Pimp Your Show!

[tzikeh]

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: pimp me the shows you're watching which I'm not! Why should I be watching your choices? Why are they worth my time? How will they hold my attention? Try not to spoil too much, if you can. (And even if your choices have been running a while, no worries -- I can get my hands on previous seasons. *g*)

I am currently watching:

Old:
House; Dexter; How I Met Your Mother; Heroes; Real Time With Bill Maher; Scrubs (when it returns); The Wire (when it returns); Battlestar Galactica (when it returns).

New:
Pushing Daisies; Reaper; Chuck (though I'm giving it maybe one or two more episodes before it goes bye-bye).

I tune in from time to time:
Law & Order; Law & Order: SVU; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; Inside the Actors Studio; What Not to Wear; It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Gave up on (AKA please don't pimp):
My Name is Earl; Law & Order: CI; The Simpsons; Family Guy; NCIS, Psych.

P.S.: "GUH!", while a plus, is not sufficient pimping. *g*

ETA: Shows do *not* have to be U.S. only.

Comments

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

You're already watching my favorite show (*G*) but I have two others to pimp: Psych and Ugly Betty. I've only seen a few eps of each, myself, but my friends-list has assured me that they're well worth watching.

I've written up my reactions to the pilots (and only the pilots, if you're spoiler-phobic) of both shows here (http://12-12-12.livejournal.com/27519.html#cutid1).

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Oh, phoo - I forgot to put "Psych" on my "given up on". Though I might download last season to see if it's worth my time again. I just feel like there's so little character growth.

Ugly Betty I hear good things about, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to watch it. Hm.

[misspamela.livejournal.com]

You're watching all of my shows, I think! Do you do reality TV at all? Can I sell you on Project Runway?

[misspamela.livejournal.com]

Duh, you do What Not to Wear! You would LOVE PR or Tim Gunn's Guide to Style!

I will go ahead an pimp if you haven't watched it!

[carla-scribbles.livejournal.com]

Criminal Minds -- lo, a procedural that doesn't make me want to throw my laptop across the room! matociquala does a far better job of pimping it than I could, but in the meantime I shall just point out that it is such an unbelievable relief to be watching Yet Another Cop Drama in which all the main characters actually act as smart as we're supposed to believe they are.

Well, that, and curvy blonde hacker-geeks and the sex gods who platonically adore them.

[delle.livejournal.com]

Criminal Minds! Yes! The characters ARE actually smart (usually; I will still gripe about the first season ep where the schizonphenic catches Reed and the-girl-whose-name-I-forget by surprise). I'm sorry Mandy Patankin has chosen to step aside, but it's a well-written show with pretty actors and smart characters.

Which leads to MY personal pimp: Numb3rs. Geeky-math-genius (who is really REALLY cute, esp. when scruffy) assists his FBI older brother (who is also Rob Morrow! how can you beat that?) in solving crimes. Again, the characters are really smart. But they're not infalible, and math doesn't always solve everything, and you have a really good family dynamic between the brothers and their dad (Judd Hirsch!)

Friday nights. 10pm PST/9pm CST

will, use my Charlie (math geek) icon, please igore the text and focus on the pretty

[reginagiraffe]

I would give Blood Ties a try. Smart scripts, well-acted, a heroine who's *real*, a vampire who doesn't vamp. It's about a bazillion times better than Moonlight. Currently it's on Lifetime at 11pm on Fridays.

[bluerosefairy.livejournal.com]

I echo this one. And must fangirl some more. Blood Ties is amazing, as both a television and book series. The characters are so well-written and well-acted, and the pretty-damn-near-canon threesome is fantastic.

Vicki Nelson is short, wears glasses because she's going blind, and had to quit the police force because of it. She's not an amazing detective - it's hard for her to SEE at night, let alone catch the bad guys - but she's just so dedicated, she can't not help people. And she's more than kind of a dork.

Mike Celluci is a good cop and a crap friend. There is no such thing as "just friendship" with him. He lets jealousy get in the way of everything - he sells out Henry, puts Vicki in danger, and generally is a ginormous ass - but there's no one else you want at your back when you're ass-deep in monsters. Also, he does the best befuddled face ever.

