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Mindless Blathering About Mindless Entertainment (And PBS)
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Mindless Blathering About Mindless Entertainment (And PBS) Now I do enjoy watching a little television, but not too much, since it would interfere with my reading and painting soldiers, etc. But a little mindless entertainment is a good thing in moderation. And like everyone else, I have my favourite shows. Here are ten shows that I love to watch: ********************************************************************************************************************************** 1. The Big Bang Theory I started watching this show when it first started out of curiosity due to the fact that concept of the geek pursuing the babe was vaguely interesting. And somewhere during the first show, I found that this was a show that was rather funny. Then I got Junior Wingman #2 to watch the show and now she is on the phone to me at every commercial break. Usually she only does that to JW#1 when they are watching One Tree Hill. Even better, the blonde neighbor in the show, Kaley Cuoco, is allowed to be smart and intelligent and grounded in the real world. In fact in many ways, she is far smarter than the genii (plural of genius that I just made up). And she is the object of Leonard’s desire, Wallowicz’s lust, Kuthrapolli’s embarrassment and Sheldon’s ire all at the same time. Somehow, taking four stereotype genius models mixes with a blonde and tweaking them just right created a great mix. And Leslie Winkle, the female genius with the extreme ego and libido on hyperdrive, and antagonist extraordinaire of Sheldon, may just be my favourite sit-com character on TV. 2. NCIS Abbey Sciutto is the coolest character on television: onto show number three. No really, I think she is what JW#2 will end up like when she grows up. All of the characters are really interesting on this show and one of the great things that has occurred over the course of the show’s life is that little pieces of each character have been revealed: but very slowly. This show also likes to kill off characters with regularity which most shows have shied away from. In fact, there is great debate raging through the Clan Fallic phone calls as to who is going to get killed at the end of the current season. 3. Bones This one I have to blame the Duchess for, since she is the person who told me to watch this. It’s sort of The Big Bang Theory does crime but it is put together by one of my favorite crime novel authors: Kathy Reichs. Temperance Brennan is one of the more fascinating characters on television since she is female and assertive and beyond intelligent and incapable of emotional interaction and all in all, rather bolshie. The male lead is the emotional character and the institutional guy. But their chemistry is really good. If I had any complaint about the show it is just that they are all just too pretty. Especially Angela, she is an absolute knock-out and would have to be my current fantasy babe. And casting Billy Gibbons (as Billy Gibbons) as her father was a master-stroke. 4. CSI: New York As I have found my interest in the original CSI falling away, I have begun to watch this show. Now I am normally in bed long before 10 o’clock due to the fact that I am also up and at ‘em bright and early in the morning. So I watch this show either off of the On Demand channel or on re-runs. I have never gotten into CSI: Miami and so I had also steered clear of the New York version. But once it appeared on cable, I began to watch the re-runs since it was on about the same time as I got home from work. It is usually on while I am cleaning or doing laundry or calling my mum … Again, as in many of the shows I choose to watch, I find the characters interesting. And Gary Sinise has always been one of my favorite actors. 5. Two And A Half Men I have to blame Impish Pixie for my watching this show. It is all her fault for responding to a post that I did on my favourite comedy shows a couple of years ago and she told me to start watching this. And it is a laugh out loud, even when you are alone, show. And I have spread the joy. My mum now watches this show: and she does not sit-coms very often. The show where Alan fell off of the roof was quite possibly the funniest American comedy show I have ever seen: and I will never look at a pair of barbecue tongs quite the same way again. I would have to put it in the same class as the I Love Lucy “candy factory” show ‒ it is that funny. And yes, I will admit that I am much more like Alan than Charlie. But I do dress better than both occasionally. Junior Wingman #1 loves how badly Charlie dresses: she gets a huge charge out of his loafers, white socks and shorts. 6. Globe Trekker Ooh ‒ Public Television ‒ I hear you all say. But this is a great use of time for a Saturday night when there is nothing better to do. I have vacationed vicariously canoeing up the Amazon, hiking through Tashkent, strolling along the Great Wall. And since it is Public Television, they do it all on a beer budget. The guy thumbs a lift, stays in hostels (of the non-Eli Roth type) and eats with families rather than in restaurants. It’s No Reservations for the scrotey, long haired, bolshie college students on their gap year not being funded by their parents or trust funds. 7. