J: TV of 2011

So the Golden Globe nominations were announced about a week ago and I came to the possibly sad realization that despite the fact that I have a TV blog and my DVR spent most of the year over 80% full, I watch precious few of the nominated shows (only Modern Family and New Girl in the Comedy/musical category, and none of the dramas). I guess I can put most of it on the fact that I don't have premium cable...and the rest on the fact that the Golden Globes are just dumb! Here's the TV that I thought was worth watching this year!

1. Downton Abbey - SO addictive. On the surface it seems like just your run-of-the-mill British costume drama but actually it's on steroids. I'm so frickin excited for season 2 to start on PBS in January!
2. Friday Night Lights - Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose! I was so excited that the show was finally recognized by the Emmys also!
3. The Vampire Diaries - The craziness continues. I don't know how the writers manage to keep pumping out story at the pace that they do. I was initially worried about how big a role they were giving Klaus this season but I shouldn't have been -- the way they've tied Stefan and even Tyler in the storyline has been surprising and as always, a whole lot of fun.
4. Parks and Recreation - There's just so much here -- Ron Swanson of course, Andy and April's wedding, Leslie and Ben finally getting together and then breaking up and getting back together, Entertainment 720, Lil Sebastian...it's smart and funny and maybe most importantly, really cheery and optimistic. Leslie Knope for America!
5. Community - Maybe one of the most daring and creative shows on TV because of the way it plays with structure. It doesn't always work -- sometimes it falls of the edge into complete wackadoo (I did not find Pierce's father to be funny in the least) -- but when it does, it's brilliant. They're still finding new and interesting dynamics among the characters (like the recently discovered shared past of Jeff and Shirley) and have found a good balance between all the weirdness and the sentimental stuff lying beneath the surface.
6. Justified - I still find it hard to explain why in the world I love this show about a US Marshal in Kentucky who wears a Stetson hat. But man was the show good this season. Mags Bennett was one of the freshest TV villains in years.
7.  Doctor Who - I finally caught up to the Eleventh Doctor this year and he might actually be my favorite. And I totally want to be Amy Pond!
8. Cougar Town - It hasn't returned this season yet but in the spring it was one of my favorites. It's so silly but with a good dose of heart.
9. Love in the Wild - Every once in awhile a reality show just totally hooks me. Thanks Mira! And the top two couples, Samantha & Mike and Heather & Miles are still together! Take that, The Bachelor/ette!
10. Greek - I'm so happy that the show got to have a proper ending. Most people probably saw the show as pretty inconsequential but I was always really impressed with its continuity and attention to detail and just all the really fun characters it produced like Cappie and Rebecca and Katherine and Dale...I wish my own college experience had been that fun!

M+J: Greek, Final Season

So... Trying something different, Jenn and I decided to blogchat about one of our favorite TV shows right now: Greek!

Mira: So I'm super excited for this final season of Greek!
Jennifer: Me too, I'm glad they designated this as the last season so they can wrap everything up, hopefully.
Mira: Yes! And I'm liking how they are rolling the main characters back into the mix.
Jennifer: Yeah it's kind of unrealistic that they're ALL coming back but oh well.
Mira: I'm kinda wondering where exactly they're going to go with Ashleigh's return to CRU... Plus, I'm not looking forward to potential Ashleigh-Rusty coupling...
Jennifer: Yeah I was excited that Ashleigh was the one who was getting out there in the real world.
Mira: But how she just picked up and ran away is at least somewhat understandable for her character... NYC can be scary!
Jennifer: Especially since she was an unpaid intern...
Mira: And she's obviously a pampered pretty girl who doesn't understand the concept of roughing it...
Jennifer: Right. I thought it was crazy that she thought Casey being in DC was going to help. That's far!
Mira: Haha, yeah, but closer than OHIO! (That's where CRU is, right?)
Jennifer: I think so...the part of Ohio where it never gets cold, haha.
Mira: LOL, that's totally true!
Jennifer: I think Cappie commented on that once.
Mira: Ooh, Cappie! I'm glad they have a chance to give us good closure on Cappie-Casey!
Jennifer: I like seeing Cappie actually try too. I'm curious to see if he'll actually pick a major. It has to be something appropriate though. Not sure what!
Mira: Yes, I'm wondering if this philosophy thing will be it actually. :) Though I like this revelation about Calvin.
Jennifer: Yeah I guess we never really did know what Calvin was studying
Mira: Nor has much been developed about Calvin beyond OX and being gay.
Jennifer: Right..I'm a little disappointed that he gave up the presidency though
Mira: Especially since Chip is frickin' annoying!
Jennifer: Seriously!
Mira: I'm wondering when Dale's betrayal is going to come out...after HE was the reason Calvin got ousted as president!
Jennifer: Was it really Dale who called the cops on the KTs?
Mira: Yeah, I think so. His trade off for a bid... No pledges for KT, and Dale gets OX...
Jennifer: I guess that makes sense but it seems a little too mean for Dale.
Mira: Dale can be extremely self-serving and selfish, though. That's been evident throughout.
Jennifer: That's true, he was really competitive with that science project thing
Mira: The stupid robot wars! HAHAHA. BTW, I like Spidey, the pledge. Mini-Rusty! :)
Jennifer: Haha I don't even know his real name!
Mira: Okay, okay, I guess we can go off tangentially (Peter Parks? Park? Not quite Parker)... but let's focus a bit -- what do you hope to see at the end of this series?
Jennifer: Definitely Casey and Cappie closure of some kind. I want them to end up together but not in an unrealistic way. I think I'm already ok with where everyone else is. I like Rebecca as ZBZ president.
Mira: I definitely want Casey and Cappie together. I'd also like Cappie and Evan to get back to being friends. I liked them a lot as friends.
Jennifer: That's a good one. I'm not sure what they're doing with Evan this season either. I guess he's still trying to prove himself outside of his name
Mira: Yeah, that's true. I like Evan with Rebecca but it's always weird how he is with Casey. Sigh. But I'm Casey-Cappie all the way. I also want really want Katherine to have more of a presence in the show and in their lives. She's such a fun character.

