The guilty pleasure shows.
These are the shows that may not be the best written, or directed or produced or acted but that are entertaining and keep me tuning in week after week.
ALL things BBC America sci-fi…
Primeval shouldn’t really work but it does in a BIG way. The show just ended its 3rd season here in the US and every season it has managed to get better. Any show that can kill of main characters and successfully bring up less important characters to take their place has got to be doing something right- after all The X-Files could never do it. Primeval has killed off at least three main characters and made a fourth one leave with little chance of her coming back this past season alone.
Three of the charcters shown here do not make it to the end of Season 3.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm492931072/tt0808096)
Torchwood: Children of Earth was phenomenal. Again, seemingly a BBC convention to keep fans on the edge of their seats- killed off a major character, sent another in to space, got the last main character pregnant and blew up their base of operations. All the while they were telling a gripping dark story.
Three of the charcters shown here do not make it to the end of Season 3.
(this photo borrowed fromhttp://pro.imdb.com/media/rm2443416576/tt0485301)
Doctor Who: Everything David Tennant. I was never a fan of the pre-Tennant series. But he brings such an energy and excitement and underlying sorrow and darkness that despite the not-so-great special f/x – this is one of my favorite sci-fi shows of all time. This is my 2nd favorite BBC show of all time just behind Coupling. I mention this because while rumors are that David Tennant is leaving the show when it returns in 2010 the writer of the best episodes of the series AND creator and writer of Coupling will be taking over as showrunner/ head writer. So, I suspect that I will give the show a couple of episodes to wow me.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm596808192/tt0436992)
Gordon Ramsay. Whether it’s watching The F Word on BBC A or Hell’s Kitchen on FOX, Gordon is educational or entertaining depending on the show. But he and his shows are never boring.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm2527433728/nm1451059)
Top Chef. I complain about the Masters episodes but I still watched them. However, I am much more looking forward to the return of the regular series, as-well-as Tom and Padma. My wife is looking forward to this show as well, since it causes me to be creative in the kitchen.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm3960572672/tt0765425)
Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels. I received my 1st KISS album when I was about 7 or 8 years old. But I was much more familiar with Shannon Tweed from her roles on Days of Our Lives and Falcon Crest and Hot Dog: The Movie. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Tweed-Simmons family is like the rest of us… albeit on another level. This is the only show that my wife and I watch live and not DVR’d.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm3679425024/tt0498617)
Drop Dead Diva. I believe that there was a show on Lifetime in the late -80’s when I was still a young teenager called ENG. The show came from Canada I believe and was rebroadcast on the network. That was the only show that I ever watched on Lifetime. So, imagine my surprise when I was flipping around and caught the credits and saw a name I recognized. Thania St. John. May not be a Whedon (there is one of them in the credits of this show as well- Jed) but she has quite the pedigree. She has worked on such shows as Buffy, Roswell, VR5, 21 Jump Street, Lois and Clark and Eureka. Maybe it was because I had never heard of the show and had no expectations… But I was thoroughly entertained. It could so play down to the audience… and it doesn’t. With Journeyman and Eli Stone gone, this could be THE show with heart.
(this photo borrowed from http://mytakeontv.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/sunday-must-watch-drop-dead-diva-on-lifetime/)
Which brings me to Eureka… I could not really describe why this show works. But it does. I usually can argue why a show is bad or good. But with this show there are not a lot of great elements on their own… but the product that comes out keeps frustrating me when I have to wait for the next episode. I will note that the season long story arcs and the attention grabbing endings are big positives.
(this photo borrowed from http://pro.imdb.com/media/rm994547456/tt0796264)
I am sure that there are more on my DVR, but I am to tired to get the remote as I type this…
Last but not least is…
The Penguins of Madagascar. Yup. I said it. My son never made it through Madagascar and I fell asleep all 5 times I played it. We both found the 2nd move more entertaining- but I always thought that the penguins were the best part. One day while I was setting the DVR for another show, we discovered this show. My son loves it. We enjoy popping popcorn and sitting down at some point in the day to catch an episode or two. The best thing is that are no commercial during each “episode” just before, after and in between. Also, in a time when some many animated series promote sex, violence and pure stupidity the penguins are always trying to do the right things for their friends and neighbors.
(this photo was borrowed from http://www.myfreewallpapers.net/cartoons/pages/madagascar-penguins.shtml)
Don.
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