For the most part summer television sucks, which is rather unfortunate seeing as I have all this extra time on my hands. Don't get me wrong, there are a few bright moments - Last Comic Standing (Go Josh Blue!), Deadwood, Project Runway, and my new favorite It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX, Thursday nights at 10pm. Watch or I'll throw a temper tantrum.) - but for the most part summer television blows. And if you try to tell me that Dancing With the Stars and America's Got Talent are really quite good I'll punch you in the kidneys.
This is all why I'm glad that I've been able to find television solace in my new favorite channel - BBC America. Aside from the occasional Benny Hill block I can be fairly certain that turning to this channel will put me in a splendid state of television bliss for most of the day. Sure many of the shows that I enjoy are actually several years old and have already been cancelled across the pond, but so what? They're new to me, and way better than much of the tripe American network execs are currently putting out there. Here's a few of my favorites:
Footballers' Wive$ (Sundays @ 10 pm)
This show is what Desperate Housewives wants to be. Or so I assume. Honestly, I've never watched a single episode of Desperate Housewives. Rich footballers (foot fairies in America) and their wives fight, cheat, plot nefarious plots and occasionally play a football match. It's trashy and tasteless and I absolutely love it. Too bad it recently got cancelled, but that doesn't mean you can't watch the last couple of seasons. In fact, the season 5 finale is this Sunday and you should watch because Tanya's coming back and I'm fairly certain someone is going to die.
Black Books
A wry, witty comedy set in one of the worst-managed book stores on the planet, and one of the most brilliantly funny shows I've seen.
Spaced (Fridays @ 11pm)
A delightfully silly show about two singletons who fake being a professional couple in order to rent a flat while hilarity ensues. The show originally aired in the late 90's and is chock full of pop-culture references from the time, adding an extra element of fun by trying and remember what the heck they're referencing.
Finally, here are two new shows that have caught my fancy:
Life on Mars (Monday @ 10 pm)
I just caught the premier of this yesterday, and although the premise sounds a bit ludicrous - a detective gets in a car accident and wakes up in 1973 - after watching the first episode (which will be aired again this Sunday @ 9pm) I'm pretty sure it's going to be brilliant. If this were a sci-fi time travel show I'd probably pass, but it appears that Tyler's mind is only fabricating this 1973 world while his body is really still in a coma in 2006. This show is the very reason why I hate philosophy; secretly, I'm a bit afraid that we're all living in a Matrix-like world and I'm only imagining my reality. (Don't tell anyone though. It's a bit embarrassing.)
Shipwrecked (Premiers July 26th @ 9pm)
I'm fairly certain one of two things is true: 1. this show is a total rip-off of Survivor, or 2. Survivor is a total rip-off of this show. Either way, I'm craving some (good) reality tv and the premise sounds like my cup of tea:
This is all why I'm glad that I've been able to find television solace in my new favorite channel - BBC America. Aside from the occasional Benny Hill block I can be fairly certain that turning to this channel will put me in a splendid state of television bliss for most of the day. Sure many of the shows that I enjoy are actually several years old and have already been cancelled across the pond, but so what? They're new to me, and way better than much of the tripe American network execs are currently putting out there. Here's a few of my favorites:
Footballers' Wive$ (Sundays @ 10 pm)
This show is what Desperate Housewives wants to be. Or so I assume. Honestly, I've never watched a single episode of Desperate Housewives. Rich footballers (foot fairies in America) and their wives fight, cheat, plot nefarious plots and occasionally play a football match. It's trashy and tasteless and I absolutely love it. Too bad it recently got cancelled, but that doesn't mean you can't watch the last couple of seasons. In fact, the season 5 finale is this Sunday and you should watch because Tanya's coming back and I'm fairly certain someone is going to die.
Black Books
A wry, witty comedy set in one of the worst-managed book stores on the planet, and one of the most brilliantly funny shows I've seen.
Spaced (Fridays @ 11pm)
A delightfully silly show about two singletons who fake being a professional couple in order to rent a flat while hilarity ensues. The show originally aired in the late 90's and is chock full of pop-culture references from the time, adding an extra element of fun by trying and remember what the heck they're referencing.
Finally, here are two new shows that have caught my fancy:
Life on Mars (Monday @ 10 pm)
I just caught the premier of this yesterday, and although the premise sounds a bit ludicrous - a detective gets in a car accident and wakes up in 1973 - after watching the first episode (which will be aired again this Sunday @ 9pm) I'm pretty sure it's going to be brilliant. If this were a sci-fi time travel show I'd probably pass, but it appears that Tyler's mind is only fabricating this 1973 world while his body is really still in a coma in 2006. This show is the very reason why I hate philosophy; secretly, I'm a bit afraid that we're all living in a Matrix-like world and I'm only imagining my reality. (Don't tell anyone though. It's a bit embarrassing.)
Shipwrecked (Premiers July 26th @ 9pm)
I'm fairly certain one of two things is true: 1. this show is a total rip-off of Survivor, or 2. Survivor is a total rip-off of this show. Either way, I'm craving some (good) reality tv and the premise sounds like my cup of tea:
In this new reality competition series, two groups of 18-23 year-old castaways are left stranded, divided across two islands in the Aitutaki Atoll in the South Pacific. Each week a new castaway arrives. The two island tribes try to woo the new castaway to join their tribe. The island with the most inhabitants at the end wins a huge cash prize to be divided among the group. The trick is to have the most tribe members, but not so many as to divide the cash prize too many ways.So what are you on about? Cheers love, not all summer tv is bollocks!
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