I wrote part of this post several weeks ago, meaning to finish it then, but ended up just adding to it.
I’ve mentioned this before, but these days, I almost never watch network television. I could care less that the “new fall season” has begun. Does that even mean anything anymore? With the shows being produced by the cable networks, there’s almost always a new season starting and another one ending throughout the year. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the shows that have been permanent residents on the DVR over the past year or so.
Henry Rollins Show – IFC – The first season of 20 episodes ran over the last several months. It’s a great show with combinations of Rollins spoken word, an interview and a musical performance. Some of the transitions are a little silly, but the content is solid. Was Johnny Knoxville drunk during his interview? I hope it gets picked up for another season.
No Reservations – Travel Channel – Anthony Bourdain’s travel/foodie show. I love Bourdain. He’s no bullshit and this year’s “Bourdain in Beirut” chronicling the week he spent stuck in Lebanon during the Israeli air strikes earlier this summer along with the Ferron Adria episode make this an even more amazing show.
Rescue Me – F/X – The third season just finished. I loved the first two and this one had it’s moments. The season finale appears to end it all, but there’s apparently a fourth season. I’m not sure it really should go on much longer as they seemed to be struggling at the end of this season. We’ll see how it goes. Still one of the better shows out there.
First 48 – A&E – I have a real love/hate relationship with cops. If I had to choose another career, homicide detective or forensic pathologist would probably be high on the list.
Little People, Big World – TLC – I can’t really explain why I like this show, but I do. We watch it religiously.
Battlestar Galactica – Sci-Fi – The updating and adaptation of one of my favorite childhood shows has been pulled off with a fair amount of skill. It’s not perfect, but it’s still one of the better shows on television.
Kidnapped – NBC – They canceled it several weeks ago. I found out a week after they started doing it that they would show the remaining episodes that had already been completed on their website. I didn’t like the show enough to schedule time in front of the computer each week to finish it out…another reason to get off my ass and get a media PC going downstairs and hook it up to the TV.
Ultimate Fighter – Spike TV – I got taken in by this show and UFC in general about 18 months ago. It’s still holding my interest for now.
I find myself watching some of the trainwrecks on E! like Girls Next Door and Dr. 90210, simply because they’re so far outside anyone else’s reality, I’m not sure if they could be called reality t.v., but that’s the case with most of them, right?
Surfing around the last night, we caught a couple of good shows. Before the Dinosaurs aired at 8pm on Discovery Channel. It did a good job of showing evolution and climate change and anchoring it in both a time and place with various animals in the T-Rex: New Science, New Beast After that, A&E re-ran Star Wars: Empire of Dreams last night, which is on the trilogy DVDs released in 2004 (yes, those were the ‘special edition’ versions and I bought them…don’t get me started on that) . I couldn’t help but watch most of it. I also caught The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy on the History Channel, an ABC News special report from 2003. I already knew the basic story and the tripe that Oliver Stone introduced with JFK in 1991, but this documentary revealed some other things that I never knew. It’s well worth a watch and specifically addresses many of the problems in Stone’s film.
The T.V. obsession today isn’t surprising; except for a run to Krispy Kreme this morning and some trips to the trash can and recycle bin (overflowing after the holiday), I haven’t left the house since Wednesday afternoon.
The 10th annual