And Henry Fitzroy? *fans self* Humina humina humina. Where to start? Let's see, he's the bastard son of Henry the Eighth who draws COMIC BOOKS for a living (at least, in the TV series he does - in the books, he's a romance writer). He doesn't brood, remains a devout Catholic, and is a wicked, wicked flirt.

Srsly, just try it out.

[amy_vic.livejournal.com]

I think you should give The Unit (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_unit/) a try. It's a military thriller/drama, with a good dash of Alias thrown in. (But not the super-confusing Rambaldi prophecy junk; just the spying and nifty undercover costumes and blending in within any situation stuff.) Plus, the whole thing is based on a true-life book (http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Delta-Force-Americas-Counterterrorist/dp/0385339364/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3532589-8732605?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192490547&sr=8-1), and the author is the creator and writer of the show.

(Also? Hot men, sometimes in uniform. GUH. *g*)

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

You're not watching SGA and that would be the one I'd pimp at the moment. It's funny, dramatic, character-driven, makes fun of itself at times, and has great writing (for the most part).

Also, it's written/produced/directed/acted by people who are fans in the sense that they pay attention to the small details that we as fans pay attention to. Try out some of the past seasons' DVD commentaries for support of this fact.

And the actors themselves...yeah, you can adore them as much as the characters they play because they put love and enjoyment into making this program and it shows. Anytime you put John Sheppard (who is canonically queer, whether by Martin Gero's doing or Joe Flanigan's doing, or possibly both) and Rodney McKay (who is awesome because David Hewlett is awesome) into a room together, you know you're gonna have fun.

[klia.livejournal.com]

Anytime you put John Sheppard (who is canonically queer, whether by Martin Gero's doing or Joe Flanigan's doing, or possibly both)

Sheppard is canonically queer? I must've missed that, somehow.

[ratcreature]

Avatar the Last Airbender! I didn't want to like it, because the style is kind of anime/manga like, which isn't my thing, but I read an xover with it, was intrigued, checked out the series, and it turned out really cool.

I like the mythology and universe a lot and the characters are great, with complex motivations, and there's character development with no black and white distinctions between the sides in the war, and there are factions and conflicts within the cultures too, e.g. the Fire Nation "villains" aren't monolithic, or all equally in favor of the war, and you get where they are coming from. And there's lots of humor to and action. (It's not so good for the GUH! though.)

[klia.livejournal.com]

trelkez is already pimping it, but I'll go ahead and mention Life, Wed. on NBC (I think 9pm Central). Damien Lewis from Band of Brothers stars as a cop wrongly accused/convicted of, and incarcerated for 12 years (most in solitary) for, murders he didn't commit. Now, he's out, has successfully sued for his job back, and received an unspecified (i.e. $$$$$$) settlement for what he was put through; he's also a bit on the odd side. Adam Arkin is his financial advisor (they met in prison); Sarah Shahi is his partner; Robin Weigert is his boss.

Ironically, this was the show whose promos made me cringe and turned me completely off (still do, actually, so disregard any you may have seen!), but my TiVo overruled me and recorded the pilot anyway (yay auto-record Wish Lists!), and I finally watched it just to see exactly how awful it was, and ended up liking it. DL and AA are fantastic, and have a very interesting friendship.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

I third this show. Think Zen cop with a ye to be disclosed agenda and a habit of staring at the world like it was alien. I gather that being wrongly imprisoned and tortured for 12 years might make you a bit ...odd.

xlorp says the main character has a lot of House's outsider-ness.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

"Mad Men" is Sopranos-tough, Far-From-Heaven stylish, Homicide-smart and dead damn sexy all at once, not to mention providing some of the best acting and most brilliant art direction on TV.

"Brothers & Sisters" is more gently amusing than groundbreaking in all respects save one: The gay brother has relationships portrayed with the same level of time, attention, individuality, sensuality and wit as any of the straight relationships. For that reason alone, I'm surprised more fannish types don't tune in.

[carla-scribbles.livejournal.com]

I will absolutely second the Mad Men rec. God, I don't know why I didn't think of that, seeing as it's my current obsession and all.

