In my Giller award-winning previous post, I went on various tangents and stumbled upon one that drew the consternation of the Twitter-verse and blogosphere. I lamented the unoriginal thought about the lack of basic competence amongst the TV dad. I talked about Carl Winslow of Family Matters fame being the last solid dad. I got some blowback, as others talked about other dads, which came from dramas and dramedies. So I went on a quest, I knew that they must be out there. A good half hour sitcom dad. Ty Burrell does not count. He sucks. I recently went on vacation, and amongst the whirlwind of activity (the ballad of Eddie Gilbert, but that’s a whole different kettle of fish inside a ball of wax) I visited my deadbeat brother. Rather than actually interact, my brother loaded up my computer with some content he thought I would like. This is always a gamble. I also think watching TV on computer is cheating. I don’t think Arrested Development should be nominated for Emmy’s. It’s a webisode. A big budget one, but its not TV, it’s a web show. Respect the box. Continue reading
Drama
A Very Special Episode: TV Tonal Shifts on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Louie
At their best and luckiest, television shows can do something that other most other art forms cannot: allow us to spend hours, days, weeks, months, sometimes years with our favourite characters, watching them grow, learning intricacies and patterns about them and the show itself that we often don’t even know about the people in our real lives. Television has the luxury of time. We learn shows rather quickly, we fall into the unique rhythms and patterns of these shows, we know how they should look and sound and feel and over time this solidifies and crystallizes our viewing experience. We find friends with these characters, we know their worlds, we begin to understand what makes them tick. Continue reading
Email Roundtable #42 – Game of Thrones, “The Children”
This week we put some of our favourite Game of Thrones fans to work in an attempt to discuss the Season Four finale, “The Children”. This roundtable pits frothing nerd-raging book reader, Will, non-frothing book reader, Kurz, lazy book reader, Graeme, against active book hater, Kerri. WARNING: SPOILERS, BOOK SPECIFIC AND OTHERWISE, GALORE!
Worker Bees
I started a new job last week. To celebrate other women in the workplace, here are five amusing/impressive/strange TV scenes/episodes/moments that involve women and working, listed in order of when I last watched them, because damn it, I’m busy! There’s no time to be creative – I just started a new job!
Email Roundtable #41 – “Waterloo”
We have only made passing reference to Mad Men this season, so we thought we would attempt to discuss “Waterloo” the final season, mid-season finale. Is that what we call it? Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD. Continue reading
Everybody Dance Now: How Dancing on TV Fixes Everything
If there is one thing I’ve learned from TV it’s that dancing fixes everything (at least temporarily). There is something irresistible about watching your favorite characters let loose and break into uninhibited dance parties! Continue reading
A Good Person: Musings on faith, lies and belief in Season 2 of The Americans
The actors gone, there’s only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they’ll
Use up what we used to be.
– Peter Gabriel, “Here Comes The Flood” (as heard in episode 3, season 2 of The Americans)
Kiefer Returns (calling this Jack’s Back is trite: so I won’t do it)
I have always been generally antsy in my TV viewing. Being more interested in what will be than what is. My favourite part of SNL is the second commercial break where next week’s guest and musician are revealed. I get very excited when next week’s football match-ups are announced in the 2nd quarter of the game I am currently watching. The future carries with it the possibility of perfection. That which came from TV and has seeped into everyday life. The next meal, relationship, blazer purchase et al.
Dynamic Duos
I love great pairings on TV so I set out to write a post about all of my favorites. However, upon discussing TV’s dynamic duos with others, I found that I was much more interested in what they had to say so I asked some of my favorite writers and TV watchers to help me out this week. Continue reading
Channel Surfing 3 – My Week in TV : Justified, Comedy Central’s Review, Music Videos and other odds and ends
A quick collection of things that I’m finding fascinating, frustrating and fun on TV this past week.
What the heck happened to Justified?
When I think about Justified in its prime I think fondly back to season 2 when a shrewd Mags Bennett and her bumbling sons tried to expand their marijuana business with Raylan Givens breathing down their necks. Season 2 expanded on the world of Harlan County while also creating a central, overarching storyline that all but did away with the more standalone cases of Season 1. Season 2 felt fresh, exciting and created characters as rich and complicated as the central ones. By establishing a criminal family that had a history in the area as well as a past that crossed Raylan’s own, the show found a groove that it hasn’t found since.
The Golden Age of Television 