Ice Road Truckers and Mythbusters rock, as does Deadliest Catch (though I wish the language was not the language of fishermen — lol). I enjoy NCIS, The Mentalist, Numbers and pretty much anything on the Food Network.
Those of you who, for various reasons, don’t watch television, please remember that effective evangelism requires being culturally conversant. In short, lots of people watch TV. I apologize if that’s terse, I just deal with a lot of snotty liberal academics who pride themselves in only watching Nova and then are shocked at how out of touch they are with the rest of America.
There is good stuff on TV and, like technology in general, it is a moral neutral that can be and is used for both good and evil.
With the quality of what is shown on TV these days (frankly, much of which I think is unsuitable/unhealthy for Christians to watch), I’m pretty much down to the Travel Channel, the Food Channel, and HGTV. A lot of my friends have stopped watching TV altogether.
[i]Law & Order:Criminal Intent[/i]–Vincent D’Onofrio’s acting is stellar, plot explication taut, and the musical score gives shows what minimalism in composition is actually good for.
No high art here, perhaps, but for interesting characters, nothing beats USA’s lineup: Monk, House, Burn Notice, and In Plain Sight.
For clean TV: Mash, Startrek, Andy of Mayberry
Contemporary shows: The Deadliest Catch, Bill O”Reilly
Pure Entertainment: 9pm evening news from New Orleans
NCIS, love the banter between the characters, plus it has engaging story lines, great characters, and intriguing mysteries. In addition it is pro-military.
Chuck. A nerd accidentally ‘assimilates’ the entire computer database of the US security agencies, just seconds before the system crashes. Now he must assist the CIA and NSA in locating domestic and international threats to the country while maintaining his cover job as head nerd from the Nerd Herd at “Buy More”. Very funny along the lines of ‘Get Smart’.
“Bones” based on the life of Kathy Reichs (rather than on her books), follows forensic anthropologist Tempe “Bones” Brennen and her FBI contact Sealy Booth as they solve murders involving corpses too far gone for physical id. Hence, bones. What I like is that (even though morally flawed — he has a child out of wedlock and sleeps around) Booth is a staunch Catholic who continually resists Bones’ attempts to make everything scientific and based solely on reason (hence occasional jabs at religion, which Booth deflects).
Out of the Wild, following the adventures of several people dropped into the Alaskan wilderness and expected to find their way out (they have resources, shelters at measured distances, map/compass, etc.)
Mythbusters, already been explained above.
Good Eats and Iron Chef America — both hosted by Alton Brown.
Top Gear — Monty Python meets Car and Driver — on BBC America.
Almost anything on Discovery Channel: Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, Time Warp, Cash Cab…the last of those not something I actively seek out, but I can’t turn off when I do run across it. As a engineering geek, I also like some of the shows on Science Channel that are engineering-related.
How is it possible that no one has mentioned ‘Lost?’
Here are my top 10, in no particular order
1. Lost
2. Saving Grace
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. House
5. Criminal Minds
6. How I Met Your Mother
7. The Big Bang Theory
8. Bones
9. Any and all Law and Orders
10. Any and all Star Treks
NCIS- Especially the back to back syndication episodes on USA Network. Good ensemble cast, characters developed and some cast members change out over time. Its a Belasaurius production and I remember they had a similar long running series starring Tom Selick set in Hawaii that never got boring over the many years it ran due to the same kind of character interplay.
CSI- The one set in Las Vegas, especially now that the Grissom character replacement has come on board.
Fast Money- The CNBC post-market show is fast moving and beats the repetive local news on at the same time.
Numbers- Another good character driven drama, good stories as well.
My guilty pleasure while channel surfing is Pass Time on the Speed Channel, especially when they have a jet powered dragster do a run–awesome!
I’m not bothering to invest the time and money into getting regular TV service, but I have been using my old hand-me-down TV and a new region free DVD player to watch a lot of DVD’s, many of them from public libraries. Some TV series on DVD that I’ve been watching lately are the orginal “I Spy” with Culp and Cosby, and the CBBC TV series “Roman Mysteries”.
