Which TV Shows Do You Watch and Read About?
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 8:26PM 
It's Emmy Week so the small screen is naturally on my mind. This time of year I'll usually try out a show or two and roll my eyes in disgust. Revolution was SO terrible: generic actors, pandering action sequences, and terrible authenticity problems. I should elaborate so here's just one example. If there's no electricity and there hasn't been for 15 years why have men's hairstyles not evolved into something manageable that doesn't require the weekly use of electric razors or blowdryers or what have you to maintain??? All the actors looked so freshly scrubbed clean, perfectly coiffed, and flawlessly made-up like they've never spent even one minute away from their huge hair and makeup team in a nearby trailer, let alone been without luxury beautification for 15 years!
Despite the easy-to-ignore mediocrity of the TV landscape (easy to ignore given that the highs are so very high and you're reminded of them weekly while the dross you only have to see once!) I do watch my share of TV. I felt a sort of emptiness this summer when I axed True Blood from my blogging schedule. I just didn't have it in me (New rule: vampire series should always shut down before you're actually watching the vampires age) and should have switched early on to covering Teen Wolf which I goofily crushed on hard for its entire sophomore season.
Turns out I like covering TV in limited portions so long as a series speaks to me and I can excuse it either through a beloved star (whatever happened to that 50s era TV series Todd Haynes and Julianne Moore were supposed to be doing?), a beloved genre (Smash) or a cinematic vibe (Mad Men). There's more opportunity to do so too since television seasons have less overlap than they did in my youth when everything ran September to May and every season was really really long with frequent stops for reruns.
So herewith, a list of shows that I watch or plan to. Let me know which of these shows you watch in the comments. I realize that comments sections aren't the be all and end all as to which posts people enjoy here at The Film Experience but I do have to lean on them somewhat as a crutch when determining how to divvy up the time. Smash, for instance, generally generated discussion so it stands to reason that many of you are watching and would like to see the coverage continue for season 2.
shows I watch regularly but don't feel any desire to write about and/or feel it's too late in the run to start writing about them... PARKS & RECREATION, 30 ROCK, PROJECT RUNWAY, RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE, and DOWNTON ABBEY
But I'M on this show, Nathaniel!shows I watch sometimes or way after the fact and have no real desire to write about...
SOUTHLAND, SHAMELESS, RAISING HOPE, LOUIE, HOMELAND, THE NEW GIRL, MODERN FAMILY, EPISODES, GIRLS, ENLIGHTENED, VEEP, GAME OF THRONES, NURSE JACKIE, THE WALKING DEAD and POLITICAL ANIMALS . Regarding the last of those. I have this problem in that I always end up watching Greg Berlanti shows -- sometimes every episode -- and yet I never ever respect them. Why can't I stop? Political Animals feels like unresearched fanfic when it comes to details about the worlds of both politics (Sigourney Weaver) and journalism (Carla Gugino) and the actors are saddled with the burden Berlanti always throws at his casts. The burden of unrepentant drama queen plot hysteria. Like Brothers & Sisters no small human drama is enough for one episode. It's not even enough for one scene! EVERY episode must contain catacyclismic end-of-world or utterly life-changing events, both literal and emotional... preferrably several of them. If anyone actually lived like this the world would end in about 6 years. No one would want the earth to keep spinning. Calm the F down. The tiniest recognizable moments of daily life can illuminate epic things about our humanity. If I could wish for one series to sink deep into Berlanti's veins it'd be Once & Again, which understood this and never felt the need to point and shout and pile up on its drama as if human life would be utterly undramatic without a million bells and whistles. End of rant.
DELUXE TREATMENT - RETURNING COVERAGE
MAD MEN and SMASH (both don't return until 2013 *sniffle*)
UPCOMING PILOTS I'LL REVIEW SINCE THEY'RE (AT LEAST PARTIALLY) BASED ON MOVIES...
BATES MOTEL (Inspired by Psycho, a film I ♥ writing about so we'll see...)
HANNIBAL (Based on the famous book franchise which has already produced 5 films. Mads Mikkelsen plays Hannibal and Hugh Dancy his FBI rival and TFE loves both of those actors. But mostly interest was piqued because the series is from Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls). Can't imagine what more you can say about this topic (really!) but good luck.
TRIAL EXPERIMENTS - FUTURE WEEKLY COVERAGE???
