September 13, 2012

Who says there's nothing good on TV!

Since I wrote a post about what I have been reading lately I figured I would write a post regarding my favorite TV shows!  I will be the first to admit that I am a lover of 'trash' TV - Bravo, TLC, E! - if it is trashy I will at least check it out (although I do have my limits - Jersey Shore happens to be a no-go).  Although Real Housewives of (enter whichever city here) will always be tops in my book (please hold your judgement - I  talk about better TV later on).  Oddly enough my love of trash TV is countered by my serve love of the news - Today, Morning Joe, Nightly News, Meet the Press, etc ...  Over the last couple of years I have never been one to religiously follow a show - unless it is available via Netflix or some other medium; this is mainly because I often go to bed pretty early.   

Recently though I have been watching some shows that I think are great!  Luckily I know someone who subscribes to HBO and is willing to give me the password to his HBO GO account for my iPad!  Lately we have been watching a lot of HBO series that I think are great but we have also delved into an NBC and Showtime show.  So here are my recommendations for some good TV viewing ... 

Treme!  I love love love this show!  It takes place in a post-Katrina New Orleans, beginning right after the hurricane and as season three approaches at the end of the month we are now three years post Katrina.  The show follows various characters through the rebuilding and recovery process.  The show's creator broke down the series like this; season one - recovery, what happened in the months and year after the storm, season two - people begin to return but so does the violence and crime and season three - the money begins to come back.  I can't wait for the next season -  Treme is one of my top rated shows - if you can you should definitely check it out!

True Blood!  Who doesn't know about True Blood these days?  It has been on for five seasons and quite honestly it has gotten ridiculous (and not in a good way).  I loved the first and second season, season three was okay, season four took a noise dive but the show recovered slightly in season five.  It's just silly - vampires, fairies, werewolves, werepanthers, shifters and witches.  But the show still manages to hold my attention and if you take it for what it's worth it's a decent show.
The Newsroom!  This show was new to HBO this year, stars Jeff Daniels and is written by Aaron Sorkin.  The show is incredibly preachy but often make very valid points and the pace/language of the show is super fast - i.e. everyone talking in rapid fire.  As Adam would put it, "no one actually speaks like that in real life."  But the show is entertaining and brings up numerous good points and perspective regarding reporting the news and how much of today's cable news has either become fodder for a particular political wing or merely gives politicians a pass.  It's worth a watch if you can get past it's preachiness and frequent breaks from reality.

Girls!  Girls is an awesome awesome show!  It is hysterical and can be incredibly awkward/uncomfortable in parts.  It has been hailed as the 'real life' Sex & the City; and follows four young women (early twenties) making their way in NYC.  The show's producer Lena Dunham (who also plays Hannah - the main character in the show) is awesome and so funny (I can say this because I follow her on Twitter - hello stalker tendencies!).  It is a thirty minute show and is worth every minute.  Girls is definitely must-see-TV! 

Moving away from HBO now - Homeland is a great show on Showtime!  The plot follows Clara Dane's CIA agent character as she attempts to stop a terrorist who just happens to be an American solider bring hailed as a war hero after being rescued after eight years of captivity in Iraq.  Interesting plot line - I would say so!  Homeland is about to enter it's second season and after a pretty tense season finale it'll be interesting to see how season two comes together.  Most 'terrorist' shows (i.e. Sleeper Cell - which is AWESOME) tend to fizzle after the first season but last for at least one more - so I'm excited to see if Homeland will be able to survive the sophomore curse!
  
And last but certainly not least - a network show - yay!  Friday Night Lights!  This show began back in 2006 and I had heard about it when it first premiered but never had much interest in watching it (plus I was in college and who had time?).  Recently a couple of people had said that we should check it out so a couple of weekends ago we began working our way through the 76 episode series that is available on Netflix (can you say commitment?).  So far it is pretty good and very reminiscent of big time high school football in small town Texas.  If you have Netflix - give it a shot! 

So there you have it - my TV viewing habits in a nut shell.  The Newsroom and True Blood will not air again until next summer.  Girls will premier again in January, but Treme and Homeland come back this month - yay!  Can you say awesome fall TV viewing!

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