A lot of people don’t get time to watch TV and are unaware of some of the really good shows on TV. I happened across some really fun shows through a variety of means. I thought I’d list the shows I like. I have sort of an eclectic taste. As a general rule the shows I like have to have both a sense of humor and are dramatic, and they should have characters that capture my interest – although there are exceptions to the rule. There are not too many shows but I do go out of my way to watch them when they are on TV. The shows are, in no particular order:
-- NCIS, Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. on CBS: This probably is in fact my favorite show. The show caught my interest one night when I was flipping through channels because Charles Durning was on the episode. They kept my interest because, at a time when people were criticizing the military due to Iraq, NCIS treats the military with great respect and dignity. They really understand, for example, what the Marines are all about.
The cast members are wonderful – they have nailed their characters in a way that makes them incredibly believable. The scripts are very well written and there is a wonderful humor to the show that arises from the normal interaction of a group of people working together who like each other. There is nothing forced about the humor. Finally, one of the key cast members, performing wonderfully, is David McCallum who was my childhood hero as Ilya Kuryakin in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”, which aired in the ‘60’s.
-- Chuck, Monday night at 8:00 p.m. on NBC: This show came out of nowhere but it is great. The premise of the story is implausible, but the cast is amazing and the script writing is “awesome”, as one of the characters loves to say.
The primary premise of the show is Nerds meet James Bond. But never mind that stuff, that’s not what makes the show great. The main character, Chuck, works at Buy More (fictitious version of Best Buy) and he’s the head of the Nerd Herd (fictitious version of Geek Squad). Imagine what kind of people you would find if you evaluated people who work full time for a long time at Best Buy. The script writers of “Chuck” have those people nailed to a “T” and then the actors take those scripts to another level entirely in their portrayal of the characters.
-- Big Bang Theory, Monday night at 8:00 p.m. (30 minute show) on CBS: Monday nights are tough because I love this show too and it goes head to head with “Chuck.” Where “Chuck” is about nerds, the Big Bang Theory is about geeks. Take four young, incredibly intelligent, but socially awkward male professors, two of whom room together in a dilapidated Los Angeles apartment and move in across the hall an incredibly beautiful blonde waitress from the Cheesecake Factory with relationship problems.
The four men are distracted from their typical geeky endeavors (e.g. paintball, LAN parties, and arguing quantum physics) by their interest in the beautiful girl. Imagine what jocks would do and move it up to 150 and above on the IQ scale. The script writers have nailed what young male geeks are all about and the actors take these scripts to a level above that. Really, having a teen age son who brings home geeky friends and seeing this show – the writers really have nailed the characteristics of these guys.
-- Burn Notice, Thursday Night at 10 p.m. on USA: Ever since reading his autobiography, If Chins Could Kill” I have been a fan of Bruce Campbell. I was interested in Burn Notice because Bruce Campbell was in it. I have stayed with the show because of, like the other shows, the writing and the acting. The scripts have created interesting characters with very witty dialogue. The actors – especially Bruce Campbell but I’ve come to like Jeffrey Donovan and really like Sharon Gless – again take the scripts to another level. This show is a lot of fun to watch.
-- Life, Wednesday Night at 9 p.m. on NBC: This show brings us a truly unique police detective. Very different than any other character I’ve seen in what would otherwise be a typical police detective drama. Damien Lewis, who initially captured my interest because he reminds me in his looks of a young Steve McQueen does a fabulous job of taking the character to another level. Adam Arkin is very good in a supporting role as are other supporting actors in the show.\
-- Top Gear, Monday night at 8 p.m. on BBC America (but rebroadcast on Saturdays): If you had ever suggested to me that a car show would be funny, I’d have told you that you are nuts. But these three English guys who are self-described motorheads (car lovers) test drive cars in very creative ways. For example, they will each be given 1000 Euros then told to go out and buy a Porsche. You can imagine what kinds of cars they return with. The cars and drivers are then put through totally whacky endurance challenges (in one, the drivers were dressed in wet suits with special breathing gear and then the cars were filled with water ON THE INSIDE! The challenge was for the underwater drivers to see which car could drive the furthest around a track before the water leaked out of the cars).
Those are the shows that I go out of my way to watch them when they air. If I miss an episode, I’ll go onto the internet and download the shows and watch them when I can. Often times, even if I see the shows, I’ll download them and watch them again. NBC.Com is particularly good because they provided software called NBC Direct that allows you to download the shows and watch them later. Amazon.com has a similar feature but they charge for the episodes. Top Gear segments are readily available on YouTube.
There are other shows that are very good and which deserve a mention. Monk, Friday nights on USA Network, with Tony Shaloub as the title character, is very good. Leverage, Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on TBS is just starting but I have enjoyed what I have seen so far. The same goes for “The Mentalist,” a new show which appears Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on CBS. Tuesday may be the best night on TV, with NCIS, The Mentalist, and then Leverage appearing that night.
Eureka is a wonderful show on USA network – an offbeat, geeky show, very funny, great scripts, and great acting. Bones, on Fox, is a really good show – a forensic anthropologist and an FBI agent investigating murders, with a good cast and well drawn characters. I also love Battlestar Galactica and Heroes, but those shows require you to watch them in sequence and with my traveling I can’t keep up with them every week. I tend to wait for the seasons to come out on DVD and, after I buy them, I watch them in a marathon weekend.
