Thoughts on The Americans Pilot

The hour and a half pilot episode of The Americans, the new FX drama, was suspenseful, gripping, and exciting.  That is how you make a pilot episode.  After watching it, I can now empathize with two Soviet KGB spies integrating themselves into America.

The show is set in 1980 with Ronald Reagan as the new president of the United States.  The Soviets are terrified of Reagan and think he's a mad man.  The presence of a potential war seems very real despite knowing that the war always remains cold.

Keri Russell stars as "Elizabeth Jennings" (not her birth name, but her American one), alongside her "husband" "Phillip Jennings"(played by Matthew Rhys).  The quotes indicate the ambiguity of their life.  They act like husband and wife to the outside world and to their two kids, but when they are alone, it's less clear.  

Elizabeth has sex with an American agent to obtain information in the first scene so a monogamous marriage it is not.  But when Phillip plays the tape of her escapade, it's obvious he is deeply affected by it.  He seems to love her and wants a normal, American life.  

Elizabeth is much more cold, and clearly dedicated to the KGB.  It's not as obvious that she cares for Phillip much more than any two agents care for each other.  There's a reason for this as a flashback will show.  There are three flashback scenes and all are effective in getting the point across.

The couple has been in America since 1965, had children, and have done their best to sound and look as American as possible.  They never even speak a word of Russian once they enter America (very convenient for television purposes, but it's not exactly an irrelevant reason for doing so).  

The children have no idea and it's clear the couple care about them.  I won't reveal a spoiler, but the show does a very effective job of making it very clear that Phillip cares about his two children.  It's a very satisfying scene.

To create an immediate and likely future conflict, a new neighbor (played by the great Noah Emmerich) moves in who happens to work for the FBI.  He was undercover for the past three years so he knows what that is like.  He is seemingly there to provide intel on what an undercover Soviet would do.  So he knows what being undercover is like so he would be attuned to any slight misstep that the Jennings would have.  (Let me make it clear that he moved in as a pure coincidence, not because the Americans are onto them)

Overall, that was just great television.  It's obvious the main characters are not bad people, they just care about their country.  That's pretty important in establishing these two people as likable characters and not people that we would despise.

On another note, after just two episodes, I am finished with The Following.  It appears it will be on for a while since the ratings are good and evidently the majority of the American public enjoy it.  Not me.  I cannot do a show where federal agents might possibly be on Joe Carroll's side with no reasoning as to how or why.  Sorry, it's dumb.  If the show was at all convincing about Carroll's ability to brainwash people, I could forgive everything else.  But it's not.  He's no more interesting than your regular professor.  

So The Following is out and The Americans is in for awhile longer.

Next post: Classic Comedy shows that I am watching or will watch... or have watched.

Unconventional Dramas

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

This list is 13 shows and counting.  I say counting because I remain very optimistic about the new series coming out on FX called The Americans.  I will be tuning in to watch the premiere and hopefully the entire first season.  

Shows I've watched

There are only two shows on this list and both lasted a single season before they were cancelled.  Let me assure you they were not cancelled because they were bad shows, but because nobody watched them.  Bad marketing,hard premise to sell, whatever it was, the shows received poor ratings.  (Both were acclaimed critically.)

In 2002, Joss Whedon created his first show that had nothing to do with the Buffyverse tackling a futuristic Western space show.  It starred Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds (or Captain Tightpants) as captain of Serenity, the relatively modest space ship.  Reynolds and his crew battle the law, his sometimes adversary and sometimes enemy Badger, and Saffron (played by Christina Hendricks of Mad Men.)

So Fox screwed this up.  One of the best pilots I've ever seen was not aired until it was clear the show would not be renewed.  I cannot for the life of me understand why the pilot was not aired.  So right off the bat, the second episode, which does the first episode an injustice in introducing the characters and the world, gets the show on a bad start.  Then they air the episodes out-of-order throughout the run making it difficult to get any serious serialized storytelling done.  Firefly never stood a chance with ratings thanks to Fox.

Against all odds, the show was able to do a follow-up movie called Serenity, which is phenomenal as an epilogue to the show and I think as a stand-alone movie, though I have no idea.  Anyway, this show is 18 episodes and a movie, all on Netflix and is a good way to pass the time.

Terriers is a very good, short-lived show about two private investigators who run an unlicensed P.I. firm.  I'm going to blame the marketing on this show's lack of ratings.  It's not that I hadn't seen ads when it was released, it's just that the ads revealed nothing about the show.  You see the ad and you don't want to go see the show, you wonder what the show is about.  Most people are not curious enough to see what the show is about.  You have to WANT to see it.  

Anyway, Donald Logue plays an ex-cop and recovering alcoholic and his partner is an ex-criminal.  Between the two of them, they have no problem skirting the law and they are pretty successful at their job despite loads of personal issues.

Shows I am watching

We'll go from shittiest to best.  Dexter is gaining in viewership and declining in quality.  Seasons 1-2 were great TV that did little to nothing with the supporting characters and it has shown in the decline of the show.  Seasons 3-4 were both good, but it was not hard to see the show was starting to lead to the not great Season 5.  Basically, it's hard to create suspense around a criminal who has no consequences for anything he does.  After each season, the writers wipe the slate clean and act like nothing happened.

My advice to anyone looking to get into Dexter is to watch the first four seasons (if only because John Lithgow is amazing in Season 4) and then stop.  Just stop.  (I'm 8 episodes into Season 7 and it's some of the best the show has done since Season 4, but they could easily mess this up.)

