Category: tv

I have a tv recommendation for you: Undercover Boss at CBS.com. It’s a reality show about the head of a major corporation doing entry-level work for a week. The episode I saw about Waste Management almost made me cry. It’s shmaltzy and uplifting in the best way. I also saw the Hooters episode. It was fine, but I suggest watching the Waste Management episode instead. Run, don’t walk, to watch this show!

The Emmys were last night and none of my favorites won, booo. Instead of moping about what should have been, let’s talk about other times I felt like throwing a shoe at my tv, ok? OK!\
10. Virtuality– This was a great pilot about astronauts in space, similar to ABC’s seemingly canceled Defying Gravity but so much better. It was written by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Peter Berg. That alone should have guaranteed a pick-up. But Fox passed on it, blowing a chance at having both a successful and critically acclaimed show on its network.\
9. Smallville– The first couple of seasons were entertaining enough, but the show never lived up to its potential, which I found extremely frustrating.\
8. Dr Who– Nine leaving broke my heart and I have never forgiven the show for it, even though Ten completely won me over within minutes of his first episode.\
7. Veronica Mars– Everything after S1 left me unsatisfied. The S1 finale was so great and contained a wealth of material for a follow-up mystery, yet S2 and S3 were mostly meh. Well, it was still better than most of the stuff on tv, but not as good as it should have been.\
6. Alien Nation– The show ended in a classic cliff-hanger as a bomb was delivered to the Francisco home. Fast forward a few years to the made-for-tv movie where the bomb was never addressed. Come on! Reward your loyal viewers. A throw-away line would have sufficed.\
5. Jay Leno on Prime Time. I can’t even stand all of the reality programs that have sneaked into the lineup. NBC giving up three to four hours of scripted tv (depending on how many Datelines it airs) just irritates me.\
4. Beverly Hills, 90210– Brandon and Kelly call off the wedding moments before it is due to start. I get that Jason Priestly wanted off the show, so of course they couldn’t get married. However, it’s the given reason with which I have a problem. They decided to not get married after Steve talked about how “all of life’s mysteries are over,” that their lives were forever planned out and nothing unexpected would ever happen again. Steve then made some lame-ass remark about having a one-night stand later while Brandon would be stuck with the same woman for the rest of his life. UGH. Only someone never married [for love] would ever utter such complete nonsense.\
3. Twin Peaks– The revelation of who killed Laura Palmer. It’s clear the writers didn’t have a clue who the culprit was and were just making things up as they went along. While the journey was fun, the resolution left me completely unsatisfied.\
2. Queer As Folk:US– This is one of my favorite shows of all time. It is campy, gripping, soapy, poignant, funny, topical, moving. (Seriously, you try watching Ted check in to rehab without crying.) I want to recommend the show to everyone I know. On second thought, scratch that, since I only know family members and this isn’t a show to watch with your family. But you, you all in land of the internet, should totally check out the show. The show grabbed my attention when the three guys started singing, “I love the night life” and I was hooked a few minutes later when one of the guys complimented a drag queen on her outfit, “Not everyone can wear tangerine.” Ha. I love the editing and the music and the acting. The show is flawed, sometimes tries too hard, preaches too much, but it is just so damn entertaining I don’t care about any of that. The great thing about watching the show on DVDs is the lack of hiatus and no waiting months for resolutions after cliff-hangers! But this list now is about moments that made me bitter, so I’ll stop praising the show and get to the point. The ending of QAF definitely deserves to be on this list. The finale seemed rushed, important developments were glossed over, characters became OOC (out of character), and most egregious: the lead character’s entire arc was sacrificed for some ideal about queer culture. Or something. I still don’t fully understand the reasoning behind it, I just know that I thought it was a cheap choice. (But even still, this show is in my top three favorites of all time!)\
1. Gilmore Girls– Lane’s “good” behavior results in bad sex. Lane was the the nerdy/quirky/cool girl who rebelled against everything her mother taught her except the belief of abstaining from sex before marriage. She gets married and finally gets to be part of Sex-Is-Great Club only to have horrible sex once on her honeymoon; it’s so bad she doesn’t want to do it again. She accuses Rory of purposefully lying about the pleasure involved. Later Lane finds out that her one time resulted in a pregnancy. With twins. Without ever getting to experience the good part. WTH? Nice message there, writers.\
Hey, internet: What are some tv moments that left you feeling bitter?\
Next time on TV Talk: Does an unhappy and/or unsatisfying ending ruin the whole viewing experience? (Think Sopranos, Quantum Leap, Angel, Seinfeld.)