TEEN WOLF (Should I write about S2 when it comes to DVD? S3 begins presumably summer 2013)
REVENGE (Trial experiment-- ♥Madeleine♥ every Monday. S2 begins Sunday, September 30th)
BUNHEADS (Does anyone watch? I'm quite mad for Sutton Foster. S1's second half in 2013)
Reader Comments (50)
I rarely watch television but I've been obsessed with Veep. Every episode is re-watchable and Julia Louis Dreyfuss delivers every line with the right balance of drama, comedy and sarcasm. Each of the 8 episodes in season one is a classic
Yes Nathaniel I totally agree about 'Revolution,' I might stay watching for Giancarlo Esposito whom I've missed terribly this season on Breaking Bad. But WHOAH terrible acting by the whole cast, and a premise that already feels tired with just one episode gone by.
I enjoy your Mad Men. Also think Game of Thrones would be a fun one for you to write up - if only because you'd be rightfully (!) critical - and we need more people writing the truth about that one. Plus I gave up on it after season 1, and need someone who isn't a blind fan to tell me if I should jump back in.
Trial: I vote for Revenge.
New pilot you need to check out: Last Resort. Very good. I have high hopes.
Returning shows you need to check out:
a) Nikita - one of the best shows on air, kickass action. The three femaie leads are just terrific.
b) Grimm - fun show. Whenonesqe at times. Very watchable and has potential.
And obviously, you already know that you need to be watching breaking bad.
My shows are Mad Men, Parks and Rec, Smash (love it. haters gonna hate), and 30 Rock. I'll probably also start Breaking Bad soon, since apparently I'm the only person not watching it.
please write about REVENGE. It's so awesome and Madeline Stowe rocks!
I... watch everything. So any TV you talk about in your blog will be much appreciated from me.
Please continue Smash and Mad Men coverage! And start with Revenge too!
The Smash posts were some of the most fun this year. Hate watching is so much fun together! I read damn near everything on every site about Mad Men and love reading when people love 30 Rock just as much as I do (it's managed to become my all time favorite show and will be dearly missed). One show that I wish more people did write about is Southland. You catch me on the right day and I have no problem saying it's the best drama currently on the air. Woefully under-appreciated and could definitely use any and all support it can get.
I love any and all of your coverage, Nat - but I'll admit the only posts I skip over are the ones concerning TV shows that I don't watch. That said, I look forward to one day finally making myself watch Mad Men, and I'll definitely read your postings from the archives as I go! My list:
Can't Miss: Parks & Recreation, Homeland, Parenthood, Project Runway
I'll Stubbornly Stick With: Modern Family, New Girl, Girls, Up All Night, SYTYCD, Smash
Should've Abandoned Long Ago, But I'm a Completist: The Office, Glee, Grey's Anatomy
I'll Give It A Try: Revolution (premise has me hooked but must agree that that pilot was testing my sanity), The Mindy Project, The New Normal (outlook not so good...but the potential is there), Nashville (what? i'm curious)
I'm totally cuckoo over 'Veep' this past summer.
As for network TV, 'Happy Endings' has become my go-in comedy. It's like a zany version of 'Friends', but now I'm that age... and almost just as zany. A truly underrated gem.
I watch what is probably too much. Glee, Happy Endings, Smash, Girls, Veep, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, True Blood, Nurse Jackie, The Big C, Homeland, Dexter, Modern Family, The Middle...those are off the top of my head but the list goes on.
That being said I always like reading your thoughts about shows that I watch.
And I totally started watching Teen Wolf because of your posts about how the guys are all super hot (which alone makes it worth it) but I feel like in the second season it kind of became pretty good. You should definitely start writing about it again ;)
I watch Veep, Girls, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, Parenthood, Happy Endings, The B- in Apt 23, Teen Wolf, and I'm going to try out Nashville and The Mindy Project this season. It's so rare that I really get into a show in its first season, though. Dropped The Office last year. Still watch Modern Family, but it's kind of on probation. Also love SNL and am psyched the Thursday election specials are back. I watch Mad Men it comes to DVD. Breaking Bad is my next TV project.
Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones. Pleeeeeeeaaaaaase, Game of Thrones.
I only show I watch is Louie (which is fantastic btw, everybody here should check it out) scad I'm surprised you've never written about it as it has a very cinematic quality to it.
I watch Smash and Revenge, and So You Think You Can Dance. Other things I watch randomly, but tend to be fascinated by the home shows like Househunters and Househunters International. I like watching series in a clump, and I'd rather buy the DVD set than watch something at a set time every week. Especially in the cold dark of winter, I like to devour episode after episode of something set in someplace warm, Florida, New Mexico, California.
