The Laughing Wolf

Television I Watch, And Don’t Watch

I’m still a bit surprised that almost anyone would be interested in what I watch on television. Yet, the contemplation is good for me and might provide some interesting food for thought for you. So, here is a quick run down of what is on in the lair.

Right now, there are only two shows I consider anything close to a must-watch: CSI and Angel.

We are talking the original CSI here, no knockoffs. The characters are good, the science fair, and I admit to a strong bias of liking to see the nerds be heroes and show leads.

Angel is good drama, good fun, and along the way you get to deal with the complexities of good versus evil, good intentions versus what happens, etc. A very well done show and if it is true that it has been cancelled, I hope UPN or someone picks it up, runs with it, and makes a fortune off of it.

I still miss Farscape. I do catch reruns of Buffy, and continue to be amazed at what was done with that show. Throw away lines in the first season turn out to be key plot items later. The details, the details, and that is why these two shows are all-time favorites: the details.

Shows I like to catch when I can include NCIS, Without A Trace, Joan of Arcadia, Kim Possible, and Stargate SG-1. There are a couple of others that look promising, such as the cold case show, but don’t really hit the radar yet.

I do watch news a good bit, and tend to stay towards Fox. If Fox would do a headline show/channel, that would be a must watch for me. I also wish I could get Bloomberg full-time, as it is great for financial information. Financial news is the other thing I try to watch as much as I can.

When I want the idiot box on for company/noise but nothing is on the networks (a frequent occurrence), I tend to go to the History Channel and the Food Network. History Channel is just a lot of fun, and I learn a lot on the Food Network as well. Alton Brown is the man there with his show “Good Eats.”

Shows I no longer watch include Law and Order (any flavor), ER, and Third Watch.

Law and Order lost me for several reasons, including: always white bad guy, always evil corporation, strong anti-gun stance, strong anti-self-defense stance, strong anti-individual liberty stance, etc. Ya da, we should live in perfect police state. Bah.

ER lost its way a few years ago, and I think it jumped the shark with the helicopter falling on the hated Dr. Romano. Not even the addition of new actors, including the beautiful and powerful “Bend It Like Beckham” star can save it now. Add to it a foray into left politics (support for the Dixie Chicks, Carter confronted with and acknowledging of the evil that is America in Africa, etc.) and a strong anti-gun bias, and it all just got to be too much for me. Pity, as it used to be on my must watch list.

Third Watch had a good start, but jumped the shark with last season’s ending/this season’s beginning. It is now waaaay into soap opera land and has a change in focus as well. None of which make me want to watch it anymore.

That is about it. Not a lot out there I really want to or have to watch. Far better to be out and about, or reading a book, anyway.

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