What I am ACTUALLY Watching

I've decided to tell you what I am actually watching, since we all go back and forth about TV so much on this blog. These are not in order of importance or favorite at all. They are kind of in order by genre if anything. If you are watching a show you want covered on the blog, then feel free to write up a post and send it to me at catidwell222@gmail.com I'd love more writers and more input. As you can see, I have my hands full. Some spoilers below on various shows...

The Walking Dead-So much misguided anger this season! And I want them to take baths. I've been around West Georgia and there are TONS of creeks and lakes. No reason to be filthy. Also, I might be late to the game, but as I watched the first episode of Season 3, I couldn't help but think...."OH...so THE Main Characters are the walking dead..."
666 Park Avenue-If LOST, American Horror and Gossip Girl had a baby it would be this show.
American Horror Story-Since so many shows have come back this season causing "meh" reactions, I gotta say I'm glad AHS is attempting a different storyline altogether. And wow, they are off to a great start!
Dexter-I always thought the show should END with Deb finding out about Dexter, so now that we've crossed that bridge I'm a little indifferent about things at the moment. Where is this gonna go?

New York.

SVU-Mariska Hargitay. Enough said.
Scandal-I am so conflicted over this show in so many ways. But I will stick around cause I love old Shonda.
Homeland-This is what Scandal wishes it were.
Revenge-I have never LOVED a Season 1 so much only to hate Season 2 so much. Get it together!
Grey's Anatomy-Have I mentioned that this needs to be the last season? Cause it needs to be. I hear Neve Campbell is coming on...NO NO NO, no more new people...wind it down please.
Parenthood-Best. Show. On. TV.
Nashville-Connie Britton was fabulous, and even though the 10 months I spent in Nashville weren't great, this makes me want to go back a give it another try. Plus...I mean, it's about music!
SmashI was hate-watching this show last season, and I will do the same this time around.
Glee-When Glee gets emotional, so do I. The Break-Up episode was Glee at its finest. More character building, less cheesy plot please.
Once Upon A Time-Again, strong Season 1, but this time around it's just losing steam.

Long Island

SNL-Sure it's all political at the moment, but soon it might find a nice retreat back into the relevant references of pop-culture. Best skit so far was either Bond Girls or Tech Talk.
30 Rock-I'm a fan in every since of the word. I will miss them after this season!
The Office-Dying a slow and painful death...
Community-I am cynical that without Dan Harmon it will be any good, but when done well, this show is pretty close to perfect. Oh...IF IT EVER COMES ON AGAIN!
Parks and Recreation-Thank God for Ron Swanson, Donna and April!
Up All Night-I am really rooting for this one, but I need more Maya and Christina interaction.
Raising Hope-This is so underrated, but it really delivers every week consistently.

Brooklyn

Two Broke Girls-Ok...so this is my "sleeper hit" of the year. My friend Joni was watching and told me to check it out. I fully expected to hate it. It has a laugh track, manufactured banter, and lots of sexual innuendo. And yet, I LOVE IT. The girls are adorable and the set up of the show is clever.
Modern Family-Another consistently strong show.
The Neighbors-Don't judge me...but this show is really cute. Yes, there are aliens, but I have been showing it to my Chinese students and they LOVE it.
The New Normal-Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee, American Horror Story, and Nip/Tuck, kind of took a few characters and plots from a few different shows and mixed them into this one. It's working, but I don't think it will last too long. Still, I like it enough.

That's at least 20 hours of TV a week. I will probably add Criminal Minds, Body of Proof, Gossip Girl, and sprinkle in some Real Housewives (New Jersey and New York) here and there. And I would LIKE to start on How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls, and Downton Abbey.

I guess you could say, I watch TV like it's my job.

How many hours a week do you watch? BE HONEST!

A Celebration of Guilty Pleasures a.k.a Confession Time

I missed blogging on Monday. I'd love to say it's because of some fabulous event that swept me up and took my time and attention away from writing, but it wasn't. It was just guilty pleasures. With all the Magic Mike hype, guilty pleasures have been on my brain lately.

Vanessa has never looked like that ever.

