What Are You Watching?

[iMav]

I feel like we must already have a "what do you watch" thread, but I couldn't find it after a cursory search, and it's not like another thread is going to kill us here.

I don't know what happened. There was a time when I didn't watch TV at all. I'm up to seven shows a week... though I guess that still works out to less than half an hour a day on average. It feels like way too much. In spite of this, I'm on the lookout for more shows to watch, partially because I don't know what I'll do in December when my HBO/Showtime seasons conclude. Tell me what you're watching. Sell me on it. Go.


Here's what I'm watching (I'll try to dispense with the synopses, as these are all "mainstream" television programs):

Sundays

Sunday is (and probably always will be) cable night. (At least I think cable is the right term... all my TV comes from the internet). I like to spend the Lord's day as it was meant to be spent: vicariously living the lives of serial killers, misanthropes, and sex addicts.

Dexter

The first season of Dexter hooked me in a big way. It was fun to watch, and I gave a crap about the story. The next two seasons were really weak, and in my opinion, focused way too much on stupid characters like Dexter's irritating sister Deb...

Who gets shot this season, but disappointingly has not died.

Season four has me feeling optimistic... if nothing else, we get to see John Lithgow as a creepy-ass serial killer.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

If I had to recommend one TV show currently being produced, it would be this one. I think the key to enjoying Curb is to remember that it's not strictly scripted, and that a lot of what you see is made up on the spot. This is especially helpful with Leon, the best character on television right now. Don't watch it if you've got a boss or an impressionable child nearby - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEUjKZmqRvM

It's in its seventh season, and none have stuck out as tremendously weak yet. You should be watching Curb. It doesn't really matter where you jump into the series but as with more or less any show you'd be best off watching it from the start.

Californication

I can't put my finger on what it is that I like so much about this show. Maybe it's just seeing David Duchovny run around LA using bad language and getting lots of action. Anyhow, the season 2 finale - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1gxWsH5mf8 - don't watch it if you care about spoilers, but know the plot is not the main reason to watch this show) made me realize that I actually adore this show.

Mondays

House

I was late to the party with House. I tried to watch it when it was only a year old, but I quickly tired of it after I realized that every episode has the same form... Something medically curious happens, House tries a bunch of outlandish and unorthodox treatments, belittles his coworkers, and takes vicodin, and by the end of the hour, everything is okay. Then one rainy day in Melbourne, I decided to watch every episode from the first couple seasons, and I realized a couple of things:

One: House is not always right (Though I one day intend to compile a montage of the hundreds of times that various characters have said "House was right")
Two: A Medical drama where the patients died more than a couple times a season would be depressing or shitty (Or both*).
Three: The season finales are usually actually pretty good. (As are a lot of the ones from sweeps time. The show is not without its flaws, but it's still fun to watch.

House has a leg up on most other hospital dramas because for the most part it doesn't spend much time dicking around with romantic relationships between the main characters. By that what I mean is that

rather than Chase and Cameron's wedding having an episode dedicated to it or some nonsense like that, it was at most a two-minute montage (though I think it was less)

.

Last season was pretty weak, until House started to legitimately go insane, at which point it got much sweeter. This season makes the daring move of changing one of the main characteristics of the titular character (He's being less of a prick now... but it's still fun to watch!) All in all, it looks promising.

*I watched the first two seasons of Grey's Anatomy ages ago and while I don't remember if the suggestion that patients die frequently is accurate, I can say with authority that the show is both depressing and shitty.


How I Met Your Mother

I think Friends was the last multi-camera sitcom I watched. HIMYM had a fairly strong first four seasons. This season has been lackluster so far, but I'll watch this show until the terms of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtkYcOknQwo]slap bet[/url] have been fulfilled.

Tuesdays

I don't watch anything on Tuesdays, but I think Dexter is moving here this week?

Wednesdays

Glee

This is what High School Musical would be like if it was a TV show and good. The ordinary delicious high school drama coupled with bizarre and entertaining characters (more like caricatures). I was skeptical when I heard the premise of this show (my girlfriend wiled me into watching it), but I'm glad I gave it a shot. The pilot hooked me. Watch this show.

Thursdays

The Office

Seldom disappoints. Watch it. Also Jim and Pam got married and I cried. I mean... what?


Other

I'm also trying to watch Deadwood, but I've not had the time yet, so we'll see how that goes.

