Thursday Top Threes: Addicted

M: Every once in a while I come across a tv show/book/song that I quickly get ridiculously addicted to.  Name your top three!


Mira:
1. Korean Dramas: When I come across a fun one with likable characters, there's no stopping me on my rampage to finish the series.  Most recently I watched one called You're Beautiful (available on Hulu) -- started on Sunday, 13 November, finished on Thursday, 17 November.  16 episodes, each over one hour.
2. Hunger Games: I waited until the final book of the series, Mockingjay, was released before starting the full series. Purchased all 3 while traveling in Italy, started it at the Roma airport on the way back home. Got through 2.67 of the 3 books by the time I landed in Baltimore. It was ridiculous; no wait, the books were simply ridiculously good. I think it's time to reread them. :)
3.  Alias, seasons 1 and 2: This show got really bad the longer it dragged out, but it started SO strong. I started watching the show well after the 2nd season had already started and I think I went through the first season of episodes so quickly to catch up.  In fact, the only way I could stop my spree of watching 4+ episodes in one sitting was by stopping in the middle of the episodes; if I watched to the end of an epeisode, I would automatically start the next episode because of the cliffhangers at the end of each episode!

Jennifer:
1. Downton Abbey: So so good. Series 2 has already aired in the UK but isn't coming to the States until January and I CANNOT WAIT!!! On first glance it seems like your standard British costume drama but it's just so...juicy. Love it!
2. Skins (original British version): I started off not really being sure what to think of it, but I ended up just devouring episode after episode. Even when the characters were incredibly frustrating and the storylines were repetitive and stupid, there was still just something about this show that kept me hooked.
3. Harry Potter: Obvious choice but the first three books had already been out by the time I got into it and I sped through them in like a week. The last book was the only one I've ever gone to buy the day it came out.

[Mira: Sorry again for the delayed publishing -- my fault yet again. I had started drafting the post early but then of course with the Thanksgiving festivities I completely forgot to FINISH the post on Thursday. Must do better. Only a few weeks left of Thursday Top Threes!] 

Thursday Top Threes: Blogging

J: It's been a busy fall and our blog output has been pretty low. What are the top three things that you've been wanting to blog about but haven't gotten to? For our readers, what do you wish we had covered?

Jennifer:
1. The Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman. Influenced by the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, but for adults. It's darker and grittier but still a lot of fun.
2. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. This jumped pretty high on my list of all-time favorite children's books. (Actually I listened to it on audiobook!) It's part mystery, part science fiction and key elements include Manhattan, a game show, and A Wrinkle in Time. No wonder I loved it!
3. The Sing-off. I'm obsessed with Pentatonix. I can't get over that there's only 5 people in the group. Their bass and percussion are insanely good. They better win!!

Mira: 
1. A few TV shows that hooked me last season: The Good Wife and Hawaii Five-O.  They're both shows on my must watch as soon as possible list (vs. sits on my DVR for weeks list; or gets watched simply to make room for more recordings list).
2.  The X-Factor: I'm a few weeks behind on this show right now, but I have a few favorites that truly impress me each week that I watch it -- in particular, Drew!
3. Catch up movies: Actually most catch up movies for me are movies I got to watch on plane rides.  I don't get to the movie theater all that often, so when I have super duper long international flights with the individual media centers available, I end up watching movies the ENTIRE flight.  Most recently, I referenced a few I watched in a previous post: Midnight in Paris, Something Borrowed, and Bridesmaids. I had meant to blog about them and then never got around to it. 

Sorry for the day late Thursday Talk post -- I (Mira) obviously need a weekly reminder. Oops!!!

Thursday Top Threes: Hobbies

M: Top three most interesting hobbies from books, movies, or TV.


Jennifer:
1. Building rockets from October Sky. Engineering FTW! (Actually, even though I'm an engineer I've never had many engineering-related hobbies. But I love this movie!)
2. Fashion design from Gossip Girl. Hated Jenny (so glad she's off the show) and I wasn't into her designs or personal style on the show but fashion design is a pretty cool hobby. I really want to learn how to use a sewing machine!
3. Roller derby from Whip It! Actually I don't understand roller derby and I don't think I'd want to do it, but the movie makes it look really fun.

