Television Addiction Part 2: Oh the TV Shows I’ve Seen!

            (A continuation from the previous post).

            Here is a partial list of some of the DVD box sets I’ve worked my way through in Cambodia, and my thoughts on them.

Kings

            This TV show came out when I was in Japan, and was completely under my radar.  I didn’t even know it existed until I saw it in the DVD shop.

            (I’m curious, how many people back home knew about this show?  I know it didn’t last past its first season, but was it a big deal when it started?)

            The premise is that it’s a retelling of the King Saul and David story, set in a modern setting in a fictional kingdom. It did very poorly in the ratings, and was cancelled after one season.

            Slate.com gives the series a rave review, and laments that it was cancelled after one season [LINK HERE.]

            The AV Club has an episode by episode guide that is mostly positive [LINK HERE].

            My own thoughts are this: it’s a really cool idea to make a TV show out of the King David narrative.  This was always my favorite story in the Bible, and it has got enough complexity here to sustain a TV show.

            But unfortunately in the medium of television, execution is everything, and a good premise will only get you so far.  Some of the episodes were better than others, but I felt like I was watching some cheesy teen drama most of the time, not a mythical epic. 

            Plus the way they chose to portray David was a mistake.  He just came out so bland.  The character in the bible had a bit more of an edge to him—he could be a malicious trickster when he wanted to, and he knew how to look out for his own interests (such as when he defected to the Philistines).

            I believe a better TV show is possible with the same source material.  Maybe in another 20 years, someone will give it another shot.

            (I’ve actually got some ideas on how I think the King David story should be filmed, but I’ll save that for the next post.)

Star Trek Enterprise (4th Season Only)

            Actually I already covered this in another post.   So I’m not going to review it again here.  But it does belong in the list of the excessive amount of TV I have watched this past year.

          I also bought the DVDs of the original Star Trek, and re-watched those.  I hadn’t actually seen most of these in years,  and was pleasantly surprised to see they were just as good as I remembered them.

The Wire

          Everybody has been recommending this show to me.  Some of my best friends have been praising it very highly on Facebook (you know who you are).  Some of you even said that this wasn’t just a TV show, but that it had all the complexity of a novel, and should be regarded as such.

            I had a little bit of trouble getting into this show, partly because the ridiculous amount of praise it had gotten didn’t seem to match what I was seeing in the first season.  The first season was alright, but it wasn’t the best TV ever made.

            But a number of friends told me the show grew in complexity with each season.  So I stuck with it for the second season. 

            And by the 3rd season I was hooked.  By the 3rd season I realized this really was genuinely the most intelligent TV show I had ever seen.

            I loved how they took the idea of legalizing drugs, but they didn’t do it as just a one off episode gag.  They followed that concept throughout the whole season.  And they showed all the different sides of it—all the good things that resulted from this plan, and all the bad things that resulted from this plan. 

            Plus, right about the 3rd season, they started really getting into the politics of the city, and that was interesting. 

            And then the 4th season, when they took on the public school system, was also really well done.

            The fifth season dropped the ball a little bit, but by that point I was hooked anyway, so I kept watching.

The Walking Dead (1 and 1/2 seasons)

            This show was very popular in my office and because my co-workers (mostly my male co-workers) kept talking about how great it was, I decided to check it out.

            I made it through the first season and half of the second season and then I just stopped.

            I like zombie movies, don’t get me wrong.  Those old George Romero movies The Night of the Living Dead, and Dawn of the Dead are among my favorite films of all time.

            But, I’ve decided zombies are villains with a complexity best suited to an hour and a half movie.  I do not have the patience to sit through 20 hours of zombies. 

            Horror movies work best in small doses to begin with, otherwise they just get too exhausting.  Plus zombies aren’t really a complex villain.  You don’t need 20 hours to understand their motivations.  They walk slow and they feed on brains.

            “But zombie movies were never supposed to be about the zombies,” my co-workers told me when I made this complaint.  “The best zombie movies have always been about the conflicts the humans have with each other.”