Probably because I am a retired history teacher who spent his career in a vocational-technical high school–my favorites are “Ice Road Truckers” and “Deadliest Catch.”
NCIS is good. Love Abby, and Illiad Kariakis (sp?), One of my favorites season starts tomorrow night, The Closer..
History Channel, most of the time, (lotsa repeats). The Mentalist, Fox News (0f course), Keeping up Appearances, Time Goes By, and Mystery on Sunday nights, oh, almost forgot Sherlock Holmes..
Mets (’cause it’s orthodox baseball)
Clean House ( anti materialistic moralizing at its finest)
This Old House (good flannel)
New Yankee Workshop (“… and remember there is no more important rule than to wear these, safety glasses…”)
As Time Goes By (hopeful witty characters who actually care about one another)
Actually I prefer to watch music videos than most TV shows!
I’ve been watching whichever of the [i]Law and Order[/i] series that I’m home for — Wednesday night being the canonical night for choir practice. Until the first season wrapped up, I was watching HBO’s [i]Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency[/i] based on the Alexander McCall Smith mystery series. I also like [i]True Blood[/i] although it’s not as good as the books by Charlaine Harris on which it’s loosely based. Other than that it’s movies and non-fiction on the various science and nature channels, plus DIY and real estate shows.
Hmmmm, I think I detected a bit of ridicule in #26! In fact I wouldn’t know what you mean about the global warming content (just don’t take any notice of it), and it could be I have given the wrong title for an animal show. On the rare occasions we watch at all, my family and I watch for the ‘animal content’.
Looking at this thread I am tempted to formulate a hypothesis that evangelically minded American Christians largely engage with info-tainment about mainly science, law & order, eating and news. So, unless they interact with the rest of the animal kingdom outside their TV viewing, that could leave a significant void in exposure and life experiences.
30 Rock — brilliant surreal comedy
The Amazing Race — an exciting, intelligent reality/game show that doesn’t rely on obnoxious players or lying and backbiting to win. Just race around the world!
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart / The Colbert Report
(12 year old son)
Mythbusters and Ice Road Truckers from Discovery Channel
Battle 360, Patton 360, Dogfight, and Modern Marvels from the War (History) Channel (War programs 24/7, IMO), and if we can count classic TV sitcoms available from Netflix: Hogan’s Heroes
(10 year old daughter)
America’s Funniest Home Videos, American Idol, and ESPN (women’s soccer and St. Louis Cardinals baseball), from Netflix: The Brady Bunch and Bewitched
Mr. AAiSD: Fox News and related programs, the War Channel with son
(Me) I don’t watch programs of my own (who has time, what with internet blogging and such?!), but I do watch parts of the kid’s show with them, checking them out for language, violence and sexual content. Most major network programs don’t make the cut in our house.
[i] Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives [/i] on the Food channel is fun.
[i] House [/i]
Last season of [i] Monk [/i] this summer.
I am bummed and lost on Tuesdays now that [i] The Shield [/i] is over.
Continuing my #32 above:
I have recently discovered a British series (compliments of Netflix) called the Vicar of Dibley. I enjoy the humor but am hoping that character of the the vicar is completely farcical and not at all representative of women clergy in the C of E. Perhaps some readers from the UK could weigh in? AND PLEASE NOTE – I am not trying to hijack this thread into a pro-WO/con-WO discussion. As an aside, the character playing the vicar reminds me exactly (in looks only, not at all in demeanor) of the first women minister (UMC) I ever experienced as being my pastor, so I am fond of this character, however fictional it may be.
TACit,
I haven’t watched much of the ‘Animal Planet’ shows since Steve Irwin died.
Timothy mentioning “Monk” made me realize I forgot one of my favorites, because it’s between seasons right now:
“Psych” on USA. Fantastically funny show!