*facepalm*

[trascendenza]

Life! Life and Pushing Daisies are my new favorites. Life is very subtle and quiet, but has a lot to offer. I adore the protagonist--if you've seen Brimstone, he reminds me a bit of Zeke Stone, or if you've seen Touching Evil he also reminds me of Creegan. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked either of those shows. It's hard to explain what I love so much about this show--maybe that I feel like it doesn't try to hit you over the head with anything. And the actors really, really breathe the characters to life on-screen.

All current episodes are up here: http://www.nbc.com/Life/video/episodes.shtml

[anoel.livejournal.com]

The Office (US) definitely. Hilarious, smart and character driven with lots of relatable characters if only in their little quirks. I caution on judging based only on S1 as S2 takes on a much different tone and is a lot funnier and lovable. I also recommend Ugly Betty as it has a lot of diverse, lovable and fun characters you can't help but love from the *nice* to the *mean*. It can be cracktastic, it has cool visual effects and funny lines and looks at a variety of different subjects. And it has a great mystery under the surface and lots of great twists. Friday Night Lights is just brilliant, emotional, interesting, high quality television. It's not really about football but about the town and the people in it and all their hangups while it explores characters and relationships and breaks your heart many times. Plus it has so many awesome female characters and lots of eye candy. I loved the pilot of Dirty Sexy Money which is funny with a darker edge and entertaining in exploring a rich family and how a more normal guy tries to deal with them. The following eps aren't as good but it's worth checking out to see if you like it. Also there's a murder mystery that's giving it some forward momentum and a priest who's a *bad* guy (but hilarious). 30 Rock takes some time to get good but it's a really funny show that Tina Fey writes and acts in and keeps the main characters awesome. There are many varying quirky secondary characters are well and some smart jokes in there (especially later).

I'll leave it at that. And YAY The Wire!! God, I love that show.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I'm behind on the Wire by one season. I'm gonna watch S4 just before S5 debuts... I kinda want to save it.

Man, I need a generic "TV!" icon.

[thecomfychair.livejournal.com]

misspamela is already deftly pimping my favorite show, Project Runway, and you're not watching Psych and already watching Chuck (I cannot say no to Adam Baldwin!), so all that's left on my regular pimp list is 30 Rock, which IMO is great. It doesn't have the "heart" of the other NBC Thursday comedies, but the plots/dialogue are hilarious and off-the-wall, and I consistently laugh during each ep. And it just won the Emmy for Best Comedy! I did a mini-pimp here and here, which has links to clips/episodes so people can judge if it's their taste or not.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Hustle. HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE. 4 seasons in the UK; it's on AMC now but I don't know where they're up to in the run. Doesn't matter. Find, take, watch, LOVE.

British heist show, where a group of five con men (Adrian Lester, Marc Warren, etc, end to end AWESOME) conduct elaborate capers on greedy corrupt millionaires week after week. So, like, Oceans 11? That's a fun heist, right? Complicated, with plans B and C and those things where even when it seems like our guys are going to be defeated it turns out our genius heistmaster (in Hustle's case, Adrian Lester aka Mickey Bricks) has in fact incorporated a plan D that gets everyone off with the gold at the last minute? Yeah, like that, seriously, WEEK AFTER WEEK. Four seasons at six episodes a season.

HUSTLE. Tell your Tivo thingy about it on AMC and it'll probably find 'em for you, or nab them from Sekrit UK D0wnl0ading C0mms as you see fit.

And Yes on the Office, and also allow me to pimp BONES. Bones and Booth, aka Scully and Mulder, aka Zooey Deschanel's Sister and Angel from ATS, team up and fight ancient skeleton crime. Where he's an FBI agent adn she's a socially dysfunctional nerd-slash-esoteric forensic anthropologist who secretly likes to shoot her gun, and, THEY FIGHT CRIME! &c. Bonus points for her team of nerds, who beat House's team of nerds and even Numb3rs team of nerds by like a zillion points. Nerds, Angel, crimesolving, skeletons, Bones bones bones BONES.

In conclusion: Bones (US, Tuesday nights, on its 3rd season) and Hustle (finished last year, 4 seasons, UK, on AMC somewhere).

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:D :D :D I didn't include Hustle because it's over now. I watched it religiously. If I included all the shows I've *watched* which are over now, I'd have a novel. And a boring one at that.