Next up his Homeland.  Season 1 was amazing, all the acclaim for the show very deserved.  Season 2 was... ridiculous.  I understand you need to suspend disbelief to watch a show just as this, but preposterous plotline after preposterous plot line made the show borderline unwatchable.  The writers seemingly thought the audiences were watching the show for the thrilling action and surprising twists.  Despite more action in Season 2, Season 1 was more successful in creating tense moments and realistic story lines.  The Season 2 finale fortunately gives me hope they will try a different approach in the upcoming season.  

I've only seen the first season of The Walking Dead and so far it is pretty good. It's obvious the creator forced a season's worth of material into six episodes so the plot moves way too fast.  They introduce a new set on one episode, the next the set explodes.  It would have been nice if they could have taken their time more.  

I'm five episodes into The West Wing and so far I like it.  The cast is excellent with Martin Sheen as the POTUS.  Bradley Whitford playing Josh Lyman and Richard Schiff playing Toby Ziegler are the most interesting characters so far.  As usual, Sorkin has written shitty female characters, but I guess that's why all his shows are nearly all-male.

I'm pretty excited that the so far bland and lone black character (and also seemingly forced) is the main character of Pysch.  Maybe he'll show more personality in later episodes!

Lastly, the wonderful Game of Thrones, which I have little to complain about.  I haven't read the books so I don't care if they are true to the source.  (I kind of plan on reading the books if I ever get in a book-reading mode of my life).  There are three characters on this show that I love: Peter Dinklage, as Tyrion Lannister, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.  


The title really says what this show is about: a battle for the throne of the Western kingdom.  It's highly entertaining and I'm greatly invested into seeing who will win this "game."

Shows I will watch
Two people whose opinions I respect strongly recommended The Newsroom so despite not great feedback from my other sources, I will give the first season a watch.  I'm not optimistic about the show, but I'll at least give it a chance.  Plus, I love Jeff Daniels and Sam Wasterson so I don't see a huge downside to watching the show.

Justified is a show that will take a while for me to start.  I might just wait until the series ends so I can buy the entire series.  This show is not on Netflix or on my premium channels at home like most HBO and Showtime shows so it appears I will have to buy this series.  So while I actually am very interested in starting this show now, money and availability are huge impediments. 

I'm interested in Twin Peaks not because I like David Lynch (I did not like Mullohand Drive for instance), but because of how it different it was from anything before it.  It was a creative leap from what I've read at least from any other show and could have paved the way for the shows that changed TV (according to Alan Sepinwall).  

Lastly, Prison Break will be watched well into the future.  I know Prison Break is more or less like 24 in style (not the timeline aspect, but the thrilling action), so I will wait to watch this until I've seen 24.  

Unfortunately, 24 is by far the show I am least interested in watching of the shows that changed TV so that means I will be getting to Prison Break quite a bit later. 

Final Thoughts
Watch Game of Thrones.  Easy choice.  Watch Homeland Season 1.  Whether or not to watch Season 2 highly depends on if Season 3 is good or not.  So you should probably just wait.  So far I'd recommend Sons of Anarchy (through 11 episodes) and West Wing (through five episodes), but neither show has really been watched that much.

Definitely watch Firefly and definitely watch Terriers.  The Walking Dead was good in season 1 (will have season 1 review at some point, but I'll probably re-watch that season to refresh my memory).
There's a few shows I want to watch but the availability of the series is not great.  Shameless with William H. Macy looks awesome, but I just discovered it so I have to figure out a way to watch the first two seasons without paying since I'm a cheap bastard.  The same applies to House of Lies with Don Cheadle, though my interest there is significantly less.  Whereas I'd probably pay to watch Shameless, House of Lies I wouldn't.

I kind of want to watch Girls, but not near enough to add it to my huge list of TV shows.  (Also, a recent description of the show that it was Sex in the City for hipsters is so unbelievably not what I want to watch so probably avoid this.)  I desperately want to watch Boardwalk Empire, I'm just waiting until I can catch a moment where Season 1 will be available on HBO premium.  I want to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and Eastbound and Down, but I'm incredibly late to the party.

I'm watching Go On on Hulu.  It's good enough for me to not quit, but shitty enough to not write about.  Actually, it's probably really bad, but I just like Matthew Perry.  

The Good Wife and Fringe are shows I'm slightly interested in.  May add to them to the list in the future.  The Americans, Zero Hour, and Cult are shows that are premiering this winter that I will watch the pilots of and decide whether or not to go further. 

I'm at an odd time for posting.  My original intent was to post the eight sections of TV shows that I created, however it appears that will not be my plan.  Whenever I finish a season of a show I'm watching I will post my review of that season.  I already posted my review of Downton Abbey Season 1, I posted my review of Sons of Anarchy Season 1, and later I will post my review of The Walking Dead Season 1.  I also plan to do a season-by-season review of Buffy, though I can't decide if that would be one post or a two-parter.  I'm getting too far ahead of myself though.

(Also I'll mention if I have spoilers or not for the reviews.  Planning on not having spoilers, though it could prove too hard.  I may have a section for non-spoilers and then indicate when the spoilers come.  Hopefully people reading will choose to avoid the spoiler section though I kind of doubt they will.)

I'm planning to watch American Horror Story very soon in conjunction with Sons of Anarchy Season 2.  I have little idea what this is about, but it looks different and interesting.  Connie Britton being on the show certainly makes my acceptance of this show more likely.  I'm not into the horror genre, but a few episodes won't kill me.

