MichaelEricBrown.com

I watch a lot of TV.  That’s not to say I schedule my life completely around it like some, as there’s this amazing invention called the Internet and the shows I watch are available in different ways there for on-demand viewing, but I like ingratiating myself in both high- and low-brow stories, so this collection is fairly eclectic.

-Monday-
Chuck – cute show, goofball humor. For the most part, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and some of the guest stars of late have really made it fun (including Linda Hamilton, Timothy Dalton, and Scott Bakula). I hope this gets a fifth season.

House – when this show debuted in 2004, I thought it was one of the most brilliant television dramas ever. A few years in, the producers decided to mix things up and shake up the cast — the result of this was fine overall, but I have to admit that despite their best efforts, the show is still largely the same product it was 7 years ago. This is good and bad, in that each episode is usually well done but the concept has grown a bit stale. I feel seven seasons is plenty for a show, so I would be okay with it ending this year, but I don’t see that happening.

The Cape – well, I was watching this show, but word came down that it’s been cancelled. Most of the episodes were lame, I must admit, and I was never convinced that the cast had really found itself (except, perhaps, for Keith David (Max Malini) and James Frain (Peter Fleming) — these guys are pros and they really made it watchable — that, and Summer Glau is radiant as always). It’s too bad, though, since the last couple of episodes were actually pretty decent.

Castle – a part of me had a hard time watching Castle at first because it stars Nathan Fillion in role that’s NOT Captain Mal Reynolds. Alas, Firefly is dead, and Nathan has moved on. I’m thankful that he’s found a fun role in a show that strikes a nice balance between comedy and drama. This is probably the show I look forward to most on Mondays.

-Tuesday-
White Collar – most shows on USA Network are fluffy and this one is no exception, but there’s a pleasant tone on this one and it’s managed to not being annoying. The overarching plot isn’t as compelling as I usually like, but the individual episodes are strong enough that it justifies my continued viewing. On a side note, Matt Bomer (Neil Caffrey) is the silkiest and smoothest person I’ve ever seen — this lends anything he does a level of gravitas one normally wouldn’t associate with a “con-man”.

Glee – Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch). Enough said. Seriously. (Although I should note also, fucking Lea Michelle (who plays Rachel Berry) is great.

-Wednesday-
Nothing currently on Wednesday for me. Usually I watch Human Target, but I believe it’s currently on hiatus.

-Thursday-
The Vampire Diaries – you know, I should probably be embarrassed by this, but I have a few good reasons that I’m still with this show: first, Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert/Katherine Pierce) is crazy beautiful and shockingly well-ranged. She plays a human, teenaged high school girl and also a centuries-old, vampire villain (the two are kind of twins in the show’s weird mythology). The other actresses (notably Katerina Graham and Candice Accola) are also pretty stunning, though they don’t play multiple characters like Nina does. That said, beauty rarely keeps me glued to a TV week in and week out, but I have another reason: Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon Salvatore, is fucking genius. Fucking genius.

Bones – I often feel this is my favorite show on any given week. Despite its age (it premiered in 2005), it has managed to stay remarkably fresh throughout most of its run. That’s not to say that it hasn’t had its stretches of formula-heavy episodes, but the strong performances of its entire cast has really set this one apart from most of the other shows I watch. The fact that Emily Deschanel (Temperance Brennan) has still not won an Emmy is a fucking travesty; she better damn well win one for “The Doctor in the Photo”. It’s probably the best episode of the entire series, and that’s saying something.

As an aside, however, I feel I should mention that the show has attempted to create larger-than-life serial-killing villains three times in the series that I can recall: Howard Epps, The Gormogon, and Gravedigger. These have all been largely disappointing (with the first being borderline cheesy) — with the sole exception of the first Gravedigger episode that reached all the way back into season 2, “Aliens in the Spaceship,” which was AMAZING. There should have been many awards for the episode.

The Mentalist – I can’t decide if I really like this show or not. Most of the time I have a difficulty relating to the characters, and the jerk protagonist role has already been done so well by House (and to a much lesser degree, Lie to Me, which is another show I watch but is on hiatus). Really, the only thing that keeps me watching is Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker) and his quest to catch (and presumably kill) the serial killer Red John, who killed his wife and daughter. There is a scene at the very end of the pilot episode that literally sold me on the concept more than any other thing: through the course of the premiere, it’s revealed that Red John leaves a calling card in his victims’ places so that their loved ones know what’s happened before they even see the bodies: a large smiley-face painted in blood in plain view. What we discover at the end of the pilot is just how much Patrick Jayne is forever defined by what happened to his family: he sleeps on a simple mattress on the floor of his apartment — right beneath the bloody smiley face. He wakes up to it every single day.

-Friday-
Fringe – this is the other show that vies with Bones for being my favorite: most episodes are kind of X-Files like, and there is a lot of fun to be had with the character of Walter Bishop (played by the stunningly great John Noble), but there is a such a gloomy undertone to the whole series. The overarching plot that consumes the entire show is filled with about as much menace, treachery, twists, turns, and horror as is probably possible on television: it borders on being oppressive. And I love it.

Smallville – sigh, I’ve been sticking with this show for so many years now it’s hard to remember a time before Smallville, but The CW has announced this is the end of the line for the decade-long show. And do we need it to just end already. It has never recaptured the charm it had back in the early years when Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) were good friends. Shame really. And where they’re going with the Lex Luthor clone, dubbed “Conner”, baffles the hell out of me.

Supernatural – this is kind of a remarkable series in that the premise seems impossible to sustain with any kind of sustained momentum through its six years — and yet, here it is. I know a lot of people feel the show hit its stride in the stretch between the second and third seasons, and they’re probably right, but there’s an amazing sense of wonder in the first season that is lost after those early days. That said, every other aspect of the show is great, from the acting to the writing, week-in and week-out. I actually welcome a 7th season, which is a rare feeling for me to express.

-When Nothing’s Been On-
Battlestar Galactica – honestly, this show is really amazing. For its many imperfections, hokeyness, ham-fisted plots, etc., this may be my favorite Sci-Fi ever — and that’s huge for me to say because I absolutely loved Firefly and Farscape. I just finished re-watching the entire series and now am listening to the podcasts. Just whoa.