I was an evacuee from the ...
Question: I was an evacuee from the wildfires in Southern California last week; I had to leave my house for five days, and I didn't get power back until the sixth day. That's right, six days without television! Luckily, my house is fine and so is my TiVo. The experience left me with two epiphanies: First, I was able to view most of the shows I missed online, which is an awesome thing I had never appreciated before. I always thought, why watch online when I can just watch my TV? Well, thanks to the major networks, I'm still in the loop. Second, there's nothing like a natural disaster to make you realize which TV shows are really important (and by important I mean entertaining!).
Reaper and
Bionic Woman? I loved the concepts, but the shows just haven't delivered. When I missed this week's episodes, I didn't care two straws. On the flip side, I found myself sad that I missed out on not just the obvious good shows like
Heroes and
Survivor, but also new shows like
Pushing Daisies and even guilty pleasures like
Moonlight (yeah I know, I was surprised too, but
Alex O'Loughlin is such a charmer!). If there's one thing television can bring, it's the comfort of something familiar in a time of chaos and crisis. Who has time to waste on shows that just aren't fun to watch? Thankfully, I still have my house, but I think I've come out of this ordeal with a few less TV shows in my queue.
Answer: Wow. Thanks for sharing. And I'm relieved to hear your home was spared in that terrible calamity. While some may question the priorities of anyone who even thinks of TV during a time like this, I get it. Life goes on, even amid tragedy and crisis, and TV is a big part of many people's lives. Another reason I'm responding to Julie's story is because I'm having a similar reaction to this season's new shows. The ones I'm recommending most tend to be the ones I actually enjoy and have fun watching. Shows like
Chuck,
Pushing Daisies,
Dirty Sexy Money,
even
Gossip Girl, and also
The Big Bang Theory,
Aliens in America and
Samantha Who? I also get the appeal of the steadily improving
Moonlight as an escapist pleasure. Not that I have anything against shows that are more serious in nature or dare to be downbeat (
Friday Night Lights being the most persistent example), but this season, most of the more dramatic new shows are simply too dreary and not worth the bother.