Next post: I will review The Americans pilot with Keri Russel and Matthew Rhys

Rewind: Thoughts on Season 1 of Sons of Anarchy

I wasn't aware of this when I started Sons of Anarchy, but the creator Kurt Sutter also was a big influence on The Shield, which is on the list of shows that changed television.  So I guess I shouldn't be surprised by how great Season 1 was.  The first couple episodes showed enough promise to draw people into next week's episode, but the pace was slow and the setting uncomfortable to immediately accept.

But each episode was better than the previous episode and by the Season 1 finale, I think I'm watching another great show.  I don't know if they can keep this up (I am aware they have four more seasons, I'm speaking in terms of quality), because they kind of wrote themselves into a corner here (More on that later).

Since FX seems pretty poor on promoting their TV shows (I've seen some SOA ads, but they don't reveal anything about the show whatsoever and Terriers was cancelled despite being excellent), I'll explain the show to newcomers.  Jackson Teller (Jax) is the second-in-command in the motorcycle club Sons of Anarchy.  It's a criminal organization as they sell illegal guns and kill whoever gets in their way.

Early on, Jax finds his father's book or diary or something that reveals that his father didn't like where SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club - Redwood Original) was headed in the years leading up to his death.  He was wanting SAMCRO to be more legitimate.  Clay Morrow, the president of SAMCRO, and his wife, Gemma Teller Morrow, don't want Jax to go the direction that his father went.    Gemma is also Jax's mother and was previously married to Jax's father.

The standout of the show is Katey Sagal, who plays Gemma.  She is mesmerizing as a conniving, ruthless woman who appears to be the real string-puller of SAMCRO.  Ron Pearlman is of course great as Clay.  Ryan Hurst plays a character altogether different than the one he had in Remember the Titans (Garry Bertier), and he seems to be two different guys.  Maybe it's the beard, but you never see Gary when you see him play Opie (If you've seen Remember the Titans as many times as I have, you'd understand why that could be a concern)

Opie just got out of jail after being in the pen for five years.  His allegiances are torn between SAMCRO and his family, and that is the most captivating storyline in the show in the early goings.  The rest of the gang is played by good actors which is a list too large to list all of them, but the most interesting one is Tig, played extremely creepy by Kim Coates.  

That about sums up the season.  The script is mostly true to the characters.  They've set themselves up for a drop in quality in my mind since they will somehow probably back off what should happen.  We'll see, but I kind of doubt what I think would happen in a hypothetical real world situation and what the show will do will be the same.  Benefit of the doubt of course since season 1 was so damn good.  

Watch it.  Watch it immediately.  Season 1 would get an A grade for the entire season's worth and the show gets better and more captivating with each passing episode.  

Thoughts on The Following Pilot

I decided to watch The Following mostly on the basis of Kevin Bacon and the 10,000 ads Fox ran for the show.  I'm decidedly mixed on the first episode.  On the one hand, there is no doubt the show did enough to draw me in for a second episode, so technically the show is a success in the strictest sense.  On the other, well....

I was really enjoying the episode up until the last five minutes.  Actually, I have some bigger issues with the show than the last five minutes, but I'll return to that later.  The final twist bothered me more than it shocked me.  I mean, great, we are now watching a show were literally anyone could be bad or good except clearly Kevin Bacon's character, Ryan Hardy, is good.

There's an upside and downside to having doubts about any character who enters the show.  Since I'm pretty big on character development within my TV shows, the downside out ways the upside by a pretty large margin.  (This is also why I am not exactly thrilled to start "24")  The downside is that nothing shocks you anymore and it takes out the thrill of the show mostly.  The upside is you literally do not know what will happen.  It really depends on why you watch TV.

The show starts out with Joe Carroll escaping from prison.  It doesn't show how really.  I mean there are numerous dead guards with no explanation as to how he managed to overpower them all.  Whatever.  I don't have a big issue with that.  If they showed that scene, it'd probably look more ridiculous than awesome anyway.

Then we meet the protagonist of the show, Ryan Hardy.  What appears to be necessary ever since The Sopranos aired, Hardy is of course a flawed hero.  But by golly, he is determined to get the best of Carroll.  Holy cow is this ripped straight from The Wire.  Jimmy McNulty is an alcoholic, don't give a fuck about authority, slightly deranged, yet ultimately good cop because he is so determined to catch Stringer Bell.  I mean, that is exactly what Ryan Hardy is.  Switch the names.  Hell, he drinks during the job just like McNulty.

Thankfully, Bacon is playing the part or that could have been disastrous.  I actually like Dominic West playing a drunk way better than Bacon, but whatever.  Again, I can live with that as well.  

Here's the big flaw in the episode: Carroll doesn't seem like the person who could motivate loyal followers to do his bidding.  Like the whole basis for this show is that Carroll has this innate ability to convince people to be on his side.  He honestly doesn't seem more interesting than your average college professor in those flashback scenes.  At least, from the scenes we are shown, I can't see it.  

Also, Carroll is stolen straight from John Doe in Se7en.  Doe uses the seven deadly sins.  Carroll uses Edgar Allen Poe's poems.  They both have some sort of higher thinking that makes them better than everyone else.  Anyway, it is a clear rip-off and I'm sorry Kevin Spacey blows James Purefoy out of the water as an actor.  I don't think Purefoy is bad per se, but he has an extremely hard sell and he doesn't quite pull it off.

I will be tuning into episode 2 (though not writing about it), and will be quick to stop watching if the show keeps reaching these ridiculous levels.  I'm not optimistic, but I like the Scream movies, so I'll give Williamson the benefit of the doubt.

Next post: Could be Sons of Anarchy Season 1 Review or I'll go over my unconventional dramas.  I will not be adding The Following to that list as watching that show is sort of independent of my project.