I haven't hidden the fact that I watched the entire series of Gossip Girl recently. I can admit it was redundant. I wanted the characters to depart a little from their totally predictable natures. I also wanted the dramedy of erros to stop. If they just let each other finish a sentence, then half of the problems would be quickly resolved. But they are just so fun to look at! Gossip Girl and many other shows fall (for me) into the guilty pleasure category. They really don't add a ton of value or knowledge to my life, nor do they deepen my character. If anything, they feed something very superficial and...fun...in me. It's summer...it's hot...who wants to think!? In the name of true confession, here is where I've been instead of blogging.

Can we crop the "kid" out of this picture?

Last week I watched Cougar Town. I even ordered some legit wine (not Moscato, which according to my friend Joni, should be my most embarrassing guilty pleasure) so that I COULD watch Cougar Town. Seems like a pre-requisite. It struck me more as a suburban Sex and the City. You think it's gonna be about the romantic relationships but it's really more about the friendships. After the first few episodes, the title becomes very misleading, it's not at all about cougars (of any kind). It's slapstick but kind of hip in a really aware of itself being dorky way. For example, they have these moments where everyone says something in unison. Now, I have a lot of friends, and a lof of different groups of friends, and I can't remember the last time we chimed in with some kind of impromptu unison chant. Totally too fabricated, and yet, I like it! The only thing that I hate about it is the mother/son relationship. It's so inappropriate and borderline gross. In fact, I kind of just hate the son altogether. His a man-child with his pale pasty skin and weird attempt at facial hair, and oily hair, no way can I begin to believe that he came out of Courtney Cox.

They should have named them all after cheeses. 

The natural follow-up to Cougar Town, is of course, Desperate Housewives. I have just started it from the beginning. I can't really speak about the show yet, it's too soon. But I've heard that it has some rough and ridiculous patches. I will give you my verdict in a few weeks.

Learning is Funtastic!

Other recent dips into the pool of guilty pleasures have been, GCB. I talked about this one a while back. It hit ridiculousness too early and ended up being cancelled. I also watched Bad Teacher again yesterday. I pretty much just love Ms. Squirrel and want to watch more movies with her. But it only made me hate Cameron Diaz more. The internet here in China is full of guilty pleasure movies. I even re-watched The Hangover last week. I'll admit, I laughed out loud a few times. 


I've never been a huge Jersey Shore fan, but I do enjoy some Real Housewives. New Jersey is of course my favorite, but I like OC as well. I know, I know...total trash.

I should probably let this be a July thing and try to move on to more sophisticated entertainment in August to get my brain back in shape for school. But for now, it's just so fun!

Your turn for Confession Time!!! 

What's your favorite Guilty Pleasure? 

What are you watching this summer?

The Hitchcock Of The Walk: A Tribute To My Father

When you finish watching a guilty pleasure show like Gossip Girl, it's only right that you watch something with substantially brilliant writing and content to regain your sense of what is good and what is...well, a guilty pleasure. This last week I really needed something with substance and class. So many movies today are what I call "multi-tasking movies." You know the ones. You can watch the first five minutes of them to learn the characters voices and then clean your apartment or write an essay or talk on the phone and still understand the entire premise without missing a thing. That's how a lot of movies are these days, and I really resent it. Ahem, excuse me, my movie snob is showing.


Lucky for me, my dad is a movie buff. He's just a movie buff from a few generations back. It takes me, my brother, and my mother convincing him these days to go see a movie, except on Christmas Day, and then it's our tradition, so he knows he has to go. But at home, he's always watching some black and white flick or some cowboy movie. From time to time he'll call me into the room and ask me to look at someone on screen. Then he'll say with a big grin on his face, "You know who's mother that is?" or "You know who that guy is on TV today?" I usually stare for a minute, and sometimes the answer is obvious, but more than not, I come up blank. Then he traces the connection for me, and I am always amazed that his 60+ brain still has room for these kinds of things. I hope I inherit this trait.

A Flock of Fear.

In most ways, I am just like my mother. But I pretty much owe my love for scary movies to my dad. At a pretty early age, he introduced me to what we refer to as "disaster" movies. Tower Inferno, Earthquake, and pretty much any movie where an animal multiplies and infiltrates/attacks an area. Frogs, Ants, Jaws...and of course...The Birds. 

