Monday, June 20, 2011

Summer Shows


In the summertime, SB & I like to motor through entire series’ that we either haven’t found the time to watch, or re-watch old favourites. We’re not totally sure what we’re going to kamikaze or re-watch this summer, but these are the shows we’ll be tuning into each week. 

Louie - Season 2 premieres on F/X Thursday, June 23rd
I cannot recommend this show enough. SB & I tuned in last season about mid-way through after hearing positive buzz & it’s just a phenomenal comedy series. There is nothing like it on television. Louie C.K. directs, writes, edits & stars in each episode. It’s like every week we get to spend time inside his mind & it is an awesome mind to inhabit. Louie stars as a fictionalized version of himself - a newly divorced father father of two & a stand-up comedian. Each episode has little vignettes about C.K.’s life & past interspersed with clips from his stand-up. It’s whip-smart & perfectly off-colour; the best comedy series currently on television. Even if you haven’t caught season 1, just start watching it on Thursday & if you enjoy the season 2 premiere you can get caught up with season 1 as you go.

True Blood - Season 4 premieres on HBO Sunday, June 26th
As many of you know, SB & I are mad for True Blood. We are faithful followers of Alan Ball & believe in his vision. Is the show perfect? Oh heavens no. Is it entertaining, exciting, super sexy & frightfully bloody? Of course it is! I get so excited every time I watch a new episode of True Blood that I get what I call ‘True Blood Belly’ where for about an hour after the show ends my tummy hurts because I’ve been so tense & aroused while I was immersed in that campy scandalous little world. Also, True Blood is probably the gayest show on TV. There are about half a dozen queer characters, some of which are main characters, and rumour has it a previously het character is going to have a gay relationship this season! BRING IT! Bless you, Ball. You make all gay dreams come true! Can you tune in to True Blood if you haven’t seen the show before? I suppose, but what I would recommend is hunting down DVDs of the first 3 seasons, whipping through them & then joining us ASAP for season 4 cases of True Blood Belly.

Weeds - Season 7 premieres on Showtime Monday, June 27th
Weeds has been on for a long time, and it shows. Honestly, I’ll continue to watch the show as long as it’s on because Mary-Louise Parker is literally enchanting. The show is by no means bad, it’s silly & madcap & the cast is very talented, Justin Kirk is especially hilarious, but it’s veered way off course from the direction it seemed to be leading in earlier seasons. This season is promising to be a bit of a game-changer with a big time jump. We’ll see. Watch the show if you’re a fan of being bewitched by a brutally hot woman in her mid-40s with a great head of hair who can still pull off whimsy & do things like wear jean shorts with boots & chew on the straws that she’s tucked into a caffeinated beverage & smile flirtatiously around the nibbled plastic tube. Who know caffeine addiction was so sexy? I did.

Breaking Bad - Season 4 premieres on AMC Sunday, July 17thThis is one of the shows we motored through last year & let me tell you, watching 3 seasons of a show this intense in a short amount of time really amps the stress level in the fake TV world you’re living in for many hours a day so much that your actual stress seems tiny in comparison. Who cares if a bill is due or your Mom won’t stop calling or your boss is being a total jag! Walter White is dealing with some serious shit & you need to invest in this man or else the whole world will rotate off its axis! This is a show with deep & true story arcs that exist throughout the entire series, the show must be viewed from episode 1, but if you’re willing to invest the time the pay-off will be gargantuan. What will happen is this: you’ll stop getting upset when Bryan Cranston beats Jon Hamm for the Emmy every year. The entire cast (especially Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn & Dean Norris) is colossally talented, but this man’s performance is sheer perfection. Also, thanks to Aaron Paul’s charming fuck-up Jesse Pinkman, you will start calling everyone bitch.

cross-posted to That Obscure Object

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