152 insights into my soul

TV commentary:

SVU- The writers seem to have confused Atlantans (Atlanteans? People from Atlanta, not Atlantis) with like Alabamans or something. Because I don't think your average person from the ATL has talked liked the supposed people from Atlanta did in this ep since the 1800s. I did get a kick out of Harry Hamlin referring to Barba as "your Spanish dandy". Its like so over the top, all, lets have him be racist and homophobic (not that Barba is gay, or if he is I don't know, but the dandy remark seems to imply Rollins' ex boss thinks of him as effeminate), but in that "Southern Gentleman" way. And the way his wife was talking, I half expected her to start saying, "Ah do declare!" and hoping Rollins' mom "doesn't come down with the vapors" or something.

And hey, its nice to see Dreama Walker still doing stuff. Though it makes me sad for Don't Trust the B. And Happy Endings. And Selfie. Its total BS that those all got canceled.

So it is shocking that Whitney Houston died, I mean, yeah, she's been having problems as of late. I mean, I even saw an article on Friday about how she's been a bit of a mess, but I did not expect her to be dead a day later. In any case, what the hell is up with with people on Facebook being all "RIP, Whitney", but the pic is of Oprah Winfrey?! Is it a weird, tasteless joke? Did they hear Whitney and think Winfrey? Or did some idiots actually confuse Oprah Winfrey and Whitney Houston (though I don't see how, they look nothing alike!)? Its like when that lady called into that one show and thought Shirley from Community was in "The Help".

Is it necessarily racist though? I mean, one could think the person made the mistake because they think all people of a certain race look alike, but when a non-white person confuses Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, or thought Opie from Sons of Anarchy was played by Roy from the Office, is that person racist? They could just be mistaken!

I wish cooking wasn't such a hassle. I saw some ready to cook fresh bacon wrapped filets in the butcher section at Publix. Unfortunately, the only instructions on the package were for grilling, and looking up how to cook it not on the grill, it seems like such a hassle. Cooking it in a pan first, then transferring it to the oven. That's too much effort for a meal for myself.

Oh wait, Walking Dead is back tonight? As I've said before, I think I would enjoy the show more if I just could better ignore the commentary and complaints of people who only watch the show and know nothing about the comic. I'm so sick of people all, "X and Y suck, just kill them off already! Let's see Z and A more!" Well, they can't because that's not how the story goes! X and Y are prominent characters integral to the plot. Z and A died early on or didn't even exist in the comic. I'm fine with a certain character who doesn't exist in the comic, because he's turned out to be a pretty good character. But killing off this person and that, and not killing some other character, those deviations are too big! At that point, it ceases to be Walking Dead for me. So shut your stupid faces and stop trying to ruin the story.

Anyways, now that we're on the topic of TV, somehow it seems there's more TV on in the winter season than there was on fall. I mean, look at my viewing schedule:

Sun: Cleveland Show, Once Upon a Time, Family Guy, American Dad, Walking Dead (3 1/2 hours)
Mon: How I Met Your Mother, House, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, Alcatraz, Hart of Dixie, Being Human, Castle, Hawaii Five-O, Smash, Lost Girl (10 1/2 hours! WTF?!)
Tue: Glee, NCIS, New Girl, Raising Hope, White Collar, Justified (5 hours, 5 1/2 when Cougar Town comes back this Tuesday)
Wed: Modern Family, Happy Endings, Criminal Minds, SVU, Royal Pains (4 hours)
Thu: Vampire Diaries, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Person of Interest, The Finder, Secret Circle, Archer (6 hours)
Fri: Nikita, Fringe, Supernatural (3 hours)

So, its' list time. I'll break it into two categories, hour long and half/hour long shows. And I'll come up with the top 5 shows I prioritize in both categories. i.e., if I had missed a bunch of TV watching, these are the shows I'm catching up with first.

So, hour long dramas:

1) Glee- I guess I just love musical numbers. Smash is okay, and while I really liked the songs coming up in this week's ep (Blondie's "Call Me" from Katharine Mcphee, while Megan Hilty does Carrie Underwood's "Crazy Dreams"), the show has yet to hit me with something that delivered the emotional punch of "Don't Stop Believin'", "Somebody To Love" (The Queen one, not the Bieber one), "Keep Holding On", or "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty", among others. ( I babble on and on about the show for a more few more paragraphs, so here's a cut for your benefit )

2) Vampire Diaries- its easy to dismiss this as being the same as all that Twilight crap, that is just about a girl mooning over two or more creatures of the night. And while there is an element of that, the show still does the suspense so well. As I've said before, the show has constant twists and turns, and the plot actually moves at a breakneck pace. Way faster than you'd expect from a drama on the CW.

3) Fringe- The best sci-fi show on prime time TV right now, hands down. I have to question the "geek cred" of any sci-fi geeks who don't watch this show.

4) Nikita- Hey, this surprised me just a much that it made it on the list. But honestly, the show has just gotten really good. clevemire quit this show last season because nothing was happening. Which is amusing because right afterward was when things started happening. They've flipped the scripts multiple times already, and there's so many players right now that its chock full of intrigue. Not to mention the cool action.

5) Gossip Girl- Honestly, this show is only on this list because of Dair. The only reason I've been enthused about this show as of late was because they've so strongly hinted they're finally getting together. Of course, if they ever destroy that dynamic, particularly to get Blair back together with Chuck, and even worse, get Dan back together with Serena, I no longer have to watch this show.

FYI, Game of Thrones doesn't start up for almost 2 months, so its not a "Winter Season" show (Heh, which is kinda amusing given the whole "Winter is Coming" thing), otherwise it would easily be number 3 on this list, shifting everything else down.

The half hour sitcoms:

1) Archer- This show is just hilariously awesome. And its got action and obscure references and Judy Greer portraying Carol/Cheryl so hotly.

2) Modern Family- If I could put Community on this list (see below, at the end of this list), this show would be at number 3. But as it is, its the funniest sitcom currently on network TV, after Community.

3) Parks and Recreation- It started off as an Office clone, but eventually found its groove. I've been enjoying this more than the Office lately, probably because it makes a better use of its ensemble, and while I've said its found its own groove, it now reminds me of how the Office was when it was in its prime. The Office now is a little too soap operish, which you'd think would be right up my alley, but I don't think its balanced it out with the comedy. I mean, I'm totally engrossed by the Erin/Andy stuff, and the Val/Darryl stuff, but I haven't laughed like I used to for a while.

4) Happy Endings- Hey, I say this show is hysterical. If HIMYM was the Friends of the oughts, this show is on its way to becoming the Friends for the 20-teens. It does the style of humor New Girl is going for better than New Girl, particularly since it has a much stronger ensemble. I mean, Coach is barely a fleshed out character, and Jess, the main star, is one of the weaker parts of the cast. Let's face it, Elisha Cuthbert is prolly one of the bottom rungs of the Happy Endings cast, and I still find her funnier than Zooey Deschanel on New Girl.

And as I've said above, one of the ways to really make me laugh is make obscure, yet funny and clever references, which this show does well.

5) The Office/How I Met Your Mother- This is a tie, not because I couldn't decide which one I liked better, but which one I disliked more than the other. I voiced my complaints about the Office above in my Parks and Rec entry. As for HIMYM, it has the Barney/Robin stuff still going for it, but that is rightfully not the only thing on the show, because not everyone is into that stuff. So I think they've at least balanced that well. But the humor hasn't been hitting its mark as it has in the past.

Again, given they haven't even said when Community is returning, I couldn't put it on the "Winter Season" list, otherwise it would definitely be on here.