            And I agreed with this.  But although there were lots of petty arguments arising among the humans in The Walking Dead, I never saw anything that grabbed my attention and made me want to keep watching.

            And another thing: Zombies are really scary when you’re trapped in an empty house at night in the countryside outside a graveyard, a la Night of the Living Dead.  But of course you remember what happens in that movie the next morning, right?  The sheriff and his posse go door to door shooting all the remaining zombies.

            My point is, although zombies can terrify isolated groups of people for a limited amount of time, they’re not a problem that poses any long-term threat to organized humans. 

            I do not buy for one minute the premise of The Walking Dead that there was a zombie apocalypse that overran the US military.  And the fact that I couldn’t suspend my disbelief for this premise also hindered my getting involved in this show.

            I regret to say this caused some disagreement between me and my other co-workers.  Some of them argued passionately that the zombies would definitely have overran the US military, but I just didn’t see it happening.

            “But they would have over-run the US military by sheer numbers!" my co-workers said.

            Listen, sheer numbers never won any battle.  The British Raj would never have been established in India if the Indians could have beaten them with sheer numbers.  (Nor could the British and French have burned down the summer palace in Peking for that matter.)   Whoever has the guns and the organization will win any conflict.

            Where all these zombies are coming from, and how many there are, is still a matter of debate in my office, but I maintain no matter how many zombies there are, they would never over-run the US military.

Boardwalk Empire (First 2 seasons)

            Another show I started watching because everyone at work seemed to like it so much.

            I’ve decided I like this show, but it tries my patience at times.  I like the gangsters, I like the various tie ins with real historical figures and real gangster history.

            I can’t stand the soap opera parts.  James Darmody and his relationship with his wife?  Nucky and his relationship with that Irish woman?  Van Alden and his relationship with his wife?  Boy did all those subplots really bore me to death.

            Also, I never thought I would say this but I’m beginning to get bored with all the gratuitous violence.  Killing off a character suddenly is a great way to shock the audience, but if it becomes over-used, it loses its shock value.

            I’m going to stay with this show for the moment, but it’s really borderline for me.

Arrested Development

          Another show numerous people had recommended to me.  And another show I had missed out on because I had been in Japan when it came out.

            It was pretty funny, although I spoiled it for myself a bit by watching it all in one marathon session one a 3 day weekend.  I think I would have found it funnier if I had taken it in smaller doses.  But I just couldn’t help myself.  The show was just so addictive, I would finish one episode and fell like I had to watch the next one.

Community

            People at work were talking about this, so I checked it out.

            Some episodes were better than others, but at least in its stronger moments a very funny and very inventive show.

Parks and Recreation (Seasons 1-4)

          Again, people at work were talking about this. 

            Like Arrested Development, I found it all too addictive, and blitzed through all 4 seasons way too quickly.  Again, I probably spoiled the viewing experience for myself, but it was a funny show.

Homeland (Half a Season only)
          Everyone at my work loves this show, but I just didn't have the patience for it.  After about 5 episodes, I decided I was pretty sure they were going to reveal he was a terrorist  at the end of the season. (That was the only way they could have written it.  Otherwise the whole show  would have just been one long red herring.)  And I couldn't be bothered to sit through the rest of the season so I could find out what I already knew.

How I Met Your Mother (Seasons 1-7)

            Because I’ve been living abroad for so long, this TV show has been off my radar for many years.  I first started noticing it when I was at University in Melbourne, and when hanging out with undergraduates I began to notice how popular this show was with the 18-22 year old crowd.  Since then I’ve caught a few episodes here and there, and quite enjoyed them.  And then I found myself buying the DVDs and working through the whole series.

            I love the characters and I love the zany sense of humor of this series. 

            The sappiness, however, means that I can only watch so much of this series before I start getting fed up with it.  Some episodes really lay on the sap harder than others so, so it can be hit and miss.

Hatfields and McCoys (History Channel Miniseries)

            This hit the DVD stores in Cambodia a few months after it had aired in the US. 