For those of you who don’t get to watch TV much, I hope this helps to steer you to some quality viewing. For those of you who do watch TV, let me know what shows you like.
-- NCIS, Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. on CBS: This probably is in fact my favorite show. The show caught my interest one night when I was flipping through channels because Charles Durning was on the episode. They kept my interest because, at a time when people were criticizing the military due to Iraq, NCIS treats the military with great respect and dignity. They really understand, for example, what the Marines are all about.
The cast members are wonderful – they have nailed their characters in a way that makes them incredibly believable. The scripts are very well written and there is a wonderful humor to the show that arises from the normal interaction of a group of people working together who like each other. There is nothing forced about the humor. Finally, one of the key cast members, performing wonderfully, is David McCallum who was my childhood hero as Ilya Kuryakin in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”, which aired in the ‘60’s.
-- Chuck, Monday night at 8:00 p.m. on NBC: This show came out of nowhere but it is great. The premise of the story is implausible, but the cast is amazing and the script writing is “awesome”, as one of the characters loves to say.
The primary premise of the show is Nerds meet James Bond. But never mind that stuff, that’s not what makes the show great. The main character, Chuck, works at Buy More (fictitious version of Best Buy) and he’s the head of the Nerd Herd (fictitious version of Geek Squad). Imagine what kind of people you would find if you evaluated people who work full time for a long time at Best Buy. The script writers of “Chuck” have those people nailed to a “T” and then the actors take those scripts to another level entirely in their portrayal of the characters.
-- Big Bang Theory, Monday night at 8:00 p.m. (30 minute show) on CBS: Monday nights are tough because I love this show too and it goes head to head with “Chuck.” Where “Chuck” is about nerds, the Big Bang Theory is about geeks. Take four young, incredibly intelligent, but socially awkward male professors, two of whom room together in a dilapidated Los Angeles apartment and move in across the hall an incredibly beautiful blonde waitress from the Cheesecake Factory with relationship problems.
The four men are distracted from their typical geeky endeavors (e.g. paintball, LAN parties, and arguing quantum physics) by their interest in the beautiful girl. Imagine what jocks would do and move it up to 150 and above on the IQ scale. The script writers have nailed what young male geeks are all about and the actors take these scripts to a level above that. Really, having a teen age son who brings home geeky friends and seeing this show – the writers really have nailed the characteristics of these guys.
-- Burn Notice, Thursday Night at 10 p.m. on USA: Ever since reading his autobiography, If Chins Could Kill” I have been a fan of Bruce Campbell. I was interested in Burn Notice because Bruce Campbell was in it. I have stayed with the show because of, like the other shows, the writing and the acting. The scripts have created interesting characters with very witty dialogue. The actors – especially Bruce Campbell but I’ve come to like Jeffrey Donovan and really like Sharon Gless – again take the scripts to another level. This show is a lot of fun to watch.
-- Life, Wednesday Night at 9 p.m. on NBC: This show brings us a truly unique police detective. Very different than any other character I’ve seen in what would otherwise be a typical police detective drama. Damien Lewis, who initially captured my interest because he reminds me in his looks of a young Steve McQueen does a fabulous job of taking the character to another level. Adam Arkin is very good in a supporting role as are other supporting actors in the show.\
-- Top Gear, Monday night at 8 p.m. on BBC America (but rebroadcast on Saturdays): If you had ever suggested to me that a car show would be funny, I’d have told you that you are nuts. But these three English guys who are self-described motorheads (car lovers) test drive cars in very creative ways. For example, they will each be given 1000 Euros then told to go out and buy a Porsche. You can imagine what kinds of cars they return with. The cars and drivers are then put through totally whacky endurance challenges (in one, the drivers were dressed in wet suits with special breathing gear and then the cars were filled with water ON THE INSIDE! The challenge was for the underwater drivers to see which car could drive the furthest around a track before the water leaked out of the cars).
Those are the shows that I go out of my way to watch them when they air. If I miss an episode, I’ll go onto the internet and download the shows and watch them when I can. Often times, even if I see the shows, I’ll download them and watch them again. NBC.Com is particularly good because they provided software called NBC Direct that allows you to download the shows and watch them later. Amazon.com has a similar feature but they charge for the episodes. Top Gear segments are readily available on YouTube.
There are other shows that are very good and which deserve a mention. Monk, Friday nights on USA Network, with Tony Shaloub as the title character, is very good. Leverage, Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on TBS is just starting but I have enjoyed what I have seen so far. The same goes for “The Mentalist,” a new show which appears Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on CBS. Tuesday may be the best night on TV, with NCIS, The Mentalist, and then Leverage appearing that night.
Eureka is a wonderful show on USA network – an offbeat, geeky show, very funny, great scripts, and great acting. Bones, on Fox, is a really good show – a forensic anthropologist and an FBI agent investigating murders, with a good cast and well drawn characters. I also love Battlestar Galactica and Heroes, but those shows require you to watch them in sequence and with my traveling I can’t keep up with them every week. I tend to wait for the seasons to come out on DVD and, after I buy them, I watch them in a marathon weekend.
For those of you who don’t get to watch TV much, I hope this helps to steer you to some quality viewing. For those of you who do watch TV, let me know what shows you like.
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