Right now we have seen the premiere of “Royal Pains” and if they keep up the quality of the opener, should be a pretty good show on the lines of the old “Northern Exposure” theme.
Cold Case is my absolute favorite show. LOVE the characters — Lilly, Scotty, Will, etc. — and how they choose particular music/artists to accentuate the plot. They treat the cold cases with such compassion and care.
Other than that — bummed Amazing Race is over. I enjoy it and look forward to the next season! Love all of the Law and Order shows, NCIS, the CSIs (especially NY with Gary Sinise), and Criminal Minds.
‘Lie to Me’ (educational – the art of reading body language etc. to tell if someone’s telling the truth) and on DVD [url=http://www.angelfire.com/msmillennium20002000/crimestory.html]’Crime Story'[/url].
I DVR some of the Christian music videos & an “unplugged” style of show titles “— Revealed” (name of band – Revealed.” Also, a show called Faith and Fame about Christian artists.
Otherwise, we watch American Idol, Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and sports (I have 2 sons.) I used to like some of the medical shows on TLC, but they’ve gotten pretty old , and are usually not appropriate for my boys.
The Goode Family. Every lame PC orthodoxy you ever heard of…and a few new ones. The family even has an adopted son from South Africa named Ubuntu. Tune in on Friday nights and find out how deep the “unbuntu” can be piled when Mike Judge takes on the loony left.
I don’t have cable, so the only station I receive is PBS (Maryland Public Television). Because of the endless pledge drives, I see relatively few shows even on this one channel. But a quiet, enjoyable show that I really like for some reason is The Desert Speaks. It’s hosted by an everyman type–just a good, down-to-earth, relaxed character who’s a real university professor out in the Southwest (AZ): David Yetman. He’s not glamorous; he’s just pleasant to hang around with for half an hour. And I’ve learned something about a part of the country I didn’t know much about. He also travels out of the country–to Peru, for example.
This isn’t this thread, but it almost is, so I’ll go ahead and mention my ALL-TIME favorite tv shows in drama and comedy categories:
1. dramatic series: Secret Agent (starring Patrick McGoohan)
2. comedy: of course, Andy of Mayberry
Oh–and I confess that two years ago, when I could get another (i.e., commercial) station, I enjoyed late-night reruns of King of the Hill. Strangely, I tend to encounter good shows years after everybody else has already enjoyed them–so I tend to run around asking, Hey, have you seen this great show called…?!
None. (Not said smugly, just no longer taking the time to do so; there are too many books, too much music, too many letters to write, prayers to be prayed, and walks to be taken).
We have a recorder so we can plan what we watch. We’ve enjoyed
certain programming on EWTN. We’ve seen Malcolm Muggeridge old interviews. The Stabat Mater was offered last week. Often a good music program is available as well as a good sound catechist. More often than not, I schedule all programing so that I can edit and not be bothered with the banal. Turner offers those wonderful old films. HBO had a Churchill movie last week. There is also a channel that offers gorgeous quiet sunrises from all over the natural world. There is much to choose from – carefully.
We do not have cable. However, thanks to the new digital converter we are receiving more free channels and our PBS station now has three channels.
My personal favorites are: NCIS, CSI (the original), Antiques Roadshow, History Detectives, BBQ University, This Old House, Bones, Nova, Dateline, and most of the American Experience series. I am waiting for our ABC station to come online to see some of their offerings.
I hate to be the one in defense of television; however, we have received the NY Times for years and are also readers. A daily visit to Kendall’s blog does much of that editing for me now. Often the best sellers are not any better than television. Discovering the good reading takes hard work and good friends to recommend and recall. Yes, the prayers, walks and bible readings are the most rewarding of all.
The Fox Report, especially the panel My wife and I think Charles Krauthammer is the sanest and most realistic commentator on the air. Also like the banter and quirky characters on NCIS. Gibbs is classic. Sports (sometimes — but college football is on the way! Roll Tide!!!) and the home fix-up shows.
