Radiant Comics

For no reason at all I’m going to catch you up on my TV watching. Well, maybe the reason is escapist. I might be tired of writing about my own life and ideas so I’ll write about other people’s stuff. Or maybe my mind is just a bit jumbled up tonight and this is all I can think straight about. Maybe I can’t even think straight about TV? We’ll see. Onward and upward.

So what have I been watching these days? I’ve been watching some old shows and some new ones. Among the old ones is a favorite of mine called “Lovejoy Mysteries”. I first saw this show in the early 1990’s when they ran on the A&E channel and liked them from the very beginning. Back before the age of DVD releases and digital files I taped these off of the TV and used to run them a lot while I was working. Not that I was watching closely but I must have seen each of these episodes three or four times by the late 1990’s. This is the first time since then that I’ve sat down and watched them. They hold up well. I still like them. They’re smart, breezy, and interesting as they are filled with good writing, good acting and interesting characters. All except season one. That’s pretty dull. Start with season two if you want to like it.

I caught up on the first twelve episodes of “Supernatural” in December. I’m amazed at how they’re able to keep that show fresh year after year by introducing new threats to the boys. And it’s not always the “Escalate the threat to the world every season” solution that shows of this nature use and end up backing themselves into a corner with. Sometimes they threaten the world, sometimes just the characters, and sometimes both. This season the threat has been more personal and it’s working for me. Good show.

“Big Bang Theory” is still going strong too. This is another show that had a fairly weak first season but found itself season two. Now we are in season four and it’s a consistently good show. As they add more characters to the cast, almost all of whom are weirdos, the show has gotten even better. I’m a big fan of weirdos who are entertaining. I must say that this show has passed ahead of it’s former time slot partner on my list of favorites.

And that former time slot partner is “How I met Your Mother”. I still insist the lead character of this show is the least interesting of the characters but he’s okay. The show is in it’s sixth season and it seems a little stale to me these days. I still gets some laughs from it and maybe it’s just me but some of the shine is off the apple. Sometimes a person can just get tired of a show even though the quality of the show is still high. I think that may be happening to me with this one. But I still like it. I just don’t watch it right away like I used to. I usually catch up with it in a few days though.

“Community” is the new show full of zaniness that I have to watch right away these days. I always meant to check it out during its first season but never managed too. I checked out all of season one when it was released on DVD and I was hooked. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed season two this year too. It takes place on the campus of a community college and involves the hijinks of a group of people who form a study group. It’s a great way to bring together a cast of all different types of people not just a group of young college kids. One odd thing is that during Season One I found the blond “Hot Girl” to be a bit of a dud, hotness-wise, but in Season Two I’ve found her much more attractive. I don’t know what they did but she’s hotter. Keep it up.

“The Office” is another show I might be growing tired of. It still has its moments but it seems to be a bit lack luster. There’s been some good stuff in it and some pedestrian stuff. I think it once had more good stuff. Once again, it could just be me. I’ll continue to give it a look.

Another old show I’ve been watching is “The Rockford Files”. That show is a classic for a reason. Good characters, Angel is a favorite, good writing, and good acting. Jim Rockford is just a likable guy going about his business being a P.I. He’d rather run then fight you and he won’t fight fair if it gets him out of there alive. Unlike modern dramas every show has a beginning, middle, and end and I actually find that refreshing these days. It’s also one of the few shows set in L.A. with plots that have nothing to do with the movies business. The movie/TV industry loves itself and usually if a show is set in L.A. it’s about the movie/TV industry. This one is not and that’s refreshing.

The other old show I’ve been checking out is “Ellery Queen”. There was only one season of it back in 1975-76 and I last saw it as a child. Now it’s out on DVD. It’s a mystery show set in 1947 and Ellery Queen is a writer who’s father is a police big wig. Ellery helps his father solve murders. A realistic police procedural it’s not. Instead it’s an old fashioned mystery show where they gather all the suspects into a room at the end of the show and reveal the murderer. The viewer is supposed to guess who done it but I never do. It’s a little dry and old fashioned but that’s part of its charm. It’s also interesting to see the 1970’s version of the 1940’s. Not a show for everyone but I like it.

Two finals shows I’ve been checking out are kind of the same to me. “Bones” and “Castle”. They are both police procedurals with a little twist. In “Bones” it’s that she’s a forensic anthropologist teamed with an FBI agent and in “Castle” it’s that he’s a mystery writer teamed with a NYC detective. I have a fondness for police procedurals and these two scratch that itch. Neither show is what I’d call a classic but they’re both solid. They both have decent characters and witty writing. We get jokes, repartee, and drama. What more could you want from a TV show? What have you been watching?