Watching Television

It wasn’t that long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that I didn’t have any TV shows I was actively watching. Life has been busier than ever, but I’ve started catching up with shows instead of movies when flying. I’ve been blown away by the high quality of storytelling  in the medium of television right now.

So I find myself actively watching a few different shows:

  1. House of Cards (new season out today!).
  2. True Detective.
  3. Scandal.
  4. Blacklist.
  5. Empire.
  6. West Wing.

There are some guilty pleasures in there, and there are probably a dozen shows that friends have recommended to me as amazing that I’ve never even started. (Hence West Wing, I’m watching it for the first time, somewhere in Season 4.)

This is the first time I’m watching things that are still “on” versus something like Firefly or Sopranos which are complete already. There’s definitely something fun about discussing the latest developments with other people who are also caught up, in the zeitgeist, and the anticipation of new episodes coming out, like what I imagine it must have been like with serialized novels back in the day.

23 thoughts on “Watching Television

  1. The Blacklist is great, and I highly recommend watching the first season first. James Spader is just fantastic.

    Don’t know the rest of those. But if you want to get into a deep serial thing, and you have freaking epic amounts of time to kill, consider Supernatural. If you like that sort of thing.

  2. I’ve been binging on West Wing too! Currently on Season 7; I had never seen it when it was on TV. Don’t read my tweets to @squireX2, if you don’t want spoilers!

  3. Hey Matt, I am sure you have heard this before, but if you have not seen Breaking Bad, you have not really seen TV as it was meant to be 🙂 I see you like The Sopranos, which also has my absolute deepest respect as one of the most amazing bodies of work ever.

  4. As an unreformed West Wing snob, I have to suggest watching seasons 1-4 (in order if possible) before setting foot in 5-7. Actually you could just watch 1-4 and stop there if you’d like. The head writer/series creator left at the end of season 4, and the show was still good afterward but the quality of the writing just wasn’t the same.

  5. I loved The West Wing and have often considered buying them but have always feared the political storylines would feel dated despite the fact that politics often never changes.

    I’d recommend looking at Damages, Weeds and maybe Six Feet Under if you don’t mind more shows that have ended.

    1. The most dated part of the West Wing is probably the technology (CRT monitors, early flip phones, references to the Internet). The actual politics seem told up very well.

      1. Agreed. I can rewatch it now and, generally, the political ideas are pretty close. It would be interesting to watch a remake of the show in 10-15 years with how the White House has changed with the influx of technology.

  6. We’re definitely witnessing the golden age of U.S. television, but for something completely different, and from the UK, I’d highly recommend Downton Abbey. Awesome storyboard for a period drama!

    1. I second that. 🙂 I do like Breaking Bad and Blacklist as well. I watched Justified for a bit just because it was based on one of the stories in Fire in the Hole (Elmore Leonard) but lost momentum when I switched my work schedule.
      I am terribly and unashamedly semi-addicted to Rehab Addict and Fixer Upper which are both on HGTV.

  7. The Blacklist turned out to be way more entertaining than I expected!

    I’m also watching Breaking Bad…no doubt one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen.

  8. If you like West Wing you will LOVE The Newsroom. It was on HBO for three seasons. Aaron Sorkin knocked it way out of the park.

  9. Hungry Investors and Bar Rescue are two entertaining “reality” shows that can be watched in any order. Struggling restaurants and bars–often with extreme sanitation issues–get turned around by the conclusion of each episode. A good escape!

  10. My son likes movies shown on Sundance channel. He gives his comment (to me of course) after every viewing. He watches Golden Girls and Law and Order reruns and he likes Buckley on youtube. He hates Captain America. He does not like teen shows and he does not watch shows I watch. He can’t wait to watch Breaking Bad ( I am not sure whether it will be shown here, where I am, or not.) I am too liberal. My son is only fifteen.

  11. In Season 3 of Scandal which is AWESOME, starting Season 3 of House of Cards hopefully this weekend. My other faves are The Good Wife, Madam Secretary and Downton Abbey. I record then catch up when I can.

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