The End

So that's my modest list... I've got opinions (even well-formed ones backed up by having actually watched the show) about lots of other shows, but these are the ones I'm watching now. So tell me what you watch and why you're not a cheesehead for watching it.

In conclusion, don't watch the Big Bang Theory because it sucks.

[bagheadinc]

My list is pretty close to iMav's...

Sunday

• Dexter - Fuck yeah! This season is pretty good so far.

Monday

• How I Met Your Mother - Enjoyable.
• House - I really enjoyed the start of this season and it's been decent so far

Tuesday

• Nada

Wednesday

• Nada

Thursday

• Community - The characters are kind of one-dimensional and I could give a fuck about Britta, but the show is pretty funny and it has the guy from DerrickComedy
• The Office - Consistently awesome
• Bones - I see dead people.

Friday

• Psych - Kinda cheesy, but that's why I like it

Saturday

• Nada

Also, on the Deadwood note: it rocks. I was a little disappointed that the series just ended (due to fiscal reasons) and the creators have said there would not be a movie to wrap things up like Dead Like Me had (even though they probably shouldn't have, the movie was awful).

[The Cid]

Shows not in season in parentheses. Favorites in italics.
Sunday:
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dexter
Family Guy
Mad Men
(Top Gear)
(The Venture Brothers)

Monday:
House

Tuesday:
(Rescue Me)
(Deadliest Catch)

Wednesday:
South Park
Mythbusters

Thursday:
Community
The Office
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
(Lost)

Friday:
Nothing

Saturday:
Nothing

[Arc Orion]

House. I used to watch The Office, but lost track. I'm still watching Lost and Heroes, but both are kind of disappointing me. I may or may not watch them much longer.

[FireAza]

Here's what I'm watching:

I don't watch network TV So I watch whatever I want, whenever I want! Bwah aha ha! OK, fine, serious now, here's the shows I'm in the process of watching. I have ADD when it comes to TV shows, so I tend to watch a lot of them at once. And we're only including shows that are currently airing right? If I were to include DVD boxsets and shows that I haven't got around to watching my list would be much much longer
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Mythbusters
Family Guy
American Dad
South Park
The Simpsons
Robot Chicken
The Cleveland Show
Full Metal Alchemist (2009)
Sweet Blue Flowers
Sasameki Koto
Umineko no Naku Koro ni

[Rorschach]

I've just started watching House. He's a doctor, right?

Also:
True Blood On C4, rather than FX, so please no spoilers)
Flash Forward I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned on the forum, as it's pretty geeky.
Curb Your Enthusiasm This season's premise is just genius. Absolute genius.
Anything with dinosaurs.

An increasing amount of
Peppa Pig
In the Night Garden

And the filler:
Peep Show Another season finished after only six episodes.
The Royle Family I really don't know how this would play in America. Is satire universal? Depends on the subject, I suppose.
Most panel shows.

[PVTHillbilly]

I'm not going to divide these into days or anything, but this is my list:

Lost
The Office
House (Whenever I can)
I've been watching Flash Forward on fancast, but I still haven't decided if i'm going to stick with it.
Community
Big Bang Theory
Then of course there is:
Spongebob
Pinky Dinky Doo
Tom and Jerry
Teen Titans (Yes, Erica loves this)
Max and Ruby
Wow Wow Wubbzy

It may seem like Erica watches alot of TV, but she always wants it on, she hardly ever watches it, she just wants the TV on to those shows almost constantly. She gets pretty mad if you change it, even if she is on the computer. I'm going to have to get that kid a friggin' computer so I can get online outside of school every now and again. I never thought I would see two 3 year olds having a LAN party, but my nephew will be on the desktop and my daughter on the laptop and they'll play Wubbzy and Elmo (Mostly because it is the only thing they can spell).

[kymagic]

I could have sworn I replied to this thread!

There was a time last year when I had something on TV to watch nearly every day of the week. I think the combination was something like Casualty, NCIS, CSI, The Apprentice and Burn Notice.

Thinking about it that can't be right because The Apprentice is aired in the summer whilst Burn Notice is aired in autumn/winter. Something like that.

At the moment I'm not watching half as much TV as I would like to because the network TV doesn't work for me on my computer I'm missing the latest series of NCIS and Burn Notice! I get snippets when I go back home (my parents love it as well), but it's annoying that I'm not seeing the series the whole way through .

