I see you all have been left alone and are getting restless. Sorry about that- I watched Monk (Sharona returned!) and then that new show White Collar last night, and just called it a night. I’ve been doing the various Saturday morning chores before gam eday and honestly forgot about the website for a change.
BTW- that new show White Collar is going to be a lot of fun, and once again, it reminded me of how many shows over the years I have really enjoyed from the USA netword:
Monk
Psych
Burn Notice
the Dead Zone
the 4400
Royal Pains
In Plain Sight
And on and on. You can add White Collar to the list. I don’t know if it is just a matter that I’m just the right demographic that USA is shooting for, but I seem to like an awful lot of their programming. Far more quality shows on USA than any other traditional network.
At any rate, I hope your team wins.
Just Some Fuckhead
I seriously doubt this.
EconWatcher
Agree about USA Network. There’s a combination of comic lightness and good writing that makes a number of their shows worthwhile. I think none of them will age well; no classics there. But relaxing and fun.
Cat Lady
I think AMC is figuring stuff out now, too. Breaking Bad and Mad Men are both HBO worthy.
Here’s another example of a network pretending not to know what everyone else knows. Why does CNN care about Loud Obbs so much? Does the Latino population’s viewership and spending power attract fewer viewers and spending power than Pat Buchanan’s old white demographic now, and especially into the future? I remember Tancredo coming in last with the GOP base. CNN management can’t be that stupid, can they, or do they think that Ruth Marcus and Jake Tapper are going to save their sorry asses?
Brick Oven Bill
A Proposal for the Lexicon:
Milli VanUrkel (noun);
A respectful term for President Obama, noting and honoring his successful melding of Milli Vanilli’s writing ability, and Urkel, without the scientific ability.
Usage:
1. Hey, did you read Obama’s Columbia Paper? Man, that was totally Milli VanUrkel;
2. Hey, let’s reprogram the teleprompter with a re-run of Family Ties and unleash his inner Milli VanUrkel. This could be fun!
asiangrrlMN
Fuck you, Cole. Some of us were worried about you.
demkat620
Morning all. The Jack Russell and I are going for a walk and then going to take advantage of the day and do some fall cleaning.
He’s jealous of Bitsy though. He looks alot like her.
Don’t forget L’il Bitsy today!
Persia
@Brick Oven Bill: It’s like a perfect storm of racial slurs and stupidity. Nice.
More on-topic, USA seems to be invested in making breezy popcorn shows. Which are enjoyable as hell by their nature. I like Leverage a lot, and I can’t even remember which network it’s on.
demkat620
Oh shit look out! Obama declared an H1N1national emergency.
Cue the conservative freakout in 5, 4, 3…
R-Jud
@Persia:
Complete free-association: last night I made popcorn with real maple syrup and crushed, toasted pecans and it was OH MY GOD. I recommend it. Very nice with some Herefordshire cider.
Just Some Fuckhead
@demkat620:
Woohoo, now we can round up the Christians..
MikeJ
@demkat620: That’s my signal as a member of the Obama Death Corps to go turn the highway signs around so the secret directions to the FEMA camps can be seen.
Blackacre
I hope my team wins too, as I am a UConn Husky fan! BTW, WVU is all class for the way they are honoring Jasper Howard today.
Just Some Fuckhead
@MikeJ: lolz
Kiril
If only USA would make a show with a quirky but competent lead and his fast-talking sidekick and they go solve mysteries with a maybe a little sexual tension from a another character on the side. And some other overarching mystery to tie the whole thing together. Now, that’s a show I would watch.
EconWatcher
Kiril: OK, that’s the formula exactly. But who can argue with it? Unless you’re looking for Shakespeare, it’s a nice way to decompress
I would add one caveat to my earlier endorsement, though: The acting (or lack thereof) on In Plain Sight makes it unwatchable. That’s admittedly based on a five-minute viewing. But I could take no more.
JimPortlandOR
White Collar is fun. I can’t decide whether its the good writing and plotting, or the amazing good looks of the Neal Caffrey character (Matt Bomer – which seems a misspelling of Boner). Matt surely fits the description of someone who is “TCTBS” (too cute to be straight).