Rewind: Downton Abbey Season 1 Review

What a treat this show became for me.  I watched the first episode and came away very disappointed and not at all surprised that the show just wasn't doing it for me.  Gradually, each episode afterwards I became more and more invested.  While at first I was trying to space out my episodes, because I thought the episodes were too long and I was constantly checking to see when it would end, I ended up watching four episodes the past two days.

The beauty of a character drama show such as this (or Mad Men) is that each episode gradually builds the background and moral standing of each character.  By the last episode, you practically know the characters as real people.  

Downton Abbey has a LOT of characters and it seemingly took the time to flesh out each and every one of them.  It boggles the mind how Downton Abbey has created 20 different and interesting characters while Dexter has created virtually no one outside of Dexter, Doakes, and the villain of the season who is all that fleshed out.

The main storyline of the season was that Downton Abbey had no male heirs after two of the Crowley cousins died in the Titanic.  That is the date set at the first episode, which would be in April of 1912.  With the two men's death, the biggest problem was finding Lady Mary Crawley a husband to inherit the land.

Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley then appear to have a forbidden love for the rest of the season.  She doesn't like him, while Matthew is infatuated with her.  Then the tables turn when Mary ignores Matthew and finds she is growing to like him.  Basically, there is always something that gets in the way of the two just doing what is obvious and marrying.  

John Bates helps us get acquainted with the staff as his first day is also our first time watching the show.  The crew immediately dislikes him and try to secretly get him off the crew, using Bates' limp leg as the main reasoning.  Mr. Bates appears to be a great person, but it's clear there's a past haunting him.    The season gradually reveals that past.

Then there's Mr. Carson, who at first seems to be a conniving man, but later on it is revealed he just really wants to maintain the integrity of Downton Abbey.  Mrs. Obrien and Thomas provide the "villians" of the season as they constantly scheme to frame Bates for stealing.  Mrs. Patmore has declining vision that threatens her job.  Her constant yelling at her assistant Daisy is funny for the most part.  

Maggie Smith is just about the best part of the show.  She is nearly always hilarious.  An example: "I can't believe my maid is leaving to get married. She's so selfish."  Lady Edith seems constantly forgotten by the family (but not the writers) as she and Mary fight constantly over men mostly.  Lady Sybil spends the majority of her screen time fighting for the right for woman to vote, mostly to the chagrin to everyone else.

Anyway, there are, believe it or not, more characters that are explored.  Nearly all of them get a story line that reveals who they are.

Season 1 occurs over a two-year period.  It is established that the sinking of the Titanic was the beginning and in the end, World War I was just declared so it was July of 1914.  (They also added the telephone into the home, which of course leads to a comedic bit where someone plays around with it.)

I wholeheartedly recommend this to potential viewers.  

Next post: Unconventional Drama, which is already written, but I needed this post to be done immediately after I finished the series.

Classic Comedy [Updated: 3/14]

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

This post is fairly self-explanatory in its title: it's a category of shows that are "classic."  What did i deem classic?  Well, any show that has been off the air for quite a while - I didn't have a specific timeline, but it turns out the closest show ended in 2006.  Well, and Arrested Development.  I have no logical reason why the show that came back last year is on a list of shows that have ended well before.  Just go with it.  Without further ado, the list of shows I plan to watch sometime in the future.

The Andy Griffith Show
Years: 1960-1968, 8 Seasons

Why: If you don't know why this is on my list, there's no hope for you.  This show was one of the premiere comedies back in the day and I'm intrigued to see if it holds up.  Then there's also getting to see Don Knotts, a performer I never really was able to see.  As an added bonus, Ron Howard once being known as a child star is somewhat baffling to me, but it happened and this show is proof.  (Please tell me he was at least a good actor because his career produces rage-inducing jealousy from me.  Actor for two immensely popular TV shows for about 20 years and then sustain a decent, if mostly unimpressive directing career.  I want that.)

Status: This show is shelved for the foreseeable future.  Once I'm finished with The Simpsons, I will either decide to pick a show that was chronologically first or pick what I think will be a better comedy.  So it's either going to be watched relatively soon or quite a bit in the future.

Arrested Development
Years: 2003-2005, 2013, 4 seasons

Why: I couldn't tell you why it's on this specific list, but it's fairly easy to figure out why it's a show on my television shows to watch.  This witty, joke-filled comedy is easily one of the best comedies in this century.  Plus, this cast is crazy talented with a Michael Cera before he was famous, Michael Bateman before he was a movie star, Will Arnett, Jessica Walter, and Jeffrey Tambor.  Oh yeah and Ron Howard got to narrate this show, that lucky bastard.

Status: I have seen the first three seasons and five episodes of the second.  Unfortunately, there has been no desire for whatever reason to finish the fourth season.  I can't explain it and I'd love to finish this show, but I always want to watch something else.  I should finish this show this year though.

Cheers
Years: 1982-1993, 11 seasons

Why: You know what the why part might be redundant on a lot of these comedies.  Cheers is like a staple of modern American television.  Ted Danson is the man and this was him in his prime.  The lone problem I run into with this show is that it's ELEVEN seasons.  I'm that sad-sack type who likes to complete shows.

Status: I momentarily started to watch it for six episodes.  I loved it, but I stopped for some reason and haven't started again yet.  Not to worry, I'll either watch The Andy Griffith Show or this show after I finish The Simpsons.  And this show will almost certainly be right after The Andy Griffith Show if I go that route.

