Friday, February 17, 2012

Must See TV...

I realize that I have been noticeably absent from the blogosphere. It is something a high school friend reminded me of when he sent an email recently, and I just spent an hour catching up reading some family blogs as I sit here and wait for Sue to come home for the evening. As a result, I thought I should attempt a comeback.  The theme for today is television shows that are "must see" in our household in Wallingford.

I have never been much of a couch potato.  I tend to be a very regimented person and a creature of routine.  This is something that Sue often teases me about but then she says it is one of the many things she loves about me.  My current work schedule is all over the map with very early mornings or late evenings and all times in between. 

Together however, we do find time to enjoy some of our favorite shows together, and now that the February sweeps are in full swing the DVR stays busy during primetime throughout the week.  We watch a lot of things from drama, reality, and the good old fashioned sit-com.  Some shows she has introduced me to, others, I have introduced her to, and others still we look at each other and say, "we should check that one out." 

Here are some of our favorites and why we enjoy them.

Survivor
This is one that I started watching way back in 2000 when it began the reality show genre in earnest.  After watching for several seasons, I got bored with it, or just spent my evenings being a father to young children during the pre DVR time period.  I began watching again a couple of years ago when my children were old enough and the theme was Heroes vs. Villans.  It featured the return of some of my favorite castaways, and I got back into it along with my children.  Even now that they don't live full time with me, they wait until they come to our house and then catch up on the DVR every two weeks.  It is something special they share with me. 

Jeff Probst is the host and continues to show why he is great at what he does.  He enjoys his job and it shows.  By the end of 39 days the remaining few survivors are beat up psychologically and physically. It is very entertaining!

True Blood
Brought to us by the great creators at HBO, True Blood is a show set in modern day Louisiana.  In it, vampires have "come out of the coffin" thanks to a synthetic blood that was invented in Japan.  As a result they can co-exist with humans.  True Blood is strictly a fantasy show, but is gritty, dark and very entertaining.  I have always enjoyed the vampire genre since being a kid, so this was something that interested me when I read about it.  A great cast, certainly does help too!

I introduced Sue to this and although she is not a fan of the horror genre (True Blood can be gory), she borrowed my season one DVD's and watched them over a weekend early in our relationship.  She now watches it religiously with me when it airs each summer on Sunday evenings.  Just last night I reminded her that before long, season five will be starting. 

Boardwalk Empire
Yet another one of HBO great series, this show is a crime drama based in the 1920's.  Set in Atlantic City during the prohibition era, this show features silver screen alumnus, Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson.  Mr. Thompson is the County Treasurer of Atlantic County and is very corrupt.  The show is epic in its portrayal of the prohibition era including great sets and great costuming to give the show a very authentic and historical look. 

This is another Sunday evening HBO show that we watch together faithfully.  It parallels historical records of gangsters such as Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, and Al Capone.  It is yet another home run by our friends at HBO.

Celebrity Apprentice
Yes, I know some people consider Trump to be arrogant, pompous and always looking for press, but we got into this last year.  We just started watching one evening on a whim, but then remained glued for the remainder of the season.  It was great seeing people such as Gary Busey and Meatloaf attempting to raise money for charity.  Meatloaf was quite good but Gary not so much.  As time went on, I became a John Rich fan and was happy to see him win in the finale. 

This season starts on Sunday and I am looking forward to the cast that Trump has put together.  Arsenio Hall, Clay Aiken, George Takkei, Paul Teutel, Victoria Gotti, Debbie Gibson, Teresa Giudice are just of few of the 18 celebs that will raise money for charity in the months ahead. 

I am happy to have DVR.  The show airs, 9-11 on Sunday nights and I have to be at work on Mondays at 5:00 AM.  Chances are this will be added to our Monday night lineup thanks to the DVR!

Two and a Half Men
This show Sue got me hooked on.  With all of the press that Charlie Sheen was getting last summer, Sue asked me if I saw this show and that it was really funny.  I had never seen it, but upon watching a few reruns, I realized I enjoyed it a lot.  Winning!

We now watch it weekly and think Ashton Kutcher is a pretty good addition/replacement to the cast.  As a result of watching this show, the show that airs right after is the next show on the list.

Mike and Molly
We have been hearing a lot about Melissa McCarthy and as we watched the recent awards shows, we have been hearing a lot about the female lead.  We decided to add this show to our routine and quickly got into it.  It's a great show!

Modern Family
For months, I kept hearing about this great show and you literally have to be living under a rock to not know about it many awards and cast who appears to be everywhere.  Married with Children alumnus, Ed O'Neil plays the patriarch of a family.  He is the older man with a significantly younger and beautiful latino wife.  His daughter has a "fairly" conventional family with a husband and 3 children, and then he has a son who is gay and has partner.  Together they have an adopted daughter.  The show is set in a mockumentary style kind of like The Office.  This is probably my new favorite show.  It never fails to make me laugh and often times Sue and I look at each other and just crack up watching it. 

Well, that took a little while to post but it certainly made my evening go by pretty quick!  The even better news is that Sue will be home in a few minutes!

Ciao for now!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home