Anyway, I’m hooked on WC, especially since Fri night is such a disaster on TV/cable for anything worth watching (besides, of course, Bill Moyers).
The Other Steve
If you have not yet seen Zombieland, go see it. It’s hillarious.
Zoogz
Spent last night watching reruns of Criminal Minds on A&E. Other than House on Fox, I usually try to catch the CBS schedule most nights (NCIS, Criminal Minds, and the Mentalist, now on at night-owl schedules). The CBS schedule seems to me to be a bit heavier on the drama compared to USA’s more light-hearted comedy.
Used to enjoy Monk, but the premise wore thin for me a while ago. It’s a bummer, because I enjoy Tony Shalhoub for the most part.
JimPortlandOR
linky for Matt Boner pic
jnfr
Little Bitsy is at 7550. If you haven’t voted, this is your last chance!
Notorious P.A.T.
A lot of these shows are all directed by the same people, which might be part of their success.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
I have been working on this and the front suspension since March and now that I have it done I discover that my axle seals are seeping. Ordered parts are piling up and I am yanking the rear axle and related suspension parts out this weekend, replacing everything but the third member. Powdercoating the heck out of everything I can while it is off since coastal air is corrosive as hell on steel. Lots of work but the results are worth it.
Looks like Bobbi has to wait a couple of weeks to cruise. ;)
Just Some Fuckhead
Some of them Cole. Sane people had other things to do.
Cheryl from Maryland
Go William and Mary! Let’s hear it for college football that has playoffs.
Stefan
Far more quality shows on USA than any other traditional network.
Odd, isn’t it, that cable is now the home of quality character-driven drama, while network TV is a cesspool of reality shows and cookie-cutter forensic procedurals (though I do enjoy NCISCSI: Special Victims Unit Laguna Beach)…..
RSA
I’m watching a lot more TV (relatively speaking) on other networks than on the Big Three/Four these days. Fringe and House are all I can think of. Aside from USA (love Burn Notice and Psych), TNT is also okay with The Closer and Leverage.
different church-lady
@Brick Oven Bill
*thinks twice*
*COMMENT DELETED BY DIFFERENT CHURCH-LADY*
It ain’t worth it…
smiley
White Collar seems to be an update of the ’60s show It Takes a Thief which starred Robert Wagner and Fred Astaire. Similar premise anyway. From Wiki:
Mister Papercut
Funny you should mention this, Cole. There was a Newsweek article about USA Network’s president and her show development philosophy just this summer.
Violet
@JimPortlandOR:
Oh, he’s very cute. I haven’t watched White Collar, but now I’m intrigued.
Don’t forget to Vote for Little Bitsy! Every vote counts!
Bob In Pacifica
I’ve been Netflicking last year’s “Life On Mars”. Boy, that was a good show.
This year “Flash Forward” opened with a bang, but subsequent episodes are smelling more and more soap-opera-ishy, with occasional gunplay to wrap up a show. Kind of like “Lost” but on a worldwide scale. I can solve some “mysteries” for you now. The MIA daughter of the alcoholic handyman lost her legs in the explosion and that’s why the DNA test came back positive (but she’s still alive and a prisoner of the al Qaeda). It was the CIA (or some other intelligence agency, not the Chinese) who tried to assassinate the FBI guys at the end of this week’s show.
Elsewhere: The lesbian love scenes were wooden. The FBI agent’s wife and the blonde terrorist have no credibility. You never believe that they’re anything more than actresses. The old Nazi was pretty much a shaggy dog. This last week the President’s old squeeze emerged along with his illegitimate kid, and the Senator who’s about to be named Vice President looks a little like a right-winger’s masturbatory nightmare of Nancy Pelosi. The guy from “Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle” comes off as someone you wouldn’t want to party with, but maybe that’s just the writing. Subpar karaoke singing of “Like A Rolling Stone”. Is Washington, DC really this bad?
I’m going to watch a few more episodes but if you haven’t gotten involved you might want to keep it in your pants. Just saying.
smiley
I should have read down that Wiki page a little more:
ThresherK
As my consumption of TV has shifted to things that are on cable (with scant exception) I’ve become accustomed to having an episode rebroadcast overnight after its premiere, and when I miss something on “regular” TV, well, I’ve really missed it until reruns. Anyone else?
