Thursday, May 17, 2012

Check in Thursdays: Week 20

Jennifer:
Watching... Season finales. Well, of the shows that I'm caught up on anyway...
Listening... New songs from Passion Pit (Take a Walk) and Yeasayer (Henrietta).
Reading... Still on The Marriage Plot and Ready Player One.

Mira:
Watching... Season finales, too! Currently, Revenge.
Listening... Getting ready for the Lady Antebellum concert this Sunday!
Reading... magazines. Us Weekly and Real Simple to be precise. Yeah, not a book yet. Yet!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Check in Thursdays: Week 19

Jennifer:
Watching... Sherlock on Masterpiece Mystery! Loved the first season and so happy that it's back for another! On a related note, apparently CBS is developing another modern-day Sherlock series called Elementary with Jonny Lee Miller (who I do love) and Lucy Liu, of all people, as Watson. I'm skeptical, especially because it's CBS. Oh, upfronts are next week!
Listening... Ben Folds Five - Do It Anyway. They're coming out with a new album? I used to be a big fan back in the day, more so than his solo stuff.
Reading... Still working on Emily, Alone and Ready Player One. Also re-obtained The Marriage Plot and optimistically, The Help from the library. Unlikely I'll get to it in the next three weeks before it's due though.

Mira: Per usual, my fault for the late post!
Watching... Caught up on How I Met Your Mother. Catching up on Hart of Dixie. Also just watched The Avengers (highly recommend) in theaters and Joyful Noise on the plane (don't recommend)!
Listening... Saw Ingrid Michaelson in concert at the 9:30 club on Wednesday night -- as always she is FANTASTIC.  Of course, this is the fourth time I've seen her live so obviously I'm an uber-fan.
Reading... Found a random series of books I purchased at some point on my Kindle.  There are a lot of bad sentences and a lack of transition (unless it's screwed up Kindle formatting). I really hope I didn't pay for it, but it's the Bootscootin' series by D.D. Scott.  Don't think I recommend it to anyone though. :)

Monday, May 07, 2012

What I'm watching...and what I'm not

It's been a crazy spring and I've fallen behind on nearly all my shows and completely cut off others. Here's where I am:

Caught up: (Notice these are mostly half-hour sitcoms...so much easier to keep on top of!)
The Amazing Race - The only reality show on my docket right now. It's been a pretty lackluster season, but the travel envy keeps me watching.
Community - They just keep coming up with crazy new concepts for episodes but are still doing a great job exploring the dynamics among the group.
Parks and Recreation - Possibly not as strong as it was last season but it still makes me laugh out loud probably more than any other show.
New Girl - I liked it from the start, but it's been really growing into its own. Even Winston has his moments!
Suburgatory - Somehow, despite a weak premise and awful title, this dark horse has become my new favorite sitcom of the season. Allie Grant as Lisa and Cheryl Hines as Dallas are standouts.
The Big Bang Theory - Been really enjoying the increased female presence on the show with Amy and Bernadette as regulars alongside Penny, but really, this show never changes much.
How I Met Your Mother - Apparently I'm sticking with this until the bitter end because it's just really not very good right now.

Behind:
Cougar Town - It's still super fun, though Jules can be a little too much in general. I am glad that Jules and Grayson are getting married though and they're not dragging it out.
Gossip Girl - I've been sort of intrigued by the idea of Blair and Dan together for awhile, but now that it's happening? I'm not so sure about it. Especially with all the ridiculousness of Blair actually going through the wedding with Louis and the ever-present Chuck drama and blah blah blah. I am sort of interested in what's going to happen with Ivy and Lola though, for some reason.
Smash - I gather that the intention of the show was to have us root for Karen and not Ivy, but interestingly I kind of don't really like either of them. I feel like they're kind of stretching it with the musical numbers but overall I think it's been pretty consistent. I'm way behind though, and man, Ellis SUCKS.
Girls - People are pretty mixed on this show but I've liked it. It's one of those uncomfortably real sitcoms, not exactly fun but funny because of its honesty.
Veep - I usually am not into political shows but this is really just a workplace comedy.
The Vampire Diaries - I've lost some of my enthusiasm for this show, even though it's been just as crazy and twisty as ever. I don't particularly like what they're doing with Alaric, and I'm not much of an Elena/Damon or Caroline/Tyler shipper.
Mad Men - I wonder if Betty was the reason I sort of dreaded watching this show in the past? It somehow seems a lot more watchable now that she's barely there. I've been liking what they're doing with Pete and Peggy and Joan this season, even as I'm beginning to see Don as kind of an irredeemably scary jerk.
Don't Trust the B* in Apartment 23 - This one kind of lives in the same world as Suburgatory - generally preposterous but a lot of fun.

Planning to catch up eventually:
Parenthood - A couple of dumb storylines this season kind of turned me off - Adam and the office assistant, Julia and Joel's adoption saga, Seth returning - but I do still care about the Bravermans.
Chuck - Haven't even started the final season!
Justified - Last season was fantastic so I was a little disappointed that the beginning of this season didn't grab me right away. But I still love Raylan and Boyd and co. so it's still all on my DVR.
Switched at Birth - Just fell behind because Hulu Plus expired the episodes. But they're back now so I'll get to it eventually.
Modern Family - Kind of the same old, same old. but still funny.
Game of Thrones - I have an HBO promotion, but I'm just not sure if I want to read the second book first or not.
Awake - I loved the premise for this show and the pilot, just need to find time to fit it in.
Doctor Who - I'm always behind on this...

Probably hopeless:
Once Upon a Time - Watched the first couple of episodes and found a lot of the characters annoying but I still like the premise.
Grimm - Does this have buzz?
Revenge - Watched the pilot and thought it was ok. People tell me it's this year's soapy, guilty pleasure though.
Hart of Dixie - It was a lot of fun but ultimately inconsequential...

Given up:
Nikita - I don't know, I actually got really into this show last season but never got around to picking up this new season and I now have no desire to.
The Secret Circle - Lost interest.
The Voice - Too much time commitment and didn't really have anyone I was rooting for.
2 Broke Girls - Just not funny.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Check in Thursdays: Week 18

Jennifer:
Watching... Will detail this in an upcoming mammoth wrap-up post!
Listening... New song by the Silversun Pickups - Blood Mary (Nerve Endings).
Reading... Still working on Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan. Also hoping to get back to Ready Player One which I started back in...February? Geez, it's been a crazy spring.

Mira:
Watching... Knicks vs. Heat playoff series. Go Knicks!
Listening... Need to get ready for my upcoming concerts -- first on the list: Ingrid Michaelson!
Reading... Nothing. Am now wasting my time playing silly games on sporcle...