Prime Time, Part Two

Wednesday and Thursday are the next two days of television I'll talk about.

Wednesday used to be a pretty crappy night for television. It's been like that for a long time. Some channels are now just starting to notice this and have realized that there's little competition on this night. My new professional goal, become a television executive. Anyways, the two shows that I watch on Wednesday nights are 'Everwood' and 'Lost'.

'Everwood' used to be on Monday nights. I'm thankful it moved. The show operates quite uniquely. There are quite a few main characters that are intertwined in some way. So something almost always seems to be going on in the show. The show focuses mainly on the relationships between all the characters but every now and then we're forced to remember that one of the main characters is a world renowned doctor. That's when the episodes go from good to great. The times when the doctor's son, who is a likeable emo character shows us that he's a piano prodigy are also pretty cool.

Wednesday nights seem to be all about shows that center around many main characters as opposed to one or two. 'Lost' is another perfect example. If you're not watching this, it really is too late. You can't just jump into a show like this (pretty much it's only flaw). It's kind of done the same way as a comic book, sure, there are some stand alone episodes but you really have to start from the beginning to really appreciate it. Virtually every actor in that show has been in some kind of production before, hell, I think the dog's been in 'Smallville' or 'Air Bud'. This show has a sickening budget but that makes sense because it also has a sickening amount of viewers. I would suggest picking up season one and clearing out a couple days if you haven't so already. This show has so many unanswered questions, that I can't imagine it not going another season but it's so fast paced, I can't imagine it going much longer than that. Still, it's one of the best ideas in television in a long time (No, it's not just like a darker version of Gilligan's Island) .

Thursdays are all about Fox. My show choices on Thursday are 'The Loop' and 'The OC'.

'The Loop' is a new comedy sitcom, there have only been a few episodes but it's pretty funny. It's just so ridiculous you have to watch it. There are also parts in it that are just so well conceived, you have to give the show some kudos. In one of the early episodes, the main character gets into an egg eating contest at a bar. This raises his cholesterol for a physical that he has to take for a job. He fails it completely but he gets sympathy and the doctor tells him that he has to have 10,000 steps on a pedometer before he can pass him. Anyways, he goes to the bar again and this time he wins at another crazy contest, which wins him a prize trip, before you know it, he wakes up in some exotic location and has to rush back home on a plane for his job. On the plane, he realizes his pedometer has a low number of steps, and he's not allowed to walk back and forth on the airplane aisle, so he goes back to his seat, and starts shaking his pedometer back and forth. It's pretty noisy, so he covers this action with a jacket. He's also pretty tired, so he closes his eyes. Guess, what the other passengers think he's doing. Genius! This show also has two very pretty girls in it, just in case you were wondering...

Amanda Loncar


Sarah Mason


Now, for the show that used to be a must watch, wasn't for a while and now is back to a show worthy to obsess over, 'The OC'. I watched the very first episode on 'Fox', back when the main character still smoked and was one bad ass dude. He's evolved into someone that seemingly just has a hero complex. The show seemed to have a character for almost everyone's taste. It was at it's prime when Samaire Armstrong was there.

After she left, season two got a little wonky, and missing an episode every now and then was no longer a big deal. The writers threw everything at the show, new cast members, crazy situations, pretty much anything you could think of. Needless to say the show degenerated to a point, where only certain episodes were any good. Some of them failed experiments. The show is returning to form though, answering questions from season one and the start of season two. Samaire Armstrong is returning to the cast, I can only wish that it was permanently but it's probably only for a few episodes. So I think that you have to pick up season one, but after that, you really have to be a fan to still watch it. It should be said though that even if you're not a huge fan of the show, you should listen to the music. At least the show has kept that up to par.

Prime Time

So I've decided to change this blog a little. I'm still going to put some pretty random thoughts on here whenever I feel the need but I also want to start putting up some reviews and recommendations. I did so in my other blog but they don't seem to fit in as well there. I thought I would start out with television. I'm going to talk about tv shows that I'm currently watching or have decided to stop watching this season. Since there are so many, I thought I would go with what I watch on Monday and Tuesday first.

If you haven't been keeping up, Monday is quite possibly the most intense night of TV out there right now. Fox has really done some good work, putting 'Prison Break' and '24' back to back was genius. Sure, I need Gatorade now for the event (yes, it is an event) but it's so worth it. Both shows use a similar formula, by letting the main character have to think his way out of possible catastrophies with the help of their supporting cast. The main characters on both shows also seem to have huge complexes of some kind. So it's really interesting to see how they'll get out of their jams and what personal effects they'll have as consequences.

