-serious technobabble. It's campy and fun and even gives an occasional sense of wonder.
Stargate:SG1
Atlantis's big brother, and not as good. They have tried to come up with a new enemy, and in a nod to topicality, they have chosen religious fanatics who want to make us all convert or die. Mildly entertaining sci-fi at best.
Battlestar Galactica
The king of current television science-fiction. The best writing, sharpest dialog and tightest plots of pretty much any TV sci-fi ever. This show deserves every piece of critical acclaim that has come its way these past two years.
Adult Swim
The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim bloc has a wide variety of weird, sick, and twisted (but very, very funny) cartoons. Depending on their rerun schedule, I watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Stroker and Hoop, The Venture Brothers, and Harvey Birdman. If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.
It seems that this fall I am watching more TV then I have any time recently. This has obviously been the cause of my slow de-evolution into a slack-jawed, thick-browed grunting simian of a couch potato, but I digress. Here's what I have been wasting brain cells on so far this Fall...
Lost
This show has really hit its stride this season. I got hooked very quickly last season, but got tired towards the end when the show's producers held back so much and refused to give anything but the tiniest hints as to the mysteries of the island. This year, they are revealing some major items and moving the story forward in a much more aggressive way. If last year was a sipping whiskey, this year is a hard-drinking shot that hits you all at once.
Prison Break
I like this show, even though I missed the pilot episode. It comes from the 24 school of outrageous and completely impossible plot twists, but it is fun and very entertaining. It is also useful for picking up handy prison lingo to use at work. I also am intrigued by the fact that by its very nature, this show can only last one season in anything like its present form.
My Name is Earl
The best of the new season's comedies. Very sweet and homey, with a rollicking sense of narration that carries each episode forward without any of the dull moments or laugh-track interruptions of your typical set-piece sitcom.
Kitchen Confidential
Another show in the same vein as Earl, Kitchen Confidential has the same fast-paced plot development and "along for the ride" sense of following the characters' crazy lives. No time for sentiment, just laughter.
The Office
What can I say that hasn't already been said? The Office is one of the funniest half-hours on television, although from what I am told, the humor generally passes over those who are (a) older then 35 or (b) haven't worked in an American white-collar job. This show is unique for having probably the most outrageous racial and sexual humor on prime-time network TV.
The Simpsons
Still a pretty funny half-hour, reliable each Sunday, even after all these years. Has more clunker episodes now then ever before, but when it is good, it is sublime.
American Dad
Seth McFarlane's "A" material is all going to American Dad which is consistently funny and sharp, unlike...
Family Guy
A wretched shadow of the original series, the new Family Guy is still on my TiVo season pass more out of habit then anything else. This show sucks.
Malcolm In the Middle
It's not as good as it used to be, but even stale (and with rapidly aging actors) it provides a solid half-hour of laugh-out-loud weirdness each week.
Law and Order
Like classic Coke, the formula stays true, and I know exactly what to expect. "Ripped from the headlines" with a "shocking twist," Law and Order is the best crime show on TV. CSI is still but a pale impersonation.
Law and Order: SVU
If the original show is like Coke, then this is Cherry Coke...a bit sharper, more dramatic, and it is always fun to see the "perv of the week" get his or her comeuppance.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
This show, strangely, is not really Law and Order at all, expect for the title. It is more of an old-fashioned detective series, with very little legal wrangling or "big issue" litigating. It is cops tracking down bad guys, and they do the genre very well.
Stargate:Atlantis
The best of the "ridiculous" sci-fi, and a worthy successor to the Star Trek tradition of ridiculous plots, crazy science, and way-too-serious technobabble. It's campy and fun and even gives an occasional sense of wonder.
Stargate:SG1
Atlantis's big brother, and not as good. They have tried to come up with a new enemy, and in a nod to topicality, they have chosen religious fanatics who want to make us all convert or die. Mildly entertaining sci-fi at best.
Battlestar Galactica
The king of current television science-fiction. The best writing, sharpest dialog and tightest plots of pretty much any TV sci-fi ever. This show deserves every piece of critical acclaim that has come its way these past two years.
Adult Swim
The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim bloc has a wide variety of weird, sick, and twisted (but very, very funny) cartoons. Depending on their rerun schedule, I watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Stroker and Hoop, The Venture Brothers, and Harvey Birdman. If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.
posted by Mike at
1:09 PM
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