Royal Pains, 30 Rock. Both shows have tons of witty banter…you’d best be up on your cultural icons to catch all the pokes. Glee was great. Hoping Royal Pains and Glee as new series will be as good as the teaser first shows were. And I’m definitely in agreement with poster #10.
Two of my favorites not already mentioned:
“No Reservations w/ Anthony Bourdain” (Travel Channel)
“The Soup” (E! Very funny and constantly reminds me of the old H. L. Mencken saying that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public)
Ok…worthwhile or not (all of these are hit or miss – I probably log a total of two hours a week)
24
Numbers
Househunters (HGTV)
Law and Order
House
Medium (has some of the most realistic family life scenes anywhere on tv altho I don’t let the kids watch it)
CSI- Miami (great videography)
Planet Earth
Mystery on ETV
Occasional C-Span (caught a hearing the other night on the National Guard’s role in Emergency preparedness that was pretty enlightening)
I watch ‘House’ and ‘Bones’, the latter interesting partly because the main character is sexy and successful… and obviously has an (undiagnosed as it still is in many adults) autism-spectrum disorder such as Asperger’s. The actress says she and the writers know about that and incorporate it into the character. A perfect performance. But it’s not a patronising disease-of-the-week ‘very special’ show all about the disability. As part of the bigger story (solving the week’s grisly crime, the ongoing story of her relationship with Booth) she’s eccentric… and accepted.
(Some think House might be on the spectrum too. Bones isn’t obnoxious like he is.)
I still like ‘Law & Order’ but the formula of cops bullying people until the real culprit shows up halfway through the show is getting old. RIP Jerry Orbach. I miss him.
‘Kitchen Nightmares’ is educational like early ‘Apprentice’ was: how not to run a business.
After a full day of thinking at work, I like to put my brain on “hold” and watch the “Judge Shows”: The People’s Court and Judge Judy. I also like reruns of Cops.
I watched so much tv when I was little, that I don’t watch much now. Entire series have come and gone without my seeing them. By the time kids are in bed I’m tired and don’t want to watch. I have enjoyed recently, however, the Food Network’s Dives and Diners series. Makes me want to travel to have gourmet hot dogs or similar fare.
With the end of Battlestar Galactica I can honestly say I watch no more than 15 minutes of TV a week, and more often than not I watch none at all. But ask me what I am reading and we can talk for hours.
Mythbusters is a favorite in our house, along with Time Warp (but then we have a 13-year-old boy in residence, so the more blasts the better!).
I have not had a tellie since 1967. No additional commentary required.
Baseball. That’s about it. Bart has the right idea.
I am watching the third season of Ice Road Truckers and Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.
Had TV for about 15 of my 72 years….didn’t much care for it.
Ice Road Truckers and Mythbusters rock, as does Deadliest Catch (though I wish the language was not the language of fishermen — lol). I enjoy NCIS, The Mentalist, Numbers and pretty much anything on the Food Network.
and Dirty Jobs. How could I forget that one?
[u]Mythbusters[/u]
[u]Burn Notice[/u]
We really liked [u]Glee[/u].
Dirty Jobs is a good show. I’ll watch any show in which the host uses the word “Sisyphean” naturally.
There are actually some clever comedies on the air these days. “The Big Bang Theory,” “30 Rock” and “Better Off Ted” are well-executed.
Those of you who, for various reasons, don’t watch television, please remember that effective evangelism requires being culturally conversant. In short, lots of people watch TV. I apologize if that’s terse, I just deal with a lot of snotty liberal academics who pride themselves in only watching Nova and then are shocked at how out of touch they are with the rest of America.
There is good stuff on TV and, like technology in general, it is a moral neutral that can be and is used for both good and evil.
