Last weekend, we spent 4-5 hours watching most of Season 2 of Weeds. Then I popped into Wal-Mart where I bought Season 3 of Justified. Season 4 is on FX right now. As soon as I catch up, I can bust into the DVR. (Scott saw bootlegged Justified in Afghanistan an entire year ago. Same as he saw The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Oh, America, why must you make us wait?)
This is what I've been watching lately:
Breaking Bad
After hearing many, many bloggers talk about Breaking Bad, I gave it a whirl in October via Netflix. I thought, "This will be a way to pass the time until deployment ends." I had promised Scott we'd watch it together but I was getting desperate. I watched Seasons 1, 2, 3, and the beginning of 4 while I blogged, cooked dinner, cleaned, etc. I didn't pay that much attention to it so I was, understandably, lost much of the time.
When Scott came home, we gave it another try. We started watching a couple episodes a night (as fast as those dvds would arrive), and then I found Seasons 2, 3 and 4 in Target for $15 each one day. The decision wasn't a hard one.
We ended up taking Seasons 2 and 3 with us on our cruise last month.
This was a God-sent-lifesaver if I've ever seen one. During our "time of illness", we watched Breaking Bad. It was the only thing I had to live for on that particularly horrible day. I had to find out what would happen to poor Jesse and Walt. I couldn't let the Carnival infirmary kill me off before I knew the ending! (Dramatic? A bit.)
Anyway, we love this show. We're caught up through Season 4 and will get Season 5 as soon as it's available.
If you like a smart, complicated drama, you'll love Breaking Bad.
Downton Abbey
This isn't really a "new" show to me. I started, last March, on Season 1. I, per the usual, wasn't really paying attention. I got really bored and didn't finish more than two episodes.
Fast forward to June, I kept hearing about it. So I went to the library and rented Season 1 again. I stayed up until 3am finishing it. Now, this may seem like some great obsessive accomplishment, but it was June, so the sun never actually set. Therefore my neighbors were mowing their grass at 1am and the sunlight streaming in kept me awake anyway.
That was a lonely, boring time.
Anyway, Downton Abbey is everything a drama should be. I picked up Seasons 1 and 2 for $12 each on Black Friday and now I'm obsessively DVR-ing Season 3.
This show transports you to another time and era. I can hardly wrap my head around the idea that people lived like that. I honestly think that if you think you won't like it, just give it a fair shot. Even Scott is getting into it.
Weeds
I'd always known Mary Louise Parker was off winning awards for this show, but I never gave it much of a second thought. In the summer, I bought my brother Season 7 for his birthday because he said it was amazing and, though I'd tried to force him onto Dexter and it didn't quite work (he doesn't have that same obsessive personality I do), we more or less have common taste.
Scott and I started Weeds right after Christmas and to say we love it is an understatement. If you are offended by language, I don't know how you'll feel about it, but we just find it amusing. I recommend it for someone who loves a great story to follow and I've discovered that Showtime rarely lets me down (Season 1 of Homeland is pending...). There's 7 seasons on DVD, so it'll keep us busy for awhile. I love it when that happens.
1600 Penn
I'm snobby about my t.v. and my movies the way some are picky about wine or eating organic. While I never wash my apples and I enjoy a good $5 bottle of vino, I only want to see the good stuff on my t.v. screen. None of this Guys with Kids, basic cable, laugh track garbage. And, good God, no reality t.v. shall ever grace my LG screen. Don't insult my intelligence, CBS/NBC/ABC is what I often feel like saying. (I realize this could be a major character flaw.)
However, last week, we got sucked into the first two episodes of 1600 Penn. It was amusing. It was clever. Jenna Elfman was fun to watch, as was that little boy, Xander. The college-age daughter is a favorite of ours. Not only does she play a Becca in this show, she played Becca in Superbad, one of the greatest films of all time (maybe my snobbiness does have a cut off...).
While it's too early to tell if this will be a hit every week, I definitely recommend giving it a try. Oh, and there's no laugh track. (Scott just told me it's not getting the best ratings as of now, but I think that's a mid-season release factor.)
Anything good on your t.v. lately? I think I've exhausted just about every show anyone has ever told me to watch. I need more ideas.