Jennifer: Definitely, I was really happy to see her back. We've really only had ZBZ girls on the show.
Mira: Hahaha, I was thrilled, too! :)
Jennifer: So it's nice to have someone different
Mira: And not annoying! like Katherine's sorority sister (the president)?
Jennifer: I'm not really a fan of Rusty's girlfriend Dana...I like the idea of Dana (smart and nerdy and not a sorority girl) but not so much her specifically.
Mira: I'm okay with her. Actually it's weird this season, cuz we're getting a lot on the fraternities, OX and KT, but because Casey's not really a part of the sorority anymore, I'm wondering how much of the sorority life they'll roll in... I really liked the little bits they've included in the past, like the singing competition.
Jennifer: Yeah, and I do like the peripheral ZBZ girls.
Mira: I really wanted Abby to end up with Dale. Except now Dale is a tool and doesn't deserve Abby either.
Jennifer: I totally forgot about that. I think Betsy is hilarious too.
Mira: She is! You know it's this thing where Cappie doesn't graduate... But what about his brothers? Beaver??
Jennifer: Haha, I guess they've never specifically given the years of the other brothers. But it's definitely plausible that Beaver is a super senior.
Mira: PLUS, Cappie's been president for three years... Or two years. The show operates on a weird schedule. Weren't there other actual upperclassmen in KT?
Jennifer: Well there was the Asian guy Wade, who got kicked out.
Mira: Maybe I'm just not supposed to question this... :)
Jennifer: At least they're clear what years the main characters are in. Unlike say, Friday Night Lights.
Mira: Haha, true. Like Rusty is actually a junior now.
Jennifer: Right, Rusty, Calvin and Rebecca are all juniors.
Mira: Oh, Rebecca's president as a junior! And not that ditzy blonde.
Jennifer: Rebecca needs a new storyline, too.
Mira: Other than Evan?!?! Sigh. Agree!
Jennifer: We don't know what her major is either, do we?
Mira: Nope, no clue. In any case, I'm really enjoying this season so far. I like where it's going and I cannot wait to get to happily ever after. It better end on happily ever after!!!
Jennifer: I hope so too. I'm sad it's ending but glad that it didn't get cancelled before resolving anything
Mira: Yeah, I much prefer a show that chooses to end to one that gets ended. It's a tiny bit surprising that they didn't choose to end it at a more final point. Either Casey's graduation last season or Rusty's graduation in another year. But maybe it'll end on Cappie's graduation. ;-)
Jennifer: Well I don't think they necessarily chose to end it. I think ABC Family decided to give them a final season.
Mira: Oh, boo. Oh well. I like closure and so we have a shot at that. And if it continues to be as awesome as it has been -- buying the full series DVD set! :)

greek in brief

Just watched the season finale of Greek. First off, sucks that I have to wait until the summer for new episodes!!! Life was better when I was seasons behind and had a bajillion episodes to watch before I was caught up. Secondly, noooooo I don't want Cappie-Casey broken up. Though I kinda liked the twist of Cappie getting offended and doing the actual dumping. Third, I'm really glad they decided to make it so that Casey didn't get into CRU Law. That would've been the easy way out and while I don't want her and Cappie to break up, I want them to figure it out the hard way, not have it easy. Fourth, yay for Ashley's job! Finally, yay for Evan and Rebecca! Ooh doubly lastly, yay for the ultimate revenge-- OX's president being a friendly and KT and OX burying the hatchet!