The Birds is my second favorite Alfred Hitchcock film. Rear Window is my favorite. Psycho is surprisingly far down the list, but of course still a classic. At some point during the rainy Sunday afternoons of my childhood, when my younger brother and my mom were napping, I fell in love with old "scary" movies. My dad sat in a recliner next to me, making sure to pull me back into the movie with his storytelling voice, "Uh oh, what's gonna happen!?" if my attention wavered. I would look up from my popcorn just in time to see that Tippi Hedren was just inches in front of playground equipment that was covered in birds. Terrifying, and exhilarating. It wasn't just Hitchcock movies though, it was his TV show that drew me in also. I loved his introductions and conclusions, his little props and antics that were so uniquely his, and no one has been able to pull off since. 


These times with my dad taught me to appreciate the way movies, whether long or short, are made. I began to recognize the elements of writing and props and scenery, subtle movements, camera angles, facial expressions, and the tension of silence. I learned that usually dialogue is of secondary importance in a really good movie, and that too much talking is almost always a bad thing. 

Director of Doom.

Of course, my dad taught me that last lesson in real life too; his eyes busy watching every scene in our house, but only choosing to speak when it would further the plot rather than simply create more drama. Letting his stillness usher us into whatever lesson needed to be recognized at any given moment, and then finally, just like Hitchcock, summarizing the scene, offering a little sarcasm, a little humor, a lot of comfort by reminding us that no matter how bad things seem, none of it is real enough to spend time fretting over.

The Dad Awards

In a world where TV dads are often dead (6 Feet Under, Dexter, Brothers and Sisters, Game of Thrones) or portrayed as out of touch for comedic relief (almost every other show), it's important to take some time to recognize the good ones. In honor of Father's Day, here are the First Annual Weekend Fat Dad Awards!

I would follow that hair down the highway to heaven.

Beauty King: Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls in The Little House on the Prairie
Sure, it's an older show, but seriously...what other dad in history has possessed this kind of rugged handsome goodness while still looking like a father? I dare you to find one. As a hard worker on the prairie, Charles always has the perfect tan, and he might be the only dad in TV history to have better hair than his wife. Seriously, he is a good looking man.

If you crack a Brokeback Mountain joke Phil, I'll bury you over there.

Most Improved: Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett on Modern Family
Ed O'Neill is most famous for his character Al Bundy on Married With Children, maybe one of the worst dads of all time. But in Modern Family, he's been given a second chance as the patriarch of this wacky pack. He's gruff at times, and we have enough context to know that maybe he wasn't the greatest dad when Mitchell and Claire were growing up. But throughout the seasons we have seen him learn to go with the flow, becoming a source of stability and tough love. Plus, he's kind of the normal one in the family, except when it comes to his French Bulldog, Stella...then all bets are off.

Laugh Out Loud: Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy on Modern Family
Is there anything that comes out of Phil's mouth that doesn't make you laugh out loud? His complete adoration for his wife along with the energy he puts into trying to relate and appear cool to his kids make us love him in spite of his moments of cluelessness. He serves up suburban slapstick at its finest.

Plaid makes you smarter.

TIE for Wisest Words: Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show 
                                                                             AND 
                                      Matthew Settle as Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl
Everyone knows that growing up is hard, and without the words of wisdom bestowed on us by our fathers, how would we make it through adolescence at all! Ok, let's get real, kids don't listen to their parents. But if they did, it would look like it does in these two shows. It's no wonder Opie grew up to be the successful Ron Howard with a dad like Andy around. His patience to let Opie learn hard lessons and face consequences never tire. His guidance is perfectly timed and always welcomed. And former rock star Rufus is practically a modern day sage from Brooklyn gone UES, offering up the best advice to his own kids and pretty much every other character on Gossip Girl. When he's around, confessions just tumble from the lips of otherwise reckless troublemakers. Rufus and Andy know that a little sadness in the eyes and the words, "I'm disappointed in you" go farther than any over the top lecture ever could.

This. Man.

Grand Supreme (That's a thing, right?): Sam Jaeger as Joel Graham on Parenthood
There are a lot of things we could say about the dads on Parenthood. But in the midst of Zeke's extreme behavior, Adam's borderline judgment, and Crosby's attempt at growing up, Joel emerges as the hero. He is supportive of his working wife, stays at home with their daughter, and he works with his hands. That entire sentence is almost too good to be true. He knows when to stay silent, but is no pushover, and can stand up to Zeke or Julia in their moments of irrationality. He pays attention to his daughter enough to know when she's in need of a hug or a spanking. He doesn't get a lot of screen time, but when he does we always remember that he's maybe one of the greatest characters on the show. And aside from being a great dad, he's the kind of man every girl wants to marry!

