The amount of distress I would feel if my TiVo ever died is distressing in itself.
As a corollary to that, I firmly believe that the availability of television series on DVDs may end up being one of the greatest things that has ever happened in the entertainment industry.
My thoughts on things I have been watching this spring:
In Treatment. This has been some of the best television I have ever seen. It's very theatrical, and not in the perjorative sense. I mean it is very much like theater in that 95% of the show takes place in real time, in one room, and it just sucks you right in. I loved the conceit of it being on every night, Monday through Friday, for half an hour, for eight weeks, plus three episodes next week. I liked that this show required some commitment. There wasn't a single episode where I wasn't totally captivated, and a few where I felt like I hadn't breathed the whole time. The single best thing about it is that every single actor involved (and I am including Melissa George, who I have never liked in anything else I've seen her in) brought an extraordinary level of emotional commitment to their characters. I imagine Gabriel Byrne must be absolutely exhausted.
Slings and Arrows. This was a Canadian show that I think was produced from 2002 to 2004, three series of six episodes each. It takes place behind the scenes of the fictional New Burbage Shakespeare Festival theater, and was developed by Bob Martin (musical theater people will know him as the writer of The Drowsy Chaperone, for one), Mark McKinney (A Kids in the Hall alum and also the guy who played the one writer they brought on to Studio 60 after firing all the hacks), and another actress on the show. It was a quirky, hilarious, well-written, well-acted delight from start to finish. And Paul Gross, who I had never seen before (apparently he was in Due South, which I never watched), is hot.
Torchwood. I may have mentioned this show once or seventeen times. I have found the second season to be much like the first, which is that it started off really strong through the first three or four episodes, then got a bit cracky in the middle, but seems to be finding a groove again at the end. There's one episode left (for those of us who are too impatient for the two-week delay on SciFi), and the last two episodes leading up to it have been all kinds of awesome, particularly when they feature Jack and Ianto shagging in the greenhouse.
John Adams. I feel very responsible and grown-up watching this. Like everything else on HBO, the production values are fantastic. I will say that I have never been Paul Giamatti's biggest fan; I think he's very good, but I don't lose my mind over him the way most people seem to, and I couldn't get through Sideways. But both he and Laura Linney, who I do love in everything, are giving amazing performances.
MI-5. I'm a bit late to this party but this show is very enjoyable. I remember a bit of kerfuffle over its violence, but I haven't found it to be particularly worse than American television (except for maybe the one part where they killed this woman by dunking her head in a deep fryer.) Anyway, I've been watching it on the free streaming thing from Netflix. The selection of streaming Netflix is overall a bit slim (only the first two season of MI-5 are available on it) but the quality is very good, and it's pretty much the only time I've been grateful for the mammoth laptop screen I have.
Jekyll. squintt! I am watching this! I'm halfway through and it is bloody brilliant. I do not feel the need to own box sets of series the way I once did, particularly now that I can no longer earn overtime, but I will need to own this. James Nesbitt is a revelation. Produced and written by Steven Moffat, who also did Coupling and some of the best Doctor Who episodes ever, including the one that features my bumper sticker/iPod shuffle quote.
The Riches. Very stoked about it returning, almost a year later, but as Michelle and I were watching it, we sort of realized that it had been, well, almost a year since we had seen it and we couldn't really remember very much about how it left off. I think when you have to ask "Whose blood is that again?", it's not a good sign. And unfortunately, there will only be seven episodes because of the strike. Sigh.
Eagerly anticipating the return of The Tudors, starting next weekend. Somewhat less eagerly anticipating the return of Doctor Who in April, because I am so very reticent about Catherine Tate as the new companion. The Comic Relief sketch they did is brilliant, yes, but I found Donna a bit annoying in The Runaway Bride, and I'm not sure I'm going to love an entire season of her. We shall see.
What I am no longer eagerly anticipating is pretty much anything on major network television. Feh.
My thoughts on things I have been watching this spring:
In Treatment. This has been some of the best television I have ever seen. It's very theatrical, and not in the perjorative sense. I mean it is very much like theater in that 95% of the show takes place in real time, in one room, and it just sucks you right in. I loved the conceit of it being on every night, Monday through Friday, for half an hour, for eight weeks, plus three episodes next week. I liked that this show required some commitment. There wasn't a single episode where I wasn't totally captivated, and a few where I felt like I hadn't breathed the whole time. The single best thing about it is that every single actor involved (and I am including Melissa George, who I have never liked in anything else I've seen her in) brought an extraordinary level of emotional commitment to their characters. I imagine Gabriel Byrne must be absolutely exhausted.
Slings and Arrows. This was a Canadian show that I think was produced from 2002 to 2004, three series of six episodes each. It takes place behind the scenes of the fictional New Burbage Shakespeare Festival theater, and was developed by Bob Martin (musical theater people will know him as the writer of The Drowsy Chaperone, for one), Mark McKinney (A Kids in the Hall alum and also the guy who played the one writer they brought on to Studio 60 after firing all the hacks), and another actress on the show. It was a quirky, hilarious, well-written, well-acted delight from start to finish. And Paul Gross, who I had never seen before (apparently he was in Due South, which I never watched), is hot.
Torchwood. I may have mentioned this show once or seventeen times. I have found the second season to be much like the first, which is that it started off really strong through the first three or four episodes, then got a bit cracky in the middle, but seems to be finding a groove again at the end. There's one episode left (for those of us who are too impatient for the two-week delay on SciFi), and the last two episodes leading up to it have been all kinds of awesome, particularly when they feature Jack and Ianto shagging in the greenhouse.
John Adams. I feel very responsible and grown-up watching this. Like everything else on HBO, the production values are fantastic. I will say that I have never been Paul Giamatti's biggest fan; I think he's very good, but I don't lose my mind over him the way most people seem to, and I couldn't get through Sideways. But both he and Laura Linney, who I do love in everything, are giving amazing performances.
MI-5. I'm a bit late to this party but this show is very enjoyable. I remember a bit of kerfuffle over its violence, but I haven't found it to be particularly worse than American television (except for maybe the one part where they killed this woman by dunking her head in a deep fryer.) Anyway, I've been watching it on the free streaming thing from Netflix. The selection of streaming Netflix is overall a bit slim (only the first two season of MI-5 are available on it) but the quality is very good, and it's pretty much the only time I've been grateful for the mammoth laptop screen I have.
Jekyll. squintt! I am watching this! I'm halfway through and it is bloody brilliant. I do not feel the need to own box sets of series the way I once did, particularly now that I can no longer earn overtime, but I will need to own this. James Nesbitt is a revelation. Produced and written by Steven Moffat, who also did Coupling and some of the best Doctor Who episodes ever, including the one that features my bumper sticker/iPod shuffle quote.
The Riches. Very stoked about it returning, almost a year later, but as Michelle and I were watching it, we sort of realized that it had been, well, almost a year since we had seen it and we couldn't really remember very much about how it left off. I think when you have to ask "Whose blood is that again?", it's not a good sign. And unfortunately, there will only be seven episodes because of the strike. Sigh.
Eagerly anticipating the return of The Tudors, starting next weekend. Somewhat less eagerly anticipating the return of Doctor Who in April, because I am so very reticent about Catherine Tate as the new companion. The Comic Relief sketch they did is brilliant, yes, but I found Donna a bit annoying in The Runaway Bride, and I'm not sure I'm going to love an entire season of her. We shall see.
What I am no longer eagerly anticipating is pretty much anything on major network television. Feh.