Okay that's it. What will I do to tide me over until the premier of Greek's final season?!?

- Posted with my iPod Touch.

Monday Madness

Shows I watch that air on Mondays:
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Chuck (NBC)
Gossip Girl (CW, currently on hiatus)
Life Unexpected (CW)
Make it or Break it (ABC Family)
Greek (ABC Family)
Castle (ABC)
Damages (FX)

Shows I watch that air on Tuesdays:
None

What the heck??

T^2: If you could be...

M: If you could pick a TV show & character whose life you would take (with all the good and bad storylines), whose TV show life would you choose? (Doesn't have to be a main character.)

Mira: After thinking long and hard about this question, and even contemplating changing the question to make it easier, I've decided I would want to be... Well, first here are some characters I considered:

• Buffy from BtVS (too much dealing with yucky bad guys for my taste)
• Rory Gilmore from GG (too annoying, plus her sleeping with Dean storyline still pisses me off); Joey Potter from DC (also annoyingly perfect and kinda boring)
  
• Sydney from Alias (exciting and cool life but she woke up to Vaughn married to the annoying lady!)
• Veronica Mars from VM (too much angst, if only she stayed with Logan...)
• Casey from Greek or Lizzie McGuire from LM (this was tempting and fun-sounding, but kinda superficial)
• Pam from The Office (just to be part of PB&J, but then she works with crazy people)

So I choose instead... Liz Lemon from 30 Rock. It's funny because I don't even watch this show (well, I'm a season and a half behind) but I really, really love Tina Fey and often think when watching her on this show or on anything else, "I want to grow up to be her." Except, I'm in my late 20's and I guess I'm maybe too old to grow up to be someone. ::sigh::

Jennifer: This is a tough question! It took me awhile to decide what about a character's life would make me want to take their life. Job/lifestyle? Boyfriend/husband/family? But then of course TV characters generally have quite a lot of drama/angst/trauma in their lives that I could probably do without...

In the end, though, I came up with two options that are maybe cop-outs because they're both in the sci-fi genre: Liz from Roswell and Jaye from Wonderfalls.

Ok yeah, Liz had a lot of ridiculous drama in her life but somehow I find the alien secret thing and becoming part alien(?!) to be pretty cool. And in the end she's with her soul mate (and if you want to count the post-season 3 book series ending, everything gets "reset" with everyone back in Roswell and the aliens no longer being "hunted").

As for Jaye, I think I more want to actually BE her rather than just take her life. I like her family, I like her one friend, I like her love interest, and I guess I kind of like her approach to life. As stated in one of the episodes, she's created this "stressless, expectation-free zone" around herself. Of course getting talked to by animal figurines and getting involved in all sorts of crazy hijinks is also kind of ridiculous but she kind of makes it seem fun...

fall 2009 - initial thoughts

My DVR is still full of shows that I need to catch up on (both from last season and this season) but because it was getting so full, there were many shows I had to catch up on to open up space for more recording... :) In any case, I had a few initial reactions to shows, old and new, that I've been following this season.

Old:
-- 90210: So very angsty! I think it's because Darcy... or whatever her name is, Annie?, is so very angsty this season and she was all sunshine and optimism last season. I'm not sure I like it, but I do like the strong bond forged between Naomi-Adrianna-Silver. Actually I've gotta say that as a whole I kind of hate it, but there's something about high-school angst tv shows that draws me in... Oy.
-- So You Think You Can Dance: Having to watch audition episodes week after week after week is kinda getting sucky. Plus, it's so weird to have a new season of it SO SOON. Especially since last season, while it had its moments, for the most part it was underwhelming. But, I'm glad to see that there are breakers and well, non-contemporary and non-ballroom dancers auditioning! Plus I'm still waiting for Natalie to come back!!
-- How I Met Your Mother: This show is so reliably fun. I really do hope we finally get to meet the damn mother this season. I'm not sure how many more seasons of NOT meeting the mother I can go through. But I do love Barney. And it'll be interesting to see how Barney-Robin develop, but I really hope that doesn't become the focus of the show.
-- Greek: I caught up with all the old episodes right before this season started. SO much fun. This is my happy show of the moment.

