Thursday, September 8

Stephanie's Can't-Miss TV

Though I can be out of the loop a lot with new TV and movies because I work nights and spending my days in the writing cave, I have a few “can't miss” TV programs that are on currently, but about to wrap up: True Blood (dude, I love Eric way more than I want to admit!) and Weeds. With both of these my husband and I started watching them on Netflix. We got the first season and were so hooked that we set aside money so that we can order HBO and Showtime respectively when they are on. But I was out of town so I haven't seen this week's episodes yet, so shhh no spoilers please!

I tend to discover TV shows late through Netflix. My current “new discovery” is Mad Men. We've powered through the first two seasons in about two months and will definitely be caught up by the time season five starts in January. (Right now we just started season 3, so again, please no spoilers!) It's actually always a bummer when we catch up because then we have to watch the show one episode at a time and after months of binging, it's total agony. Not to mention the season breaks. I'm sure True Blood in particular will end on a cliffhanger and I don't know what we'll do while we wait for it to come back next year.... Actually I guess we'll fill our time with The Walking Dead and then Mad Men will be back along with Californication and before we know it it will be True Blood and Weeds time again! Plus I'm sure we'll have a new Netflix addiction to binge on.

As you can see the TV I watch is extremely varied. We've got a vampires/werewolves/faeries/witches/shapeshifters show, a dramedy about the very dysfunctional Botwin family, and then a sixties drama. I have to say one of the coolest things for me about watching Mad Men is that my mom would've been about the same age as Don Draper's little girl on the show, so I feel like I'm getting a hint of what her childhood is like—except she was raised by a librarian and a baker, so it was probably very different. Also I highly doubt she got caught smoking at 8 like Sally here:

Anyway what all three of these shows have in common are great characters who are like no one else on TV. As a character-driven writer, it's no surprise that that's what I look for in good TV. That and I like a lot of drama, even if it's supernatural drama or drama with comedy thrown in, or really emotionally repressed sixties drama.

I also of course am very open about my love of over the top soapy drama, which means my most anticipated fall return is 90210. In terms of characters, I really got thrown a curve ball by that show last season. I also loved Adriana and hated Naomi, but now I've completely flip flopped. Adriana became so shallow and Naomi actually began to show some depth. Of course we ended the season by finding out that Naomi was pregnant and I'm dying to see what that does to her character. So, even though it's totally a guilty pleasure (and I'm still very angry at the writers for pushing Adriana beyond what I think was realistic for her character, but that's a whole other rant), I'm really psyched for 90210.

What about you? Do you watch TV shows regularly or catch up later on Netflix? What is your most anticipated show to return? And have you heard of any new ones that look like they are going to be good? Maybe I can jump on the bandwagon early instead of 5 years late like with Mad Men!

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5 comments:

Laurena said...

There are so many good television shows out there. Unfortunately, I tend to find them in a similar way as you: late. Lately I've been looking at the TV section of the movie store a lot more closely. I'm kind of in a BBC craze so I'm watching everything semi-fantastical that I can get my hands on: Merlin, Being Human, Robin Hood, etc. I'm hoping for Primeval next or Dr. Who.

Shows like LOST, however, I missed out on watching on TV all together, and didn't get to experience the long, drawn out week-long wait that you refered to. And I have to say I was thankful for that. Glee, though. I watched from about half-way through the first season (they had a marathon that caught me up. I thought it was pretty fortunate!) but didn't watch the second half of season two...so I'll be lost come the next season...that's what I like about buying boxed sets.

As for new shows coming out, there are so many that seem exciting. GRIMM and ONCE UPON A TIME are the ones catching my interest most first of all. But ALCATRAZ and PERSON OF INTEREST look pretty interesting too...but that just might be because of the cast/writers/producer's links to the show LOST, which I love. I also think the FINDER will be excellent, because BONES is excellent and the test show was pretty great. The SECRET CIRCLE will fill in any sort of teenager/drama show I'm missing, and AWAKE stars Jason Isaacs...so how can it go wrong?

Oops. I guess my little comment ran on a bit long. Sorry about that. TV just really catches my interests. :)

sunnynikki said...

I'm not big into watching television but when I do I'd really rather watch it on DVD because I'm not into the waiting for next week kind of thing, it makes me antsy. The only show I watch with complete regularity on a weekly basis is Bones and the suspense kills me each week.

Amanda Welling said...

I hardly ever watch TV but I NEVER miss an episode of True Blood or America's Got Talent! I do miss the older shows that use to play on TGIF Fridays, like Boy Meets World and Step by Step!

Erica said...

I am absolutely addicted to True Blood, and I too just love Eric! I have other shows like America's Next Top Model, which I just can't miss.

Julie J. said...

I have never seen TruBlood but I admit I do have the first season. I just haven't had the opportunity to see it yet!

I do watch Vampire Diaries religiously though. They film in my small town of Covington, GA! I'm also enjoying "Secret Circle" that comes on after TVD.

The problem that I have with watching too much TV is that it takes away from my reading time! It's hard to find a pleasant balance as I enjoy doing both activities!