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations I would like to go out drinking with Anthony Bourdain. He is cool. He is the coolest cat on the tube. And as a presenter and traveler, he is improving all of the time. And he knows really cool people like Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, and the guys in Morcheeba and .... It is not that he goes to cool places and sees, and tries, cool things or eats cool food, but the fact that along the way he is trying to put everything into a cultural context. The man has a unique empathy for the people who befriend him along the way that is really endearing. Especially good were the shows where he visited Cambodia and went through the killing fields and shared a meal with a survivor of a US booby trap; the show where he went to Mexico City with a chef, and friend, who he worked with at Les Halles that got into the illegal immigration debate in a manner that was respectful of the immigrants; the show on London and Glasgow that showed what is really being created in British kitchens (other than my mum’s). But the show where a viewer invited him to visit Saudi Arabia was, quite simply, as good a piece of television as I have watched in sometime. It took the view that the residents of Riyadh were simply people and as interested in his culture as he was in theirs. 8. Burn Notice Fiona Glenann: domestic goddess ‒ this has been one of the advertising slogans used to promote this cable series. Of course this gorgeous, ex-IRA (is there such a thing) terrorist is creating a light and fluffy batch of plastique in the kitchen at the time. Add Sam, the other wingman in the show and you have a show where the sidekicks are far more interesting than the lead. But this is intentional since he is an ex-spy and they are not supposed to stand out in a crowd. But Bruce Campbell’s pseudo-, quasi-alcoholic, exceedingly capable Sam is as much fun to watch on a show as any character out there (other than Abbey in NCIS) ‒ and I suppose he gets all of the best lines since he is also the producer. 9. Dhani Tackles The Globe This show came out of left field this year and is to be found on one of my favourite channels: The Travel Channel. Actually, I should say that it came on an outside linebacker blitz since Dhani Jones’ day job is playing that position in the NFL. But he is visiting countries and learning about them by playing one of the national sports. He played rugby in England, hurling in Ireland, learned to sail competitively in New Zealand, learned to play jai alai in Spain, etc. And along the way, he uses his sports acumen and aptitude to bond with his team mates and integrate him into the society he is learning about. I can buy into this theory far more than I can many other theories of how to fit in since I have played pick up soccer in Norway, the USSR (as it was called then), Morocco, Spain, Italy, Mexico, etc. Hell, you didn’t even have to speak the language to play. 10. The Simpsons After twenty seasons, it may still be the best political show on television. And it still does not get old. Matt Groenig can still be seen around town and still just blends in with the rest of the city. Perhaps the quirkiness of the show is due to the quirkiness of the city. I may have to have _Saf play Simpsons Bingo when she is back here in July and she will be asked to see how many names out of the show she can find on street signs as we drive, walk and ride around town. That might be an interesting diversion for her in between trips to Powell’s, the Portland Farmer’s Market, the Portland Blue’s Festival (Etta James is supposed to headline this year) and a trip to the beach. For some strange reason, Moe has always been my favorite character on the show. Who is your favorite Simpson’s character? ********************************************************************************************************************************** And since life is all about opposites, there are also shows that I happen to think that simply staring at a blank screen would be a good alternative to watching. Along with pretty much all reality television, here are five shows that I no longer, or just plain refuse, to watch 1. CSI I have had to give up on this show this season. I can understand William Peterson living the show, and I was really glad that when he left, Grissom was allowed to find his happiness ‒ that was particularly rewarding since I was expecting something similar to when Henry left M*A*S*H* all those years ago. CBS has a cruel streak. But the show has really floundered since, and with a great actor like Laurence Fishburne now part of the cast, this rather vexing. And as a result of this floundering, I get to listen to the dowager Mrs. F. also talk about her personal vexation with this appalling turn of events. 2. How I Met Your Mother Barney is the most repulsive character on television. And what I do not get is why the other characters would even allow him anywhere near them since they are mainly decent. 3. Bizarre Foods w/ Andrew Zimmern It’s kind of like No Reservations with the gross out factor taken to the power of ten. I will eat some pretty disgusting things like liver, heart, tripe (I love Mrs. Nino’s menudo), kidneys, Heinz baked beans and any sort of suet based pudding (especially treacle) but meal worms, scorpions, grubs etc. are not on the Fallic diet even when I stay at mum’s. However, there really is nothing to be learned in the show. The host is not overly endearing or even come across as anything more than a real life version of Homer Simpson. 