TV
I generally am not much of a television watcher. With a few rare exceptions, I almost never sit down specifically to watch a show. Sometimes I’ll flip on Discovery HD if I need to kill a few minutes, or if I’m too tired to do anything else but not quite ready to sleep, but for the last 5 years or so that’s been the extent of it.
But since I’ve started working out, I’ve been watching quite a bit more. I’ll run on the elliptical machine for long enough to watch about one hour of TV (minus commercials). Generally I just pick a show that looks good and watch it from beginning to end. With most programs you can either rent the DVDs or download the whole series, so you get to watch them in order with no commercials. I have a fairly elaborate home media network set up for that purpose, as I find I exercise more when I have something to distract me from the fact that I’m working out.
What I’ve noticed is that otherwise good shows often fall apart when you watch them back to back in a short period of time. For instance Lost, which I generally like when watching as it comes out weekly, turns into a cliché when watched in order. Every episode features the same things. A few people get shot (but somehow usually not dying, despite being on an island with no hospitals) and one guy who appears to be drowned. Then another character (usually Jack) does the whole chest pumping CPR thing for a little while. The drowned character doesn’t respond and everyone thinks he or she is dead. Maybe someone says “it’s over Jack”. But Jack refuses to give up. And then, at the very last possible second, the victim coughs up a little water and is basically back to full health two minutes later. On TV, not breathing for minutes never causes brain damage.
And then there’s everything Aaron Sorkin ever did. It’s all the exact same. Back when I used to watch television I thought Sports Night was the wittiest thing I had ever seen. Watching the whole thing in order, I’ve realized that every conversation in every episode is identical.
Character 1: ”I need to talk to you.”
Character 2: ”I don’t want to talk about x.”
Character 1: ”I didn’t come here to talk about x.”
Character 2: ”Ok, because I really don’t want to hear about x.”
Character 1: ”I swear I don’t want to talk about x.”
Character 2: ”No x?”
Character 1: ”No x.”
Character 2: ”Ok, then what did you want to talk about?”
Character 1: ”I want to talk about x.”
That’s funny maybe once or twice ever, but watch the series while running on an elliptical and it happens about once per mile. And Sorkin’s other two shows seem almost identical. No wonder he’s only batting .33 on television.
I think that when you watch TV the way most people do, following it from week to week, you just don’t notice that level of detail. Even if the episode is largely the same as the one preceding, it’s been a week and you’ve forgotten. But watch multiple episodes in one sitting and you can’t help but notice the repetitiousness.
A few shows hold up tremendously though, and unsurprisingly, they’re among my favorites. Seinfeld, Scrubs, Family Guy, they do a lot of the same types of things (flashbacks and asides in the latter two) but never to the point where it feels formulaic.
Now I’m running out of TV shows queued up to watch. Any suggestions? And if this post is poorly written, it was done from a cell phone. My bad.
June 13, 2008 at 5:58 am
Some of my favorites are: Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, Lost, Weeds, 30 Rock, and The Wire. If you haven't watched AD or The Wire yet, I'd start with those 2 because they are awesome.
June 13, 2008 at 8:37 am
I would say that Arrested Development is better when you watch it in a row. There're a lot of “inside” type jokes that you really need fresh in your mind to appreciate. Rent a season on DVD and enjoy.
June 13, 2008 at 9:03 am
Ha, apparently my readers all love AD. I've already seen it but good recommendation.
June 13, 2008 at 9:03 am
Another vote for Weeds here, but I've just started watching Rescue Me through for the first time, and that's really quite good too. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that.
June 13, 2008 at 9:10 am
I liked the first 2 seasons of weeds, then felt it became a poor man's Sopranos.
I'll check out Rescue Me though. Ty.
June 13, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Sorkin became painfully self-referential in Studio 60. It was bad enough when he lifted plot lines from “The American President” and dropped them wholesale into “The West Wing”. It was painful when he started being so self-absorbed that things became not much more than, “I am a great writer, watch me write!”
So sad
June 14, 2008 at 12:24 am
Since you like Seinfeld i think you will enjoy – Curb your enthusiasm. Larry david plays the main role in it and its prettttty prettttyy good.(inside joke from the show)
Also the show “Its always sunny in Philadelphia” is known as Sienfeld on crack. Its also pretty good.
June 14, 2008 at 2:23 am
I definitely second Curb your enthusiasm, also if you haven't seen the first 2 seasons of 24, try them, so far that was definitely the shows peak. As an interesting aside the 2nd season of 24 aired during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, makes the show seem like an interesting commentary on how perhaps the president should consider the decision of going to war.
June 14, 2008 at 8:46 am
I second Rescue Me too. Some of the FX shows are quite good. I really enjoy The Shield if you like comic-bookish style characters in a crime drama. It's a cool show.
June 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I think you'd really like Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Psychology, cooking and entrepreneurism. The bleeped profanity is just icing on the cake.
June 15, 2008 at 12:30 am
Best TV show of all time is a solid debate between Six Feet Under and The Wire…
June 17, 2008 at 7:06 am
Entourage… great show
June 18, 2008 at 1:24 am
With ya, Matt – been wicked workaholic.. no time for tv (nor access – as lots of planes in evenings).. recently, travel budgets slashed – now have time, ordered cable for first time (and could finally join a gym).. sadly, just not much on! was shocked.
my 2 guilty pleasures, doubt you will like – but, here goes:
Home Network — learning bathtubs are not $5-10k, etc.. know a lot of software – almost nil about home renov/update projects… also learning SF is off-the-scale pricy —– and starting to wonder if could live in the mid-west.. (prob not).
Dancing w/ the Stars – even tho' wish the 'stars' were better this last (my first) season… hysterical show!
June 18, 2008 at 1:30 am
Matt, just noticed you're a newlywed – CONGRATS!
maybe your bride will like HGTV — soooo much good nesting info!
best wishes to the both of you.
June 18, 2008 at 3:43 am
Ha, I'm already hooked.
June 20, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Matt, try Breaking Bad. There are only 7 episodes to the first season, but they're coming back with 13 for the second.
Also, Mad Men is unbelievably good. First season/13 episodes are easy to find online, and the second season starts at the end of July.
June 20, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I watched mad men already. I liked the first half of the season, then kinda got tired of it. I'm sure I'll watch season 2.
Never even heard of Breaking Bad though, but will be sure to check it out.
June 21, 2008 at 4:26 am
30 rock is perfect for a 20' to 30' cardio machine segment. Never formulaic, and full of multi-layered to decode lines, references and situations.
Weeds may catch your interest as well. Mostly seasons 1 & 2.
And season 1 of Dexter definitely.
Happy netflixing…
June 21, 2008 at 11:59 am
If you like Family Guy Matt you should checkout some of the shows on Adult Swim like the Venture Bros. it's a hilarious Johnny Quest spoof cartoon that is done really well and has just started it's third season.
June 22, 2008 at 1:27 am
Will do. Thanks for the ideas. Any of the other shows in that lineup worth watching?
June 24, 2008 at 11:38 pm
You can check out Aqua Teen Hunger Force it's really good but it seems people I know either love it or hate it, but if you like absurd off the wall humor it's really good. The did a cartoon called Stroker and Hoop that they rerun from time to time that was great it was a Starsky and Hutch spoof only one season though. Robot Chicken is a pretty good stop motion comedy sketch show done by Seth Green.
I'm like you I don't watch much TV unless it's the History Channel or similar programs.
June 25, 2008 at 2:29 am
Thanks, I'll check those out.