2011 Television Meme
Dec. 21st, 2011 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat[Doing this from dreamwidth. My lj is fine. Don't see any changes. Don't have any problems with posting. But about 40% of my flist is having major issues and is retreating to DW for their sanity. It's all very weird. But tis life. Other than that? Lovely day. Walked on the beach this morning, read, went shopping at the outlets...ate fudge, made chocolat chip cookies,
and sat outside on my folks deck, which overlooks a lagoon, to read while a bunch of squirrles attempted to torpedo me with oak nuts (they missed, pesky things have inept aim.)]
2011 TV Meme that is going around, which is rather more amusing than doing the best of lists...
Which TV shows did you start watching in 2011?
The Wire, Game of Thrones, The Killing, The Hour, Downton Abbey, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Ringer, Secret Circle, Fringe, Misfits, Hart of Dixie, Breaking Bad, A Gifted Man, Prime Suspect, Louis, and I'm sure there's more but I can't remember them at the moment.
Does it count if you tried one episode and decided it was not for you at this point in your life's journey, so gave up? If so...much much longer list. (PAM AM, Enlightened, Boardwalk Empire, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hell on Wheels, Person of Interest, Two Broke Girls, The New Girl, Grimm..)
[* It should be noted that TV watching in the US with a DVR doesn't require much time or effort, you basically record them and watch if and when the mood strikes you or you get around to it.]
Which TV shows did you let go of in 2011?
Sigh....too many to count. Project Runway, Castle, Prime Suspect, Breaking Bad (not for me), How I Met Your Mother, Nikita, Smallville (it ended in 2011, so most likely doesn't count?), Burn Notice, Royal Pains, House, Chuck, Modern Family, The Middle, and I'm sure I left something out. [Torchwood doesn't count since it jumped to a premium channel that I can't access and no, I don't watch tv on the internet.]
Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2011? Why?
* Treme. Not enough time.
* Boardwalk Empire - guessing just not for me since the first episode put me to sleep.
* Person of Interest - too many things opposite it. And not a fan of procedurals.
* Homeland - on Showtime
*Cinema Verite
Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2012?
Homeland - via DVD.
Which TV show impressed you least in 2011?
Too many to count. Pam Am, House (completely jumped the shark - to the point that the entire show unravled and stopped working for me) Hell on Wheels, Grimm, The New Girl, Ringer, Secret Circle, Hart of Dixie, The Walking Dead, The Closer, American Horror Story, and Glee.. sigh..all more or less for the same reasons. They lack chutzpah or passion...one or the other.
Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2012 unless things significantly improve?
House. And I don't think things will improve, although I technically already gave up on it and I think the show is in its final season unless they can find a way to lure Hugh Laurie into another season. Probably Supernatural, Being Human, Gossip Girl, True Blood, Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Glee (am on the fence regarding Glee). Also most likely Dexter - I didn't like Season 5 and the reviews of Season 6 aren't exactly reassuring.
Which TV show impressed you the most in 2011? Why?
Probably the Wire...that suprised me. They actually had something to say, and found a way to do it in an entertaining manner with interesting, compelling and likable characters. Game of Thrones and Once Upon a Time surprised me - both were extreemly ambitious and took the fantasy art-form in a brand new and completely different direction. Game is unrelentingly male, violent, painful, nihilistic, sociopolitical tale that deconstructs the tale of the hero and protagonist privilege. While Once is feminine, hopeful, pushes other methods over violence, plays with narrative structure, and deconstructs how we view the fairy tale - pulls it out of its horror context and broadens it. I see Once as a palate cleanser for Game. Sort of like having a lovely dessert after a huge steak. By far the two most interesting and innovative tv series that have aired in the past ten years from a structural level.
Which TV shows do you think you'll never let go of no matter how crappy they get? Why?
Eh...I give up on tv shows when they stop interesting me. If I don't like the characters or find the story redundant or predictable, or I'm no longer curious? I stop watching. It doesn't mean the show's crappy, mileage varies - right? Just that I'm no longer interested and life is too short to watch something that doesn't hold my attention. And, no, there isn't a tv show on air that if they got to the point in which they stopped interesting me or peeking my curiousity that I wouldn't give up on. ;-)
Shows I watched and loved that aren't mentioned on this list because I started them in another year
The Good Wife which might be the best tv show I have EVER seen. Close to perfection in every department that matters to me, that is writing, cinematography, acting, dark humour, creativity.
Doctor Who that is like nothing else, especially when Moffat runs the show!
Merlin
Justified - for it's dark humor, and great dialogue... it's actually the only anti-hero series I'll watch now.
