I’ve had a lot of time on my hands this summer, and thus I have been able to watch a lot of crap on demand. Lucky for me though, not all of it is crap. Unless you haven’t been paying much attention or you watch bad tv (like Vh1 filth and bad CBS sitcoms) cable TV has been getting verrry interesting as of late. Basically, Showtime is on a roll. I love HBO and all the greatness that it has provided with shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, older Entourages, and of course the earlier Sopranos seasons. However, Showtime is giving them a run for the money.
First up: SHOWTIME
Basically in my mind, Showtime was like that girl who was ugly and had braces w/ decent boobs when you were 14. Then she’s gone for the summer, gets those braces off, discovers make up and POOF! becomes bangin just in time for high school. C’mon, you’ve had to have encountered one of those.
Anyway, while I admit I don’t watch all the shows on either station, I’m Just obsessed with what Showtime has to offer. Dexter and Californication are absolutely perfect shows. These are the shows that make you actually feel something for every single character and want to see how the story progresses no matter how long it takes or how many social engagements you put off. The casts are basically perfect, the story lines are smart and original, and they also make you think. This stuff is unpredictable, yet grounded in reality. People who can’t stomach edginess and sexual material/vulgar language won’t enjoy these shows, but that sucks for them cuz they are amazing.
Also in the new seasons line up which I enjoy are Weeds and Secret Diary of a Call Girl. The first two seasons of Weeds are absolutely brilliant (especially season 2 finale), and while the third dropped the ball, the fourth picked it back up, threw it over the fence and started something new, which is still pretty good. Can always have a good laugh with the show, and from time to time find yourself in some pretty crazy and intense situations. There is nothing like having that “Oh Sh*t!” feeling at the end of a half hour of viewing pleasure. Also the Diary show is pretty decent too. Its not the most invigorating show, but its pretty smart and clever and the star who plays the lead character Belle (Billie Piper) is super hot and mad cool. I’d lock her down if I had the chance. Both guys and girls can relate to this show, which is hard to get sometimes.
There are a lot of other shows on Showtime I have yet to watch that again get a lot of praise and are supposed to be good. Which means I will probably spend more time on my couch with ondemand. One show that my Pop pop seems to enjoy in particular is the L Word. He talks about it all the time. Creepy, but funny. Hey the show is ’sposed to be good, and I’m all for anything that challenges the status quo and peoples beliefs. Rock on lezzies! Other notables are The Tudors and This American Life.
Next Up: HBO
Ahhhhh HBOizzle. Well you’ve provided great entertainment over the years. But sadly you seem to have lost that vigor that made you great. You could use some hours at the gym to shed the few pounds you’ve gained over the years from being on top 24/7. The way I see it, the golden touch is gone my friend, time to learn some new tricks.
We all know the shows that have HBO still in our mindset as a great entertainment venue. Entourage, Curb, Soprano’s, Sex and The City have all been staples, but they are getting pretty old, and repetitive, or are just dead and gone. I love Entourage and Curb especially, and I will never miss an episode of either cuz lets face it, there really aint much else on Sunday nights. But I really do love getting caught up in the antics with Vince, E, Drama and Turtle. Its always funny and interesting to watch, but the story lines have been pretty crappy, hopefully this season they bump it up. Curb again is always amazing to watch. Maybe not always the funniest stuff, but very good. This past season finale I thought was perfect.
The other two shows…well, they are over. I never really watched Sex/City, but girls liked it. Soprano’s was great for a while too.
But now, where is the new stuff???? There is nothing new and exciting that they have. Yes they got the new movie series Generation Kill, which is pretty decent, but I find that I really have to commit to it. They are also coming out with a new vampire tv show based off books, which maybe might be good. I dunno. I like vampire stuff, I liked Buffy and I like vampire themed movies, but its gotta really be good and make sense.
One thing I recently came across that sparked my interest greatly was the news of a David Cross coming back to HBO with either a series or a special. I love David Cross, or at last I loved him in Arrested Development (which if you haven’t watched you need to buy all three seasons immediately). So thats good news…
OH, I ALMOST FORGOT. THE WIRE. The Wire was awesome. Nobody watched this show for some reason but it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. I mean, really good. If you just watched it…damn. Omar, so freaking cool. McNutty…classic. The stories were great, the characters were awesome and it was all just so relevant. Thats gone too now though…damnit.
I guess that kind of sums it up for HBO though huh. They used to have all these great shows and now they have shows that are kind of tired, and haven’t really got new ones to replace the old. There are other shows that some people like, such as Tell Me You Love Me and In Treatment. But I haven’t found them to be as interesting as my parents have.
summing it up:
Showtime is the ISH my friends. Yeah I’m kind of biased and I showed it in my review, but its da truth. The network keeps coming up with great and new genre bending stuff, and the old shows continue to perform and evolve into something else. HBO is lacking in originality and in general substance. I’m looking forward to the fall though…lets see what develops.