A campaign to save a tv show that actually might work.\
I am not going to link sources. If you really care, google it and I’m sure a dozen will pop up.\
The season finale for Chuck is on Monday on NBC. Kevin, my awesome husband of 11 years and no, you cannot have him, really likes Chuck. It’s smart, funny, and heartwarming. But Chuck is in danger of cancellation. The solution? Prove that people are watching! The idea has been proposed that fans buy a footlong sub on Monday from Subway, a major sponsor of the show, before the episode and then gnosh out while watching. (This is so much better than sending in bottles of hot sauce (Roswell), yes?) When Subway sales go up for Monday, The Powers That Be will have their proof. Money talks, so what are you saying? Spread the word!\
Whether you watch Chuck on tv, tivo, nbc.com, Hulu, or some other means, make sure you buy a footlong sub on Monday from Subway. Or just buy a footlong sub on Monday from Subway because they are yummy and this is a neat experiment!\
I think I am going to get a turkey, tomato, and lettuce on wheat with green pepper, for a fresh crunchy kick, sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper and a bit of mayo. What are you going to get?

After telling Kevin that I really enjoyed the first season of HBO’s True Blood but that I doubt I will watch it next season, he exclaimed, “You always do that! It’s like you have one-night stands with tv shows.” Ha! It’s totally true, I do. After the first seasons of Big Love, Pushing Daisies, Chuck, and Eureka, just to name a few, I said the same thing. They were all good, but I couldn’t imagine the show going anywhere interesting. (Most viewers agreed with me about Pushing Daisies, and it was canceled. Sorry, Kev!) After only watching the pilot of Breaking Bad, which made most critics’ Best Of List, I was satisfied enough with the character arc to not even bother with the rest of the season.\
In conclusion, watch HBO’s Generation Kill!\
And How I Met Your Mother\
That is all.

We finally got DirecTV hooked up at the house, which means the Tivo is back and ready to record. Unfortunately, now I have to go through all the network shows, delete them and add them back (if it can find them). So, this morning as I groggily recover from an allergic reaction to last night’s scallops (the doctor didn’t say to avoid them and I’ve had them before without them doing anything, but for some reason, last night’s got me good), I’m going through the Season Pass Manager and fixing things while everyone else is at church.\
First, I wrote down all the shows, and I thought this would be an interesting list to post. A lot of these shows are Jen’s, but here are our network shows in “priority” order according to Tivo:

• Heroes (shared)
• Supernatural (Jen’s)
• Numb3rs (Jen’s)
• The Office (shared)
• Without a Trace (Jen’s)
• Lost (mine)
• How I Met Your Mother (Jen’s)
• Big Bang Theory (shared)
• Bones (Jen’s)
• My Name Is Earl (mine)
• Chuck (shared)
• 30 Rock (shared)
• Pushing Daisies (shared)
• Dirty Sexy Money (Jen’s)
• Friday Night Lights (shared)
• Criminal Minds (Jen’s)
• Life (shared)
• Reaper (shared)
• American Dad (mine)
• The View (so Jen’s)
• Family Guy (mine)
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (shared)
• Welcome to the Captain (Jen’s)
• Swingtown (Jen’s)
• Secret Life of the American Teenager (so so so Jen’s)
• Flashpoint (Jen’s)\
  The other 34 shows on the Tivo are all non-network shows spread out over the TV-viewing spectrum. I’ve been so busy, and we’re been in the middle of the summer TV doldrums, I almost haven’t missed having TV at all, other than Pardon the Interruption, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Tell me you people are watching How I Met Your Mother. This week’s episode rocked! (Ha, literally.) Since I am a total spoiler-phobe, I was completely surprised at the many, many awesome surprises! Foshizzle, eh? Now I am off to check the Robin Sparkles videos that I have seen running amok on YouTube.\
And if you aren’t watching How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Monday, 8:30), I weep for you.

How I Met Your Mother was so funny last night I almost busted a gut and a lung. Even Kevin laughed out loud! How come more people aren’t watching and loving this show? It is really smart and funny, without being Sports Night level of smart, which apparently was too smart for the general tv viewer. And it loves continuity! I always have to give a big thumbs up for that. Come on, people, get on the good-tv train and check HIMYM out! (Mondays, 8:30 pm on CBS)\
For those who have already seen the episode: Clicky.