Here are some shows you should watch!

• The Looming Tower — (Hulu) One season! I don’t 100% understand why all the salacious details of John O’Neill’s life were such a focus (and no one else?), but I really enjoyed this. All the acting was pretty great. Also, gee, I guess if we need to blame anyone for the breakdowns that led to 9/11, it’s pretty clear from this series which agency was at fault! (HINT: It’s not the FBI!)
• Giri / Haji — (Netflix) Only one season, but I have my fingers crossed for more! Two Japanese brothers–one becomes a cop, one becomes a gangster. The cop is charged with going to London to apprehend his brother. There’s a sweet English lady detective (HA that cracked me up to write, so I will ignore the sexism for the sake of the laugh) that gets involved. It was so good. I loved it.
• Episodes — (Netflix) Five seasons, but they’re only 7-9 episodes each (so basically one weekend, AM I RIGHT). This series is hilarious for any number of reasons, including the main theme which is Americans take everything British and then mess it up. Also: Matt LeBlanc is SUCH a better actor than a Friends’ fan (or a Friends’ hater) would ever know and it’s a DAMN SHAME that he has not been in really anything else of notice. He’s fantastic here.
• The Unicorn — (Season 1 on Netflix; season 2 on Paramount Plus) Is there anything Walt Goggins can’t do? It’s a little sappy, a little predictable, and maybe a little annoying if you don’t give a shit about little kids, marriages, couples that are friends, etc. BUT WALT GOGGINS IS SO GOOD. Also his fellow-Justified alum Natalie Zea shows up in the second season and she’s just as fabulous and electric here as she was there.

ENJOY!

Wouldn’t you stop being that arrogant the 59th time you accused the wrong person of murder?

I try to like the Glades; Matt Saracen*’s [so to speak] wife plays the main female character, after all. But every week it is insufferably the same (and also: insufferable).

The lead detective, otherwise known as most arrogant portrayal of a cop ever in the universe, seems to accuse each and every single person he meets as he investigates the crime. He is 100% positive they are the killer, tells them that repeatedly, then gets a phone call while interrogating them, leaves the room and goes straight to accusing someone else of being the killer (now 100% positive it’s them). Somehow I fail to see that as an effective method of policework.

Every week, with every person, after he tells them “I KNOW you’re the killer,” he then tells them not to leave town in what sounds like the same exact wording every.single.time. Even Law & Order doesn’t make the audience listen to the Miranda rights with every single arrest.

It’s as formulaic as episodes of House, and quite reminiscent of them in fact. House decides it’s X insane disease no one’s ever heard of, gives the patient some horribly intense medicine, then figures out it’s actually X completely ordinary disease that the previous medicine actually makes much, much worse and he’s basically either killed or almost killed them by his overthinking of their possible illness.

In the Glades, he thinks A is the killer, nope it’s B, nope it’s A again, nope it’s C, nope it’s A again, nope B…ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

Sure, it’s fictional, and I need to work on suspending my disbelief. But seriously: Wouldn’t you be less cocky after being wrong so many times in so many episodes?

*Zach Gilford, the actor who played Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights, is married to the female lead on The Glades. See some incredibly lovely photos of their wedding over here.

But when different shows all use the same actor for guest spots, man it can get confusing. Say, for example, this summer (when I meant to blog about it) when Max Martini, who I do really enjoy, was on Dark Blue, Lie to Me, AND White Collar…ALL WITHIN A WEEK’S TIME. I kept getting confused as to whether he was good or bad!! At the time, I had chalked this up to “it’s hard to find guests in the summer” until the fall season started and this phenomenon started hitting me over the head every week.

Michael Gaston was a recurring (but not ‘regular’) assassin on Rubicon on Sundays…and then OH HAI a recurring lawyer on Terriers the following Tuesday. Jennifer Morrison played a total nutbar on Chase one week…and a sorta nutbar on How I Met Your Mother the following week.

