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Summer doldrums and 30 Rock
Posted: Jul 24, 2008 in Things to do, Culture, TV and Celebrities
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Not long ago I made a post about the fact that I'm watching hardly any TV this summer, despite shelling out a stupendous cable bill every month.
My decline in television watching is partly self-inflicted. Whenever a new show comes on that looks promising, I tend to avoid it because I don't want to take on the time to watch it every week once I get hooked. But if the show gets a lot of buzz, I'll usually try to catch a few back episodes to see what I'm missing. (Usually, as with "Heroes," I determine that it's not much.)
But all the great stuff I've heard about "30 Rock" made me go pick up a first-season DVD, and I just loved it. The bit where Alec Baldwin is struggling to film a corporate video literally had me falling off the couch. And I've always been a big fan of writer/star Tina Fey's brand of humor.
So I'm determined to spend the rest of summer catching up with the show before the new season starts in October. (Luckily, I discovered that Hulu.com has the entire second season for free. Woo!)
Anybody else have a show they were late to show up for?
I'm starting to like that Arrested Development show
Burn Notice. A little spotty in the consistency of acting. But definitely different than the rest. BTW - I am so F-ing sick of CSI shows I could just puke!
Arrested Development was brilliant. It's a shame that it didn't last that long. I'm laughing even thinking about "afternoon delight". I'm with evernhamanderson, over the CSI type shows.
I didn't get into Six Feet Under or The Sopranos until several seasons in. I actually started The Sopranos before the sixth season, and I think it was the third for Six Feet Under. Two of the best shows of the last 20 years, as it turns out.
And all the yacking I've done on this site for 30 Rock and you're just now getting to it? Make sure you keep an eye on the movie posters in Tracy Morgan's room, and watch for Jack's NBA referee Tim Donaghy joke in the second season.
BTW, after this post I'm having some 30 Rock jonesing. I'm seriously considering changing my handle here to "Who Dat Ninja?" Seriously, I am.
I didn't get into Six Feet Under or The Sopranos until several seasons in. I ...
Joe... what about Deadwood?
I still haven't seen a complete episode of Deadwood. I've heard good things, but I haven't gotten into it enough.
I'm a fan of Weeds, though, and I loved "In Treatment" and "Tell Me You Love Me" was pretty good, though I got away from it half way through the season and didn't catch up.
It seems like a lot of the best TV shows are on the pay movie channels. I've never had any of those channels, so I've been late to the game on pretty much all of those.
Dexter is one of my favorite TV shows ever. I can't praise this show enough. I ended up watching the entire second season in just a few days. It's based on a book called 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' and at the end of the second season, they reached the end of the book. I hope they're able to keep up the greatness without it in season 3.
Weeds is great. I'm still way behind on it though. I love Kevin Nealon's character.
Flight of the Conchords is hilarious. It's a pretty unique show and probably isn't something everyone will like. The songs in the show are both really funny and well made.
I've seen some episodes of Arrested Development that I liked, though I hear its much better if you're able to keep up with the plot, which I haven't done yet.
Maybe I've just caught the wrong episodes, but I haven't been able to get into 30 Rock.
I'm still finishing up the first season of 30 Rock, and the quality dropped a little after the eight episode or so, but still very strong.
Another show I'm tempted to catch up with on DVD is "The Wire."
I saw a couple each of episodes of "Six Feet" and "Sopranos" and never understood what the big deal was...
I've heard great things about both Dexter and The Wire.
I know this is an old hat, but thanks to Hulu and abc.com I was able to watch ALL of Lost (and sufficiently lose touch with the world for about a month).
My current comedy order is as follows:
30 Rock < Flight of the Conchords < The Office < It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
How in the world are people not talking about "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"?!? Once you have learned the characters, it blows every other comedy out of the water...I have converted about 12 of my friends into believers of the show. It's just too good to keep quiet! I can't wait until the next season starts.
Lost and Soprano's are also my other favorite, non comedy shows. I'm hoping a Soprano's movie eventually gets in the works, season 6 left me bummed out and wanting more.
I've heard really good things about The Wire, I've caught a few episodes of Deadwood and for some reason I just couldn't get amped about it.
Entourage is a really frickin good show. You have to check this show out.