            Via the Internet, I had known it got a lot of bad reviews from the critics, but I quite enjoyed it and many of my co-workers quite enjoyed it too.

            The Hatfields and McCoys occupy a funny bit of space in American history.  Because of references in pop culture, everybody knows that this feud existed (I remember first learning about it from a Farside cartoon [LINK]).  And yet no one ever teaches you about it in history class at school.  So every American knows that there was some bizarre feud between two families in the 19th century that ended up killing several people, but no one knows how or why it happened.  I’ve been curious to know the story for several years now, and, for all its faults, I thought this series did a good job of tracing the events of the feud, and trying to show the characters motivations in order to make the whole thing understandable.

            Maybe you have to be a history geek to appreciate this kind of stuff.  The critics probably hated it because they wanted something with a higher level of meaning, but if you’re looking for a miniseries that simply fills in your knowledge of a historical event, this one will do nicely.

            After viewing the series I also enjoyed this website (LINK ) that compared the oral history of the Hatfield clan with the TV miniseries.

Downton Abbey (1st Season Only)

          A friend of mine (he knows who he is) actually introduced me to this show before I went to Cambodia, and I was initially intrigued.  Finding the DVDs in Cambodia, I started to watch them here, but must confess that I started to get a little bored with the show near the end of the first season.  Through the Internet critics, I saw that the second season got such horrible reviews that I didn’t even bother to check it out.

Pillars of the Earth Miniseries

          The same friend also introduced me to Pillars of the Earth, and I found this in the Cambodian DVD store also.

            I was very disappointed with this one. It was really cheesy, overly sappy, melodramatic…and a historical drama that wasn’t at all historically accurate. 

            And yet I watched the whole thing anyway.

Caprica

          I’ve actually never seen the entire Battlestar Galatica.  I’m at that awkward stage right now, where I’ve seen too many episodes to want to watch the whole thing, straight through but not enough episodes to get the whole sweep of the story.  Someday maybe I’ll have to work my way through that series, after I’ve forgotten enough so that I can re-watch episodes. 

            But I didn’t have that problem with Caprica, which I hadn’t seen any of.  So I watched the whole season. 

            Despite having a number of plot holes, I thought it was entertaining enough.

Black Adder

          Because my British friends are always talking about how great this series is, I eventually decided to check it out.  It wasn’t quite as great as they had made it out to be, but it wasn’t terrible either.  The last season in particular I thought managed to combine humor with a poignant anti-war theme quite well.

Keeping Up with the old Favorites—Simpsons,  Futurama, Family Guy, American Dad, South Park

           Of course it hasn’t been all new shows.  I’ve also been watching the latest seasons of old favorite animation.

            I know that The Simpsons past its peak about 15 years ago, but even though it’s no where near as good as it used to be, I’ve still long found it a pleasant waste of time these past few years.

            That is, until now.  The last season of DVDs I bought (season 22) was just unwatchable.  As a long time fan I never thought I’d say this, but The Simpsons has degenerated to the point where I can no longer even really sit through it.

            The latest season of South Park, by contrast, I still found quite entertaining.

Hell on Wheels/Deadwood

          I bought Hell on Wheels after a co-worker recommended it to me, but couldn’t make it through the first season.  (I have much the same criticisms of the series that the AVclub reviewer has, so rather than give my review I’ll just link to his LINK HERE.)

            The AVclub kept comparing Deadwood as a much better Western period piece, so I went back and bought Deadwood instead. 

            As with The Wire, I know I’m a few years late to the party on this one, but I found Deadwood to be a really remarkable show.  A nice blend of real history with some great fictional treatments, and a cast of really fascinating characters.

Young Justice

          I’m sure I would have enjoyed this a lot more had I been 25 years younger.  (How unfair that all the great superhero cartoons are coming out now that I’ve hit adulthood).  However, like Justice League Unlimited before it, the show does seem to be playing to the adult comic book geek just as much as to the kids. 