[bagheadinc]

FYI, Burn Notice rocks.

[document]

Subday
Monday

• Lie to me with the wife

Tuesday
Wednesday

• Glee

Thursday

• Community

• The Office

Friday
Saturday

• Whatever college football game is on

[BtEO]

Shows I watch within the same week (at least while they're on, our shows tend to have much shorter runs):
Mythbusters
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Have I Got News For You
The Armstrong and Miller Show
Strictly Come Dancing (a.k.a. Dancing With the Stars.)

Shows that I would be watching within the same week if they were on right now:
Doctor Who
QI
Mock the Week (why yes, I do like comedy panel quiz shows.)
Top Gear

Shows where I really must watch the DVDs and catch up to current episodes.
24
Scrubs
Torchwood
Simpsons
South Park
Family Guy
Heroes

[kymagic]

FYI, Burn Notice rocks.

Why, yes, I am well aware of that fact.

[jerald_parker]

I watch in no particular order:

NCIS
NCIS: LA
Dancing with the Stars ( i like it, its funny, but i really do watch it because it means spending time with my girlfriend)
Biggest Loser (Another spending time thing, but I really do want to murder some of those people, trainers included, for their well.... stubbornness or pig-headedness)

I'm also waiting to see how SGU shapes up. And I'm thinking to check in on Amanda Tapping's new show Sanctuary.

[kymagic]

Ah, yes. I forgot about SGU. I catch that on Skyplayer with a friend on Wednesdays. So I avoid the SGU threads at the beginning of the week

How is NCIS:LA turning out?

[iMav]

I was a bit disappointed to find out that you guys were probably talking about FlashForward and not Flash Forward. That show rocked. (Also holy smokes, I didn't realize Jewel Staite was in it!)

---

Curb Your Enthusiasm: This season's premise is just genius. Absolute genius.

Let's talk about how true this is. For the uninitiated, Curb follows the life of a fictionalized version of Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld. Much like Seinfeld, Curb employs a lot of self referential "meta-humor".

For example,

in season 4, Larry gets cast in a production of The Producers by Mel Brooks. Brooks anticipates that Larry's performance will be so horrible that the show will be a complete failure, and that he (Brooks) will no longer be pressured to produce. When opening night rolls around, Larry forgets his lines, but still manages to make his performance a hit, foiling Brooks' plan. Sound familiar?

This season, Larry has determined that it would be in his best interest to do a Seinfeld reunion show. Continuing a long tradition of actors playing themselves on CYE, the entire main cast of Seinfeld (and by the looks of some of the promo material, no shortage of supporting characters either) are coming on the show, and there is some speculation that the season finale will be "sort of" an episode of Seinfeld. If that's not a TV Nerdgasm waiting to happen, then I don't know what is.

Also, holy shit, Michael Richards is 60.


Something I forgot to include in my list (though I suppose it doesn't technically belong on my list since I'm not watching it right now) is Lost. I love Lost. It takes a lot of flak for a number of very legitimate reasons (it's slow paced, its question/answer ratio is about 17 billion/1, it totally copped out and started to be about time travel), but I love it. At this point I just watch it to see how ridiculous it will get. The first couple seasons were so good-- I actually cared about the characters and their predicament and what was in the hatch or what the monster was. Now I've accepted that I will never know most of these things, but I still enjoy the show in the same sort of perverse way that I enjoy the Crank movies (which I also love)... I just can't wait to see what absurd nonsense will take place next. Plus, Kate isn't getting any less attractive.

---

Can anyone who's been watching the last couple seasons of 24 (I think I stopped watching after about season 5... whenever it was that Jack gets back from Chinese prison with an awesome beard and a vow of silence) speak to their quality? Is it still the badass wild ride of the first couple seasons, or is it more of the mediocrity of the later seasons? I really want to watch JB kick more ass, but I think I lost patience with the show. (I actually forget why I stopped watching...)

Speaking of shows I stopped watching, can someone tell me why I should watch It's Always Sunny in Philly? I watched the first season and it didn't really do it for me, and I think I even gave a couple of S2 episodes with Danny DeVito a chance, but it didn't do much for me. Has it gotten any better?

Lastly, can anyone (Rorschach?) sell me on True Blood? All my friends are watching it but none of them have really said anything compelling enough about it to bother getting into it.