The Dick Van Dyke Show
Years: 1961-1966, 5 seasons

Why: What convinced me to watch this show were the names really.  You've got creator Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore... these are names I know are comedy legends, but I've never actually seen most of their work.  It's pretty nice that this show will give me the opportunity to watch them all work that magic on one show.  Also, on the bright side is that it's short-running and is on Netflix.  The Mary Tyler Moore show is NOT on this list, but it very well could make its way on from this show.

Status: This will likely come at a much later date.  I might try to watch this in conjunction with The Andy Griffith Show as a way to not burn out on one show and knock out two shows at once while still keeping both fresh.  Otherwise, expect this show to be waaay into the future.

Fraiser
Years: 1993-2004, 11 seasons

Why: Well, Leslie Grammar seems pretty awesome and this show seems to be well-received.  It's not as obvious a choice as Cheers and it doesn't really feature actors known for much outside of this show.  I don't have many reasons for choosing this, just that it fits nicely in with Cheers ending and it seems like a good show.

Status: Obviously I am not watching this until I finish Cheers.  Since Cheers is 11 seasons... yeah this is going to be quite a while.

Freaks and Geeks
Years: 1999-2000, 1 season

Why: This is commonly listed as one of the most unfortunate cancellations ever.  The cast on this show is just a who's who of the modern comedy world - except back when they hadn't done anything.  This show discovered an enormous amount of actors.  There's James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Sam Levinne, Linda Cardellini, Martin Starr... not all of them became famous, but they should have.  Anyway, this is rightly considered a classic and is a must-watch for television comedy fans.

Status: I have seen 10ish episodes and will finish soon.  This is kind of the same case as Arrested Development, except I am afraid to finish because then it will be the end as opposed to just generally not being that interested in season four of AD.

Friends
Years: 1994-2004, 10 seasons

Why: Well, I've already finished the series and it's listed as one of my favorite series of all time.  Judge me for that fact as you will, but this is a show I grew up on.  I won't deny the show is little more than just a half hour of entertainment but it's still funny to me  and I thoroughly enjoy watching this show if I feel like laughing.

Status: Well, I've seen every episode.  So this is essentially completed.

The Larry Sanders Show
Years: 1992-1998, 6 seasons

Why: It's getting kind of difficult trying to explain why I want to watch a television show I've never seen.  I mean I don't know it's weaknesses or strengths, I just have a general idea that it's good.  That's the case here.  Although I have seen a few episodes, and it's pretty clear this type of comedy is right up my alley.  Plus, Jeffrey Tambor's pretty great in his sidekick role.

Status: Like I said, I've seen a few episodes.  This would already be watched, but Netflix decided to take this show off and now I'm patiently waiting for them to add it back or for another avenue to watch it.  Until then, watching this show is not going to happen.

Malcolm in the Middle
Years: 2000-2006, 6 seasons

Why: I have seen quite a few Malcolm in the Middle episodes, but most of them where in my younger days.  I also kind of want to see Bryan Cranston in a funny role again to see how good he is in this role.  And I've seen just a few episodes recently, and this show is way funnier than I would have thought.  I won't dedicate any portion of time to watch this entire show, but I'll slowly re-watch all six seasons over the years.

Status: I've seen the first 10 episodes of the first season - most of which I had already seen - but this is pretty much my go to show when I'm bored and have no interest in really watching anything.

My So Called Life
Years: 1994-1995, 1 season

Why: Unlike Freaks and Geeks, I have no inkling of what this show is about, but I'm pretty sure it's remarkable in its portrayal of teenage girl life.  Now, I'm a college-aged guy so that doesn't exactly sound appealing, but from everything I've heard it's worth watching.  And it's only one season long so it's not like I will regret spending a little time watching this.

Status: I have no idea when I will watch it, but since it's only a season long, it will probably be pretty soon and chosen spontaneously.

Seinfeld
Years: 1989-1998, 9 seasons

Why: Seinfeld is a weirder case than another show in terms of how I will approach the series.  For one, I've seen a lot of the episodes already.  But I probably have only season like 30 or so episodes in its entire run so I obviously need to devote more time to watching the show.  But Seinfeld is one of those shows you almost have to buy to watch and that's not going to happen.  As long as there are free shows available and I'm broke, those shows will be watched instead of Seinfeld.

Status: The show is in limbo as its like the only show I can't find on Netflix that I don't expect ever will.

The Simpsons
Years: 1989-    , 26+ seasons

Why: No, I do not plan to watch all 26 seasons.  I plan to watch only the first eight and maybe the ninth to see how much it fell off.  But with this many on this list, I don't know if that will happen.  As far why I will watch this show, does that need any explanation really?

Status: I've seen the first four seasons so far and this is the only show I can reliably say I'm in the process of watching.  I watch a new season every few months and that would leave the finishing of this show around next year at this time.


That 70's Show
Years: 1998-2006

Why: Well, before I got into this blog, I spent time to watch every single That 70's Show episode, which were all on Youtube for some reason.  If I had never seen this show, I'm not sure I would have picked it out to watch, but since I've already done the grunt work, it's already on this list.  Not that I'm complaining.  If it this post seems like I didn't like the show, well I loved it so much I put it on my all-time favorite shows.

Status: Completed

Undeclared
Years: 2001-2002, 1 season

Why: Well, this is by the same people that created Freaks and Geeks and looks like a step below Freaks and Geeks.  But that's still a very interesting show.  This cast is also great featuring Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and Charlie Hunman in a role that I really want to see because I hear it's way different.  Also, this show is only a season long so the time commitment is easy.