Just a thought…
With the quality of what is shown on TV these days (frankly, much of which I think is unsuitable/unhealthy for Christians to watch), I’m pretty much down to the Travel Channel, the Food Channel, and HGTV. A lot of my friends have stopped watching TV altogether.
[i]Law & Order:Criminal Intent[/i]–Vincent D’Onofrio’s acting is stellar, plot explication taut, and the musical score gives shows what minimalism in composition is actually good for.
No high art here, perhaps, but for interesting characters, nothing beats USA’s lineup: Monk, House, Burn Notice, and In Plain Sight.
For clean TV: Mash, Startrek, Andy of Mayberry
Contemporary shows: The Deadliest Catch, Bill O”Reilly
Pure Entertainment: 9pm evening news from New Orleans
Several books from Scott Hahn
NCIS, love the banter between the characters, plus it has engaging story lines, great characters, and intriguing mysteries. In addition it is pro-military.
Chuck. A nerd accidentally ‘assimilates’ the entire computer database of the US security agencies, just seconds before the system crashes. Now he must assist the CIA and NSA in locating domestic and international threats to the country while maintaining his cover job as head nerd from the Nerd Herd at “Buy More”. Very funny along the lines of ‘Get Smart’.
“Bones” based on the life of Kathy Reichs (rather than on her books), follows forensic anthropologist Tempe “Bones” Brennen and her FBI contact Sealy Booth as they solve murders involving corpses too far gone for physical id. Hence, bones. What I like is that (even though morally flawed — he has a child out of wedlock and sleeps around) Booth is a staunch Catholic who continually resists Bones’ attempts to make everything scientific and based solely on reason (hence occasional jabs at religion, which Booth deflects).
Out of the Wild, following the adventures of several people dropped into the Alaskan wilderness and expected to find their way out (they have resources, shelters at measured distances, map/compass, etc.)
Mythbusters, already been explained above.
Good Eats and Iron Chef America — both hosted by Alton Brown.
Top Gear — Monty Python meets Car and Driver — on BBC America.
Doctor Who.
Almost anything on Discovery Channel: Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, Time Warp, Cash Cab…the last of those not something I actively seek out, but I can’t turn off when I do run across it. As a engineering geek, I also like some of the shows on Science Channel that are engineering-related.
Scrubs in syndication. I love sitcoms with real people in them. The cooking shows in Create TV. That’s pretty much it.
How is it possible that no one has mentioned ‘Lost?’
Here are my top 10, in no particular order
1. Lost
2. Saving Grace
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. House
5. Criminal Minds
6. How I Met Your Mother
7. The Big Bang Theory
8. Bones
9. Any and all Law and Orders
10. Any and all Star Treks
NCIS- Especially the back to back syndication episodes on USA Network. Good ensemble cast, characters developed and some cast members change out over time. Its a Belasaurius production and I remember they had a similar long running series starring Tom Selick set in Hawaii that never got boring over the many years it ran due to the same kind of character interplay.
CSI- The one set in Las Vegas, especially now that the Grissom character replacement has come on board.
Fast Money- The CNBC post-market show is fast moving and beats the repetive local news on at the same time.
Numbers- Another good character driven drama, good stories as well.
My guilty pleasure while channel surfing is Pass Time on the Speed Channel, especially when they have a jet powered dragster do a run–awesome!
I’m not bothering to invest the time and money into getting regular TV service, but I have been using my old hand-me-down TV and a new region free DVD player to watch a lot of DVD’s, many of them from public libraries. Some TV series on DVD that I’ve been watching lately are the orginal “I Spy” with Culp and Cosby, and the CBBC TV series “Roman Mysteries”.
Probably because I am a retired history teacher who spent his career in a vocational-technical high school–my favorites are “Ice Road Truckers” and “Deadliest Catch.”
NCIS is good. Love Abby, and Illiad Kariakis (sp?), One of my favorites season starts tomorrow night, The Closer..
