Tag: Cougar Town

TV Junkie: A History

Thought Storm, TV Season Diary

I watched a lot of TV shows over the years. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. And I watched accross the board.

Keep in mind that I’m only 35 years old.

I watched The Guiding Light for two years straight (it’s a soap opera whose German title was the Springfield Story). I watched medical shows like Trapper John M.D. and lawyer shows like L.A. Law. I watched the 80s action shows from MacGuyver to Riptide. I even watched Love Boat every weekday on one of the first private channels in Germany: Sat.1. I got up at 6am on every Saturday morning to watch Rawhide (Tausend Meilen Staub, lit. “A Thousand Miles of Dust”) with a very young and pre-Fistful Clint Eastwood. I knew who Daniel Boone was around the same time I met the Cartwrights as well as the men from the Shiloh Ranch.

And last weekend I binge-watched the first Netflix show House of Cards (Big recommendation! Kevin Spacey is a brilliant Magnificent Bastard!) and I got curious as to how many shows I watched intently over the past two and a half decades.

With the help of the list on the German site Wunschliste.de I created a list of “my” shows.

I only counted live-action fiction shows, no animated shows may they be Saturday morning cartoons like Yogi Bear or Scooby-Doo or evening shows like The Simpsons or South Park. No scripted reality (which I’m avoiding to 99% anyway with the exception of Comic Book Men). In this list are only shows which I followed for more than a year unless the show itself didn’t last that long.

And the answer was: 244 246 247. Two hundred and fourty four six seven different shows I watched with active interest since I’ve started watching television. And the worst thing is: Of most of these shows I watched 90% or more episodes at least once.

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Purchase Diary 2013 – February

DVD / Blu-ray, Purchase Diary 2013

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Feb 5th – €11.97 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 1021

Crank (2006)


Feb 5th – €7.99 @ Drogerie Müller

Collection no. 1022

Ted (2012)

Feb 5th – €11.97 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 1023

The O.C.: Season 2 (2004 – 2005)


Feb 20th – €10.04 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 12301 – 12306

The O.C.: Season 3 (2005 – 2006)


Feb 20th – €10.04 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 12307 – 12313

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Purchase Diary 2011 – May

DVD / Blu-ray, Purchase Diary 2011

Doctor Who: The Hand of Fear


04 May – €8.49 (£6.41) @ Amazon.co.uk

Louis de Funès Collection: Box No. 4


05 May – €19.99 @ Media Markt

containing:

The Gendarme of St. Tropez

The Gendarme in New York

Never Play Clever Again

Louis de Funès Collection: Box No. 5


05 May – €19.99 @ Media Markt

containing:

The Gendarme Gets Married

The Gendarme Takes Off

The Gendarme and the Creatures from Outer Space

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TV Season 2010/2011 Diary #10

TV Season 2010/2011 Diary

In the last few weeks I didn’t feel much like watching anything. But then the hill turned into a mountain. Luckily some of the series are pausing for some weeks and I decided to play catch up before I have to cross the Alps. Since this was a bigger marathon session I won’t talk about every individual episode but rather about I like the season so far.

Bones
With Bones it’s business as usual. I like their cases and their chemistry and I just enjoy watching them.
And I loved it how Brennan managed to jump over her own shadow for this kids show:

Castle
The same is basically true for Castle. Castle and Beckett are hilarious together and I love the way they solve their cases. Both shows have put the WTWT topic on a back burner which is good for now but it’s obviously still there and will become an issue again. I don’t mind as long as it’s well executed.

Chuck
Chuck’s family tree is becoming more complicated than the one Jennifer Garner had in Alias – and that’s saying something. 😉
Chuck as a person has grown but luckily that doesn’t take away the humour and the appeal of the show. If anything the addition of Morgan as Casey’s “partner” made it even better.

Community
I love it how every episode is mainly about one or two characters but it doesn’t really feel that way because everyone is contributing their own point of view and in the end it’s always an ensemble show.
The zombie movie homage in the Halloween episode was so cool – and I don’t even like zombie movies.

Cougar Town
The show continues where it left at the end of the first season. I’m glad that it doesn’t really matter that Travis is in college because he’s either at home or they are visiting him, so he’s still a full cast member.
I also love how they toy with the series name, for example in episode five the title card read 100% Cougar Free Cougar Town. 😀

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TV Season 2010/2011 Diary #8

TV Season 2010/2011 Diary

Better With You 1×01 / 1×02 Pilot / Better with Firehouse
I watched the first two episodes but I don’t really get it. I think it has to do with the fact that I don’t see the irony in not being married and why that’s supposed to be a source for humour.
What also doesn’t work for me are these scenes where they show all three couples doing the same thing – just differently.

Community 2×02 Accounting for Lawyers
Jeff in his natural habitat. It was cool to see the lawyer from the pilot episode back and how he could twist anything to his liking.
It was also cool to see them all in formal wear and going on a Mission Impossible. 😉

$#*! My Dad Says 1×02 Wi-Fight
Shatner as the grumpy old man totally works for me. I’m not sure about the older brother and his wife though. Maybe they need a bit more time to find their pace. They are lucky that they have Shatner and I am willing to give them that time.

Melissa & Joey 1×08 Dancing with the Stars of Toledo
It was an OK episode. I really loved the all-male Tango, it was incredibly funny to watch them dance and they really pulled it off. I also liked the drug-induced dream sequence. It’s of course a staple of these kinds of sitcoms but you also have to find two people that can actually pull it off and I think these two can.

