What I Am Watching These Days

The Gifted

Great story set in a world without the X-Men. New mutant powers that work well together combine with solid storytelling and characters you actually care about. Not as bad or as earnest as the superhero shows on the CW. This is how you do the X-Men on TV by choosing mutant characters who have powers that can easily be made to look really cool. Super strength, telekinesis, telepathy, energy projection, illusions, invisibility, teleportation. Variety on the cheap. The focus on the family is also a great anchor for all other story arcs to revolve around.

 

I also have a crush on Natalie Alyn Lind.

 

Punisher - Season One

If you have ever read a Punisher comic book then you know that this 12 episode series is a slow burn which seems to go against everything that the Punisher stands for. Don't be fooled. There is so much good stuff here that the payoffs are great and come in waves. Nothing is easily earned for any character in this little psychodrama. I love every second of it. John Bernthal is Emmy bait. He IS Frank Castle and he is turning INTO the Punisher - the boogeyman of the criminal underworld who is as much myth as reality. That is the end point I predict and I am loving how this story is unfolding.

 

Chicago Med, Chicago P.D.

I always need me a medical show and cop show to watch. These two are connected and that is convenient when you want to tell more complex stories about cops and docs. Both are well written and well acted but sets us up all the time by having bad things happen to characters we care about. That is the price of getting into long seasons of high stakes drama.

Godless

Violent to the extreme that I know will end badly for characters I care about but I have to see how it all plays out. I love a good Western tale of redemption that I hope doesn't punk out in the end because for all the talk there is no God in this godless land. Great writing and strong performances by a large caste. Much is made of the large female cast but that is a red herring. The relationships between damaged characters is the real gift here - male or female makes no difference. You will never look at Jeff Daniels the same way ever again. One of the most evil characters ever to be on series television and I am included The Swede from Hell on Wheels.

 

 

 

 

LIVE PD

The modern evolution of COPS. 3 hours of live police coverage that is a gift to police officers because it shows the difficult and often thankless jobs that they do on a daily basis. The sheer variety of  situations that a cop has to deal with on a single shift would wreck the best of us. They are heroes and I like a show that champions that. I also like knowing the names of the police dogs and see them in action. I feel like I know these officers and I don't want anything bad to happen to them. That seems to be a hallmark of my most favorite reality programs.

Amazing Race Canada
Survivor
Big Brother US

Teen Mom

 

 

Still stupider than stupid and I have been watching it for as long as these girls have been pumping out babies. This is just real life. I am amazed at the monumental lack of positive decision making skills these young mothers have and celebrate their successes whenever they arrive. Most of  them have learned NOTHING over the years. NOTHING. They keep making bad choices about men. It's good to know that some things never change. I have watched these children grow up for 7 freaking years and those moments I will never get back. This is the kind of mind garbage that I can't explain. It's the same excuse I give for watching Dr. Phil.

Hell's Kitchen

I can't believe I have watched this many seasons of the same program. The formula never varies. Gordon Ramsey is an asshole to chefs who need that kind of a push to reach the next level of greatness. I have to admit I like to watch their suffering and their stupidity. I can't believe they actually made a GAME of this show. Master Chef is just as good but much kinder. I still can't get over how the Canadian version has a judge that looks like Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man comics. That is a constant distraction.

Major Crimes

 

 

I loved this show right from the beginning when Kyra Sedgwick was the headliner or as she was known as, The Closer. She had a rep for getting people to confess but the show wisely made all the police character around her as important to the storylines as she was. The cast is full of great character actors and TV veterans and it's a lot of fun to see how they interact with each other while solving crimes, something everyone is passionate about. When Sedgwick left the show after eight seasons the show continued with a new lead and never skipped a beat. They only changed the name. It's still must see TV for me. I still have hopes that Rusty will die one day and now that he is carrying a gun to protect himself from a SERIAL KILLER I have high hopes that he might still shoot himself before that killer cuts him up but good.

 

Law and Order SVU

 

 

Another show I have watched from the beginning. Always compelling and interesting and can withstand multiple cast changes and still remain as good as TV cop dramas get. And, yes, the irony of Ice-T playing a cop is not lost on me.

 

The Orville

 

 

Happy that this one got a second season because it took a lot of crap before it was even on the air. There is room for a Star Trek like show with humor and I have always enjoyed the comedy of Seth McFarlane.