MattMaroon.com

Once before I asked you guys for some television recommendations and you really came through for me. Someone said to watch Arrested Development, and that it was “far better than anything that’s on TV now and I liked it as much, if not more, than Seinfeld.” I watched all three seasons. I don’t think I’m ready to put it on par with Seinfeld, but it was pretty great. Certainly too good for television.

Another person said The Office and My Name is Earl were “both quality new programs”. Yes, and yes. The Office proves what I’ve been saying for way too long, which is that Steve Carrell is maybe the best comedic actor around. The 40 Year Old Virgin might have sucked, but it would have sucked far worse with anyone else in that role. Same with Little Miss Sunshine. I can’t really think of anyone who could pull off Michael Scott as perfectly as he does.

And my name is Earl is definitely one of the best shows on television. Every time someone mentions karma I find myself saying “oh, you must be a Carson Daly fan too.” Lame, I know.

I got a ton of recommendations from friends for House, which I find to be pretty much the worst show on television. But then, I don’t watch much TV. It’s just the same bland, broadly drawn characters in hokey situations, just like every drama. It’s basically season 872 of Law and Order, but in a hospital.

Ooh, a guy who’s kind of good and kind of bad at the same time, but at the end of the day you just have to love him because he helps people. Never seen that before. He’s like John C McGinley’s character in Scrubs, but not funny.

I tried watching 24, and got bored pretty quickly. Yet another show aimed at society’s lowest common denominator. Same with Grey’s Anatomy. I’m checking out Lost but don’t expect much better.

That show quickly became one of my favorites too. The last season was a little off I thought, but there were a few great ones in there. I’m usually hyper-critical of anything set in a hospital too, since it’s so cliché, but they do a good job of not being just like every other medical show, mainly by being hilarious.

So I guess what I’ve discovered is that I prefer one-camera sitcoms with no laugh track. That’s not surprising I guess, given my low tolerance for repetition, and perhaps the fact that the more creative film makers seem to be drawn to that format these days.

Still I’m open to any format. I’ll even watch reality TV, though very skeptically. I need something to fill the hour or so before I go to bed at night, and spending so much time on the internet has made me unable to read anything more than 150 words long, unless I wrote it. So, any more suggestions?

This entry was posted on June 10, 2007 at 2:28 am and is filed under TV, Movies, Music, and Why They All Suck . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed Both comments and pings are currently closed.