            Having been a huge fan of the Teen Titans in my younger comic book collecting days, this show did a good job of hitting all the right nerd bases for me.  I’d be embarrassed to tell you how much I enjoyed it.

The Inbetweeners

          This show was a big hit in Britain, and my British friends were talking about it a lot.  So I eventually ended up checking it out myself. 

            I found it interesting at first, but quickly got bored with it.  The format of the show seemed very repetitive, and the humor, which mostly seemed to focus on getting the maximum embarrassment/ cringe factor for the main characters in every episode, I felt played itself out quickly. 

            And yet I still ended up watching the whole thing.

Peep Show

            Another British TV show, although this one recommended by an American colleague.  And another show that plays off of embarrassment humor (which seems to be very popular in Britain).  But strangely addictive nonetheless.  I ended up watching the whole thing again.

The Slap (Mini-Series)

          This is an Australian TV show.  I’m curious, is this known at all back in the States?

            It’s an adaptation of a book.  And I probably should have read the book instead (if I were the more literary person I wish I was.)  But I couldn’t be bothered to read the book.  I saw a couple episodes of this show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (one of the few English channels I get on my cable package).  I found it pretty interesting, so I just ended up buying it when it hit the DVD stores.

            An interesting story that really pulls you in.  Plus it takes place in Melbourne and, having spent a year in Melbourne, it made me slightly nostalgic for the city.

Ugly Americans

          A co-worker said he was working his way through this series, and that it was just bizarre enough to be interesting.  I picked it up based on that recommendation, and I find myself agreeing with him. 

Breaking Bad (Second Season only)

          Everyone in my office loves Breaking Bad, so I decided to check it out myself.  The week I decided to try it out, my local DVD store was temporarily out of the first season, so for the moment I just decided to start with the second season.  (A decision which absolutely horrified all of my co-workers.  “Joel!” one of them said, “It’s like a novel!  You have to watch it in order!”)

            For whatever reason, this show didn’t really click with me.  I know everyone else loves it, and I can’t really give you a good reason why I didn’t.  Maybe it was just a little bit too slowly paced for me.  At any rate, I watched the second season, but didn’t end up going back for more.

Mad Men

            I had actually seen the first season of this when I was still in Japan (it was popular enough in Japan that you could rent them at Japanese DVD stores.)  I caught up on a few more of the seasons while in Cambodia, although once again I horrified my co-workers by watching the episodes out of order. 

            As a history geek, I appreciate the eye for period detail.  But like Breaking Bad I felt like this show just moved at too slow of a pace for me, and I just couldn’t stay interested in the long run.

Archer

          Another show I got into just because my co-workers loved it so much.  Some of the jokes I find a bit repetitive, but a pleasant enough waste of time.

Flight of the Conchords

          Because I had been living in Japan for so long, this had been off my radar for a while, but word of mouth eventually caught up to me.  (My friend Brett would make references to it.)  So I eventually checked it out.  I got a bit bored with all the songs, but I generally enjoyed it.

Chuck

          Only one season in so far.  Not all that great, but everyone says it gets better in later seasons.

My Name is Earl

          The show actually looks like it should be funnier than it is.

The Clone Wars

          Based on Whisky Prajer’s recommendation I decided to check this out.  It is pretty impressive for a kids cartoon, and does manage to recapture the fun spirit of the old film serials Star Wars is supposed to be based on.

Entourage

          Surprisingly addictive, although after you finish watching several seasons, you do wonder what the point was.  The show managed to pull me in for several seasons, but I hated myself for watching it when it was all over.

Cougar Town

          Actually pretty funny.

The Borgias (1 and 1/2 seasons only)

          I understand this was put together as Showtime’s follow-up to The Tudors. 