(And I await the barrage of TiVo enthusiasts. I’m too much the minimalist/paranoiac to consider it.)
PS Blackacre, as a lifelong Nutmegger, can I ask where you hail from?
getsmartin
Scuba Cat anyone?
Kryptik
@Blackacre:
We’re not all couch burners after all. :P
I’d hope though that honoring him would be something any other school would do after something that tragic.
Back to the topic though:
I’m sad that Dead Zone never quite got a full resolution (unless I missed a special series finale somewhere). But yeah, USA has been ridiculously spot on and fun. Burn Notice rocks just for the philosophy of ‘If you have to fight a war, don’t use guns. Guns make you dumb. Instead, fight it with duct tape. Duct tape makes you smart.’
asiangrrlMN
@Just Some Fuckhead: Fuck you, too, JSF.
Dusty
You should really try stopping Television “shows”, they just turn you into clones… shape your collective thoughts.. look at friends, cheers, seinfeld etc
CaseyL
Forgot White Collar was debuting Friday night, not that it matters – SteamCon is this weekend, and I’m there, baby. (Day-tripping, since the ‘con is in my hometown and I sure can’t afford to stay in a hotel these days anyways.) I can catch the debut later, if it’s on On Demand.
SteamCon is fantastic. One of the panels I attended discussed the fact that “steampunk” is already turning up as a curriculum item. We talked about whether – in terms of presenting it as a classroom topic – steampunk is, most properly, scifi, or literary, or fashion, or mechanical design, or ??? I suggested steampunk be seen, and taught, as an art movement, which spans all of those outlets: Like Neo-Classicism or Romanticism, steampunk is a movement in literature AND fashion AND music AND so on and so forth.
BTW, re steampunk music? If you ever, ever get a chance to see Abney Park, grab it with both hands. They’re amazing.
I know we have some BJers in Seattle – any of you going to the ‘Con?
GReynoldsCT00
In addition to the USA shows, I love The Closer on TNT
Comrade Darkness
So, what was the conclusion of the Rufus drama? Rufus’ page now says week 11 winner? Who’s the next highest dog by votes right now?
Okay, yeah, I need a life, but I also feel the need to see this through. I’ll analyze why later after I’ve had way more coffee.
gwangung
@CaseyL: I’d have an interest, given that I’m a Girl Genius fanboy, but I have a performance gig today (much to asiangrrlMN’s annoyance and envy).
Krosp I (a.k.a. Kryptik)
@gwangung:
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Girl Genius is not ‘steampunk’.
It’s ‘gaslamp fantasy’. Get it right or I take your shoes. :P
JasonF
Bob in Pacifica — I absolutely loved Life on Mars right up until the last 15 minutes of the last episode. But the way they resolved the central mystery of the show was so terrible that I wished they had left it unresolved (or better still, gone with the BBC ending).
But up until those last 15 minutes — one of the best shows ever.
PurpleGirl
ThresherK — I too like that shows are reshown later the same night or over the weekend on so many cable channels. If I like something I can watch it again or if I miss a show or have a conflict with another show to watch, I know I’ll get the chance to watch anything another time.
And I do find I like USA shows for their cheekiness. I watched Monk for a while but then the character’s neurotic actions began to make me feel antsy as I watched and I had to stop. Tony Shaloub is a good actor but Monk was too much to take after a while.
Jane2
@Comrade Darkness: seems the Week 11 winner stepped down, so Rufus moved into the semi-finals. I think that means Little Bitsy is the Week 12 Semi-Finalist since she’s the front runner….sharpen your fingers for the blog pimping that will follow!
kommrade reproductive vigor
Damn, I forgot to watch that.* It looks like a cross between Burn Notice and Leverage,** the only two shows I actually make an attempt to remember to watch (though I rarely do).
*Translation: I gpt home from work, lay down for a second and Zzzzz!
**With a protagonist who is much higher on the Yowzer! scale.
Jeff
I agree– the cable channels seem to have all the best shows,lately.
Psych is one of the better ones, James Roday and Dule Hill have great chemistry, and Tim Omundsen makes a great semi-comic foil.
