As I like to write about every now and again here is a round up of some television shows that I’ve been watching this summer.
“Burn Notice” – One of my favorites is back for a new season. I like the edition of a second burned spy to help out the usual crew. He adds a nice spark to the show that I think was missing in some early episodes last season. There was also a nice guest appearance Burt Reynolds as and old retired spy in trouble. It’s a good show that continues to entertain me.
“The Lost Room” – This is a Sc-fi channel mini series that originally aired in December of 2006. I watched it back then but recently pulled it out for a second viewing this summer. I like it. I’m not a big fan of the Sci-fi channel’s original programing but this is an exception. It’s not even really sci-fi but whatever.
The show is about a cop who discovers that there is a magic room and all the items that were once in this magic room grant super powers of various usefulness. His daughter gets lost in the room and now he has to try and get her back. There is also a couple of secret societies dedicated to tracking and using the super powered objects. It’s fun, imaginative, and well done.
“Entourage” – Another show back for a new season. I still maintain that the first two seasons of this show were the best. It was the anti-Sex and the City. One friend became a huge movie star and his brother and two buddies from home were along for the good time ride. The first two seasons were all about having a great time and were nearly plotless. Now we’re entering season seven and it’s a plot driven show like any other. There is still fun to be found and I like it but not like I enjoyed the early years.
“Hung” – Another HBO show. This one in its second season. It’s the story of a divorced high school baseball coach who runs into money problems so he decides to leverage his best skill and become a prostitute. I’m still not sure if I really like this show. It’s kind of goofy, kind of serious, and kind of pointless. Since it’s only a half an hour long I’ve kept watching it but it’s hardly a favorite.
“Penn& Teller Bullshit!” – I’m a skeptic in general so I enjoy this show. It’s in its eighth year and most of the easy target are gone but they still come up with stuff. There is a lot of bullshit in the world and a lot of bullshitters. Plus they like to throw in gratuitous nudity every week. I don’t always agree with them but generally they’re on target.
“Lovejoy Mysteries” – I’ve seen every one of these episodes many times before but I haven’t watched them in years. In the 90’s I had VHS tapes of the series that I taped off of the TV and I’d run them often as I worked on some drawing or painting. “Lovejoy” stars Ian McShane before he became famous in the US for swearing a whole lot in “Deadwood”. He plays Lovejoy who is a lovable rogue of an antiques dealer in East Anglia over in England. He’s always getting in and out of trouble along with the other show regulars who are his compatriots. And old favorite that I’ve been revisiting.
“The Prisoner” – A famous show from the 1960’s that I hadn’t seen until about five years ago. It’s an interesting one about a spy who tries to retire but is instead kidnapped and taken to “The Village” where they attempt to find out what he knows. He doesn’t even know which side is holding him. An interesting show. AMC did a remake of it recently that wasn’t very good. Stick with the original. A weird last episode though.
“Cannon” and “Barnaby Jones” – After being made sick of modern TV by shows like “Lost” and “Flash Forward” I watched some 1970’s detective shows. They may be a little dated and not filled with unexplained mysteries but they told a story with a beginning, middle, and end all in one episode. Each and every week. I never watched either of these shows much before now and neither is a favorite but I did enjoy them.
“I Rock” – An Australian TV series about a small time rock band trying to make it. This one was pretty good. Nothing profound or great but I got caught up in the character’s stories and found them interesting. A fun mix of personalities and goals. It’s only eight half an hour episodes and they go by quickly.
“Sherlock” – I’m a Sherlock Holmes fan and this BBC series could have gone very wrong. It’s a modern take on the Holmes characters which sets them in modern day London. I’ve seen the first two episodes and they’ve done a nice job. All the personalities and their interactions are there and so are cell phones and computers. They also do a nice job using special effects graphics to visualize Sherlock Holmes’ thinking. I’m surprised that I liked this so much.
So what have you been watching
Discussion ¬