What Dads Do You Want To Add To The List? 

What Awards Do They Deserve?

TV Couples that "Cross The Streams"

Any child of the 80's knows that there are a few rules you should always follow:
1. Never feed a Mogwai after midnight.
2. Don't say "Candyman" 5 times while looking in the mirror.
3. Don't take One Eyed Willie's treasure.
4. Never hate your baby brother or else David Bowie will kidnap him.
5. And finally...Whatever you do, DO NOT cross the streams.

Either we will explode, or save NYC!

We could collectively write an entire blog about these rules and more. But I just finished catching up on Gossip Girl, and I really need to talk about what I have found to be the television equivalent of crossing the streams.

In Ghostbusters, crossing the streams is what happens when the streams from the proton packs (that trap the ghosts) cross each other and create havoc on all things around them. Egon vaguely warns that crossing the streams "would be bad." He goes on to say that it would ruin life as we know it and our bodies would explode. Get the point? It's bad to cross the streams. They are not meant to be crossed.

You want us to what?

In Season 5 of Gossip Girl (now when I start a sentence like this it means I am going to give spoilers) Dan, the good boy from Brooklyn, and Blair, the Queen Bee of the UES end up together. As a couple. Together. Did I mention they get together? It's weird. It's unnatural. It's CROSSING THE STREAMS!

Dan's hair is too curly and he is a writer, and Blair is in love with Chuck and born to be a mean girl. She has never even spoken a kind word to him! It's a horrible match, but I couldn't help but watch. When they kissed the first time, I stared hoping that the actors would crack a smile at this obvious joke they were playing on the audience. But nope. No smiles. We were just supposed to forget everything we have known for 4 seasons and go with it. I hate it when writers think their audiences are stupid. But it happens a lot.

Here are some other TV couples that were dangerously close to ruining some of our favorite TV shows by crossing the streams with incompatible couples.

Like this.

Friends-Monica and Joey
OCD Monica and clueless Joey would have NEVER gotten together in real life, but through flashbacks/flashforwards we get to learn that Monica had a huge crush on Joey in the beginning and down the road could have ended up together. It's hard to pair Joey with any of the girls because he takes such a brotherly role with them. But I think we can all agree that if this particular couple had manifested, it would have been hard to watch even if they were fat and happy.

Not this.

Glee-Puck and Santana
Before Santana comes out as a lesbian, she makes the rounds though the guys in Glee, but her relationship with Puck is the one that lingers. Even when they are not dating, Santana makes whoever Puck is with, the target of her galactic bullying. It's obvious that they have a great connection, even if it is just physical, but there's no heart here. If anything this is a classic case of two people being too much alike, having too much in common. It doesn't stretch their characters the way that their other relationships do. Santana eventually softens up with Brittany and watching Puck's love for Lauren is just too much fun!

Santana + Puck = Suck.

Grey's Anatomy-George and Callie
It's fair to say that George with ANYONE is a horrible pairing, but this particular couple (if you can dig back and remember it) just never felt right. My personal thoughts? The writers were never sure up front if they were gonna keep Callie around. So they decided to get her into a relationship, knowing that when that relationship ended, they would have a chance to get rid of her if her character had not caught on. But when the actor playing George decided to go off the show, the Grey's staff found that Callie had some staying power and was actually a fan favorite. The couple itself never made much sense to me. Callie was so clearly a rebel, proved to us through her long sleeved hippie shirts sticking out from under her scrubs and untamed hair. George was an insecure dork who never quite cured his crush for Meredith. Let's not even analyze the facts that in real life the actor playing George is gay, and Callie ends up being a lesbian (or bi?) on the show. When George was killed off, it was more of notch in Callie's belt of tragedy, and only made us like her more. Poor George.

Awkward Anatomy.

