I think what a person actively seeks out and watches on TV says a lot about them. It also says almost nothing at all as what shows some people choose to watch are just baffling to me. Either way, I’m always fascinated to learn how people spend their leisure time in front of the (used to be a) tube. I’ll go first:
COMEDIES
Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, Up All Night, Community, How I Met Your Mother, Suburgatory, Modern Family, Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Spy
DRAMAS
Mad Men, Pan Am, Justified, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Luther,
SCI-FI/FANTASY
Dr. Who, Fringe, Once Upon a Time
REALITY
Survivor, The Bachelor/Bachelorette (this is part of a bargain with my wife–she has to watch a show I recommend for each season I watch with her), Beyond Scared Straight, Killer Instinct
That’s all of ‘em. Of course, I’d be ashamed to say that I watch all of those at home. That’s way too much TV. Fact is, I don’t. My day job involves a lot of drawing and there are many shows I watch during that time. List would probably be cut in half if it weren’t for that. Just not enough hours in the day.
Still, I watch what I watch because I think it’s good stuff. I don’t watch junk. At least, I don’t think I do.
Still haven’t had a chance to check out Alcatraz, so that may or may not make the list come later this week.
What do YOU watch? Confess!
Also, be sure and check out my blog “23 Years Ago Today…” over at the new site for a few words about a significant anniversary in my life and some video from it.
Comedies: Parks and Recreation, Community, The Office, Last Man Standing, Psych, Up All Night, The Middle
Dramas: Castle, Alcatraz (Awesome), Burn Notice
Sci/Fi – Fantasy: Supernatural, Grimm, Dr. Who, Fringe
Reality: Restaurant Impossible, Storage Wars Texas, Antiques Road Show, Mythbusters
Cartoons: Phineas and Ferb, Thundercats, The Simpsons, Futurama, Beavis and Butthead
I need to append a great show to my Drama category that I can’t believe I left off.
Persons of Interest (this is one I highly recommend checking out)
Ach. You reminded me I watch Burn Notice (although not as much recently) and White Collar too. They’re not appt. TV for me though. Procedurals aren’t really my thing. For that reason, I’ve taken a pass on Persons of Interest as well. The repetitiveness gets to me.
Our TV (singular!) broke down four months ago and we haven’t bothered replacing it. Watching the occasional rental DVD via computer is enough.
I admire your restraint!
That’s almost what I’m doing now. There’s just not enough time in life to watch TV. It’s crazy what happened to me when I met my girlfriend. I went from unemployed self-employed cartoonist bum college drop out with no money trying to self-publish his own books with all the time in the world to watch TV and movies … to … full-time non-profit organization job with benefits, renting a house, and getting married. No time for TV or comic books or video games anymore? Me? It’s crazy, lol
Some Netflix, Downton Abbey via a vcr tape, and for the first time in over a year we watched a broadcast show last nite. It was on NBC, Betty white’s birthday. and her new “old people punking younger ones” tv series. I was reminded how much smut is on nitetime tv. most jokes (or is it my sensitivity) were sexual in nature. We generally stick to netflix and dvds. And an occasional sat football game.
I’d never really thought too much about it, outside of having a bit of an informal routine or rotation of the shows I want to catch up on, but the process of thinking through all this for myself was fascinating to me. And so, even though it’s fascinating to nobody else, well… you sort of asked for it.
Netflix (and/or similar subscription services) is my delivery method of choice, and thus I watch almost no current TV (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Fraggle Rock, The Wonder Years, Star Trek: TNG). Even for the current shows I watch, I’m a season or two behind. (Doctor Who, The Office, 30 Rock, Sherlock). And there are several shows that comprise a list of friends’ recommendations to check out once I’m finished or caught up with my current rotation (Parks & Rec, Community, Psych). And there are of course some shows I revisit even though I’ve seen them through (The Muppet Show, DuckTales, Animaniacs, Monk).
My taste skews pretty heavily away from straight drama. “Amusing” seems to be my watchword; the drama I like centers around fairly broad, quirky characters and/or witty interplay. The incredibly formulaic writing of sitcoms doesn’t bother me, but if the appeal and pacing of a show depend on cliffhangers or particularly involved and heavy character development, I tire pretty quickly. I really enjoy sketch comedy of various eras, but I don’t check them out with any degree of consistency, with the off-and-on exception of SNL.
Not all five-star instant classics, but almost everything I watch has some fairly regular front-and-center concept or style or writing thing that I notice and think, “Now THAT’s a great [line, timing, character moment, conversation, personality trait].” And I do think I generally avoid most of the deepest of TV’s dreggs.
As you mentioned, my TV watching is mainly background drawing or housework stuff, and maybe two or three hours a week of the shows my wife and I both enjoy. I also go through some podcasts this way, and http://www.emmytvlegends.org/ has some long-form mullti-part video interviews with notable TV folks (actors, writers, directors, etc.) that I enjoy checking out.
I don’t have time to watch TV anymore. Instead I spend about 10 minutes to check up on Superfogeys. Which usually takes hours (which I don’t have, meaning I don’t sleep) because I get distracted and start checking other things online. Anyway, when I do watch TV (these days, as in opposed to the past), I like to watch:
Action/police drama:
Burn Notice
The Mentalist
Criminal Minds
NCIS: Los Angeles
NCIS
Supernatural:
Ghost Whisperer
Comedies:
Still Standing
What’s REALLY weird is that my favorite genre is supernatural and comedies. Why are those lists so short?? I dress up as a Ghostbuster for cons, for crying out loud, lol