Mira: Ooh, I love Jenn's number 3 answer!
1. Kono on Hawaii Five-0: Surfing, which isn't surprising for a show in Hawaii... I guess Blue Crush could be cited here, too, but I know I could never do it but it seems like such an interesting culture and outlet.
2. Cliff from Bring It On: Song writing.  There are probably a ton of characters I can attribute that to, but I enjoyed his goofy lyrics and dorky commitment to it. And it was what made his character special. :)
3. Clare from Time Traveler's Wife: Paper making, which is more her career than a hobby, but something that sounds fascinating in general for anyone to do. How does one even get into doing that?

Thursday Top Threes: Misfits

J: Top three characters that just don't belong on the TV show they're on.

Jennifer
1. Ann Perkins on Parks and Recreation. I really love Rashida Jones and think she's actually really funny but the show just doesn't really know what to do with her: one of the few flaws in an otherwise fantastic show that's really firing on all cylinders this season.
2. Matt on The Vampire Diaries. I guess they've tried to get him more into things this season with the ghost storyline and whatnot but poor guy just isn't that interesting. I'm still secretly a Matt/Caroline shipper though...Tyler is freaking me out.
3. Drew on Parenthood. It's not so much that he doesn't belong as that the show often forgets that he exists.
Bonus: Jai on Covert Affairs. Sometimes the character doesn't even really seem like he wants to be there.

Mira:
1. Zooey Deschanel on New Girl. She has a little too much personality given the extreme lack of personality of the rest of the characters. I think she needs to be on a different show, that's better.
2. Puck on Glee. I'm not quite sure why they dropped Trouty Mouth this season and kept Puck on with the lamest storylines ever.
3. April on Gilmore Girls. The show would have been better had she never been in it. :)

Thursday Top Threes: Crossover couples

M: Which characters on different shows/movies/books would you love to see together? (Thanks to Burkie for the question!!)


Jennifer: The possibilities are kind of overwhelming so I'm sticking to TV.
1. Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls) and Dan Humphrey (Gossip Girl).
2. Ted (How I Met Your Mother) and Megan (Privileged) - This is kind of a cheat because Joanna Garcia actually was on HIMYM as a love interest for Ted in one episode but honestly, it seems like there aren't a lot of TV actresses of appropriate age left that haven't been love interests for Ted...
3. Laurie (Cougar Town) and Ben (Parks and Recreation).

Mira: Since Jenn stuck to TV, I did, too! I focused on shows that I felt needed ships or the character could have done better...
1. Jared (Pretender), genius and capable of taking on any job without being noticed, and Sydney Bristow (Alias), super spy.  Their kids would kick total ass.
2. Tristan (Gilmore Girls), sarcastic but vulnerable pretty boy, and Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars), sarcastic but vulnerable teenaged detective.  He says jerk things to protect an insecure interior; she calls it as she sees it.  Tristan may be a bit like Logan on VM except prettier and less douche-y.
3. Jess (The New Girl), Zooey Deschanel playing super dorky but gorgeous, and Ted (How I Met Your Mother), normal but dorky guy who takes a really long time telling his kids about how he met their mother.  I think this could be a possibility!!

Thursday Top Threes: Currently listening to...

J: Keeping it simple this week. What are your current top three favorite songs?

Jennifer: I've been on an electronic music kick lately!
1. M83 - We Own the Sky. M83 just came out with a new album but this song is from their last one. Love the video too!
2. Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith - Not in Love. I think I've been listening to this song once a day for the last month...
3. Lykke Li - Tonight. I will fully admit that I first heard this song on So You Think You Can Dance...

Mira: Unlike Jenn, I'm pretty much all pop. :)

1. Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall. I hated them for "Clocks" but "Viva la Vida" turned me around and I love this song in the same exact way..
2. Bad Meets Evil featuring Bruno Mars and Eminem - Lighters. I like songs with lotsa different elements to them.
3.  Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks. Something very... chill about this song.

Thursday Top Threes: Cars!