Raising Hope 1×02 Dead Tooth
Even the show acknowledges that it’s weird. And as the cast is getting wider, more weird people come into it. But it also shows the genuine care between father and daughter.
What makes it more fun for me is the fact that I can’t stop seeing Garret Dillahunt as the Terminator from The Sarah Connor Chronicles and then to watch him here.
And Sabrina reminds me a lot of the young Ally Sheedy from WarGames.

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Those that came …

Short Review, TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | Those that came … those that went … those that did both … and those that did neither nor

Community

A cool sitcom (without laugh track) about a bunch of students in a Community College.
As with most shows, it needs a few episodes to settle in, but I really liked it from the start. The dynamics within the group is so great because they have such heterogeneous backgrounds. If it weren’t for that college, these people probably would have never met. That’s were a lot of the fun comes from.

Cougar Town

A sitcom (again without laugh track) about a divorced mum, her teenage son, her ex-husband, her neighbour friends and her assistant/friend.
The show started out as exactly what it says on the tin but moved quickly away from it. Which was a good idea. They are probably going to rename it next year. All the characters are very quirky with Jules being the queen.

Glee

The Glee Club at a high school.
I’ve watched the first two episodes but it just wasn’t my terrain. It seems to be a big hit in the U.S. but I simply can’t see the appeal.

The Good Wife

Alicia Florrick is the wife of a former D.A. who has been charged with crimes regarding the misuse of the powers of his office. Now Alicia has to work again and she starts as a junior associate at a law firm of an old friend.
I really enjoyed this year, it was a good drama show with a lot of interesting characters. And it’s never clear-cut, not black/white. Just like reality.

Human Target

Christopher Chance (not his real name) works for people who need a bodyguard of the special kind.
This is a popcorn show. You watch it, you enjoy it and you don’t think about it. If you watch it, you’ll enjoy it most of the time. If you don’t watch it, you haven’t missed anything.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 19-20

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 13-19 | CW 20 (LOST Finale)

The Big Bang Theory 3×22 The Staircase Implementation
It was a nice “origin story” that I enjoyed (The hair! The suits! The North-Korean spy-girl!).
But I like Babylon 5!

Chuck 3×17 Chuck vs the Living Dead
Even though Shaw might be back I enjoy this season 3.5 much more than season 3.0. I love how Ellie is getting drawn into the spy game and how his father figured out he still was the Intersect. My favourite scene was when Sarah “intercepted” the knife and Orion was wondering whether she also had an Intersect. 😉

Gossip Girl 3×22 Last Tango, Then Paris
It wasn’t bad but a few things bothered me. For example Dan following Serena headlessly without thinking about Vanessa. And even though Jenny was “deported” I didn’t get the feeling that she was actually punished for what she did this year. And Chuck getting shot in a dark alley was a bit too clichéd for me.
But I loved the idea of Georgina returning (and her condition!). And since Mercy was axed she could play a larger role next season.

LOST 6×16 What They Died For
I loved Desmond as sideways-Mastermind, I really enjoyed these parts of the episode. But I also liked the parts on the island. I just don’t think that Ben has turned again (I think he’s conning Smokey) and I don’t think that Jack will actually become the lighthouse keeper; I think there will be yet another twist to this all.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×18 Changes
I was a bit disappointed of Kat’s behaviour. Patrick’s friendly banter didn’t feel out of place. But her reaction to it did.
I enjoyed the rest of the episode though.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 13-19

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 18 | CW 19-20

Chuck 3×16 Chuck vs the Tooth
I already like this new mini-arc (there are only three episodes left). My guess for the end is something like this: Ellie and Orion get caught by the Ring and Chuck and Sarah have to burst in to save them and thus revealing themselves.
I loved to see Christopher Lloyd in this episode and while I only know him as “elderly person” I was a bit surprised how old he actually looked now (he’s 71 after all…). On TV Tropes there’s a trope called “Running the Asylum”. It has a different meaning but I loved the idea that an inmate of the Cuckoo’s Nest is now the chief psychiatrist for an asylum full of spies. 😉
Spoiler (mark to read):
Since I’ve read that they introduce yet another game-changer into the finale my guess would be that Orion removes the Intersect from Chuck’s head for good. Except for the Karate they didn’t make much use of it this season anyway (or at least I have that feeling). I think Chuck is ready to be a spy in his own right and they don’t actually need the Intersect as plot device anymore.

The Big Bang Theory 3×21 The Plimpton Stimulation
“You are my landlord and you are my movers. And I can’t pay any of you.” Great episode. It was a great fun in itself.
I’m still somewhat troubled over that whole break-up thing. I don’t have the feeling that they’ve actually explained why they’ve broken up. Penny just ran out on him and that was it. No real aftermath or real explanation. For me that makes it a bit unreal.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×16 Too Much Information
The first episode was a bit anvilicious (modelling & eating disorders…) but I liked that Kat tried to help Patrick open up.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×17 Just One Kiss
I liked the second episode better, especially with bringing Blank/William back.

Bones 5×21 The Boy with the Answer
I liked it that they brought the Gravedigger case again. I also liked that the writers and actors made me really hate her for attacking “my people” by questioning their integrity.
I also smell change coming. When characters start to question their own purpose and goals right before the season ends, most of the time they are going to change the concept of the show (at least for a while).

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