Given that they are mostly guest spots, and that the actor involved probably would not know when they were airing, and shows probably don’t ask a guest “hey, have you done eps for any other shows lately?” I guess I can see how it could happen. But then a series regular on one show (Bobby on Supernatural) shows up as a guest spot on another show (The Mentalist)? (And, I don’t watch it, but his IMDB page lists him as popping up on Law & Order: LA as well!!) It’s crazymaking for a serious TV addict like me.

I could carry on with this list but I know you’re already bored. I just think there are more actors out there who could probably use a paycheck. Am I right?

So yeah, I’m watching even MORE TV than ever these days. And I can’t believe that when I gave you my big summer TV roundup I forgot to mention White Collar!!

I mean, really, how could I? It was by far my favorite show this summer. It’s a mostly gun- and violence-free version of Burn Notice. The New York atmosphere is filmed in SUCH a fantastic way, it makes me CRAZY homesick. Super clever, super stylish, great relationships between the characters. I really love it. And the season finale had such great work from Matt Bomer. Even if I’ve had just as hard a time as anyone else caring very much about Kate (I mean, we’ve never seen any real evidence of them having a great relationship or her actually being either a) super in love with Neal or b) interesting in any way), Bomer’s portrayal of a man in desperation was fantastic. And the ending of the season finale??!?! I mean WHAT?!?!? I’m assured by things I’ve read elsewhere online that what appears to have happened could not actually have happened and I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed on that one… My ONLY complaint about this season would be that in the first four (at least) episodes, all the Elizabeth scenes were done with TERRIBLE CGI. I’d rather just see (or even only hear) the Burkes have a phone call than a badly CGIed lunch date.

Also I really liked this (what seemed like a VERY SHORT) season of Dark Blue. Tricia Helfer as a new cast member!! Ty gettin’ all messed up in stuff! There was a lot to enjoy.

But that was summer and despite Chicago weather’s insistence to the contrary, summer is o-v-e-r. [OK technically Haven and The Glades are not QUITE done with their summer seasons… Both are OK to watch but nothing wowza.]

Time for Fall TV!! What are you watching? I’m watching:

Sons of Anarchy. YAY YAY YAY so happy SOA is back. And so far, it’s been fantastic although each episode seems to have some devastating addition to the list of current problems. I am so worn out by the time the hour is over; it’s like I’ve been holding my breath the whole time. Clearly my emotional investment here is reaching dangerously high levels. I wish it was on every night but since it’s not, I generally rewatch each week’s episode at least two times (if not more).

Terriers. Almost a mock procedural, the world’s most unlikely pair of pseudo private detectives. I somehow seem to have missed the first half of the second episode (either that or I missed an entire episode) so I found some of this week confusing. But it’s got some charm and the dialogue is great.

NCIS. Somehow I just can’t quit this show. But I refuse to have anything to do with the horrific spin-off.

Rubicon. A carryover from summer (I think this may be its last week?). One of those shows where you really do NOT know what’s happening half of the time (moreso than something like Lost, I would say). Palpable tension and mystery. Sometimes the lack of clarity is frustrating but it keeps me interested. Although as with Lost or any of those type of shows, I, unlike most of my friends who watch, am FAR more interested in the weekly byplay between the characters than in figuring out the big mystery or even noticing the little tricks and clues hidden in the various storylines.

Chase. I decided to give this one a go and it’s at least a well-done procedural if nothing more. I’ve been a fan of Cole Hauser since Good Will Hunting so I’m always willing to watch his shows (I even watched K-Ville!), although I think he’s meant to be the #2 here. Sorry, the blonde girl is just not as interesting to me.

The Good Wife. I didn’t watch it last season but I caught up over the summer. I am not totally gaga about it but there’s some good acting and some interesting stuff going on (oh, Eli Gold, you are something else) and I find myself really interested while it’s on even if it’s not something I ever feel like rewatching later in the week.

How I Met Your Mother and The Office – the only two half hour, sitcom-y types I have on my schedule. They’re both a little tired out, some of the plot lines are going nowhere, but they both still make me laugh at least a little bit each week and at only a 30 minute investment, sometimes that’s the perfect amount of time to wind down with.