Status: Well, I won't watch this until I finish Freaks and Geeks, which should be soon.  Hopefully I can watch this in 2014, though I'm pretty slow to start comedies if you hadn't noticed.

Those are the classic comedies category I plan to watch or have already finished.  It's the biggest category with 14 shows and it has probably the widest range of time passed.  Unfortunately, I tend to give a higher amount of resistance to committing to comedies.  The only show on this list I can truly say will start and end when I plan for it to is The Simpsons, but that's both because it's revolutionary and because I am writing about each season.  The sad truth is that most of these shows I won't write about and if I don't write about them, then I have a little more trouble watching that show.

I will write about Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, and My So Called Life, but past that I don't think I'll write about the rest.  I may just write a sort of overall look at the older series, because they are worth writing about, but the problem is season-to-season, most comedies are less appealing for me to commit to writing.  The Simpsons are the exception.  And while some of these comedies are quite revolutionary, most of them are safe by today's standards and would be hard to write more than once or twice about.

The Shows that Changed Television

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

The best, the most noteworthy, and the most impactful television shows on television have been determined not by myself, but a respected TV critic named Alan Sepinwall.  They have been whittled to twelve TV shows from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Breaking Bad.

I'm not going to comment on what exactly Sepinwall means when he says they changed TV shows, but I'm going to attempt to explain.  These are shows that did what no one else in television had done yet and they began doing things that other television shows wanted to.  Also, it was just spectacularly well-done with good writing and good acting.

What I've Seen
The first show that changed television that I've personally seen is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The name does not do the show justice.  The show has one of the biggest cult followings out there.  Joss Whedon has said multiple times that he'd rather do a show that 100 people love to watch than 1,000 that just like the show. (I probably messed that up, but its captures the meaning of whatever he actually said)

Anyway, this show will easily get its own post, probably a few of them.  I'm restraining myself from going into greater detail, because this post would go on forever if I did.  Anyway, Buffy first aired in March of 1997 as a mid-season replacement on a network that was only a few years old (WB).  It somehow ended up lasting seven seasons and a network change (It switched to UPN after five seasons at the WB).

This is a show that rewards its fan.  It knows what its doing.  It foreshadows many events well before they happen, which makes watching it through a second time almost necessary.  This is a show that references things that happened in Season 1 in its last season.  If you look closely at the dialogue, you'll find a lot of meta-commentary on itself.  I cannot go into anymore detail because I'm choosing to stay in the no spoilers range for now.

So, if you have the time or a new series that you want to watch, ignore the name of the show and watch it.  If you have patience, watch Season 1 first (which I may add is only 12 episodes...) and then get rewarded with the next six seasons.  If you want to get straight into the good stuff, start with School Hard on Season 2, Episode 3, which is the beginning of a two-season run of excellence.  (You might get a bit confused at parts however).

Then there's The Wire.  It's pretty impossible for me to talk about this show, because I probably come up sounding like a babbling idiot.  I think David Simon hates his audience.  His first season introduces many new characters that it takes a few episodes to stop figuring out who is who and what they do.  Then when we finally settle in, the second season decides to abandon the drug trade and targets the working class through stevedores working on the Baltimore port.

Season 4 introduces kids and does a pretty incredible job of explaining how the system failed them.  It's heartbreaking.  It's great television.  The Wire is not a show to watch for happiness.  Basically, the message of the show is about the declining cities in America, the system will fail you, and institutions prevent change (negatively) - among other depressing messages that are pretty much true.  Also, the masterpiece that is Season 4 barely includes the main lead of the show, Jimmy McNulty, which is strange for any television show.

I'm going to save anything else I say about The Wire for another post.

Next up is Lost.  Here's a divisive show.  Lost first aired in September of 2004 and ended its six-season run in May of 2010.   I largely loved the show, though its one of those shows you should not watch unless you have a month of free time, because nearly every episode ends on some kind of a cliffhanger.  Unfortunately, the show tends to mislead its audience and never returns to information that was seemingly vital at the time.  Call it the anti-Buffy.

There is no question why Lost is on this list.   It did a few things that had never been done before.  In conjunction with its regular story, the show did flashbacks on every single episode to add backstory to the characters.  Season 4 and Season 6 also featured something similar which I will not reveal since part of the fun of the early episodes of those seasons were figuring out what was going on.  Warning: This show DID piss a lot of fans off, so keep that in mind.

Next show is Friday Night Lights, which somehow lasted five seasons when almost nobody watched it at the time it was aired.  It's a show about people in a football-driven town.  It's not a show about football.  Important distinction.  It's a show based on a movie that was based on a book written by Buzz Bisinger.  There are talks about a possible movie which would make that movie based on a TV series based on another movie which was based on a book.

Unlike Buffy, FNL was a great show from the start.  Watch the pilot and if you don't like it, your opinion sucks.  But seriously if you somehow watch the pilot and come away disappointed, I can't really suggest you watch the rest of the series.  Most shows need to figure out what they are about and what the audience likes, but this show hit the ground running immediately.

Also, this tip is easy to do since most TV series set in high school do the same thing, but ignore the 30-year-olds who are somehow in high school (I'm exaggerating, but the age thing is still ridiculous).  The only one who looks remotely like a teenager is.... a teenager who plays the coach's daughter.

 Shows I'm still watching
Since I'm doing a chronological thing apparently, I'll start with The Sopranos.  This is the show that basically every other show since can thank for what it did.  I'm only in Season 2, so I can't really explain its impact or what it does very well.

I know it largely started the star of the show being an anti-hero.  He's a bad guy, but we love him.  For example, Don Draper on Mad Men, Walter White on Breaking Bad, Stringer Bell and Omar Little on The Wire - among others.  These are men that we somehow root for even if we know they are terrible terrible people.