History Channel, most of the time, (lotsa repeats). The Mentalist, Fox News (0f course), Keeping up Appearances, Time Goes By, and Mystery on Sunday nights, oh, almost forgot Sherlock Holmes..
Grandmother in SC
Mets (’cause it’s orthodox baseball)
Clean House ( anti materialistic moralizing at its finest)
This Old House (good flannel)
New Yankee Workshop (“… and remember there is no more important rule than to wear these, safety glasses…”)
As Time Goes By (hopeful witty characters who actually care about one another)
Actually I prefer to watch music videos than most TV shows!
I relish being “out of touch” with the People Magazine subscribers who voted for Mr. Oprah.
Doesn’t anyone (else) like to watch Animal Planet or others of the genre??
Yeah, my kids do TACit. And afterwards I have to correct them about the global warming hysteria. (“Nobody is ‘destroying the planet'”)
I’ve been watching whichever of the [i]Law and Order[/i] series that I’m home for — Wednesday night being the canonical night for choir practice. Until the first season wrapped up, I was watching HBO’s [i]Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency[/i] based on the Alexander McCall Smith mystery series. I also like [i]True Blood[/i] although it’s not as good as the books by Charlaine Harris on which it’s loosely based. Other than that it’s movies and non-fiction on the various science and nature channels, plus DIY and real estate shows.
Hmmmm, I think I detected a bit of ridicule in #26! In fact I wouldn’t know what you mean about the global warming content (just don’t take any notice of it), and it could be I have given the wrong title for an animal show. On the rare occasions we watch at all, my family and I watch for the ‘animal content’.
Looking at this thread I am tempted to formulate a hypothesis that evangelically minded American Christians largely engage with info-tainment about mainly science, law & order, eating and news. So, unless they interact with the rest of the animal kingdom outside their TV viewing, that could leave a significant void in exposure and life experiences.
And I forgot Southpark. It is a bit passe now for many younger teens, but it does have some awesome sermon illustrations!
30 Rock — brilliant surreal comedy
The Amazing Race — an exciting, intelligent reality/game show that doesn’t rely on obnoxious players or lying and backbiting to win. Just race around the world!
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart / The Colbert Report
That’s about it, really, except the Red Sox.
LOL TACit. Yeah, with 3 birds, 2 cats, and a dog — we get plenty of interaction with the animal kingdom! (and those are just the INDOOR animals :P)
(12 year old son)
Mythbusters and Ice Road Truckers from Discovery Channel
Battle 360, Patton 360, Dogfight, and Modern Marvels from the War (History) Channel (War programs 24/7, IMO), and if we can count classic TV sitcoms available from Netflix: Hogan’s Heroes
(10 year old daughter)
America’s Funniest Home Videos, American Idol, and ESPN (women’s soccer and St. Louis Cardinals baseball), from Netflix: The Brady Bunch and Bewitched
Mr. AAiSD: Fox News and related programs, the War Channel with son
(Me) I don’t watch programs of my own (who has time, what with internet blogging and such?!), but I do watch parts of the kid’s show with them, checking them out for language, violence and sexual content. Most major network programs don’t make the cut in our house.
[i] Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives [/i] on the Food channel is fun.
[i] House [/i]
Last season of [i] Monk [/i] this summer.
I am bummed and lost on Tuesdays now that [i] The Shield [/i] is over.
Continuing my #32 above:
I have recently discovered a British series (compliments of Netflix) called the Vicar of Dibley. I enjoy the humor but am hoping that character of the the vicar is completely farcical and not at all representative of women clergy in the C of E. Perhaps some readers from the UK could weigh in? AND PLEASE NOTE – I am not trying to hijack this thread into a pro-WO/con-WO discussion. As an aside, the character playing the vicar reminds me exactly (in looks only, not at all in demeanor) of the first women minister (UMC) I ever experienced as being my pastor, so I am fond of this character, however fictional it may be.
TACit,
I haven’t watched much of the ‘Animal Planet’ shows since Steve Irwin died.
