The Curse of the Awesome Season

Season 4 of Dexter was hands-down the best yet. The whole Trinity web kept me glued to the TV each Sunday night, sweating bullets as the two serial killers plotted their next moves against each other. And when it ended with the most shocking season finale I could have dreamed up, I knew it would be hard to top. And I was right.

All I Want for Christmas is TiVo

Where would we be without the world of DVR? It’s hard to imagine life without it, having become so used to responding to any TV dilemma with “just TiVo it.” Working on Sunday and missing the game? DVR. Boardwalk Empire and Dexter on at the same time? DVR one while you watch the other. Living in a “now” mindset, where we want whatever whenever has led to a whole market of DVR and DVR-esque devices. Cable companies compete with On Demand features, allowing the viewer to access libraries of shows from their remote at any time. Sometimes I wonder if this contributes to the droves of impatient people that litter society. And I can sit here and ponder away, because my TiVo will record whatever show I’m missing while I space out and think.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!

It’s Christmastime! Which means every major network is turning out Christmas episodes of TV shows, and some, like ABC Family, are devoting nightly marathons to Christmas themed television.  I look forward to these shows all year, even though I admittedly have most of them on DVD already. It think it’s the nostalgic feeling of looking forward to a show all day and watching it at night with my cup of cocoa. Not much has changed since I was a kid (except maybe what’s in my hot chocolate), and here are some of my favorites.

 

Jack Frost

 

 

The Muppet Christmas Carol

 

 

 

 

 

Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Without a Santa Claus

 

 

 

 

 

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Gloria’s Got a Gun

As you know by now, I love Modern Family.  This season has been great, but one episode has stuck in my mind so far. in “Manny Get Your Gun,” Jay gives Manny a BB gun for his birthday. Stressed out by the lack of enthusiasm in the family anymore, Gloria turns to her Colombian cartel roots and wields it herself.  This clip, along with the ending of the show, was one of the best highlights of the season so far.

 

 

Holy Hoarders!

When it comes to the guilty pleasure of voyeuristic TV, A&E’s Hoarders takes the cake. Peering into these people’s lives and messy homes has fascinated millions of viewers. Leave it to reality television to exploit a person’s flaws as entertainment, but maybe this is a different type of reality TV.

I Think I Still Want to Live on Sesame Street

I know what you’re thinking: Sesame Street? Really? And you have a point. While I always regarded the show as strictly for learning ABC’s and 1,2,3’s, I had an epiphany just the other week.  Watching my little cousin, Sesame Street was the obvious pick from the DVR. But to my surprise, I enjoyed watching it just as much as he did. That’s because the muppets of my childhood have taken a turn towards adulthood.The clips designed to educate children still do just that. In this case, Grover was talking about the use of the word “on”. And while my cousin saw nothing else but a furry blue monster talking to him, I saw comic genius. One of several other pop culture references, this Old Spice parody is one for the adults. Have a look below and decide for yourself.

Good, Vampy Fun

Vampires are everywhere you look right now, from books to movies to TV. With shows like The Gates, Vampire Diaries, and True Blood sweeping the nation, it’s hard to know what sets them apart and which are actually worth watching. Of course, before I delve into what’s worth your time, I’d like to pay homage to the original TV vampire show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Huge in the late 90’s, it paved the way for the shows we love today. Now, down to business.

Smart MTV?

Ask anyone what the most unintelligent television network is, and more than likely, someone will say MTV. The network has lived up to this image by putting out shows like Jersey Shore, The Real World, Is She Really Going Out With Him, and Parental Control. Portraying young adults as dimwitted individuals without a single unique thought seemed to be the formula for success- until now.

TV Shore Is Stupid

I’ve been waiting to attack Jersey Shore for some time now. But now that the second season has ended and there’s (gag) a third season on the way, I seriously wonder why I even watch the show when I hate it so much.

It’s a phenomenon that has given MTV such a jolt in viewers, the dimwitted personalities of Snooki and The Situation are unwillingly familiar. How often can a show be hated by so many people, and watched by those that hate it? I’m still trying to figure out what the draw is. Do I want to be like these egotistical alcoholics in the making who will look like a leather shoe in ten years? Ummmm no. The show is like a trainwreck- I can’t look away. The sheer stupidity of it is enough to make me say “It can’t get dumber than this.”  But I’m always proved wrong.

Modern Family Meets My Family

So I’ll come out and say it: I’m obsessed with ABC’s Modern Family. Set up as a mockumentary (mock documentary), we are invited into the lives of this large and seemingly crazy family. The catch? They’re just like our own families. The brainchild of Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, the comedy series has become buzzworthy for more than one reason.

Winner of Best Comedy Series this year at the Emmy’s, Modern Family has something for everyone. That crazy uncle that is in no way related to you? Yup, he’s on the show. So is your overbearing and sometimes psychotic mother, your polar opposite siblings, and cousins and grandparents who seem to be the strangest relatives in existance.

Jay Pritchet, played by Ed O’Neill is the center of this family. He has two children, Claire and Mitchell, and is married to a beautiful Colombian woman many years his junior with a son of her own. Claire is married to Phil, and they have three children. Mitchell is openly gay and has an adopted Vietnamese daughter with his life partner, Cam. Sound complicated? It is. There are so many subplots in each episode, yet the writing amazingly ties them into each other in a way that runs seamlessly.

Each episode holds some sort of message to take back about what it means to be a family, but it’s not a daytime-TV drama overload. Witty and lighthearted, each week is funnier than the last. At a running time of 30 minutes, it’s short, sweet, and to the point. You can catch Modern Family Wednesday nights at 9 on ABC.