What to Watch on Television by Erica

December 27, 2012 by turquoiseviolin | 5 Comments

Okay, so if you’re like me, this is the time of year when you’ve got some time on your hands to sit around on the couch and watch TV. No, don’t go to that reality show. Maybe if you stopped watching them, there WOULDN’T  always be enough pregnant 16-year-olds and desperate brides with $150,000 to spend on a dress in the world. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Stick with me, because I’m going to tell you what you should watch on television if you’d like to open your viewing horizons, and be my friend.

My television lineup is probably one of the most eclectic there is. I like things that directly clash with one another in viewership, story lines, character development, and amount of eye-rolling from my husband. My husband likes X-Files, and Battlestar Galactica, and Twin Peaks. His only deviation from this trend is Downton Abbey (PBS), which everyone should watch, regardless of whether you like British accents or if you think that it has to be boring because it’s on Masterpiece Theater. Go watch it. You get instant culture for the win, and I might even have a conversation with you, because you’re cool enough to have braved the threat of pansydom and watched it. And you liked it, because it rocks.

I’m someone who will stick with a tv show approximately one season after it starts to tank. If it fails to revive itself after a season of suck, then I’m out, bemoaning its unrealized potential and re-watching the seasons I liked when there’s nothing else on. For me, watching these shows is like having the opportunity to relive a relationship when it was at its best, then stopping the season right before it spirals into cliche, recycled drivel or just bad script-writing. My greatest disappointment show would have to be Grey’s Anatomy (ABC). I loved that show for the first three seasons, and it’s been getting progressively worse since then, and now at Season 8, I have no idea what it’s still doing around on network television. Okay, so here are some of my favorite shows organized by genre, and it’s a long list:

Guilty Pleasures: Gossip Girl (CW), America’s Next Top Model (CW) and True Blood (HBO). I know they’re crap TV, but I love the fashions and the backstabbing. Sometimes it’s even good backstabbing. There’s a certain aesthetic appreciation in these shows, like they know the actors stink and the script-writing is terrible, but dang it, at least their hair will look fabulous and they’re skinnier than I’ll EVER be. The clothing IS fierce. True Blood has nice-looking undead people for eye candy, and I think Sookie is adorable. The plot gets consistently more ridiculous as they keep adding more gruesome creatures whose baggage could delay all the airports in America.  *Cue Husband’s eyeroll* I also want to add Sex and the City (HBO) to this list, because I have watched all six seasons three or four times and am still not sick of it.

Gritty, violent, I-have-to-cover-my eyes-at-certain-scenes dramas: Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter. Game of Thrones (HBO) is medieval gangsters with castles and dragons. The Walking Dead (AMC) is vigilante gangsters fighting zombies in a post-apocalyptic future. Boardwalk Empire (HBO) is based on real 1920s bootlegging gangsters. Dexter (SHO) is a serial-killing gangster. Clearly, my taste in this genre proves I have a problem with authority and watching gangsters on tv sates this need, even if I have to look away during the scenes where everyone gets slaughtered.

Shows where everyone sings and dances: Glee, Smash and Nashville-I love musicals, so I’m a sucker for shows where people can sing. I wish I had that kind of talent. Glee (Fox) follows a misfit show choir, Smash (NBC) is about the making of a Broadway musical from casting to workshop to previews and Nashville (ABC) is about two country singing stars vying for the spotlight. The latter two shows feature music specifically written for the show, which I think is really cool. I think the lives of performers are fascinating, and television in this genre showcases a little-known fact that almost all actors are trained in musical theater, and yes, all of them can tap dance.

Depraved, I-hate-all-the-characters-on-a-personal-level-but-man-are-they-interesting shows: Weeds (Showtime), Mad Men (AMC), and Big Love (HBO). I’m sort of in love with Nancy Botwin and Don Draper. They are HORRIBLE people. They are probably some of the worst characters in existence, but they are SO compelling to watch. Nancy is a stay at home mom who sells weed and becomes a suburban drug kingpin while driving a Prius. Don Draper is a misogynistic, egotistical prick with too much hair gel. He still steals every scene he’s in, and you got to respect a man who’s good at what he does. And polygamous Mormons? Of course you have to watch that, it’s fascinating!

Fantasy Show that borders on being cliche, but never tips too far south: Once Upon a Time (ABC). I got into this show late, right before the second season premiered. It’s kind of an eye-rolling premise that is surprisingly a very well-written and acted show. The town of Storybrook, Maine is comprised of fairytale characters who have all lost their memory of who they were due to an evil curse. The protagonist is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and it is her job to break the curse and restore everyone’s memories and lives. Each episode propels the plot forward while providing backstory on all the characters in the show. Turns out, the Evil Queen isn’t so much evil as just very misguided and unhappy. She’s still a force to be reckoned with, but you kind of feel sorry that no one likes her.

Shows that I am sad have ended or been canceled: Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, Hung, In Treatment. Ugly Betty was a comedy on ABC starring America Ferrera as an awkward, ugly-duckling girl who lands a job in the fashion industry. Despite being ridiculed and harassed on a daily basis, her sunny nature and good problem-solving skills help her advance toward her dream of being an editor. The show was suddenly canceled after 4 seasons, and a hastily put together finale written, but I still wish I could follow Betty on more of her adventures.

Pushing Daisies was another ABC show on at the same time that was about a man who could bring the dead back to life by touching them, but if he touched them again, they would be dead forever. It centered on him cashing in on unsolved crimes by questioning the murder victims and then re-killing them, and what to do about his childhood sweetheart, who he brings back to life and can’t bring himself to let go, even though they can never touch. The show, despite its quirky premise and great cast, was not popular enough and was canceled after 2 seasons.

In Treatment and Hung are two HBO shows. In Treatment followed a psychiatrist as he saw patients. The setup was interesting, as it aired every day for 30 minutes and each day’s episode was with a different patient he was treating. It too was canceled for lack of interest. Hung was set and filmed in Detroit. Honestly, it was kind of a ridiculous show, but I miss seeing the places I grew up in on screen.

So, in conclusion, watch Downton Abbey. It follows the lives of a titled British family and their servants from the years 1912-1930s, starting with the sinking of the Titanic and the loss of their heir and going through World War I and the 1920s.  It’s sort of an updated Upstairs Downstairs. It doesn’t have the most interesting premise, but the actors are fabulous, the script-writing is great, and Maggie Smith is in it.

Go! Watch some TV! Tell me which shows you recommend!

About these ads