            I have yet to see The Tudors from start to finish.  (My brother-in-law and me worked through several episodes when I was last back in America, but its tough to watch a series straight through when the DVD rental place only has one copy, and other customers are renting the same discs you want.)  However I enjoyed what I did see of The Tudors. I know it’s not perfectly historically accurate, but it seemed to me to be largely historically accurate.  (Granted I’m no expert.  Almost everything I know about Henry VIII just comes from Monarchy and This Sceptred Isle. But The Tudors lined up nicely with what little I knew about King Henry VIII).

            The Borgias, by contrast, seems much less historically accurate.  Eventually I just had to stop watching halfway through the second season.  What was the point of watching a historically drama that wasn’t even historically accurate?

            It’s a pity, because the idea for a historical drama around the Borgia family is a great idea.  What a great subversive way to remind people of all the terrible history behind the papacy.  And for historical geeks, what a wonderful opportunity to get into some of the fascinating Papal power struggles, and 16th century politics on the Italian peninsula.

            However, as each episode just got more and more ridiculous, and further removed from the actual history, I eventually had to ask myself, “Why am I watching this?”

            I know it’s an article of faith in Hollywood that you should never make anything truly historically accurate, because then no one will watch it, but I disagree.  I think there’s a huge audience for accurate historical dramas.  Just think how many people love watching documentaries.

            The pity of The Borgias is that the actual history would have been interesting enough.  It would have been interesting simply because it had been real.  Because they made up their own story instead, it made things less interesting.

Game of Thrones

          When this series was first airing, it generated quite a lot of buzz around my office.  People were talking about this series, and people were really enjoying this series.

            So I checked it out of course.

            It takes about 5 episodes or so to get into this series, because initially the series just throws a bunch of characters at you without giving you a reason to care about them.

            Once you get about 5 episodes into it, and start getting into these characters, it is highly addictive.  Perhaps the most addictive show I’ve seen yet.  Every time I finished an episode, I had to watch the next one immediately afterwards.  The week I was watching this show I was low on sleep and hardly ever went out.

            Why is it so addictive?  Well that’s a little bit harder to explain.

            The show is classified as fantasy, but as viewers know the fantastical elements are not center stage.  Rather, this show is part of a genre I like to call “fake history.”  It’s the story of a fictional civil war in a fictional country.

            As I watched the show, I kept asking myself, “Why am I so interested in this when it’s not even real?”

            One of my colleagues, a fellow history geek, once said to me, “The reason I read history instead of fiction is because history is always more interesting.  The stuff that happens in history—you couldn’t make that up if you tried.  Cortez and the conquest of the Aztecs?  The French Revolution?  The American Civil War?  World War II?  Show me the fiction writer who could possibly match those stories!”

            I agreed with him on the spot, but since I started watching Game of Thrones I’ve started to question the assertion.  As I watch Game of Thrones, I keep asking myself, “Is this more interesting than real history, or would a real historical drama have been a more interesting show?  Would all of the time and money needed to make Game of Thrones been much better employed depicting a real historical war instead of a pretend one?"

            20 years ago, the argument probably would have been that historical dramas make for poor television because history is too complex.  You could never ask an American audience to keep track of all the various factions and nobles during The War of the Roses, could you?

            And yet, Game of Thrones seems to be mocking this idea.  It blatantly makes its fictional history more and more and more complex.  (One of my co-workers even told me he had started making a chart on his wall to keep track of who everyone was while he watched Game of Thrones).  And yet Game of Thrones is one of the most successful television shows ever.

            So, now that Game of Thrones has shown modern audiences are not adverse to complex plots or ideas, I have a whole list of historical incidents I think would make for great television.  But I’ll save that for the next post.

            (For Whisky’s thoughts on Game of Thrones and history versus fiction, see LINK HERE)

            So, yeah, that’s my list of shame for the past year and a half since I came to Cambodia.  It’s not even a complete list.  It’s just a list of the DVDs I watched.  The hours I wasted watching “Whatever happened to be on the TV when I came home from work” aren’t even factored in here.

            My goal for the next year is to read more and watch less TV.  And also to be more productive.

            But, I say that every year.

Link of the Day
We Need More Organization, Education, Activism

Playlist is HERE: