30 Days of Television Meme
In my quest to cover past memes, I'm doing the 30 Days of Television Meme that used to float 'round these parts. I decided to do all of the days in one fell swoop. I finish something but with less bloviating than if I did it day by day.
Day 01 - A show that should have never been cancelled: A bunch of contenders here. Dollhouse, Firefly, Smash, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Even for longer-running shows, I think that West Wing and Angel were both in positions in their final seasons to really game-change to new more interesting level.
However, I'll have to go for HBO's Rome, an epic historical fiction series from Caesar to Augustus that unfortunately only ran for two seasons. I'm moving through S2 of Game of Thrones. I ridiculously predict everyone who likes Game of Thrones would like Rome. Rome was mainly cancelled because it was too expensive- $10 million an episode. The good thing is that one can really see what that money paid for. A large powerhouse cast of British Who's Who actors, sets that perfectly embody both the grandeur but the also the dirt and seediness of the Roman empire, epic battles.
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching: Hmm, not sure how to answer this question. For instance, I think THE WORLD should have a chance to try out the brilliance that is Mad Men but at this stage, a bigger audience won't change the show's future or value. I'll say that while Community's goose is pretty cooked for network TV, I hope folks get into it and check it on Yahoo so that it has a future.
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this t.v season): My favorite new show this year was Fargo. I liked the movie a lot- but IMO, the show transcended the movie. It told an entirely new story but with a similar flair and humor. Although, warning, this shit is DAAAAARK. The Cohen Brothers have a dark sense of humor- but it's more wry but ultimately friendly to people. Fargo is too far deep in the head of monsters to ever be friendly to humanity.
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever: Despite my above answers, I'm kind of a sentimental pretentious marshmallow and my favorite show hasn't changed from when I fell in love with it in 2000- THE WEST WING. It may not be the *best* show. I agree that it could be too sappy and unrealistic. But it's my *favorite*. It tickles my funny bone, it pulls at my heart-strings, it makes me smiley and happy, it engages my attention on re-run with its quicky, sparkly dialogue and Official Guaranteed Three To Four Substantial Plots Per Episode.
Day 05 - A show you hate: Hmm, this is hard. I don't really watch shows that I know I'm going to *hate*. I may go down with the ship on former-good shows that disappoint or anger me in their later seasons. However, I don't really *hate-watch*. I think the best answer is probably Saturday Night Live. I get sucked in because SNL may do one or two good skits come election time or have a favorite actor hosting- but then I'll get reminded all over again that most of the show is utter crap. And some of its stupidest sketches go viral and I get drawn into their permanent booth in the zeitgeist. Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in.
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite t.v show: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part I and II. I won't go into detail because it'll clog up the rest of the list but LOOOOVE.
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show: Probably 90 Miles Away. So stupid.
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch: Unlike a bunch of my other favorites, I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the niche/cult show that *should* been a major "everybody loves it" hit. At least, it's first five seasons are universally appealing and have something for anyone.
Day 09 - Best scene ever: This is impossible. Impossible to pick just one scene and impossible to describe it without boring and spoilery plot recounts.
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving: I don't know why but I had my nose up on Game for Thrones for awhile but I'm loving it now.
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you: A lot of shows disappointed me but only Damages and House became so terrible that I dropped them even though I started out in LUUURRVE.
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times: I'm embarrassed now.. No comment!
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show: I'm weird. The show of my childhood was Seinfeld. Explains a lot, I know.
Day 14 - Favorite male character: I'm at a four way tie between Jed Bartlet, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Tony Soprano, and Don Draper. Yeah...
Day 15 - Favorite female character: Unlike with the guys, I have a clear winner. Willow Rosenberg, FTW. Honorable mentions for Buffy Summers, CJ Cregg, and of late, Cersei Lannister and Skylar White.
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show: I love a competitive reality show that has never been nearly hip enough to be water-cooler culturally dominant. I love Next Food Network Star and really an embarrassing amount of Food Network fare. Next Food Network Star combines food porn with business yak yak with snark. I enjoy Alton Brown, Bobby Flay, and Giada Di Laurentis as chefs and personalities.
Day 17 - Favorite mini series: HBO made a lot of my favorite mini-series. I think my Number 1 is Angels in America. I really must re-watch because this miniseries has it all- my favorite actors from Emma Thompson to Meryl Streep to Mary Louise Parker. It's a story of Jews and gays and the upper class and urban poor. It's sharply witty but hazily mythical.
