TV Watchers Unite! May 5, 2008

Ugh. It is freezing where I am right now, and its not because of the weather outside…why is it that when it is warm outside, it is a popsicle inside, and when it is freezing outside, it’s a sauna?! Ah, But I digress…

I haven’t been around lately, and just (kinda) caught up with my TV viewing of post-writer’s strike episodes. So far, not impressed. If I have survived this far with not caring about characters, does that mean the networks are going to lose me as a viewer? I can say that Thursday night’s ABC line-up is pretty much the only thing I look forward to nowadays, but whatever, I’m going to tell you what I watch and why in 30 seconds or less…why 30 seconds? Because if you are like me, I have a short-attention span (which is why I love TV!) J

Mondays:

BONES: Great chemistry still exists between Brennan and Booth, but what ever happened to Angela and Hodgin’s impending nuptials?

GOSSIP GIRL: Sad to say that I think this is losing its “cool” factor…although I hear they are intro-ing a new character who is going to out Serena’s brother…like we didn’t see that one coming…(only on episode 1 of 4)

ONE TREE HILL: Ah, my guilty if-it-is-set-in-North-Carolina-does-that-make-it-

Dawson’s-Creek weekly pleasure. Yes this show needs to end, but I love Peyton….my child’s name (or my next dog, whichever comes first) is going to be named Peyton…

SAMANTHA WHO: Just became a fan during the strike (it was practically the only show in its entirety online). Christina Applegate is hilarious, but really, ABC, how long can a show about an amnesiac last?

Tuesday:

NCIS: Last week’s episode was kinda lame…like I care about the germ-o-phobs life outside of NCIS….like I care about her at all. Sure, it looked like Iraq, but I had no sympathy for the girl…please bring back Agent Wong or whatever her name is and the autopsy gremlin…I miss those two..and can we NOT have Ziva fall in love with Tony? Please?!

DWTS: Yeah, I’ve tuned out. It’s not fun anymore.

WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB: Yay! Women with great haircuts and kick ass attitudes doing Law and Order type thingys….Finally! How did Angie Harmon not have a boy toy already!?!? (The Kiss-Me-Not killer does NOT count!)

REAPER: I have yet to catch up on this one…Yes, I do miss it. But I was getting sick of the Andi will-they-wont-they storyline. At least they introduced some new characters…even if they are demons.

Wednesday:

CSI: NY: With my Tivo going skizo on my CSI: NY scheduling, it becomes confusing when Spike is running season two episodes, and I am watching new episodes…but at least it is better than CSI: Las Vegas (or the original CSI, if you will). Grissom is boring without Sarah. And now Warrick is in rehab (in real life). Time to end the original series, folks.

ANTM: Yeah, fine. They are in Italy. I hate them. I totally thought the Russian girl was going to win. But now she’s not even on anymore…although Whitney is…and when did being a size 10 make you a plus-size model!? Ugh…but you can’t beat the photo shoots. I’m thinking the blond that talks weird is gonna take it all. Too bad, cause me likey the Whitney.

TOP CHEF: My new favorite enjoyment. I love it. I think Dale and Richard should open up a restaurant named “Pretentious”. But one of them will probably walk away with it. I’m sick of the judges being overdramatic though. Oh well. Quickfire’s ROCK!

Thursday:

Please, like you watch anything besides UGLY BETTY, GRAY’S ANATOMY and LOST…ok, fine THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK too..

UGLY BETTY: Ok, Henry, realize that Charlie is a whore and just let her go!

GRAY’S: Oh, Meredith. Thank god Addison came back and talked some sense into you…oh wait…and Rose, please, get a life, and not Derek’s…could a surgeon be gay!? No way! Alex, oh, Alex….Jane Doe’s a whore. But we love that she comes back anyway, cause she’s the only girl that can make you weep.

LOST: Oh, how I love thee. Flash forwards, stolen babies, secret missions for Sawyer…The best thing they ever did was to say they were going to sum it all up by 20010…just in time for 24 to come back. J

So, as you can see, I watch a lot of TV. But I love it.

BTW, I finally finished all of PBS’ Carrier…fantastic series. It was intriguing, if not gut-wrenching…some episodes were monotonous, but wasn’t that the point? I liked how they questioned why they hadn’t dropped any bombs, but then the tour after them did. Great aerials, great stories, all in all, PBS did a phenomenal job.

That glow in the city’s night sky April 22, 2008

I walk my dog every night around the block, and every night, like clockwork, he goes to the same spot, around the corner, across from a fire hydrant, and against an iron fence. I know, not the most ideal, but I guess it is where he finds familiarity.

And every night, while I watch the city night around me, always aware of my surroundings (I am a single gal, after all), I always witness my own familiarity…the glow of the television sets that light up the city night sky. And I start to wonder…has TV become a familiar background in our every day lives, pacifying us and making us as a culture feel “comfortable” and “familiar”? Do we, as a culture, rely on TV to put us to sleep, wake us up, babysit our children, and pacify us into a coma-induced drone? Since this week is “Turn Off Your Electronics” Week, I beg to take the defense on this one…that TV, is becoming more complex as a medium, and although it is still slandered for many a crime, it has come light years from where it once was.

I don’t want to get into a debate of how the content of television shows is basically crap. We have now all grown up in a society where television was very present in our lives (unless you are my ninety-year old grandma, in which case, if you are reading this blog, you are hip enough to understand the television conundrum). With shows first being designed to entertain, then to influence, then finally to educate, television watchers nowadays are smart…and if a series isn’t written well, or put into the correct timeslot, it will not survive. We, as a culture, have too many channels and too many options to stick around one show in hopes that it will be better…we just simply change the channel. But has all this power of option made us a smarter viewer, or just an indecisive one?

I could debate this one until the cows come home, but I won’t because, since we are a TV based culture, I know the attention span of the average person reading this is probably about 2 minutes. So let’s shelve this debate for another day…

But my main point of today’s blog was this: Every night I wonder what these people in the hi-rises around me are watching…are they getting their news from the #1 news source of Chicago? (That’s ABC7, according the recent polls)…or are they getting their news and political commentary from Jon Stewart and Colbert? We once looked to Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson for our political and pop culture news, and now we are finding other outlets to satisfy our escapism sweet tooth. I stopped watching late night TV. Since the advent of DVR, I like to say I am taking an active role in my television addiction. You see, I love television. I love it for its absurdity, its information, its commentary, and its familiarity. I watch America’s Next Top Model and Top Chef when I need to laugh and escape…I watch CSI or NCIS or Cold Case when I am in a narrative mood…I watch Masterpiece and NOVA and the History Channel when I want to feel informed…and every time Charlie Gibson’s says ‘I hope you’ve had a good day’, I always find myself thinking…yeah, I guess it was an ok day, Charlie, thanks for asking. In this world of uncertainty, where the only thing that is guaranteed is that the gas prices will continue to rise, I guess we all find our solace in the calming glow of the television…which informs us…that no matter where we are in life, or what we’re doing…through the glow of that 70-inch plasma, or the 5-inch TV in the kitchen….somehow, someway, television is connecting us all. (even if it is just by our overpriced cable bills…)