Vampire Diaries - brings the fun to the over-done gothic drama, and doesn't take itself too seriously
Dowton Abbey
The trend I picked up on is that I'm clearly burned out on the whiny, irreedemably nasty anti-hero protagonist trope that began with House and ended with Breaking Bad (which is basically House as a violent drug dealer meets Vinnie Sobotke of the Wire in the middle of New Mexico). The other trend, which is related to the first trend? I crave light and fluffy souffle over meaty steak in my tv viewing habits right now...make of that what you will.
and sat outside on my folks deck, which overlooks a lagoon, to read while a bunch of squirrles attempted to torpedo me with oak nuts (they missed, pesky things have inept aim.)]
2011 TV Meme that is going around, which is rather more amusing than doing the best of lists...
Which TV shows did you start watching in 2011?
The Wire, Game of Thrones, The Killing, The Hour, Downton Abbey, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Ringer, Secret Circle, Fringe, Misfits, Hart of Dixie, Breaking Bad, A Gifted Man, Prime Suspect, Louis, and I'm sure there's more but I can't remember them at the moment.
Does it count if you tried one episode and decided it was not for you at this point in your life's journey, so gave up? If so...much much longer list. (PAM AM, Enlightened, Boardwalk Empire, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hell on Wheels, Person of Interest, Two Broke Girls, The New Girl, Grimm..)
[* It should be noted that TV watching in the US with a DVR doesn't require much time or effort, you basically record them and watch if and when the mood strikes you or you get around to it.]
Which TV shows did you let go of in 2011?
Sigh....too many to count. Project Runway, Castle, Prime Suspect, Breaking Bad (not for me), How I Met Your Mother, Nikita, Smallville (it ended in 2011, so most likely doesn't count?), Burn Notice, Royal Pains, House, Chuck, Modern Family, The Middle, and I'm sure I left something out. [Torchwood doesn't count since it jumped to a premium channel that I can't access and no, I don't watch tv on the internet.]
Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2011? Why?
* Treme. Not enough time.
* Boardwalk Empire - guessing just not for me since the first episode put me to sleep.
* Person of Interest - too many things opposite it. And not a fan of procedurals.
* Homeland - on Showtime
*Cinema Verite
Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2012?
Homeland - via DVD.
Which TV show impressed you least in 2011?
Too many to count. Pam Am, House (completely jumped the shark - to the point that the entire show unravled and stopped working for me) Hell on Wheels, Grimm, The New Girl, Ringer, Secret Circle, Hart of Dixie, The Walking Dead, The Closer, American Horror Story, and Glee.. sigh..all more or less for the same reasons. They lack chutzpah or passion...one or the other.
Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2012 unless things significantly improve?
House. And I don't think things will improve, although I technically already gave up on it and I think the show is in its final season unless they can find a way to lure Hugh Laurie into another season. Probably Supernatural, Being Human, Gossip Girl, True Blood, Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Glee (am on the fence regarding Glee). Also most likely Dexter - I didn't like Season 5 and the reviews of Season 6 aren't exactly reassuring.
Which TV show impressed you the most in 2011? Why?
Probably the Wire...that suprised me. They actually had something to say, and found a way to do it in an entertaining manner with interesting, compelling and likable characters. Game of Thrones and Once Upon a Time surprised me - both were extreemly ambitious and took the fantasy art-form in a brand new and completely different direction. Game is unrelentingly male, violent, painful, nihilistic, sociopolitical tale that deconstructs the tale of the hero and protagonist privilege. While Once is feminine, hopeful, pushes other methods over violence, plays with narrative structure, and deconstructs how we view the fairy tale - pulls it out of its horror context and broadens it. I see Once as a palate cleanser for Game. Sort of like having a lovely dessert after a huge steak. By far the two most interesting and innovative tv series that have aired in the past ten years from a structural level.
Which TV shows do you think you'll never let go of no matter how crappy they get? Why?
Eh...I give up on tv shows when they stop interesting me. If I don't like the characters or find the story redundant or predictable, or I'm no longer curious? I stop watching. It doesn't mean the show's crappy, mileage varies - right? Just that I'm no longer interested and life is too short to watch something that doesn't hold my attention. And, no, there isn't a tv show on air that if they got to the point in which they stopped interesting me or peeking my curiousity that I wouldn't give up on. ;-)
Shows I watched and loved that aren't mentioned on this list because I started them in another year
The Good Wife which might be the best tv show I have EVER seen. Close to perfection in every department that matters to me, that is writing, cinematography, acting, dark humour, creativity.
Doctor Who that is like nothing else, especially when Moffat runs the show!
Merlin
Justified - for it's dark humor, and great dialogue... it's actually the only anti-hero series I'll watch now.
Vampire Diaries - brings the fun to the over-done gothic drama, and doesn't take itself too seriously
Dowton Abbey
The trend I picked up on is that I'm clearly burned out on the whiny, irreedemably nasty anti-hero protagonist trope that began with House and ended with Breaking Bad (which is basically House as a violent drug dealer meets Vinnie Sobotke of the Wire in the middle of New Mexico). The other trend, which is related to the first trend? I crave light and fluffy souffle over meaty steak in my tv viewing habits right now...make of that what you will.