New:
-- Melrose Place: Not really sure why, but I'm enjoying this show. Maybe it's just that I never get to watch soap operas anymore and this show is the perfect night-time soap opera: psychotic characters, tons of secrets, murder, betrayal, and good-looking people. Plus the character that's the most fascinating to me is Ella, who I sort of see as a new generation Heather Locklear. BTW, I didn't actually watch the original MP when it aired back in the day, though I've caught a few episodes of it here and there on Soapnet in the past few years.
-- Glee: I was expecting this to be my happy show of the moment, but no, it's definitely a lot darker than a happy show can be. I love the musical numbers and truthfully, I watch just in anticipation of those. I like the main teacher-guidance counselor romance undercurrent, hate the psycho wife, love the psycho cheerleader coach, and am very amused by the awkward football coach. I could care less about the kids, but the gay kid is the most interesting by far.
-- The Beautiful Life: This show has already gotten canned, thank goodness! Well, it's mostly a thank goodness because if it didn't get canceled, I would probably continue to watch it. So, I really am glad that the network is taking this off of my insane list of tv shows I watch. :)
-- Community: I had high hopes for this show but so far it's been amusing at spots, still has good potential, but hasn't really delivered. We'll see.
-- Accidentally on Purpose: One episode was enough, I do believe I have the willpower to stop watching this show.
-- Eastwick: Uh, I might continue to watch this, but mostly because it kinda satisfies the part of me that was sad to lose Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle (and yes, I may be the only person in the world that was sad to lose those shows).

Still waiting to be watched on the DVR:
-- Grey's Anatomy
-- Gossip Girl
-- Heroes
-- House
-- The Good Wife
-- Cougar Town
-- Modern Family -- have high hopes for this one!!
-- Flash Forward

Greek still rocks

I really should post on Greek more because it's definitely been one of my favorite shows this season so far. It's just really come into its own, with well-developed characters and really sharp, funny writing, and plenty of current pop culture references that make these kids actually seem normal. Casey and Ashleigh using code names from the Hills kind of cracked me up this week, especially since LC herself will apparently be appearing as herself in the finale.

One thing that I'm kind of not so happy about though, is how Evan and Frannie have turned into the terrible twosome of evil. They really do bring out the worst in eachother and it's not exactly unbelievable but given what we know they've been like in the past, it's maybe a little sad. I think Evan's behavior lately is somewhat organic...he's realizing that because of who he is, he can basically do what he wants and get other people to do what he wants too. I kind of wish we'd see Evan go back to the genuinely good guy we saw in the freshman year flashback episode though. I'm not entirely sure what part, if any, Casey has to do with this though. I think Casey would be good for Evan, but I don't think the reverse is necessarily true.

As for Frannie...I guess we needed a villain in the house now that Rebecca is somewhat reformed/disgraced, but I'm not always clear on her motives. Obviously we've seen her be a bitch before, but I mean, was she only nice to Casey to get back into the house? Or was she that angry that Casey didn't want to be friends with her after she started dating Evan? I think I'd like to Evan dump her ass and she how she gets along with Evan encouraging her.

I do have to say that I'm glad Ashleigh won the presidency though. Not that Casey didn't deserve it, but what Rebecca said was right--she didn't run a very good campaign--and this is much more interesting and will save us from another year of Casey or Frannie undermining whoever did win. We all know what's going to happen now...at first Casey's going to be trying too hard to "help" Ashleigh but I think in the end they'll work it out. Hopefully they won't have Ashleigh totally suck and have to step down or something because I think her character deserves to have something go right for her too. I am interested to see how Rebecca's going to fit into all this, though.

On the fraternity side, I kind of feel like the boys have been more comic relief from all the girl drama going on. I do still wonder about Cappie and Casey, though. They just seem to have such a natural chemistry together. Although I did like Cappie and Rebecca when they were together. And I do like Casey and Max too...it's nice to see Casey date outside the Greek circle and Max's awkwardness is pretty hilarious. I was glad to see Jen K. return this week to bring some closure to Rusty, and I'm also liking Calvin's arc too. I'm not sure if he's going to regret breaking up with Michael though.

I just realized one of the things I like so much about this show is that the relationships are not cut and dry and all. A lot of shows kind of make it obvious which couples we're supposed to be rooting for but not on Greek...I'm as undecided as the characters!

I kind of love ABC Family

Thank goodness ABC Family has new episodes of Kyle XY, Wildfire, and Greek for this year!