B:  i'm filling in for mira again, so i decided to play my Man Card.  what are your favorite cars from film?

burkie:
1.  The Batmobile.  the movie versions were interesting, but this will always be the batmobile for me.
2.  The Mirthmobile.  okay, maybe not man card worthy, but certainly memorable.
3.  The red ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Not so much the car itself, but how it was used in the movie.
i can think of about a hundred honorable mentions; it was tough to narrow this down to three, and i'm not even a car guy!

Jennifer: Yikes, I really do not pay attention to cars...
1. The DeLorean from Back to the Future. Obvs.
2. The yellow VW bus from Little Miss Sunshine.
3. Sebastian's Jaguar from Cruel Intentions. Um, I remember Reese Witherspoon driving away in it at the end of the movie.

Fall TV: Second looks, Part 1

I usually like to watch at least two episodes of a new show before really passing judgement on it. Pilots need to do a lot in terms of introducing the world and the characters and the tone of the show and isn't always a good indicator of what the show is going to be week in and week out. So here's how I feel about this fall's crop of new shows now that we're a few weeks in.

2 Broke Girls - Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs have really great chemistry and I think watching the relationship between Max and Caroline develop will be really fun. The problem is that the rest of the show is kind of awful. The supporting characters are all caricatures, almost bordering on offensive, and the jokes are...bad. They're mean, or dated, or just stupid. I like that there's a bit of a trajectory for the show with the cupcake business but even that concept feels a bit tired.
Status: On notice.

New Girl - Despite a cast member change (Coach is out, Winston is in), the show we saw in the second and third episodes was pretty consistent with what we saw in the pilot. Whether you like this show is still basically dependent on whether you like Jess (and Zooey Deschanel) or not. If you do, there's really a lot to like here. Jess is definitely wacky but there are enough moments where she pulls it back and is more normal. I'm liking Nick a lot (I was a fan of the actor from that odd movie Paper Heart) and I think they're figuring out Schmidt more and more.
Status: Definite keeper.

Suburgatory - One of the most pleasant surprises of the season. Silly but smart and Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto are really great. A bonus: Alan Tudyk (of Firefly and Serenity) is hilarious as the ridiculously tanned and chipper Noah.
Status: Definite keeper.

The Secret Circle - I called the pilot "slick" and the show has definitely kept that up. I like the characters and the episodes have great pacing and effects and all that but the mythology is already tripping me up. I guess the characters are still figuring things out on their own as well but I'm so confused about what the parents know and what their intentions are and when things happened to them. Oh, and Cassie's mom graduated high school in 1995?? So basically all the teens were born when their parents were 18? I hope that the writers have this stuff figured out. Oh, and I really don't care about Melissa/Nick, and the whole Cassie-Adam-Diana love triangle is just kinda dreadful.
Status: Keeper, for now.

Thursday Top Threes: Brought back to life

J: The Internet has been buzzing yet again about the possibility of an Arrested Development movie. I'm doubtful about whether this will actually happen but it leads to my question for this week: what are your top three defunct TV shows that you would love to come back in a feature film?

Jennifer: (I guess I am just answering my own question this week...)
1. The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Mira and I were pretty into this show and were really bummed when it was cancelled. I feel like this story would have been really fun as an ABCFamily original movie but unfortunately that's never going to happen because the series failed.
2. Pushing Daisies - Did this show get a real ending? I think that the setting and visual style of this show would translate really well to a movie.
3. Lone Star - One of the most promising pilots last year that crashed and burned FAST. People were questioning its long-term viability as a series, probably because the premise was really just better suited for a movie.

Fall TV: Suburgatory

My first thought on hearing about this show: awful title. My second thought: Jeremy Sisto is old enough to be playing the father of a 16-year-old?? Man, I am getting old.

Anyway, my third thought: the premise didn't necessarily make sense to me...a single father finds condoms in his teenage daughter's room and decides that they need to move out of New York City to the suburbs? Like kids in the suburbs don't have sex? And the suburb they move to isn't like any suburb I've lived in...it's kinda Real Housewives of New Jersey where people are really tan and wear ridiculous clothes.

But all that aside, this was actually pretty funny. Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto have good chemistry and comic timing as Tessa and her dad George, and the supporting cast (including Cheryl Hines) are almost caricatures but not quite. Unexpected, but there's definitely potential here.