Supernatural Genre

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

Previous Sections
The Shows That Changed Television
Quirky Comedy
Unconventional Drama
Classic Comedy
British TV Shows

This section of TV shows is relatively easy to understand.  It's a television show where there is a force beyond scientific understanding at play.  Simply put, these are shows with ghosts, aliens, and all kinds of other manifestations of that nature.

I mentioned that British TV Shows was a section I would finish pretty fast since barely any British TV shows last all that long.  Well, this is the direct opposite.  Most of these shows are long-running and the first TV show is hard to watch, because it is a show that has aged terribly.

I'm going to start in chronological order, starting with the TV show I am in the middle of watching.

Star Trek (1966-1969)
Well, I don't really know where to start.  I'm watching this the same way a movie buff would need to watch The Birth of a Nation.  Yes, it's not really good in modern terms.  Yes, it's definitely not politically correct in modern terms either.  But it changed television into what it is today.

Part of the problem is that many shows do what Star Trek did first.  So the originality aspect of Star Trek that made it so great is simply another cliched show from my perspective.  So let me run down the many problems that I've run into while watching this show:

Perhaps the worst effect any TV show can have on its viewer: boredom.  I constantly check to see if the episode is almost over.  It's a chore to watch most of these episodes.  I do it, because I want to appreciate television history, dammit.  But seriously, it seems like a lot of the episodes have a whole lot of what I call "filler" - pointless bullshit that doesn't advance the plot.

The acting is incredibly over the top from William Shatner and whoever the villian is that week.  Leonard Nimoy and DeForrest Kelley are actually great actors that only highlight how bad Shatner is at acting.  This is a problem that I can't blame on the time period, quite frankly.  Good actors existed in 1966 right?

Things I can blame on the time period: the sometimes blatant sexism evident in some episodes.  It's pretty bad as all the women just fall for Captain Kirk for pretty much no reason.  When I say all the women, I mean ALL the women.  Is William Shatner really that attractive?  I have no idea.  When stuff like that happens to men like Shatner and Dennis Leary in Rescue Me, I'm always so confused, because man do I not see it.

The special-effects are out-dated sure, but that has never bothered me before.  I don't know the writing just seems way out-of-date.  I'm trying, but I am struggling.  I'll have a post up about Star Trek whenever I finish.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
My interest in Star Trek was piqued because of the cult fandom it produced.  The reason I ended up choosing to watch it was because of this series.  I haven't seen an episode, but by all accounts, this one is actually good.  Like good in 2012 not good in 1966 only.

Really I want to watch this for two reasons: Patrick Stewart and LeVar Burton.  Stewart, because of X-Men really, and he just seems like a fantastic actor.  Already he's got a point over the older show because the leading man can actually act.  Burton, because, well any Community fans out there?  (That's the only reason by the way - He appears on episode of Community as LeVar Burton)

Also, Wil Wheaton hasn't turned out half bad.  Not all child stars become crazy lunatics.

X-Files (1993-2002)
I have never seen an episode of X-Files.  However, this is one of those shows I go into pretty much knowing its awesome.  There's a special value to finding a show when it starts and then watching it be one of the best on television (Here's hoping The Americans is that!).  But it's also nice being able to start at the beginning knowing the show is headed to a wonderful place.

And that's where X-Files is.  I haven't seen Californication, so I'm not familiar with David Duchovny's acting credentials, but for some reason he annoys me.  It's the representation of what I imagine his character is like in Californication and that imaginative character annoys me, so in turn he annoys me.  Sense, this makes none.  I know.

Six Feet Under (2001-2005)
I want to watch this really for one reason: Michael C. Hall.  Namely, I've heard he plays a vastly different character than he does on Dexter.  I mean that makes sense since Dexter is one of the most original characters created.  But if I thought I appreciated his acting on Dexter, I think I'm going to be blown away on this show.

I have no idea if he stars or is a supporting player, but I don't really care.  Also, I'm under the impression that it's actually a good TV show, which is important.

Supernatural (2005-   )
Here's a show that I've wanted to watch since it first aired.  I never got around to watching a single episode somehow.  This blog has given me the motivation necessary to watch this show.... in like a year.  Plus, some twitter friends of mine are die-hard watchers of this show who've recommended it to me.

The Guild (2007- )
Well, this is awkward.  I have basically no idea what this show is about.  I just found out it was a comedy and it also is apparently a web series.  I just assumed it was on television since it's on Netflix.  Anyway, I'm a fan of Felicia Day so I'll give this series a shot.

An important thing to note by the way is that my sections are meant to be general so if a TV show doesn't appear to belong in a section, I don't really care.  I'm just trying to organize my TV shows into a coherent way for me to easily view all of them at one time or another.

Anyway, I'm forcing myself through Star Trek, which as I said, has aged pretty awful.  The most excited I am for any of these series has to be Six Feet Under, which I've wanted to watch for a while.  Next in line would have to be X-Files, a highly regarded show.

Update on Current Shows: (Episode listed is first episode I haven't seen yet)
American Horror Story - Season 1, Episode 3 - Very shitty so far, heard season 2 is good, might stick with it

Freaks and Geeks - Season 1, Episode 11 -  I'm dragging this show out as long as possible.  Excellent.

The Simpsons - Season 1, Episode 8 - Haven't seen this show in a while.  Might attempt an episode tonight.

Sons of Anarchy - Season 2, Episode 4 - Still a very good show.  Surprised they've maintained the quality of the first season.

The Sopranos - Season 2, Episode 11 - I will finish season 2 at some point in my life...

Next post: Probably episode reaction to the second episode of season 1 of The Sopranos, though I may think of something for tomorrow.

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