The writing is great with, with more than enough room for Roday and Hill to improvise– some times I think the scripts just say “Shawn and Gus enter…..”
burnspbesq
Praying for lots of rain in NY today. Two reasons.
First, a rainout resolves a schedule conflict between the Halos and USC. And before you ask, no, the DVR is not the answer; the DVR is set to record the LA Phil’s first concert with Dudamel as music director (world premier of a new work by John Adams).
Second, a rainout means Lackey is available to pitch game 7.
Persia
@ThresherK: Screw that, hubby runs his computer through the TV and I watch half my shows on Hulu.
Steampunk and gaslamp fans should check out FullMetal Alchemist, maybe the best comic that’s come out of Japan.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
Confession time– I really like “Castle” on ABC. I found myself watching it once after “Survivor” (don’t blame me, it’s the Renkova’s favorite show– I keep my headphones on and kill Nazis while she’s watching) and just got sucked in by the romantic-dramedy. It’s absolutely popcorn TV, but…
Okay, so I have no taste.
burnspbesq
@Ivan Ivanovich Renko:
You think that’s a problem here? Where a hefty chunk of the commenters think “Road House” ranks right up there with “Citizen Kane?”
None of us have taste. Enjoy what you enjoy.
trollhattan
I’m with you on Burn Notice and In Plain Sight. Good shows I try not to miss.
I’m surprised there isn’t a BJ horde of Rescue Me fans. Probably the best show on the teevee the last two, maybe three years.
That is all.
burnspbesq
Less than a week until the new season of “Friday Night Lights” begins on DirecTV. Boy, I hope some kind soul uploads it every week.
Ash
It’s crazy to me that NBC and USA are basically owned by the same people (says the former NBC intern who would like to kick many people in the ass for what they’ve done)
Also, Matthew Bomer is the prettiest thing that’s been on my tv in ages, he could probably charm the pants off of even Tunch.
Midnight Marauder
One of the few missteps USA has made in recent years was canceling The 4400 so prematurely. That crushed me. I loved that show. Totally under-appreciated.
Bill H
Love Burn Notice and In Plain Sight.
Chiefs are dead last in sacks given up, last in rushing yards, last in touchdowns scored, last in third downs converted, worst or near worst in almost all defensive categories, and are playing at Arrowhead; and the Chargers are favored by 4.5 points. Oh boy, I can’t wait.
Jim C
This explains a lot. Most of those shows are laughably bad with the cheesiest writing I have ever heard.
Explains why you still think the first George Bush was an honorable man.
You are a fucking idiot. And quite frankly, all those years you were dumb enough to be a republican says quite a lot about your idiocy.
With a twang of racism in you too I suppose. Did you really go all those years and not know Republicans hated niggers?
Or did you just not care???
Huh, big guy???
JoyceH
White Collar was a good premiere, wasn’t it?
For those of you who missed it, it’s repeating at 5:30 PM today, or you can watch it online:
http://www.usanetwork.com/series/whitecollar/
Chad N Freude
@ThresherK: Not too Luddite for TV but too Luddite for TiVo. That’s like being not too Luddite for a computer but too Luddite for a graphical user interface. If you’re a TiVO user, TV watching conforms to your schedule. If not, your your TV watching conforms to the scheduling decisions of the broadcasters. The question is who’s to be Master.
Chad N Freude
@Chad N Freude: If editing had been invented, the “your your” error would have been fixed.
licensed to kill time
@trollhattan:
I really like Rescue Me. Dennis Leary is so good in it. One thing I have noticed is that some of the other characters start talking like him after a while – the semi-stuttering false start sentences, the exasperation and exhalations, his mannerisms in general. I’m thinking of his girlfriend (the crazy one) in particular – she’s like a mini-Leary, female version.
I guess his persona is catching or something.
henqiguai
Um, anybody. Do I really need to get some SaniFlush© for my browser, or was that drivel at #57 simply poorly executed snarky satire or sumpin’ and I missed it ?
Aunt Moe
What ever happened to the 4400? That was a lot of fun.
And Dead Like Me; wasn’t that USA? Great show. Someone did a TV movie a few years after the show was taken off the air and it was dreadful.
