October 13, 2009

I Don’t Watch TV

That’s right—I’m one of those guys. Somehow superior to you because I don’t have cable, and don’t waste away in front of the idiot box daily.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

But a peek into my iTunes library and DVD collection tells a different story: Arrested Development. Battlestar Galactica. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Deadwood. Dexter. House. LOST. Mad Men. Metalocalypse. The Office. Seinfeld. South Park. Weeds. The Wire. 24. And as of a couple days ago, Six Feet Under.

Each of these shows are absolutely stellar. With the exception of the latter (for now), I’ve watched every episode of every season of each of them. Often at fanatical pace. (Last month, I watched all four seasons of Weeds in three days while recovering from getting my wisdom teeth pulled.)

So maybe I do watch TV. Time to find a new schtick.

And let’s say I’ve accepted this. What’s missing from my library?

Brad Morse

I re watched the entire 1st season of Mad Men while recovering from my wisdom teeth being pulled.

Dion

Flashforward ... ?
http://abc.go.com/shows/flash-forward

Cocoaholic

Missing: Fringe, Family Guy.

Brandon Kelly

I enjoy Family Guy from time to time, but can only handle dumb comedy in small portions. (American Dad, Reno 911, etc. are in the same boat.)

Karl Swedberg

Your post reminds me of this Onion classic: Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn’t Own A Television.

Brandon Kelly

Haha, I was totally thinking of that Onion piece when writing the first sentence!

Erwin Heiser

A glaring omission would be Californication. Fringe and True Blood are nice too.

Jack McDade

You’re missing two great comedies: The IT Crowd (From Britain’s Channel 4) and How I Met Your Mother. Have never laughed harder, between the two shows.

Just watched Modern Family this week for the first time on Hulu, definitely looks like a winner as well. Give it a shot.

Mark J. Reeves

We have cable and usually stick to Food Network, *some* Bravo, HBO and maybe some reruns on TBS.

We tend to watch HBO when it airs: Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, Entourage. I’ve been catching up on The Wire via iTunes/iPhone myself lately and am now in the middle of Season 3. I watched Season 5, the last season, when it aired. If we miss an HBO episode, we can always watch it OnDemand.

A few years ago I watched a few seasons of Deadwood over the course of a weekend (Netflix) and then switched over to the latest season as it aired.

I really enjoyed Rome too. Might want to add that to your queue.

Casey Reid

Friends wasn’t on your list? Thats a shame. You’ll definitely want to watch every episode of that show :) I kid.

But I’ll also throw Fringe out there as well as Entourage, Community, and CSI (original series)

Jason

I’ll second the “How I Met Your Mother” recommendation (although the current season has been a bit underwhelming).

Other faces include “Burn Notice”, “Pysch”, “Firefly”, and “Spaced”.

Jason

D’oh… that should be “faves”, not “faces”.

Casey Reid

Totally forgot about Burn Notice. Thats one of my favorites. A bit cheesy at times, but definitely entertaining.

Andy Marshall

The West Wing? I’ve not seen it myself (being another smugly TV-less person) but its top of the list next time i have a spare month or two!

Jack McDade

Brandon FYI - your “unsubscribe from comments on this post” feature isn’t working :)

Brandon Kelly

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone!

And thanks for the heads-up about the unsubscribe link, Jack. Fixed now.

Tom Davies

+ 1 for Spaced. Also Generation Kill (from Wire creator David Simon)

Steve Hurst

Stick with Six Feet Under. It has some rough spots, but it’s easily the most cathartic show ever. We did a marathon of all the seasons after getting it for xmas one year, I feel like I went through 4 years of therapy. Uh, in a good way. ;)

Andy Marshall

yep - wanna second the six feet under - it truely is awesome, and the last episode is just something else completely - the perfect end to a series, ever!

Lee

Breaking Bad - best TV series I have seen in a long time. It has the dad from Malcolm in the Middle and is just a crazy plot, you just have to see it.
Great cast, well worth a watch. The opening scene just dumps you in head first.

Lodewijk Schutte

I currently enjoy watching Dollhouse, and the missus likes The Mentalist. If you haven’t watched Firefly yet, you definitely should.

Craig

ROME!

kelly

Firefly. Do it.

dashard

x2 for Family Guy. Completely hysterical.

Wes

+1 for 30 Rock. I’m huge Office fan and find it funnier than The Office.

dashard

Rome is canceled 2 years now!

pie

Just came upon your blog. I do not watch TV as well. It’s weird because i enjoy watching TV series and movies on my laptop. but not on a TV set! The idea of watching anything on TV is just… well i guess they called it an idiotbox for a reason.

Dan Triant

I highly recommend It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.  Really well written, hilariously funny and sometimes absurd, but the casts delivery makes it all worth it.

Omk

I’d definitely recommend Rome!  Also Firefly, 30 Rock, and Entourage

Adam Khan

This golden age of “TV” is also taking place here in the UK. The Mighty Boosh. Saxondale. I’m Alan Partridge. I’m surprised people don’t mention Boston Legal in the league with all the others; Shatner and Spader are giants. The John Adams mini-series.

Adam Khan

Mitchell & Webb (they do the Apple ads for the UK market). Armstrong & Miller. Jam & Jerusalem. And what about Charlie Rose?

I don’t watch TV either.

Tyler

Six Feet Under actually made me into a TV watcher again after 8 years without it. I love that show. Easily the best thing to hit the tubes in my lifetime.

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