There are a lot of television shows out there and a vast majority of them are pretty average to below average. This new weekly column will focus on some of the shows that have piqued my interest, are trending up/down, are coming back soon or I have given up on the entirely. I would love to hear from you the reader, about what you are watching and enjoying, what has you angry, what are you looking forward to.
Beware of Spoilers
Trending Up
Justified (FX) – Season 3 kicked off in Justified fashion with a nice balance of humor, shooting and great writing. The “Ice Pick” was a great character, the fight between Raylan and Boyd was great and the new tension building has me locked in. Wynn Duffy (my most hated but in a good way character) is back but seems to been emasculated a bit by his puppeteer. Will Raylan settle down a bit and actually buy a house with Winona? Does anyone else hope that Winona’s character gets killed off just so that Raylan can go back to be an uncaring badass?
The Simpsons (FOX) – The last few years of The Simpsons have been a shell of their former glory but season 23 has changed that a bit. Last weekends episode “D’oh-cial Network” was quite humorous from start to finish albeit a little late to the party in context (making fun of the idea of Facebook). I have seen a slight shift in the humor as well which accounts for the show getting better. It seems to be a little less “safe” and more adult for the most part, I hope this tend continues tonight.
Holding Steady
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) – The best moments of this show are the ones that involve Penny and Sheldon and their odd dynamic. The worst ones are anything that involves Howard’s mother or Barry Kripke. This season has featured too much Amy Farrah Fowler for my liking, as she seems more like a lame one liner than someone who truly add depth to the cast. I am hoping she gets worked out of the cast by the end of the season. The latest episode featured Leonard asking Penny out on a date and showed his continual insecurities with the idea of them making it as a couple, through a daydream sequence. It was an interesting spin on the show as we saw a little deeper in to the psyche of Leonard but not a great episode.
Trending Down
Alcatraz (Fox) – This show had me intrigued to say the least but the first two episodes were pretty awful. This is television for those people who have no imagination and like to be spoon fed sub par product dressed up cleverly as a “big thinker”. The acting was laughable at times (the conversation between Jack Sylvane and the man behind the curtain while he was in the prison infirmary comes to mind), the dialog was pretty poor and the formulaic plot is pretty uninteresting. I shouldn’t be surprised because it is Fox and they are some of the biggest “crap tv” offenders. I give this show one more episode to see if it can get out of its rut.
Flatlined
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC) – I decided to give another shot to this cringe inducing David Cross show. I made it 3 episodes in and have decided to pull the plug on this mess. I can’t quite decide which portion of the show angers me the most. It could be the ridiculous premise that they are selling an energy drink that can be used in a nuclear weapon or it could be just how much of a simpleton Todd Margaret is made out to be. His naive good nature turns from endearing to annoying very quickly in each episode. I really enjoy David Cross and understood what I was getting in to, but this show was too much.
Coming Soon:
Luck (HBO) – Season 1
Walking Dead (AMC) – Season 2.5
Mad Men (AMC) – Season 5
Game Of Thrones (HBO) – Season 2
Per the last “D6”, I’ve never really been a fan of Big Bang Theory at all and have no idea how it ever made it into syndication.
However, I totally agree with you on “Alcatraz” just on principle alone. How many times are they going to try and turn the concept of a prison island into a movie or a TV show?
I have heard good things about Justified but have never actually watched the program.
The Simpsons is one that’s I’ve virtually ignored the past few years, specifically due to the god awful programming which surrounds it known as “Animation domination”, and it should be noted here that South Park already did an episode about Facebook.
Don’t understand the angle of David Cross as a guy who’s not that smart and as you put it, a “Simpleton”, which also happens to be one of my favorite words.
Meehan
Well you saw my notes on BBT in your post. It dragged along with the “socially awkward nerds” thing for 2 seasons before it really took shape. Is it a great show…….no, not at all.
But there are certain things i connect with that make it enjoyable: The comic book nerd stuff (i used to be into comics when i was a kid and enjoy them every once in a blue moon. Haven’t been to a comic book store in years. Will change that this year). I also enjoy the good close friendships that the nerds have.
You need to watch Justified.
With Todd Margaret, the premise wore off 2 episodes in to the first season and is really tiresome at this point.
If you’re a David Cross fan, he did this really, really cool interview on Adam Carolla’s podcast where he talks about his childhood life and how his father was kind of a swindler, it’s a really interesting listen and I enjoyed it a lot. I wonder why “Todd Margaret is the way it is…maybe that whole “indie” thing that IFC seems to have as a general theme prevented the content from being the main focus.
I’ve been meaning to watch Justified at some point, and have been trying desperately to get an interview with anybody who works on that show, because I’ve heard such good things about it.
Maybe we should ask Alan what he thinks…
Meehan