A network show greatly missed – by me anyway – Jericho. Sigh.
Comrade Kevin
I think John just had a heart attack.
Aunt Moe
@Bob In Pacifica:
Life on Mars was WONDERFUL.
Ked
Mmm.
I should set the DVR for White Collar – I was getting bummed about missing Burn Notice when the seasons restart at irregular intervals and then remembered I could program to catch all new eps. Now I don’t even have to watch USA to find out what’s coming, I just check my recent shows every few days.
Wasted last night watching the new Stargate show. There are a few interesting things going on there, but the neurotic asshole scientist (with a smattering of Gendo, for those who know the ref) just dominates the show and the last two episodes have been a giant deus ex machina which any viewer could have figured out from just the previews. The biggest problem with the show is that it’s not built itself any sort of long-term prospective arc other than whiny-displaced-gaggle-trying-to-survive, so there’s nothing to look forward to. Even Voyager did this better, and I can’t believe I just wrote that.
I can’t decide whether I like that ABC is at least trying to produce SF-y shows (Lost, that Groundhog-day clone a year ago (Daybreak?), the mission-to-Venus thing that lasted two or three eps on the air last summer, Flashforward, and I see they’re pimping a reworked V. (pause for insane giggling)). The problem with all of it is that it sucks so badly. Lost sort of works, though frankly I stopped watching when they chickened out on some plot points in S3.
But overall, there is not one single series I’m watching on broadcast TV anymore. Zero. Zilch. Nothing worth my time, even DVR’d. I might try 24 again when the next season comes around, but it’ll have to be better than last year’s trainwreck, and with as fraught as the setting has now become, that ain’t likely.
Broadcast is for sports now. And I suppose local news, but I can’t even stomach watching that anymore.
Uriel
@Bob In Pacifica:
“I’ve been Netflicking last year’s “Life On Mars”. Boy, that was a good show.”
Yeah I liked it too- right up until the last 10 minutes of the finale. A bigger FU to fans who stuck around to follow a struggling show has never existed. Completely ruined my memory of the entire thing.
Trust me, just turn it off right before the big finally and make up your own ending. You’ll be happier for it.
rikyrah
I enjoyed White Collar.
Uriel
“Finale”- don’t know what the hell i was thinking about there.
Brachiator
@ThresherK:
DVRs are so commonly used that the ratings people have a category (live plus 7) to account for people who watch a recorded version within a week of the original broadcast.
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/10/tv-ratings-report-dvrs-make-the-rich-and-poor-richer.html
The fun thing that DVR use doesn’t simply let people skip commercials, but it allows them to overcome the broadcasters’ insistence that you must choose one TV show over another so that they can win the ratings-driven advertiser wars.
Ah, I see that Chad N Freude made this last point as well.
As a commuter, I also see that people who watch TV shows on their computer or iPod or iPhone, etc., also challenge the way that broadcasters would prefer that you watch their programs.
As an aside, the insistence that the baseball playoffs and World Series must be scheduled for prime time in the major markets is the biggest example of old thinking in the presence of new technological opportunities. And don’t get me started on Olympics Games scheduling.
asiangrrlMN
@gwangung: Fuck you, three.
Anne Laurie
@Ivan Ivanovich Renko:
Why apologize? Nathan Fillion is a geek fav because of “Firefly”, and he’s really enjoyable as Rick Castle, bestselling pulp crime novelist. Katia Stanic, as police dective Beckett, is a good enough actor to stand up to Fillion. The weekly ‘mysteries’ have enough twists to keep you guessing, and so far the cast & writers have managed a good balance between quirky/entertaining without tipping into twee/soap-opera. It’s the only current show that the Spousal Unit and I try to catch every week together — otherwise, I mostly use Hulu and he watches ‘the good stuff’ with me when it comes out on DVD (Netflix). I’ll admit that last spring, if I’d had to vote between “Castle” and “The Unusuals”, I’d have chosen Precinct 42 in a heartbeat… but I’m glad that at least one of the two survived!
Zuzu's Petals
@JimPortlandOR:
I love the whole Rat Pack wardrobe thing he has going. another subliminal tie-in with “Catch Me If You Can.”
Love the fact that Dihann Carrol is the requisite rich pal. She is lookin’ GOOD !