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence: For visual art, I love Desperate Housewives including photos of its stars in famous paintings for the universal history of being a housewife. For music, Cheers is my favorite.
Day 19 - Best t.v show cast: I'm looking for big ensembles where lots of actors have dramatic meat and then on top of that, there are smaller one-off actors that distinguish themselves memorably. The West Wing, but Game of Thrones looks like it's getting up there.
Day 20 - Favorite kiss: Aw, I don't know. I'm not much of a shipper. Gilmore Girls had cute kisses. I like Rory's first kiss with Jess when they were really dating because of XTC's Then She Appeared.
Day 21 - Favorite ship: Don/Betty or Jed/Abbey. The light and dark sides of a coin on marriages centered on leveraging the appearance of the marriage for success in life in a way that drains the wife for the husband's mobility.
Day 22 - Favorite series finale: The Sopranos! Actually, by a lot. Although, I'm still waiting with high expectations for Breaking Bad and Mad Men's series finales.
Day 23 - Most annoying character: Andrew Wells is a satisfactory answer to this prompt in all conceivable ways.
Day 24 - Best quote: Impossible! To represent Sex and the City since it's not my answer for any of the other questions:
Samantha (on blow jobs): You men have no idea what we're dealing with down there. Teeth placement, and jaw stress, and suction, and gag reflex, and all the while bobbing up and down, moaning and trying to breathe through our noses. Easy? Honey, they don't call it a job for nothing.
Or:
Samantha: The country runs better with a good looking man in the White House. I mean, look what happened with Nixon; no one wanted to fuck him, so he fucked everyone.
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new): I'm stalled on Battlestar Gallactica (through lack of time) and The Wire (through struggling interest and lack of time)- but those are on my list.
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale: Hmm, Angel's Tomorrow fits this bill with a particularly virulent WTF directed at Cordelia.
Day 27 - Best pilot episode: It's a tie between The Sopranos's and Mad Men's Smoke Blows in My Eyes.
Day 28 - First t.v show obsession: Either Seinfeld or The Nanny.
Day 29 - Current t.v show obsession: I have *many* obsessions.
Day 30 - Saddest character death: I think Leo McGarry ended up hitting me the hardest because it stemmed from John Spencer's untimely death in real life. And West Wing really beautifully and tastefully found a way to include that death in the story.
Day 01 - A show that should have never been cancelled: A bunch of contenders here. Dollhouse, Firefly, Smash, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Even for longer-running shows, I think that West Wing and Angel were both in positions in their final seasons to really game-change to new more interesting level.
However, I'll have to go for HBO's Rome, an epic historical fiction series from Caesar to Augustus that unfortunately only ran for two seasons. I'm moving through S2 of Game of Thrones. I ridiculously predict everyone who likes Game of Thrones would like Rome. Rome was mainly cancelled because it was too expensive- $10 million an episode. The good thing is that one can really see what that money paid for. A large powerhouse cast of British Who's Who actors, sets that perfectly embody both the grandeur but the also the dirt and seediness of the Roman empire, epic battles.
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching: Hmm, not sure how to answer this question. For instance, I think THE WORLD should have a chance to try out the brilliance that is Mad Men but at this stage, a bigger audience won't change the show's future or value. I'll say that while Community's goose is pretty cooked for network TV, I hope folks get into it and check it on Yahoo so that it has a future.
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this t.v season): My favorite new show this year was Fargo. I liked the movie a lot- but IMO, the show transcended the movie. It told an entirely new story but with a similar flair and humor. Although, warning, this shit is DAAAAARK. The Cohen Brothers have a dark sense of humor- but it's more wry but ultimately friendly to people. Fargo is too far deep in the head of monsters to ever be friendly to humanity.
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever: Despite my above answers, I'm kind of a sentimental pretentious marshmallow and my favorite show hasn't changed from when I fell in love with it in 2000- THE WEST WING. It may not be the *best* show. I agree that it could be too sappy and unrealistic. But it's my *favorite*. It tickles my funny bone, it pulls at my heart-strings, it makes me smiley and happy, it engages my attention on re-run with its quicky, sparkly dialogue and Official Guaranteed Three To Four Substantial Plots Per Episode.