Timothy mentioning “Monk” made me realize I forgot one of my favorites, because it’s between seasons right now:
“Psych” on USA. Fantastically funny show!
Right now we have seen the premiere of “Royal Pains” and if they keep up the quality of the opener, should be a pretty good show on the lines of the old “Northern Exposure” theme.
1. House
2. Medium
3. Fringe
4. Deadliest Catch
5. Royal Pains
I’ve been watching Battlestar Gallactica on DVD and really enjoying it. I also watch House, Lost, and, of course, all things Papal on EWTN.
Cold Case is my absolute favorite show. LOVE the characters — Lilly, Scotty, Will, etc. — and how they choose particular music/artists to accentuate the plot. They treat the cold cases with such compassion and care.
Other than that — bummed Amazing Race is over. I enjoy it and look forward to the next season! Love all of the Law and Order shows, NCIS, the CSIs (especially NY with Gary Sinise), and Criminal Minds.
‘Lie to Me’ (educational – the art of reading body language etc. to tell if someone’s telling the truth) and on DVD [url=http://www.angelfire.com/msmillennium20002000/crimestory.html]’Crime Story'[/url].
[url=http://sergesblog.blogspot.com/]High-church libertarian curmudgeon[/url]
I DVR some of the Christian music videos & an “unplugged” style of show titles “— Revealed” (name of band – Revealed.” Also, a show called Faith and Fame about Christian artists.
Otherwise, we watch American Idol, Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and sports (I have 2 sons.) I used to like some of the medical shows on TLC, but they’ve gotten pretty old , and are usually not appropriate for my boys.
The Goode Family. Every lame PC orthodoxy you ever heard of…and a few new ones. The family even has an adopted son from South Africa named Ubuntu. Tune in on Friday nights and find out how deep the “unbuntu” can be piled when Mike Judge takes on the loony left.
#37. Trooper,
I think Battlestar Gallactica was produced by the Mormons.
I don’t have cable, so the only station I receive is PBS (Maryland Public Television). Because of the endless pledge drives, I see relatively few shows even on this one channel. But a quiet, enjoyable show that I really like for some reason is The Desert Speaks. It’s hosted by an everyman type–just a good, down-to-earth, relaxed character who’s a real university professor out in the Southwest (AZ): David Yetman. He’s not glamorous; he’s just pleasant to hang around with for half an hour. And I’ve learned something about a part of the country I didn’t know much about. He also travels out of the country–to Peru, for example.
This isn’t this thread, but it almost is, so I’ll go ahead and mention my ALL-TIME favorite tv shows in drama and comedy categories:
1. dramatic series: Secret Agent (starring Patrick McGoohan)
2. comedy: of course, Andy of Mayberry
Oh–and I confess that two years ago, when I could get another (i.e., commercial) station, I enjoyed late-night reruns of King of the Hill. Strangely, I tend to encounter good shows years after everybody else has already enjoyed them–so I tend to run around asking, Hey, have you seen this great show called…?!
None. (Not said smugly, just no longer taking the time to do so; there are too many books, too much music, too many letters to write, prayers to be prayed, and walks to be taken).
We have a recorder so we can plan what we watch. We’ve enjoyed
certain programming on EWTN. We’ve seen Malcolm Muggeridge old interviews. The Stabat Mater was offered last week. Often a good music program is available as well as a good sound catechist. More often than not, I schedule all programing so that I can edit and not be bothered with the banal. Turner offers those wonderful old films. HBO had a Churchill movie last week. There is also a channel that offers gorgeous quiet sunrises from all over the natural world. There is much to choose from – carefully.
We do not have cable. However, thanks to the new digital converter we are receiving more free channels and our PBS station now has three channels.
My personal favorites are: NCIS, CSI (the original), Antiques Roadshow, History Detectives, BBQ University, This Old House, Bones, Nova, Dateline, and most of the American Experience series. I am waiting for our ABC station to come online to see some of their offerings.