Chuck. I didn’t watch this show much in its first season. Second season I kept catching up via On Demand to the point where I finally had to admit I was watching the show. I still think it’s uneven. I still think it’s possible to do comedy without so many skeeeevy characters–Morgan is just gross sometimes. But there are some really engaging bits and oh hai Adam Baldwin and I love the Mission Impossible stuff that almost always turns into an almost failure saved by the Intercept kicking in.

Shows I’m on the fence about:

Blue Blood. I don’t know. I just got rid of two family dramas (see below), I’m not sure I need to introduce a new one. And I TOTALLY called that Tom Selleck doing the thing one of his kids saw him doing (I don’t want to spoil it for you if you’re actually interested in watching). I didn’t think the premiere was anything special, but I didn’t think it was terrible either (coughBONEScough) so I may watch it one more week before I decide.

Hawaii 5-0. So I think the casting of this show is insanely stupid and wrong. So you have Grace Park, huge star of BSG, and Daniel Dae Kim, huge star of Lost, at your disposal. HELLO THEY SHOULD BE THE LEADS. But instead they are the # 4 and 3 characters, respectively, and two moronic frat boys are the leads and the main lead is such a master of the stoic non-expression face that he can actually make an action scene look boring. (And the only show he’s ever been on was a huge failure. How (why?) would you hire him as the lead????) On the other hand – SURPRISINGLY the premiere was actually pretty solid and the filming isn’t bad at all. But I can watch this in 15 minute increments spread out over the week and not even remember that I didn’t finish an episode. Doesn’t really say much for it, does it. I love Grace Park, but I’m not sure this is worth it. Plus this BETTER NOT mess up her participation in The Border, the Canadian show I am completely obsessed with. (Which oddly I seem not to have written about here at all. It’s SO GOOD.)

Shows I’ve said goodbye to:

Bones. Wow, the season premiere SUCKED. Horrible dialogue, bad acting, and a completely contrived plotline. SEE YA!

Glee. I love the way they do the music on the show but even last season I was really not interested in what passes for the plot and the ridiculous number of twists and turns they try to work in every week–actually I would just prefer to see these kids do music/dance numbers for an hour with no plot whatsoever–and I find my patience for it has vanished. I’ll just check out the songs on iTunes and that’ll be enough for me.
Parenthood. The season premiere made me cringe a few times and I just can’t watch Lauren Graham and Peter Krause in their solo brother/sister scenes without wondering when they’re going to kiss (am I imagining hearing that they’re dating in real life?).

Brothers & Sisters. It’s hard NOT to get sucked into Berlanti’s family dramas (hello, Everwood, I miss you) but too many of these characters have become people I can’t care about and if Justin and Rebecca are breaking up then I’m really not interested.

Supernatural. I actually never watched this show until I buzzed through five seasons of DVDs in my month off school at the beginning of the summer. I think DVD watching has a way of keeping you engaged in shows that ride the mediocrity line because hey! instant gratification! you can see another one right away! and it’s hard NOT to get involved in storylines when you’ve just watched the character for 4 (or 8, or 12) hours and you know so much about what’s going on. But on a week-to-week basis, I just can’t seem to stay interested.

Castle. If Michael Trucco had become a permanent cast member, I would still be watching this. It was so much more interesting when he was added to the mix.

Shows that were too bad to watch:

Running Wilde. Couldn’t make it past the first 10 minutes. SO bad.

The Whole Truth. I really like both Tierney and Morrow but this show really wasn’t any good and I hate hate HATED the way they kept interrupting the summations with back clips. Like it had been several hours and we’d all forgotten what had happened earlier. No thanks.

I think that’s it. Heh. We won’t talk about the movies I watch (and rewatch) every week in addition to all this… If I actually spent ALL my TV time knitting (and other crafting) I would get SO much more done. But sometimes (during SOA for example) I am riveted to the screen and capable of nothing but watching. OK gotta go! 🙂