Ahh… television. I gave it up last year. It was eating up my time and my brain so I decided to bin my TV and do something productive with my life. It wasn’t as difficult as I had imagined it would be; after a while I stopped missing my erstwhile daily companions—the Discovery Channel, BBC, Star World, and the Cartoon Network. It did wonders to my creativity, I must say. I had more time to read, write, draw… The static was gone and I was beginning to think clearly again.
Then I discovered torrents. Dangerous, dangerous, I thought at first. It made me yearn for my old friends–to see ALL of them–but then I realized that it offered me a choice, it gave me some sense of control over my… ehrm… addiction. I could choose which ones to see and which ones to ignore, plus, when and where to see them. It was a good compromise, I said. At least I was going to learn some discipline! Better than starving my senses to death. So I revved up my Azureus and never looked back.
A month or so has passed since the latest season started. I’ve made a promise to myself to only download a maximum of ten shows and then maybe get rid of 3 or 4 after the Christmas break. Hey, I don’t want to fall off the bandwagon and give into sloth again. It’s too early to tell which ones will remain in my hard drive and which ones will be unceremoniously dumped in the recycle bin at the end of the year. So far, here’s a list of what’s been catching my eye:
My guilty pleasure for this season: the CW. Veronica Mars may be gone, but this channel still rules. The shows: Reaper (It’s idiotic and I love every minute of it! It had me when Sam The Reaper whipped out the Dirt Devil vacuum. Kevin Smith directed the pilot. Silliness rocks, dude. This is a good candidate to become Buffy’s successor.), Gossip Girl (It’s Dynasty for the postmodern teenager. Love the cat fights.), and Supernatural (Three years and I still love it–exorcisms, existential angst, classic mullet hair rock and roll music, a cool car, and—let’s not forget—eye candy.). Another great thing about the network: their website. You can watch an episode of Gossip Girl, go to the Style Section, and order what Blair was wearing at the slumber party or something. HAH! It appeals to the greedy consumer in me. Heh, I know. PATHETIC.
True love: HOUSE (I need Hugh) and Battlestar Galactica (I’m a scifi freak. I’m downloading old episodes).
On probation: Heroes (I’m still not over the stupid first season ending and I am getting bored and annoyed with the Claire-centric storyline. I’m glad Kristin Bell is on board–she was ok during her debut scenes–but I want more. Maybe I’m picking on it because I’ve read so much comic books in my lifetime or I have undiagnosed ADD, but, please, enough with the gimmicks and beef up your story! I found it predictable in the first season, but I overlooked it, and now? Tsk, tsk. I might say Bye-Bye to this one soon. Or just borrow the DVD from someone and save on precious disk space); Bionic Woman (The steroid user sister of Alias. Where’s the tenenenenen bionic sound effect? The lead needs a shot of personality!); Journeyman (I miss Rome. It reminds me of that book, The Time Traveler’s Wife.), Flash Gordon (Steph the Geek misses Star Trek. It’s so campy [read: low budget] and absurd, though, so it might move up to “True Love” status. It’s the epitome of Nonsense.).
Queued: I like Weeds and Brothers and Sisters, but I haven’t seen the new episodes yet. I am also waiting for The Tudors to return, if it is returning at all. I want to see more of Jonathan!
So there. My “cheese puffs.” You people out there probably think that I have the lamest and most pitiable taste in the world when it comes to TV. That could be true, but I see television and these shows as a place to escape and NOT think, so why not go all the way and indulge in total nonsense and the absurd? I get the serious stuff in real life anyway, right? :)