I hate to be the one in defense of television; however, we have received the NY Times for years and are also readers. A daily visit to Kendall’s blog does much of that editing for me now. Often the best sellers are not any better than television. Discovering the good reading takes hard work and good friends to recommend and recall. Yes, the prayers, walks and bible readings are the most rewarding of all.
The Fox Report, especially the panel My wife and I think Charles Krauthammer is the sanest and most realistic commentator on the air. Also like the banter and quirky characters on NCIS. Gibbs is classic. Sports (sometimes — but college football is on the way! Roll Tide!!!) and the home fix-up shows.
Lost….far and above all others.
Any Law and Order rerun.
Basketball playoffs.
Baseball.
Royal Pains, 30 Rock. Both shows have tons of witty banter…you’d best be up on your cultural icons to catch all the pokes. Glee was great. Hoping Royal Pains and Glee as new series will be as good as the teaser first shows were. And I’m definitely in agreement with poster #10.
Two of my favorites not already mentioned:
“No Reservations w/ Anthony Bourdain” (Travel Channel)
“The Soup” (E! Very funny and constantly reminds me of the old H. L. Mencken saying that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public)
I have not had cable for months now, and I am convinced its added years to my life. I have not missed it at all.
I was watching the new Battlestar Galactica on webcast, but that show is now ended. I have hopes for its prequel, Caprica, due out in January.
I think Battlestar Gallactica was produced by the Mormons.
No. It was created by a Mormon (Glen Larson) and has elements of Mormon mythology, but no official connection with the LDS church.
Ok…worthwhile or not (all of these are hit or miss – I probably log a total of two hours a week)
24
Numbers
Househunters (HGTV)
Law and Order
House
Medium (has some of the most realistic family life scenes anywhere on tv altho I don’t let the kids watch it)
CSI- Miami (great videography)
Planet Earth
Mystery on ETV
Occasional C-Span (caught a hearing the other night on the National Guard’s role in Emergency preparedness that was pretty enlightening)
I watch ‘House’ and ‘Bones’, the latter interesting partly because the main character is sexy and successful… and obviously has an (undiagnosed as it still is in many adults) autism-spectrum disorder such as Asperger’s. The actress says she and the writers know about that and incorporate it into the character. A perfect performance. But it’s not a patronising disease-of-the-week ‘very special’ show all about the disability. As part of the bigger story (solving the week’s grisly crime, the ongoing story of her relationship with Booth) she’s eccentric… and accepted.
(Some think House might be on the spectrum too. Bones isn’t obnoxious like he is.)
I still like ‘Law & Order’ but the formula of cops bullying people until the real culprit shows up halfway through the show is getting old. RIP Jerry Orbach. I miss him.
‘Kitchen Nightmares’ is educational like early ‘Apprentice’ was: how not to run a business.
[url=http://sergesblog.blogspot.com/]High-church libertarian curmudgeon[/url]
After a full day of thinking at work, I like to put my brain on “hold” and watch the “Judge Shows”: The People’s Court and Judge Judy. I also like reruns of Cops.
We’ve been watching reruns of “Maverick” on EncoreWesterns. James Garner. Classic.
I’m fascinated by “Lost”. I also like “Medium”, Numb3rs”, and “The Mentalist”. “The Tudors” is interesting, and I love “Last of the Summer Wine”.
I watched so much tv when I was little, that I don’t watch much now. Entire series have come and gone without my seeing them. By the time kids are in bed I’m tired and don’t want to watch. I have enjoyed recently, however, the Food Network’s Dives and Diners series. Makes me want to travel to have gourmet hot dogs or similar fare.
With the end of Battlestar Galactica I can honestly say I watch no more than 15 minutes of TV a week, and more often than not I watch none at all. But ask me what I am reading and we can talk for hours.
I stopped watching television some years ago … and I don’t regret it one bit. Now I’m too busy with more important matters.