It should be noted that '24' is in it's fifth and final season. All the past seasons have been good, I don't want to give away anything, I hate spoilers but if you were to pick up a season right now, I would go with 2 or 3 first. They really go together though. Season one is probably the weakest of the series, not only because of a lower budget but because it seems to be the most poorly written of the bunch.

'Prison Break' is a beast but I don't see how they're going to keep things going for any substancial length of time. Also, Dominic Purcell has never done a tv show that has lasted more than a season, no matter how good it's been, 'North Shore' and 'John Doe' are both great examples. So enjoy it while it lasts.

Tuesday night is when I need to get the VCR out. There are just too many shows I watch on this weekday (Yes, I'm a total loser). Let's go through the list, 'Scrubs', 'Teachers', 'House', 'The Amazing Race' and 'Gilmore Girls'. Now the only two shows on that list that I watch with great dedication are 'Scrubs' and 'Gilmore Girls'. So let's get the B list shows out of the way first.

'Teachers' is a new show on NBC. It's not bad, the main character actually seems pretty witty and plays the 'good guy' really well. The supporting cast also isn't bad at all. The problem is that NBC made the mistake of putting it after 'Scrubs'. This makes the show seem a lot less funny than it actually is. It's not a bad show, it's just at a bad time.

'The Amazing Race' has it's moments but the show has the fatal flaw of not being able to keep certain types of teams in the game. So once certain teams leave, the show starts becoming a lot less interesting. Like when the Double D team left this season, that killed the show a bit for me.
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race9/bios/danielle_dani/
To tell you the truth though, Gilmore Girls has the same time slot, so that's what I watch instead. Anyways, each season of 'The Amazing Race' is unique, so catch the next one when all the teams are there. You'll probably end up liking a couple of them.

'House' is a pretty cool show. I wish that it wasn't on at the same time as 'Scrubs'. I only have a few problems with it. 'Mad TV' actually made a great parody of the show (I rarely watch 'Mad TV' but from what I've seen it's pretty funny), saying that the patient is dying from an unknown cause, the Doctor tries to save them for most of the hour, but they only seem to get worse, and in the last ten to fifteen minutes of the show, he discovers the cause of the illness and cures the patient. It sounds really repetitive, and in a way it is but it follows the same ideology as 'Matlock'. We all know he wins, but it's not about the fact that he wins, it's about how he wins. That's where the magic is.

So now it's down to my two heavy hitters. Ladies first. I use to cover up the fact that I liked this show, changing the channel whenever my roommate walked in, and lying about what I was doing between the hours of ten and eleven on Tuesday nights. That has changed now though, Flash's girlfriend has learned my secret, I watch 'Gilmore Girls'. I've watched it for many years now. I think I started watching it when I caught it after 'Smallville' by accident, for all of you people that aren't TV nerds, before 'Smallville' was on City TV, the first episodes aired on Global. The current home of 'Gilmore Girls' in Canada. Now, this show didn't really have any hot chicks when it first started out. Well, Teal Redmann was in it. She's a serious fox.
The main character Rory (Alexis Bledel) has also turned into a babe in recent years but that's not why I watch the show. The writing is good. It's really good actually. The writers keep the show interesting without letting it burn out. There is just so much wit and banter in the show, and if you know me at all, I love anything of the sort.

Finally, we reach one of my all time favourite shows. This thing is a monster. I love it so much. When episodes didn't start at a regular time this year, I was frightened. Did Zach Braff the actor who plays the main character of the show, have so much success with 'Garden State' (Great movie, but we'll get to that another day) that he thought he didn't need to do the show 'Scrubs' anymore? Perish the thought. Anyways, I'm glad that 'Scrubs' is back. It's arguably the funniest TV sitcom there is right now. Sure, I have a small crush on Sarah Chalke. Yes, Mandy Moore did just do a recent guest appearance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAfbohqwwKg&search=scrubs). It is also difficult not to admire a man who made out with Natalie Portman.

These aren't the reasons why I watch the show though, they're just added bonuses. This show is just so innovative. It's so damn fresh. They use a lot of different directors, there are just so many cool cameos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucLcN2ftiNo&search=scrubs), the jokes are so well written and integrated into the show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbLkQdb85AE&search=scrubs) and the show actually feels like it's moving forward. Something that comedies often have trouble doing. It's simply an amazing show and I hope it lasts a few more years.

After completing this post, I realize it's huge. I guess that's fine, since I haven't updated this blog in so long. I also realized I watch way too much television.