Nathaniel, could I talk you into reconsidering when it comes to Louie, Homeland, Game of Thrones, Girls and Episodes? They are all SO good and not one of them is covered well online. Especially GoT: The second season was so much better than the first, but the recappers are mostly idiots.
Please start watching/covering AHS! It's amazing (plus Jessica Lange). I also watch Breaking Bad, Dexter, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Shameless, Parks and Rec, Modern Family, New Girl, Homeland, Revenge, Suits, The Good Wife, Cougar Town, The Legend of Korra (seriously it's cool), The Walking Dead & Sherlock
And Pretty Little Liars, ANTM and Gossip Girl shamelessly.
What you wrote about Political Animals is so spot on. I actually enjoyed the first two or three episodes as good, soapy fun. But by the end, I was completely burned out and kind of pissed off due to all the ridiculous nonsense that Berlanti and company crammed into six short episodes. Plus, it was like Smash in the sense that there were just way too many characters sleeping with other characters. Seriously, is this the only way that writers can think of to have their characters communicate? Can't they just, y'know, talk? Standing up in the middle of public, not in bed after sex?
"Badly researched fanfic" is a perfect - *perfect* - description of Political Animals.
Anyone around here watch Treme? I'm really really looking forward to that one coming back - no, it's not The Wire, but I think the show found its own voice in season two and became something really special.
Aside from that, in no particular, I watch or will be watching: Parks & Recs, Fringe, The New Girl, Boardwalk Empire, Supernatural (even though it kinda stinks now), The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, and many more ('cause I watch way too much TV).
Oh, and The Vampire Diaries - if y'all like Teen Wolf, you should totally be watching TVD as well.
don't spoil anything...
I have been reading your blog forever, but never never comment. I just have to jump in and say - Bunheads! Please! Such an interesting show, and how great is Sutton Foster?? She is captivating and I love love the show. Would love to read your thoughts on it!
I'm obsessed with Sutton Foster too, but then I already was way before Bunheads (those Anything Goes videos on YouTube hurt my productive life in so many ways...). I don't think Bunheads is earth-shattering, but I love it. I think it's fun and cute, and Sutton Foster carries the hell of it on her back. So, please, would love to read you writing about it!
Also, REVENGE. Ten days seems like eternity right now. I so need Madeleine Stowe eye-bitching Emily Van Camp in my lfie again.
RuPaul Drag Race -- the only reality show worth watching.
For fall: New Normal, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, Modern Family, Mindy Project??, New Normal & Glee (hate-watching both because they make me cry), and from Seth, American Dad and Family Guy
Adding on mid-season: Veep, Girls, Smash, Mad Men, the execrable Newsroom.
And I *adore* your Mad Men and Smash thoughts particularly so please don't abandon. (Not that you would.)
Wait - you have seen Enlightened but have no desire to write about it? Not even about Laura Dern?
nathaniel, are you following the casting announcements for "smash"? they're adding NINE characters! not all regulars, but still... they'll be: jennifer hudson, nikki blonsky, jesse l. martin, sean hayes, sheryl lee ralph, daniel sunjata, jeremy jordan, krysta rodriguez and andy mientus.
and this is coming from a show that didn't want to be the new "glee".
I started watching Bunheads just from reading your posts and now I'm obsessed! So yes, keep writing about it. I have watched those "auditions" Sutton does in dreams like a billion times! Me & my baby and Maybe this time with Foster in Fosse mode are terrific!
A show I'd love you to write about is American Horror Story. Last season was a Jessica Lange festival. So Tennessee Williams meet Baby Jane! I can wait what nun Lange will bring to the Asylum this new season.
And please, I beg you: watch Breaking Bad already! I'm just worried about you! ;)
I watch Doctor Who, Project Runway, and Sherlock, and I have grand plans to someday catch up on Downton Abbey. But mostly when I watch TV I'm perfectly happy with Star Trek and Mary Tyler Moore Show reruns...
I love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, even with it's very queasy moments.
My Must Watch List: Mad Men, Vampire Diaries, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Once Upon A Time, and Downton Abbey.
Probably too old for: Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game
Because I can't help myself: SMASH
I hope you reconsider blogging about Rupaul's Drag Race as they are having an all star season soon and you can blog about the pros and cons of certain contestants returning for one more shot (plus its only 6 episodes this time). I'm all for Teen Wolf season 2 recaps, but I imagine you'll want to burn through them on a weekend since it was so good this past summer.