4. Semi-Homemade Cooking w/ Sandra Lee Two words here: STEPFORD WIFE ‒ I mean, she has to be, doesn’t she. It is all too perfect. She has perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect food, perfect decorations and a spotless kitchen. Who has a kitchen that magically changes to match the food being cooked? And when she cooks a sauce ‒ it never splatters. It is the work of the devil, I tell you. She is Satan’s spawn. Burn the witch, burn the witch, burn the witch. Crops probably refuse to grow in the fields around the network headquarters as well …. 5. Eureka I thought that this show was the bee’s knees when it first came on the air three years ago: but mainly due to an amazing lack of originality in everything beyond the first season, it has completely dropped off of my radar. There is a lot more that could have been done with this show other than what has been done. Of course with a budget that is probably around 85 cents an episode on the SciFi network, there wasn’t really any wiggle room. And the mantra for the common, or garden, American TV executive is if the people like it once, then they will like it ten or eleven more times too. There is a reason that a show like Fawlty Towers only made about seventeen episodes: there is a shelf life for everything. ********************************************************************************************************************************** Finally, there is one show that I have only seen one episode of, and would like to see a lot more of, but alas, I do not have Showtime (because I am too cheap). 1. The Tudors It’s, like, the bestest historicalest soap opera ever. JW#1 lives for this show.  |
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5/18/2009 10:54 pm |
You and I could get along and not fight over the remote! I love Big Bang Theory (I work with PhD's...Sheldon makes me laugh the hardest)...and Bones (Tempe and Booth need to have sex and put us all out of our misery)...CSI:NY (I love the characters, so much more interesting than Miami and Vegas)...Two & a Half Men (I've been watching the older ones that are on in the early evenings...sooo funny)...and Burn Notice (I have been having WITHDRAWLS waiting for this to come back!! Hmmm...favorite Simpson's character...hard to say...so many memorable ones...I think, though, the silly scientists that occasionally appear.  "All you'll get from strangers is surface pleasantry or indifference. Only someone who loves you will criticize you." - Judith Crist, crack film critic
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You and I could get along and not fight over the remote! I love Big Bang Theory (I work with PhD's...Sheldon makes me laugh the hardest)...and Bones (Tempe and Booth need to have sex and put us all out of our misery)...CSI:NY (I love the characters, so much more interesting than Miami and Vegas)...Two & a Half Men (I've been watching the older ones that are on in the early evenings...sooo funny)...and Burn Notice (I have been having WITHDRAWLS waiting for this to come back!! Hmmm...favorite Simpson's character...hard to say...so many memorable ones...I think, though, the silly scientists that occasionally appear. I am kind of like Leonard, although, and _Saf can attest to this, no-one sits on the right hand side of the sofa: very, very Sheldon. Just the other day I was ruminating on Burn Notice and thinking about the main characters sort of blandness compared to his two sidekicks: and then it hit me, he is supposed to just blend in - he is a spy. L
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Crap...I'll be back... I make mistakes, I am out of control & at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. ~Marilyn
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Will I get a sheet to tick-off the names ... since I don't really watch The Simpson's (or most of these other shows with any regularity ... though we do have the same preference in fantasy women ... *go figure*)?  I didn't realize THAT was the reason you sat on the right ... I thought it so I could stretch-out -- and fall asleep with the pillows -- while "we" watched the television. (Now I know!  )I'll be back with my shows. (I'm saving all of my witty commentary for the current processes and procedures I'm developing.)  / *hugs* /  This is my blog - [blog _Safira]. There are many like it, but this one is mine. RECOMMENDED READING: A F F The Only Site For Me
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Wow...I enjoy so many of the same shows that you do...one of my new favorites and one I would highly recommend is "In Plain Sight"...The show is about the witness protection agency and primarily two federal agents. The main characters are Mary and her sidekick Marshall. They playoff of each other great. Each show is about the relocation of a witness and the problems that arise from that along with the personal life of Mary and her dysfunctional family...her alcoholic mother and lost sister who live with her. It is on Sunday night...check it out...
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6/4/2009 9:44 am |
dear Fallic...have you got your DVR set?? Or your calendar clear??? Burn Notice...new episode tonight...    "All you'll get from strangers is surface pleasantry or indifference. Only someone who loves you will criticize you." - Judith Crist, crack film critic
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dear Fallic...have you got your DVR set?? Or your calendar clear??? Burn Notice...new episode tonight... I am all set and ready to go. L
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