Kyle XY was up first last night. I remember being kind of disappointed back in the fall that they were saving the second of the season for this year, but with the strike and all, I'm so glad they did. Sometime during the first half of the season I started to really love this show...a lot of questions were answered, and they've done a really good job balancing all the Zyzyx-Madacorp-Kyle's brain stuff with the more personal stories.

And I actually really loved the way they handled Jessi's story. I was afraid that she was just going to be Kyle's annoying evil counterpart, but they've built in a lot of nice shades to her story. And I thought last night's premiere was pretty satsifying. They did a bit of a "reset" with Kyle and Jessi and the Tragers bringing down Madacorp (a la Sydney destroying SD-6, Max destroying Manticore), which I was a little worried about because I wasn't sure where the show was going to go from there, but after seeing the previews for the season, I'm pretty excited. As much as I'm glad that Jessi's realized that she can do good now, I think it'll be really interesting to see how her dark side comes out without the influences of Madacorp. BRING ON the Kyle and Jessi showdown!

Also I hope Foss isn't gone forever (because I love Nicholas Lea), I hope Lori and Declan get back together (because they're so obviously meant to be together), and I hope Andi doesn't die (because I like her and that would be way too melodramatic).

And Wildfire is coming back next Monday. You know sometimes I'm not quite sure why I continue to watch this show...Kris is often extremely annoying and stubborn and kind of undeserving of having two guys in love with her. But I still kind of love it. Dani is like Blair from Gossip Girl in that she's kind of a huge bitch but she's kind of awesome anyway, and I kind of love Junior despite all of his pining for Kris and that ridiculous bull riding thing from last season. The promos are showing Junior getting married though which I do not understand whatsoever. NO ONE on this show should be getting married. I guess I prefer Kris and Junior over Kris and Matt, but they definitely should not be getting married. And it better not be someone stupid like Gillian (even though I do like her). Sigh, we'll just have to see!

Finally, last but not least, Greek is coming back in March! I totally loved this show last summer, and I can't wait for it to come back. The last episode had Jen K. (played by lonelygirl15 herself, Jessica Lee Rose) revealed as the person who wrote the article pretty much damning the school's entire Greek system, and Rusty and Casey going home for the holidays with their relationships kind of up in the air. I have to say that I've really enjoyed the Evan/Casey/Cappie love triangle because I really do like both guys. Cappie is totally awesome but I can see why Casey likes Evan too...

Going Greek

Once again this summer ABCFamily and the N seem to be having all the same ideas. Last summer it was Falcon Beach and Beyond the Break (both beach shows) and now this summer it's Greek and The Best Years (both college shows). Beyond the Break definitely won last year's matchup but this year I think it's ABCFamily's turn. I thought the premiere of the Best Years was alright, but the second episode was pretty bad. I think the problem is that they seem to be trying very hard to make the show "realistic" but are getting so many of the details wrong. While the show is set in Boston, it's pretty obvious that the writers are Canadian. In the States it's freshman, not first year. And no one says "residence," it's the dorm. And the thing with Sam's "business class" professor was just bizarre. In my experience, college professors don't go out of their way to personally embarrass and weed out students: they let their papers and exams do it for them. And why is the Dean of Students/Admissions EVERYWHERE? And how many times is Sam really going to get in trouble and then get another chance, really?

So maybe the reason I like Greek better is because I wasn't part of the frat/sorority scene in college at all so I don't know a lot about it and can't really complain about inaccuracies or whatnot. I think the premise of the show is really strong actually: Rusty is the geeky freshman intent on having the full fraternity college experience, and his older sister, Casey, is the pretty, popular junior aiming to be president of her sorority (who hasn't even told anyone that she has a brother). The feel of the show is more fun in general, kind of more reminiscent of the OC, where the drama was heavy but the comedy was generally light, than Dawson's Creek, where everything was angst and everyone took everything too seriously.

Anyway, the acting on Greek wasn't so bad either. There's no one that recognizable in the cast, except for Spencer Grammer, who is Kelsey Grammer's daughter, and Clark Duke, who's recently been making the online video rounds with his series with Michael Cera of Arrested Development fame. Also, Jessica Lee Rose (aka lonelygirl15) made a brief appearance and according to IMDB, she'll be a recurring character. The supporting characters include Calvin, Rusty's smooth (and gay?) rush buddy; Dale, Rusty's Southern Christian fellow engineering honors roommate; Evan, Casey's cheating boyfriend and member of the elite fraternity on campus; and Cappie, Casey's ex-boyfriend and president of the Kappa Tau, the freewheeling slacker frat.

Is ABCFamily on a roll? First I get hooked on Wildfire, then Kyle XY, and now Greek?