There isn't a new show that I really want to watch this season. I got to catch up on 2 seasons of Game of Thrones over a weekend thanks to a friend's HBO Go pass and was hooked (along with Girls, but not with Veep).
Please write up REVENGE weekly!!!
Can't wait to see Madeline Stowe and Jennifer Jason Leigh go head-to-head!
*salivates*
In alphabetical order:
- American Horror Story, Blue Collar, Bones, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Grimm, Mad Men, Modern Family, 30 Rock, Weeds ( I should be given some kind of award to perseverance for this).
Wow, listing them for this post I realize they're too many. Not all of them air at the same time, but still.
Blue Collar, Bones and Grimm are so predictable, one feel comfortable watching them.
Doctor Who is just silly fun.
Game of Thrones has the best alias for a character, Mother of Dragons. I you heard about it, without seeing the show, one would never expect to see a sort of Scandinavian Shakira. I get lost quite often, I must say. Too many people.
Nathaniel, you must watch Nashville. It looks like huge campy, country fun.
I watch Smash (duh), Project Runway (love this season), and two shows that I imagine Nathaniel hates-- American Idol and How I Met Your Mother. I can't help myself.
REVENGE! REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE!!!
Show I cannot stop watching because I'm just too emotionally invested in the characters: Grey's Anatomy
Show I cannot stop watching because when it's good it's GREAT but otherwise it makes me devolve into throwing hissy fits about how it makes no sense and is squandering its potential: Glee
Shows that make irrationally happy: Raising Hope, New Girl, Don't Trust the B---, Modern Family, Game of Thrones (<3 Fantasy, even as seemingly mundane as this), Shameless (Emmy Rossum: WHO KNEW?!), Smash, Homeland, Girls (which SHOCKED me, because I was very ambivalent about Tiny Furniture), The Big Bang Theory
Best bad show that I shomehow cannot stop myself from watching: Once Upon A Time (Runner-Up: The New Normal, which is a bit too on the nose but really gets to me)
PLEASE RECONSIDER BLOGGING: RuPaul's Drag Race (the best reality show on TV), Downton Abbey (just do a Dowager Countess round-up!)
YES! MORE!: Bunheads (I <3 Sutton Foster something HARD), Smash
Recommendations: American Horror Story (one of the best ensemble casts on TV, plus Jessica Lange!), Face Off (Special Effects Makeup competition on Syfy that is actually kind of amazing. Much better than Project Runway at this point. It's on now, and paired with Hot Set, a similar show about production design that results in some really cool final product but isn't as good overall)
I Know You've Tried, But Really, It's SO GOOD And There Is SO MUCH Primo Actressing Despite Being Another Lawyer Show And We All Need More Alan Cumming In Our Lives: The Good Wife
ALSO: I have to echo the Doctor Who love. My man got me into it becasuse he is an even bigger sci-fi nerd than I am (I'm more of a fantasy nerd), and now I am totally addicted.
New shows I will be giving a try this season: Elementary (I have always loved Sherlock Holmes in all his many forms, and also have a fondness for Lucy Liu), 666 Park Avenue (which looks HORRIBLE but I like the idea of Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams as The Devil and His Wife/Partner), Nashville (<3 Connie Britton), Ben & Kate (that little girl is too cute for words!), Arrow (the ads are ALL shirtless; I am not immune, people)
I have to speak up for The Good Wife, which is impossible to describe in an interesting way, but which is the most consistently excellent show on network television. Fantastic writing for long form drama, great acting, alternately funny, sexy, and shocking, but always smart. Plus best feminist television since Buffy. I wish more people watched it.
The rest of my top tier: Girls, Parks And Rec!!!, Veep, Game Of Thrones, Mad Men, Homeland, Downton Abbey, Arrested Development which I can included because new episodes are coming!!, and Pretty Little Liars...the best guilty pleasure on television.
Shows I love, but need to catch up on: Revenge, Enlightened, and Teen Wolf
Casual viewing: 30 Rock, Modern Family
Shows I've given up on, even though I once was obsessed: Glee, True Blood, and Weeds
Shows I hate-watch: Smash and The Newsroom
Shows I've tried with but can't get into: Breaking Bad and Dexter...too much hype, not enough actressing. One actress does not a TV obsession make!
I adore Treme and look forward to seeing the third season eventually (I no longer have cable). Just bought the first season of Homeland and I am officially obsessed. I must find a way to watch the second season as it's airing!!