Day 05 - A show you hate: Hmm, this is hard. I don't really watch shows that I know I'm going to *hate*. I may go down with the ship on former-good shows that disappoint or anger me in their later seasons. However, I don't really *hate-watch*. I think the best answer is probably Saturday Night Live. I get sucked in because SNL may do one or two good skits come election time or have a favorite actor hosting- but then I'll get reminded all over again that most of the show is utter crap. And some of its stupidest sketches go viral and I get drawn into their permanent booth in the zeitgeist. Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in.
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite t.v show: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part I and II. I won't go into detail because it'll clog up the rest of the list but LOOOOVE.
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show: Probably 90 Miles Away. So stupid.
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch: Unlike a bunch of my other favorites, I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the niche/cult show that *should* been a major "everybody loves it" hit. At least, it's first five seasons are universally appealing and have something for anyone.
Day 09 - Best scene ever: This is impossible. Impossible to pick just one scene and impossible to describe it without boring and spoilery plot recounts.
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving: I don't know why but I had my nose up on Game for Thrones for awhile but I'm loving it now.
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you: A lot of shows disappointed me but only Damages and House became so terrible that I dropped them even though I started out in LUUURRVE.
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times: I'm embarrassed now.. No comment!
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show: I'm weird. The show of my childhood was Seinfeld. Explains a lot, I know.
Day 14 - Favorite male character: I'm at a four way tie between Jed Bartlet, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Tony Soprano, and Don Draper. Yeah...
Day 15 - Favorite female character: Unlike with the guys, I have a clear winner. Willow Rosenberg, FTW. Honorable mentions for Buffy Summers, CJ Cregg, and of late, Cersei Lannister and Skylar White.
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show: I love a competitive reality show that has never been nearly hip enough to be water-cooler culturally dominant. I love Next Food Network Star and really an embarrassing amount of Food Network fare. Next Food Network Star combines food porn with business yak yak with snark. I enjoy Alton Brown, Bobby Flay, and Giada Di Laurentis as chefs and personalities.
Day 17 - Favorite mini series: HBO made a lot of my favorite mini-series. I think my Number 1 is Angels in America. I really must re-watch because this miniseries has it all- my favorite actors from Emma Thompson to Meryl Streep to Mary Louise Parker. It's a story of Jews and gays and the upper class and urban poor. It's sharply witty but hazily mythical.
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence: For visual art, I love Desperate Housewives including photos of its stars in famous paintings for the universal history of being a housewife. For music, Cheers is my favorite.
Day 19 - Best t.v show cast: I'm looking for big ensembles where lots of actors have dramatic meat and then on top of that, there are smaller one-off actors that distinguish themselves memorably. The West Wing, but Game of Thrones looks like it's getting up there.
Day 20 - Favorite kiss: Aw, I don't know. I'm not much of a shipper. Gilmore Girls had cute kisses. I like Rory's first kiss with Jess when they were really dating because of XTC's Then She Appeared.
Day 21 - Favorite ship: Don/Betty or Jed/Abbey. The light and dark sides of a coin on marriages centered on leveraging the appearance of the marriage for success in life in a way that drains the wife for the husband's mobility.
Day 22 - Favorite series finale: The Sopranos! Actually, by a lot. Although, I'm still waiting with high expectations for Breaking Bad and Mad Men's series finales.
Day 23 - Most annoying character: Andrew Wells is a satisfactory answer to this prompt in all conceivable ways.
Day 24 - Best quote: Impossible! To represent Sex and the City since it's not my answer for any of the other questions:
Samantha (on blow jobs): You men have no idea what we're dealing with down there. Teeth placement, and jaw stress, and suction, and gag reflex, and all the while bobbing up and down, moaning and trying to breathe through our noses. Easy? Honey, they don't call it a job for nothing.
Or:
Samantha: The country runs better with a good looking man in the White House. I mean, look what happened with Nixon; no one wanted to fuck him, so he fucked everyone.
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new): I'm stalled on Battlestar Gallactica (through lack of time) and The Wire (through struggling interest and lack of time)- but those are on my list.
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale: Hmm, Angel's Tomorrow fits this bill with a particularly virulent WTF directed at Cordelia.
Day 27 - Best pilot episode: It's a tie between The Sopranos's and Mad Men's Smoke Blows in My Eyes.
Day 28 - First t.v show obsession: Either Seinfeld or The Nanny.
Day 29 - Current t.v show obsession: I have *many* obsessions.
Day 30 - Saddest character death: I think Leo McGarry ended up hitting me the hardest because it stemmed from John Spencer's untimely death in real life. And West Wing really beautifully and tastefully found a way to include that death in the story.