Life in the Slow Lane

Life in the Slow Lane

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

TV Party Tonight

I like TV. I admit it. I watch it. I do. I even sit around watching reruns when I could be outside walking along The Seawall or going to the park. I am a little addicted. However, I have an idea that might eventually break me from the habit. I make it a policy not to start watching any new shows. I’ll watch new programs that are limited runs but no new series. As a result I don’t watch Lost, or Desperate Housewives, or any of the CSI’s. Eventually I hope that the programs I do watch will end and I will be free of my TV screen tether.

Summer is always a bit of a bummer for TV fanatics due to insidious reruns but occasionally a new show will pop up that is interesting. A couple have caught my eye and I find myself tuning in.

  1. Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey-I know this isn’t the first season of this show but it is on mainstream channels now and not on one of those stations that cost extra money every month. Honestly, I don’t know why I watch this show. Reality TV does not appeal to me normally. I am not a foodie as I am vegetarian and a very cautious and picky eater. I don’t have a crush on “Chef” so sex appeal isn’t it. In fact this guy freaks out so bad and rages with such intensity at the contestants that I get nauseous. The show literally makes me sick and I swear every week I won’t expose myself to such negativity and yet each week I find myself watching. Maybe it is the visceral nature of the show that keeps me coming back. It certainly isn’t boring.
  1. #1 Single-This one is also a reality show (go figure) featuring singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb on a quest for a husband. Sounds stooooopid, right but, dammit, she is just so cute. We are the exact same age and our glasses are similar and I used to have the exact hair-do before it all fell out and when I was employed and thin I used to wear cute, sexy and funky clothes like she does. We even share a fondness for Hello Kitty. I can identify with her single status too. Mind you I am completely alienated by her talent but I like her songs so that is ok. So far I am loving this show. She is very honest about her desires for marriage and kids when so many 30-something women are demeaned for these feelings with derogatory names like ‘cougar’ etc. GO LISA!!!!

What are you watching this summer?

21 comments:

Closet Metro said...

There is nothing derogatory about "cougar." I'd love to meet a cougar on the prowl.

I will not publicly admit what I watched tonight. It softened my brain.

Anonymous said...

I enjoy "Rockstar: Supernova". It's like American Idol (or, Canadian Idol), except the contestants are from all over the world and are actually talented professionals. Last season, the lead singer of the band "Joydrop" was a contestant, and I was so happy to discover her music.

Anonymous said...

We've been watching old sitcom reruns on TBS (cable channel out of Atlanta) this week. Raymond, Friends, Sex and the City. I've been working the last few nights, so I've been half-watching. I guess that's the nice thing about reruns--you don't really have to pay attention, but you still know what's going on.

Last night I caught The Closer with Kyra Sedgewick. It wasn't too bad once I got past her southern accent (nothing wrong with accents, but it just sounds so wrong coming out of her mouth). I think it/she might've been nominated for an Emmy.

lawyerchik said...

Ditto to what Sharkey said, except I've been catching up on my "Criminal Minds" episodes.

Along the same lines as your plan of evading the TV tether, when I moved last July, I didn't get cable or satellite, so I've been limited to just network TV. It's sort-of worked. Now instead of being hooked on 25 programs, I watch for just the odd 5-10 or so... :)

I really wish that pbs would run "Are You Being Served" at a more reasonable hour (ditto UPN50 - Detroit - and "Sex and the City"), but I've survived!

Thanks for your posts! I am now starting to substitute a weekly TV show habit with "Crush Your Cat's Head" Fridays!! :)

hemlock said...

Actually, because TV is such a bummer in the summer (I'm a poet!!), we cancelled our cable about a month and a half ago.

Honestly, I love that we've found other things to do... like watch downloads of Arrested Development. ;)

I have noticed that our kitties don't get as much love though, because we're not sitting on the couch as much.

Anonymous said...

I don't watch much t.v. honestly. If I do sit down on the couch, it's usually to see whatever someone else is watching.

Anonymous said...

Watched "Project Runway" for the first time last night just to see what the hype was about. I generally hate "reality" shows but I somehow found PR amusing. The cats & I are also total suckers for everything "Law & Order"- the original L&O; L&O: SVU; L&O: CI... Sometimes the TV just serves as background noise while I read. Sometimes I just stare at it in a stupor.

ScottyGee said...

Oh Lisa Loeb, you fine little mama. You know I love her, Krank. I'd be her eternal manservant. She is the cutest women ever. But alas, I am not Jewish so she won't date me. That and the restraining order might have somethign to do with it.

Anonymous said...

I love that song. Black Flag rules.

Squirl said...

I don't watch much tv but I do like My Name is Earl. We watched a David Cronenberg movie tonight, eXistenZ. Pretty gory.

Opera Gal said...

SHP - there is an episode of the show where she runs around in a thong. just so you know.

Dawn said...

i love hell's kitchen-he is quite angry and verbally abusive,eh- but i guess makes for good tv,i guess.

elizabeth said...

i, too, who was immune to the reality tv disease have fallen for both hell's kitchen, and #1 single. project runway was the first to get me, though. It was my gateway reality drug. i highly recommend it.

eclectic said...

TV? Any "media time" I have is spent right here on the computer, I'm afraid. I figure if I get left out of current culture for my failure to participate in TV, then I'll be used to it by the time I'm old and marginalized by society. So, it's all good, right? ;)

Anonymous said...

I was sick for almost two weeks recently (probably the evil stomach virus that took you down as well a while back), which mainly consisted of me lying around unable to eat or drink and ended with a stay in the hospital.

During that insanity, I began to watch the marathons of reruns of Project Runway. I had never been interested in the show before. It came on while I was asleep and when I woke up I sort of left it on. And it played itself out over a few days. What I love about the show is the creativity.

I hadn't realized that I missed that whole art school assignment and critique thing. Art school was very good to me; I learned a lot, especially about myself and what I was capable of making with my two hands and some creativity. I miss that sense of experimentation, and pushing myself to innovate and having fun and I also miss feeling like I have power over what I am doing. I just don't have it in my corporate job.

sigh.

Also, I like Deadwood and The Office

east village idiot said...

I'll be watching additional pictures of your BEAUTIFUL apartment. I'm just catching up on your blog. I can't believe the beautiful view from your balcony. I'm so happy for you Kranki. I just know this is the beginning of a new and romantic chapter in your beautiful life. Lisa Loeb is pretty but she ain't got nothin' on you!

Cheers to your new pad!!

Anonymous said...

I watched some of last seaon's #1 Single. She really IS cute. I love her style, and those trendy black glasses.

Right now I am hooked (again) on Project Runway and Saved. Bravo has always been a favorite of mine, and FX is starting to come in a close second. : ) Wow, I'm a geek.

alan said...

Catching up after my return home; the only fob I have to deal with is my wife's car and I lived in terror of losing it the whole trip, lol!

Glad you are settling in; can't blame you for being careful with your cupcakes!

As for your other "cupcakes", I'll be worried until this is all over; forgive me! Worrying is one of the few things I do really well!

Thinking of you...

alan

Anonymous said...

We go completely cold turkey in the summer. At first it's painful but then we realize, "Damn, we have so much free time!" (And then...[pause]..."I'm bored.")

Ern said...

I'm checking in late on this one...but I am LOVING So You Think You Can Dance. It's awesomeness and addictive qualities should not be underestimated.

BD said...

Gordon Ramsay make TV out of the UK?!