What We're Watching This Fall

...Well, besides lots of football, that is.

I'm beginning to realize that I don't watch much live TV at all anymore. I have several things to thank for that: my three kids; my own increasingly busy schedule; my dependence on Netflix and Hulu for re-runs and catching up on older television shows, etc. Probably the biggest two reasons, though, are that I'm cheap AND picky with my TV shows. I'm not willing to pay for cable/satellite, and so I only have broadcast networks to watch live.

All this limits my viewing options quite a bit--especially when, in my opinion, 90% of everything on broadcast TV is junk (I'm looking at YOU, reality TV!).

 

So anyway, here's my (very) brief list:

Community

-My favorite show on TV right now! Plot, in a nutshell--a bunch of lovable misfits form a study group at a community college; hilarity ensues. But there is SO MUCH MORE going on than the simple synopsis implies. Besides being one of the funniest shows on TV right now, it's arguably the most daring as well--it bends genre and convention, and each episode has a very different focus and tone. It skewers a wide variety of genres (fantasy, gangster, suspense, horror, romance, western, etc), & social issues. It has some of the most three-dimensional, well-written, and best-performed female characters on TV. The overall cast is ridiculously talented. It has a freewheeling, "anything goes" tone, and its colorful setting, populated by awesome supporting characters, is Simpsons-esque (I'm referring to Golden Age Simpsons, of course). It is criminal (criminal!!!) that more people aren't watching this show; it's struggled for viewers its entire run. Help it out (especially if you are a Nielsen family!); watch it with me!!

Parks And Recreation

This show took a while to grow on me; I initially watched an episode or two of the (pretty blah) season 1 and checked out after that. However, after many glowing recommendations, we Netflixed the whole thing over the summer, and we're completely hooked now! Like Community, Parks and Rec has a very likable, talented cast, and the fictional town of Pawnee, IN, where the show takes place, looks like an awesomely weird place to live. And while the show may be a bit more timid with its comedy conventions than Community, it has a refreshingly positive tone that is unlike most comedies today. Although the characters of Parks and Rec are imperfect, and they sometimes act foolishly, you get the sense that they genuinely like each other, respect each other, and want to support and help each other through thick and thin. It's nice to see a show where the humor is rarely mean-spirited and demeaning (like too many comedies today, including its fellow "mockumentary"-style brethren The Office and Modern Family to an extent).

 

Speakin' of which...

Modern Family

This is my "comfort-food" sitcom...I often find myself smiling and nodding at the characters' antics and the situations they find themselves in. It's a show that's meant to be relatable to anyone with a family (aka, most people). I don't think there's anything particularly groundbreaking about Modern Family comedy-wise (no, not even the gay couple; for the most part, their plots follow the same relationship tropes as everyone else's, but with different window-dressing). In fact, the family sitcom has been pretty much done to death over the last couple of decades. However, this show manages to keep things (mostly) fresh with polished production values and a great, talented cast, even if its premise is kinda weak on occasion. It's a good show to unwind with at the end of the day.

I almost forgot...

30 Rock

...probably because it's on hiatus right now (darn you, Tina Fey, why'd you have to have that baby over the summer?? Curse your biological clock!). Anyway, when 30 Rock is back on the air, I will be there with bells on. It may have lost a step or two, but it's still one of the most rapid-fire, off-the-wall absurdist comedies out there. It pokes great fun at gender, race, politics, and (most of all) the entertainment industry and even NBC itself--yes, the very network which gave it life. And no discussion of 30 Rock is complete without a special shout-out to Alec Baldwin, who has made Jack Donaghy one of the most hilarious, charismatic sitcom actors ever. His chemistry with Tina Fey (completely platonic, by the way) is one of the show's greatest strengths, and one of the more interesting relationships in television.

And...that's about it for my shows. Pretty meager pickings, wouldn't you agree? I think I will probably watch The Office once in a while, but without Steve Carell, it feels pretty soulless. I really need some more dramas in my TV diet as well; since LOST went off the air, I haven't found any drama to replace it with. Nathan tried the new crime drama Person Of Interest last week, and I watched a little with him. On paper, it sounds pretty neat (Michael Emerson as a mysterious billionaire with a murky agenda? And his sidekick is former Jesus-portrayer Jim Caviezel as a disgruntled butt-kicker? And they fight future-crime? COOL!). However, in execution, it came across as does almost every show on CBS to me--static, dull and formulaic. Maybe it will improve with time...

I need your help, gentle readers! What shows should Nathan & I be watching? We welcome your input...but first, our (somewhat restrictive) criteria:

-We only have the regular broadcast channels, as well as a few basic cable channels (note: we do have AMC!)

-We steadfastly refuse to watch any reality TV. We find it to be either putrid garbage (aka 90% of reality TV), or--despite an interesting premise--unable to hold our attention.

-We don't have a DVR--however, we are regular Netflix subscribers and we often use Hulu, so there is the possibility of us streaming a show that's still currently on the air, or a show that recently left the air.

Speaking of Netflix, here are a list of shows we already plan on watching in the near future (we've seen little to nothing of any of these shows):

Mad Men

Arrested Development

Supernatural

Friday Night Lights

The Sopranos

Game Of Thrones

Cheers

Sports Night

Thanks for your help, everyone...we'll see you in front of the boob tube!!