Nashville sounds like it'll be fabulous. And yeah, just watch Breaking Bad already. You know that.
I can't believe no one has mentioned COMMUNITY!!! My favourite comedy on TV! It is smart, funny, nerdy, and most importantly has a lot of movie/TV/pop culture references (which I'm a sucker for). I really think Nat would have a lot of fun covering this show.
I really can't recommend it enough.
Prime time television drama hasn't been the same since the cancellation of Picket Fences. That show was it. But Eli Stone made a game effort before ABC, the network that kills all of its great shows--All My Children, One Life to Live, Samantha Who?, Ugly Betty--decided they didn't care about quality anymore. For drama and soap, I watch Smash, and I'm going to start on Elementary (Jonny Lee Miller was Eli) and American Horror Story (starring my screen goddess Jessica Lange). For comedy, love the lowbrow Mike & Molly (terrific cast with brilliant comic timing), Up All Night (Christina, Maya...what else do you need?), The Big Bang Theory (it blinded me with science) and Community (cute is hip again). I don't watch ABC anymore, as us daytime soap fans boycott this POS network with a fierceness, but I do catch The Middle on On Demand. I've started watching The New Normal. It's got potential but has a ways to go. Guilty reality pleasures: The Voice, Chopped, Restaurant Impossible, Barefoot Contessa, Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee, and Alex's Day Off. And if I'm up late...Craig Ferguson satiates my comic munchies.
I watch American Idol (on-and-off), Arrested Development (I'm halfway through Season One on Netflix), The Big Bang Theory, Community, Coronation Street, Downton Abbey, Glee, Parenthood, and True Blood. I also watched Smash when it was on last January and I'm looking forward to the second season.
I watch way too much TV to list them all, but I will single out a few "oddballs" shows that I highly recommend (in alphabetical order):
Archer
Cougar Town
Damages*
Episodes
Justified
Louie
Nurse Jackie*
Parenthood
Sons of Anarchy
The Vampire Diaries
Web Therapy
Wilfred
*gone or probably gone
...and Treme!
Don't have cable so I get my TV fix through Netflix or Hulu, or the network websites, and can't get HBO shows. Tend to marathon whole seasons. Recent loves:
Damages (Glenn Close is so deliciously driven/wicked)
Community
Parks & Rec
Borgen (fab Danish political drama available on LinkTV)
Grimm (so predictable, but fun)
Once Upon a Time (love love bad queen Regina)
The Good Wife (best scripted drama on network TV)
Warehouse 13
MI5
Sherlock (although the 3 show/season kind of sucks, and S1 was better than S2)
Awake (until they cancelled it! I need my Jason Isaacs fix!)
Next up for marathoning:
Breaking Bad
Revenge
American Horror Story
I have not gotten hooked on any new shows lately- really liked "Fringe" and "Supernatural"
The only series I watch and read about are Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Smash (only your posts), I read about the other shows only when a particular episode is amazing. The shows I watch regularly are: Parks and Rec♥, 30 Rock, Homeland, Revenge, True Blood :/ Glee (I know, it's awful but old habits die hard) Downtown Abbey, Girls and The Newsroom... and I'm starting to watch The New Normal, it's not great, but It's not disastrous like everyone is saying, I like parts of it, especially the parts in which Justin Bartha kisses Andrew Rannells ;) jk.
I do a lot of marathons, right now I'm finishing the last season of Arrested Development... waiting for the comeback :)
I am shocked at the lack of COMMUNITY and FRINGE love from these posts :)
I feel these two shows really strangely compliment each other for one being a Comedy and the other a Sci-Fi Drama!
Parenthood is a show more people should check out for the beautiful moments which leave me in tears by the end of each episode.
Other shows I crush hard on are Happy Endings, Bitch In Apt. 23, Suburgatory and REVENGE! REVENGE! REVENGE!!!
thais -- oh yeah. Sutton and I go way back too. I've seen almost everything she's ever done. The only two times i've ever skipped a Sutton performance was the ones that were too expensive to see (Young Frankenstein) or made me nauseous when i thought about seeing them (Shrek) and I have her live CD too. Her doing "And I Am Telling You" is to die.
davey: Community has been mentioned four times. I'm more shocked that I'm the ONLY GUY that's singled out It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Or do people just generally not admit to liking that show because it winds up having exactly 0 likable characters by the end of Season 3?
REVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENGE! *shakes fist*
Seriously, Revenge is awesome, just...so awesome. Nolan is the best character on TV.