[danceswithwords.livejournal.com]

I also cheer for The Office--though it is definitely a show that you will love ragingly if it hits your sense of humor right and be utterly unable to watch if it hits your squicks. It's clever, and layered, and full of wonderful characters. Season 1 follows the British series closely; it really hits its own tone in Season 2.

[ladyagnew.livejournal.com]

I rec season two of The Office a lot. It's funny and has a great het will-they-won't-they relationship, plus lots of Steve Carell. On the negative side: went downhill by season three, and the relationship was unsatisfactorily developed. I'm extremely lukewarm about season 4's few episodes, so far.

Um: love and totally recommend 30 Rock. If you loved Mean Girls and want to see a Newsradio-esque show from the same creative talent, watch this show!

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

I never watch reality shows ---but last year, I did get hooked on Project Runway. It's better than most reality shows ---it's really about the creative process and I found that fascinating.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

Though you mostly like SF and Fantasy, House and The Wire show that you're also a keen fan of good drama.

Friday Night Lights.

It. Is. Not. About. Football. If I may quote Variety: "But to tag "FNL" as a "football show" is like saying John Ford's "Stagecoach" is about bandits and Indians running amok in the old West."

What it is about is people. The people in your neighborhood. The American Middle and Working Classes.

From my "Why I love" post (http://kadymae.livejournal.com/462629.html)

Life isn't easy, and FNL is smart in how it shows that, and shows us (without being heavy handed and moralistic) what's really important in life.

You know they're on to something when a utterly mundane items like bag of frozen peas and half of a grilled cheese sandwich are the tokens of unconditional love.

And finally, Landry's estrogen soaked road trip from hell? Oh so very, very real in terms of what a car full of partying women is like. And also -- NEVER. NOT. FUNNY.

This is a show that will make you reach for the kleenex, and 50% of the time it's because you are crying with laughter.

---

And, it's got plenty of hot and plenty of slashy in it.

[greywingnut.livejournal.com]

I gotta throw Eureka in here. The show is all about charm. Charming, clever, and fun.

Joe Morton and Colin Ferguson are worth the price of admission (remember how people used to say "watch DS9 for René Auberjonois?" - they're both like that). Plus, a great kid who still looks and acts like a teenager, a rivalry for a woman's love that just crackles, and a quirky mix of secondary characters that's the perfect mix of Twin Peaks and Stars Hollow.

[grace-om.livejournal.com]

Madmen - The first time I watched it I was hooked by the ambiance, but then I got caught by the story and acting.

Damages - Glen Close is *magnificent* as the bitch goddess from hell high stakes personal injury lawyer. But it isn't a law procedural; it's a thriller. Rose Byrne manages to not disappear around Glen Close, so she must be damn good ;->, and Ted Danson is the bad guy.

Eureka - Is just plain fun and imaginative. Okay, sometimes the plots are not that original, but the details are terrific.

Ugly Betty - I was skeptical about this one too, but I tried it once was hooked. It's delightful.

I also like "What Not to Wear". The people always look great at the end and it gives me hope for what well-fitting clothes and a good haircut can do for a person ;-)

[grace-om.livejournal.com]

Oh, and considering I hadn't read much good about it, I've been enjoying Torchwood way too much. But if you don't like "Dr. Who" this might not be the one...

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

One rec I haven't seen yet, for the British mini-series State of Play (still available as streaming video"). Nearly impeccable political thriller driven by intense investigative journalism; phenomenal performances, air-tight plot, and characterization so sublime it nearly made me weep. (OK, so there are a few sensationalist moments, but a few moments in six hours of top quality television? Yeah, I'd say that's totally acceptable.)

Let me also put it this way: the two main male characters COULD be slashed to the end of the world and back, but this show is so good that I don't feel the need to do ANYTHING with it. Not a damn thing. Uh, that's pretty significant in my book. ;)

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I have State of Play burned to DVD and ready to be watched. Thank you for reminding me!

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

It took 3 or 4 episodes to really hook me, but I'm totally into Journeyman now. The characters have really developed in compelling ways and I haven't seen all of the plot twists coming, which, for a hardened time travel TV watcher, is saying something.