Television Worth Watching
Entertainment Weekly had their Summer TV preview last week. They name A & E’s Mad Men summer TV’s number 1 hidden gem. I really enjoyed the first season. The art direction and costumes are stunning and the complex characters are all disintegrating in various and fascinating ways.
EW recommends 10 other shows to check out this summer. I second their recommendations for Breaking Bad, Reaper, Friday Night Lights, and Bones. They’re uneven, but when they’re good they’re great.
I can’t comment on their cable choices: Flight of the Conchords, In Treatment and Brotherhood. We don’t get movie channels, and given how overloaded our Tivo drive is, I think that’s a good thing.
Finally, I know that Greek, The Paper and Gossip Girl are supposed to be enjoyable, but I can’t muster the energy for them. Either I’m burned out on teen shows (fare thee well, Veronica Mars) or my roster of B shows is full; see the above recommendations.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I would pass on Gossip Girl - while it can be entertaining and the sudsy plots can suck you in, it’s actually not that good, and is pretty mindless. Heavy on the guilt, low on the pleasure, in my opinion. I’ve marathoned a few episodes, only to feel a bit dirty afterwards…
But I honestly and truly really dig Greek. I had no interest in the Greek system as an undergrad (nor do I now on my current campus), but this show has developed its characters so well and fleshed out the relationships so intelligently (and intricately) that I can’t help but watch. It’s one of the few shows I wait for with bated breath, and rarely disappoints. If you can muster the energy, I think you’d find it worth the investment. I feel very little guilt about the pleasure I garner from it.
Haven’t seen Mad Men, but I’d like to. We don’t have cable at all (I watch most things if they’re offered online), so I’ll check to see if it’s something we can get through Netflix.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:59 am
I’m so glad Reaper was renewed. Like you said, it’s uneven, but when it’s good, it’s really good, and the season cliffhanger would have been heartbreaking if left unresolved.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Oh, G. Grod is not going to be happy when I audition Greek for our roster.
I thought Reaper got a lot better as it went and the addition of Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black (I don’t think I got that name right) as gay demons was a treat. Ray Wise is great as the devil, and I look forward to finding out more about the parents. It was a great season ender that left me excited, not frustrated or resentful.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:25 am
We only have the basic-est of basic cable packages, so we enjoy a lot of our TV viewing on DVD from Netflix. I added the first season of Mad Men to my queue after reading EW’s piece. It doesn’t come out for a few weeks, but it looks fantastic.