It shows how unglamorous and how mundane mob activity is in everyday life.  Sure, there is a lot of killing and these men will do terrible things for money, but the show basically shows how much like a real job it is.  I can't think of a single Sopranos family member except the son (who still has five more seasons to do something) who is NOT manipulative and clever at getting people to do what they want.

The show is character-driven and you rarely see characters act out-of-character.  Lastly, the show is showing the mob as past their prime and on the decline and the end is in sight.  Also, I think it's a commentary on America, but I'm not far enough to comment further.  The show began it's run in January of 1999 and ended its run in June of 2007.  Date-wise, I'm in March of 2000, so I have hardly scratched the surface.

Next is Mad Men, which began airing in July of 2007.  This show is a period piece heavy with a character-driven emphasis .  It's honestly kind of slow, but the fact that it feels like the show is set in 1960, is well-acted, and well done all around makes it a great show.  If this makes sense, the show is like real life so the plot is... almost not there.  However, most people won't watch shows for its plot, they watch it for the characters.

Mad Men undoubtedly did something few television shows attempt and I'm pretty sure none have done it better.  The attention to detail on the sets and the clothes and the attitudes all seem accurate.  (I obviously can't say that it is having not been born until a while later)

It captures the smoking culture, the largely intolerant culture (of gays and sexist attitudes), the acceptance of casual drinking, and at times fits in how characters reacted to famous events back then.  All that keeps the viewer interested for the first few episodes, but the character work keeps them watching the show.  After all, you can't sustain a gimmick for multiple seasons if there's nothing on the surface.

Lastly, there's Breaking Bad.  This is - last season pending - my second favorite TV show behind The Wire.  There's pretty much nothing it can do to surpass The Wire, but I don't think any TV show has come anywhere close to The Wire either.  Breaking Bad is definitely #2 on my list and barring a disaster of an ending, will probably be way ahead of #3.  The show has portrayed a normal guy, who by all accounts is a model citizen, and slowly morphed him into a genuinely evil man who has killed many people for his own gain.  I saw Walter White as inspirational at the beginning of the series and now I'm not rooting for him at all.  Well done.

Shows I will watch
With the exception of 24 and The Shield, I have little idea of what to expect from these shows.  I just know that they're good.  For instance, I have absolutely no idea what Deadwood is about.  I'm pretty sure it's a Western and I'm pretty sure the series ends rather abruptly (not hard to believe given it lasts just three seasons).

I know the series Oz is about prison life, but not much else.  I also know Juno's dad and Mayhem play characters in the series so there's that.  Also, apparently Oz was The Sopranos without the viewership.  It paved the way for The Sopranos with its storytelling, it just didn't get the viewers to be as widely recognized.  It was critically acclaimed, it just wasn't received greatly by the audience.  The Sopranos was.  (So I understand the importance of this to television, as opposed to Deadwood, where I have no clue at all as to its importance)

Battlestar Galactica is the same way.  I know its a scifi show and I know it's... well that's actually it.  I have the benefit of having little idea of what this show was about as before I started getting into TV and that has allowed me to avoid any information at all.  I might as well watch this as if it was 2004, because i have the same knowledge of the show as the original viewers did.

As for the shows I have an idea about, I know 24 is set within one day.  I've heard that the first season is good television, and then it gets a bit ridiculous the more seasons that come (Source: Tim Goodman).  This is the show I am most worried about watching.  It has so many seasons and it's apparently so addicting, that by the time I'm watching what is probably bad TV, I'll already be hooked and keep watching.  So I'm pretty sure I need to stop watching at some point when I get into this show and not watch the entire series.

I know The Shield is about a cop who is willing to kill and break the law to get justice.  That's about it. This is a show though that I knew was around, but never watched.  (As opposed to Deadwood, which I didn't know existed when it aired).

Final Thoughts
Here's something odd that I can't explain: I plan on re-watching each series so far that I've seen, but I have literally zero inclination right now to re-watch Friday Night Lights.  I have an irresistible desire to re-watch The Wire at least once a year for the rest of my life and to re-watch Buffy probably more than two times (already started the first re-watch).  I want to re-watch The Sopranos and Mad Men, not because of an irresistible desire, but because I think I'd appreciate the show a lot more if I did.

Lost has a very small inkling of being re-watched.  I want to watch Lost in chronological order as some super fan has arranged the show to be watched in that order.  I have hardly any desire to re-watch the show as it aired though.  I'm not really sure what the point of telling you this was, but I guess that even though I have a bunch of TV shows, these transcendent TV shows have forced me to make time so I could watch something I have already seen.  I think it's pretty remarkable to make a viewer want to watch a show where they know what's coming.  It's relatively easy to make a viewer curious to watch a show the first time, but to make a viewer watch multiple times is very impressive.  (I can't explain it, but Friends is never old for me and probably never will be.  I'm guessing nostalgia)

Next post: Quirky comedy section gets highlighted with NINE shows that I am still in the middle of watching.

Introduction to Site

Lately, I have become slightly motivated to write about sports, but then my need to write went away soon after I began writing an article on something sports-related and I found myself disinterested in finishing.  I can't seem to put enough focus into finishing a detailed, numbers-driven article.  Usually a sports post will take me hours, so I'm assuming that has a lot to do with it.

So here I am giving writing about television a try, which for the past year or so has become an insane habit of mine.  My purest intention is to watch good television.  So I never go into a TV show blind (I doubt many do).  I check IMDB ratings, I check my favorite TV reviewers opinions of shows, I take into account what my friends think of the show, and basically just get a feel if the show is worth my time.  (This sounds harsher than I intend, I assure you.)

