Thoughts on What I've Watched This Week

Thoughts on What I’ve Watched This Week

Minor and major spoilers on various TV shows.  I’ll write the name of the show first, so you can skip to the next show— or skip this whole post altogether—if you care to not know what happened or what I thought about it.

Men in Trees. I’ve seen the first and third episodes (I’ll get to the second when I get a chance) and have to say I mildly enjoy it.  I’ve tired of the 30-ish person who’s looking for love shows that are all over, so this is a breath of fresh air because the main character is trying to find out who she is as a single person.  

In the pilot, I was a little put off that everyone in Alaska was “backward” and “simple”, but that seems to have been toned down by the third episode, and now Marin is the “odd duck”. The simple lives these people lead (not needing Starbucks, or Fitness Centers, etc simple—not that they are simple-minded) are ones to admire, and I think that’s a unique look at life.

It’s not a great show, and I’m still not sure Anne Heche can carry a show herself, but I’ll be sticking around a while longer.



Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was as great as you can expect from Aaron Sorkin. The pilot was a bit slow, but the show needed time to be set up. I think by the end credits, the premise of the show has been established nicely.

As I noted in a previous post, I liked the early rant by Judd Hirsch’s character and from bouncing my thoughts off my friend, Brian, I stand by it. Network TV is about as opposite of daring as you can get. I’m not saying the Big Five need to be offensive, but they do need to take chances in quality.  Saturday Night Live, which was once the pinnacle of satire, has sucked @$$ for around five years (I stopped watching regularly three years ago and have been sorely disappointed each of the handful of eps I’ve watched each year since) and the slap in the face this show gave SNL is one I hope the new crew over there takes to heart.

If you missed the pilot, you may have another chance on NBC or its cable networks over the weekend (I haven’t checked, but it seems likely it will air again) to check it out.  The writing is great and the cast is extremely high caliber.


How I Met Your Mother maintained its status as the best plotted comedy airing right now (IMHO).  The episode was a little tricky for a newcomer (thanks to Brian for pointing that out), but fans from last year should not have been disappointed. Ted and Robin finally got together (thank you, producers, for not letting that drag out) but Marshall and Lily are still broken up. The glee on Neil Patrick Harris’ (“Barney”) face when he thought he, Ted, and Marshall were finally all single was priceless; topped only when he realized that Ted wasn’t single anymore.

I can’t pin down why this show is so great. There are better comedies out there, but this one just hooks me.  The twisting, turning plots are amazingly put together, and the characters are all likable—even womanizing, over-confident Barney (Harris should have been nominated as a supporting actor in a comedy at the Emmy’s; yet another crime this year’s ceremony committed).



The Office.  Well, we waited all summer for the big “will they or won’t they?” moment everyone was expecting between Jim and Pam.  So, uh, have you been watching the show at all?  Of course this series wasn’t going to blow its wad this early.  If this show has proven anything, it’s that we should know by now that to get from “A” to “C”, we’re not hitting “B”, but instead are going through “D”, “L”, and “W”.  Yes, Jim and Pam  will get together eventually, but there’s still a lot of story left to tell.

I’m hoping we get that wonderful moment the original Office gave us at the very end between Tim and Dawn in this series.  I don’t know if America can wait that long, but I hope they hold it off as long as possible.  I don’t want to see Jim and Pam as a couple—but I certainly don’t want an overdone Ross & Rachel bit, either.

Leave the romance on the slow burner.

That said, is there any other show where we know so little about the characters and yet whatever they do, it’s perfectly in character?  Stanley’s rant about not being able to take back his wedding present to Pam and Roy was spot-on.  As was Creed’s mentioning that he may have had sex with a man because he had lots of sex in the ‘60s at concerts where people were covered in mud.



My Name is Earl picked up right where it left off.  This is one of the most surprising shows I watch.  Even if I know the basic plot or have seen the previews, I still have no idea how these characters get there.  It’s an unusual show that can surprise me every single episode.  

And you can’t beat the lines this show has.