30 Rock-Liz and Dennis
He's her comfort zone; the place Liz always returns to. But Dennis is the only beeper salesman left in New York (maybe the world), and was seen on Dateline and not for good reasons, not to mention, his pet name for our beloved Lemon is Dummy. And yet until recently, Liz just hasn't been able to stay away from Dennis, or keep him away from her. We adore Liz for her quirky habits that are way too similar to our own at times, but there's something about watching her be demeaned by someone as stupid and annoying as Dennis, that their relationship stopped playing as funny to us years ago. Liz, here's some advice...if he's the beeper king, you do not want a ring. SHUT IT DOWN.

Dealbreaker.

Of course, the thing about crossing the streams is that sometimes...it saves the world. In all of Egon's concern over not crossing the streams he forgot to tell us up front that sometimes, it works. So here is my vote for the couple that crossed the streams and managed to save the TV show in spite of what could have been an obvious mismatch.

Moonlighting-David and Maddie
It's the classic Taming of the Shrew storyline. Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) is a type A, independent former model and celebrity, accustomed to living well, that is until she loses everything except her detective agency. David Addison (Bruce Willis) comes along with his crazy antics and careless attitude and the two begin a business partnership and eventually a romantic one as well. The show itself is a classic in that it was the first to do a few things that we see all the time now on TV. It broke the fourth wall before most people had ever even heard of a fourth wall. The writing was excellent and combined drama and comedy, practically giving us the genre we now call, "dramedy." And of course it created a building tension between David and Maddie that audiences could NOT get enough of!

So much sexy.

The theory before Moonlighting was that having two characters on a show like this finally hook up would ruin the show. But the social campaigns (promoted through magazines) for David and Maddie to "do it" were so substantial that the writers eventually gave in. The episode where the two have sex was the highest rated in the show's history. In an unfortunate turn of events, David and Maddie did not stay together and thus viewers lost interest. This directly disproved the idea that having two main characters hook-up would kill the show and instead it proved the exact opposite, keeping them together might have saved Moonlighting. People wanted to see them together! With decreasing viewership, writer's strikes, Willis' booming movie career, and Shepherd's unwillingness to work the long hours, the show did die shortly after. But it remains one of the greatest TV romances of all times, even if they did cross the steams to get there.

What are some TV relationships that "cross the streams" to you? Sam and Diane? Elaine and Jerry? Angel and Buffy? 

I left out quite a few, state your case as to whether the relationship ends life as we know it, or saves the world!

My Summer (TV) To Do List

And by TV, I mean computer.

We've said our goodbyes to this year's television season, and it's time to look ahead to the Summer. Which really means, await the Fall for the return of all good television. Or, spend time catching up on what you've missed. Here's my Summer TV To Do List. Keep in mind, I have 2 months off of work to achieve this marathon of television! (Not that I couldn't get it done even if I was working...is that a bragging point?)

30 Rock- Re-watch Seasons 1-5 at least 3 more times-It's true, I will probably have this memorized by the time I leave China. Ever heard of Treat Yo' Self? Yep.

Once Upon a Time-I loved the first episode, but the time slot lost me. My mom says it's very entertaining. I love my mom. I think I'll watch. 

How did I miss this?! I love all of these people!

Freaks and Geeks-Two of my very different and very good friends suggest that this is worth my time. Sounds good to me.

Friday Night Lights-People rave about this show. Given that I grew up in the South where football is second only to God, I think I should probably see what the hype is about.

Glee-I need to see that dang season finale. Come on CHINA INTERNET PLEASE PLAY NICE! Talk about being left hanging. DO NOT tell me what happens.

Jenny...Dan is YOUR BROTHER...inappropriate! 

Gossip Girl-I'm in the middle of Season 3 now. I want to poke my eyes out, but I like Chuck Bass too much to do that. Guilty Pleasure all the way.

Game of Thrones-Catch up on Season 2.

Mad Men-Catch up on Season 5

Grey's Anatomy-Start from the beginning again just because.

Sports Night- Because it has Nate Fisher/Adam Braverman in it, and because my brother told me I would like it.

Looks like the cast of Friends played dress up in the cast of Gossip Girl's clothes.

How I Met Your Mother-Not sure how I missed out on this hype, but I did. Hope it's not too late to get in on it.

Dancing With The Stars-I know, I know. It's weird to watch this after all the voting has happened, but I like to watch dancing, and I still have managed to avoid hearing who won, and it's on Hulu, so why not!

What am I missing? What should I skip? 

What will YOU be watching this Summer?