My opinion is that this is the golden age of television.  At least, this is the age where you can pretty much watch a good television series as long as you buy Netflix.  There are seriously enough good TV series on Netflix to last you years so long as you don't burn through entire series in a month.

I am mostly going to be writing season reviews, although doing episode reviews of classic television shows such as The Sopranos has intrigued me.  So I periodically do episode reviews of that nature.  I've also sporadically done episode reviews of personal favorite television shows of mine.  I wrote Breaking Bad episode reviews and doing episode reviews for The Americans.  I'll pick and choose which shows I do very strictly so this isn't going to be a normal thing.

To be clear, here's an idea of how crazy I am with this obsession of mine.  I mentioned sports writing before which I wrote three times a week for a while.  That was replaced by needing to watch the greatest movies of all time, which I usually found searching random sites.  (Needless to say, I was devastated when megavideo was declared illegal)  Then last year, I signed up for a month-long free trial of Netflix for a reason I'm not sure of right now, and you pretty much need Netflix once you've experienced it.  (Netflix is not paying me, believe it or not)

Anyway, somewhere along the line I started slowing watching good series, not really trying to watch ALL of the good series.  Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter, etc.  I had a bit of a slow start on this little quest of mine since my TV experience was limited to every Friends episode (each one I've seen more than once), CSI, Law and Order: SVU (strangely not the original), and... that's about it.  I never really committed to a series besides Friends (which I grew up on).

While on my winter break, I realized I was watching so many TV shows at once, that I decided to categorize the TV shows I was watching.  I ended up with eight different categorizations, totaling (don't laugh and I swear this is the real number) 76 shows.  76.  I've seen every episode of the series for 10 of those 76, so that means I'm either in the process of or haven't started 66 series that I want to see.

I should also mention that six of the 66 shows I literally cannot watch more episodes due to the fact that they have more seasons or they haven't been posted on Netflix.  And lastly, seven of the shows are in the last season that I can watch or that aired.  

That still leaves a TON of shows.  I'm not delusional.  This is going to take a few years especially with school.  I'm sure summer will bring an uptick in episodes watched.  (Also, I expect the shows to gradually decline as the year progresses as the beginning features little homework and the end is finals)

So I guess this is a good place to mention what my eight categories are.  First, are the greatest shows on television or the shows that changed television (Link) - according to Alan Sepinwall, my favorite TV critic.  Here's the list and whether I've watched, am watching or plan to watch (updated 6/24/14):

Breaking Bad - Status: Seen all five seasons
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Status: Seen all seven seasons

Friday Night Lights - Status: Seen all five seasons

Lost - Status: Seen all six seasons
Mad Men - Status: Seen all seven seasons

The Wire - Status: Seen all five seasons
The Shield - Status: Seen all seven seasons

The Sopranos - Status: Seen all six seasons

24 - Status: Seen first six seasons

Deadwood - Status: Watching first season

Battlestar Galactica - Status: Not started

Oz - Status: Not started

This category is my most exciting and the one I look forward to completing the most.  The best part is that I own all seasons to Deadwood and Oz plus 24 is on Amazon Prime, which I recently purchased.  I finished The Shield by watching the free seasons that popped up on Hulu every three months.  Soon the first two seasons will be there and I recommend you start when given the chance.  I'll be finishing 24 over the next year and beginning Deadwood sometime next spring.  Oz and Battlestar will be considerably later.

When I first wrote this post in January of last year, I had a different group of categorizations that I became dissatisfied with so I changed my categorizations to better fit how I ended up actually watching these shows.  I still have the shows that changed television, which I still only watch one television series at a time meaning I wait until I finish one series before I start another.  The exceptions are Mad Men, which is still airing, and 24, which is a show I try to binge-watch and I can safely separate my viewing experiences by seasons.  Basically, I make sure I have a week or so of time available to watch the show before I begin a season and that means I'll probably be unable to watch any seasons during the school year.

Another categorization that hasn't changed is Classic Comedy.  I've re-arranged some of the shows, but this is the simplest one and mostly is undisturbed.  The most recent of the shows stopped airing in 2006.  The earliest of the shows began airing in 1960.  I'll refer you to my updated Classic Comedy post if you're interested in reading about the 14 shows that fall under that.

The category formerly known as Quirky Comedy is now just Comedy.  This has mostly not changed.  I switched out Scrubs and Arrested Development and added a few shows.  This is another 14 show category.  If you're interested in reading about specific shows, read my Comedy post.

Another category that has survived is Procedurals.  In fact, I've basically split this into two different categories, Procedurals and USA Shows.  USA Shows from what I've seen are procedurals in the loosest sense (a drama that isn't serialized - you can watch any episode in any season and be able to not be affected too strongly; maybe you missed a relationship that developed but nothing important).  But I felt uncomfortable listing Burn Notice and Law and Order in the same category as they are not even close to the same show.  If you're interested in reading about these two categories, I consolidated them into one post here.

(If you've fallen upon this link now, it means you've seen this earlier than I intended.  I had eight original categories, but only three of them were even close to the same as my revised categories.  I now have 13 categories.  My unconventional drama's name is now changed and is basically unrecognizable from its original group of shows.  I scrapped Supernatural as a category as I realized Star Trek would take too long to watch and was detracting from me watching anything else in its category and made Star Trek its own category; Anyway, I should update the rest of the categories soon)

Next Post: I'll talk about shows that changed TV