The nice thing about watching the recorded version of these USA etc. shows is fast-forwarding through the commercials.
Zuzu's Petals
@jnfr:
Sort of felt sad casting my last vote for Bitsy. It’s now a habit that will be hard to break.
Zuzu's Petals
@smiley:
Ah yes. Dihann Carroll equals Alistair Mundy. Perfect.
Crashman06
I enjoyed White Collar quite a bit. There are some really great shows on basic cable these days. My fiancee runs a TV review blog, and she’s got a promo giveaway contest and a conference call with the creator, in case anyone is interested. Also, Tim DeKay, the FBI agent, was awesome in Carnivale, a show that should never have been cancelled.
Zuzu's Petals
@Crashman06:
I liked Carnivale and was sorry to see it cancelled.
Watching a re-run of Safe Passage, I thought the dreadlocked kid’s face looked familiar. But I never would have guessed he grew up to play the lead in Carnivale.
Zuzu's Petals
Darn. Itals ruined my link. Again.
Safe Passage
Shinobi
I LOVE BURN NOTICE! Also, on TNT I quite like LEverage as well. Summer TV is awesome.
On regular networks I really enjoy Fringe, House and Dollhouse (Friday’s ep of Dollhouse was soooo good I cannot wait for December! so unfair.)
Bob In Pacifica
Aunt Moe, “Dead Like Me” was a great show. Except the mother in the show reminded me of my ex-wife.
Steeplejack
@smiley:
Heh. I had It Takes a Thief on in the background last night while I was decompressing from work. Hadn’t seen an episode in probably–hell, since it was originally on. It’s on some odd little channel (Retro TV?) that is wall-to-wall ’60s and ’70s cheese. Currently showing the original Battlestar Galactica. I had forgotten those great tinfoil-and-plywood production values. And the feathery hair.
Steeplejack
@burnspbesq:
Meanwhile the Phillies are resting and replenishing their vital bodily fluids. Purity of essence.
Rekster
@EconWatcher:
Oh, wash your mouth out. This is my favorite of the USA shows. You need to spend more time with it and give it a chance. Super writing good acting and enough tension to keep me watching.
Rekster
@Uriel: I totally agree with you here. I don’t know why they canceled this show. It had it all, writing, acting, and plot.
I am sort of hooked on BBC series. If you get a chance to see Ashes to Ashes you may like it. It picks up where the BBC Life on Mars leaves off and is a pretty good ride.
My fav is MI 5 (Spooks in UK). It’s the best.
The Other Steve
Interesting. I really loved Life on Mars. I guess I must have missed that finale though. I didn’t realize the series was over.
Castle is a pretty fun show, glad it has a second season.
Everyone still needs to go see Zombieland.
ellie
That’s the first show I thought about Smiley, when I heard about White Collar. I have been watching It Takes A Thief on the Retro Television Network every night and I really like it. I remember it a bit from childhood.
That being said, I love USA. It is really all I watch. Burn Notice (my favorite show) NCIS reruns (me second favorite show), Law & Order Criminal Intent, Psych, In Plain Sight. USA even plays House reruns. They are really great shows. I do love Breaking Bad (so awesome, I have a hard time describing it to people who haven’t seen it), The Closer and Saving Grace (which is being canceled).
It’s no wonder I don’t get any work done, I am too busy watching television.
Jack
USA has taken a page from FX. Innovative topics, actual character development, good story lines, themes which don’t infantilize the viewing audience.
They aren’t as willing to push the envelope as FX (see SoA, N/T and Damages as the latest in that class), but they are making a play at FX Lite, and it’s working.
Jack
And ABC is, on a slightly related note, showing the NBC idgits who own and run SyFy (ugh, that name) how to do actual, good science fiction.
KXB
I don’t watch any of the USA shows, but they do seem to avoid the high body counts of CBS, the soap-operatic goings on at ABC, the attempt to reinvent ER over at NBC. “Lie to Me” on Fox is one step above a standard procedural.
BTW, I’ve noticed that on my WOW cable package in the Chicago area, they now include USA and NBC shows in their On Demand menu. Which means I can watch 30 Rock at my leisure. Sweet.