TV Junkie: A History

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 – May

Adventures of Superman: Season 1 (1952 – 1953)


May 13th – €11.20 ($9.99) @ Amazon.com

Collection no. 12365 – 12369

Superman: The Complete Theatrical Serials (1948 – 1950)


May 13th – €11.20 ($9.99) @ Amazon.com

Collection no. 12370 – 12373

Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos (2011)


May 15th – €0.00 ($12.99) @ Amazon.com (paid via gift certificate)

Collection no. 20031

One for the Money (2012)


May 25th – €7.99 @ Media Markt

Collection no. 1041

House M.D.: Season 8 (2011 – 2012)


May 29th – €17.37 (£13.64) @ Amazon.co.uk

Collection no. 12374 – 12378

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Purchase Diary 2012 – December

Melissa & Joey: Season 1: Part 1 (2010)


04 Dec – €0.00 ($12.78) @ Amazon.com (paid via gift certificate)

Collection no. 12243 – 12244

Melissa & Joey: Season 1: Part 2 (2011)


04 Dec – €0.00 ($12.78) @ Amazon.com (paid via gift certificate)

Collection no. 12245 – 12246

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)


05 Dec – €12.90 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 1007

The Intouchables (2011)
(Intouchables)


05 Dec – €8.97 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 1008

The Punch Bowl (1944)
(Die Feuerzangenbowle)


08 Dec – €7.99 @ Media Markt

Collection no. 1009

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21 Jump Street

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Jonah Hill … Schmidt
Channing Tatum … Jenko
Brie Larson … Molly Tracey
Dave Franco … Eric Molson
Rob Riggle … Mr. Walters
DeRay Davis … Domingo
Ice Cube … Captain Dickson

Synopsis: The old 21 Jump Street program was discontinued at some point but someone up there in the hierarchy thought it a good idea to get these old ideas out of the attic.
Schmidt and Jenko went to the same high school but only became friends seven years later when they both joined the police force. And since their first bust goes totally bust and they look the part they get sent to the new 21 Jump Street program.
Back again in high school they learn that a lot has changed since their days and now they have to find the supplier of a new and dangerous drug.

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Purchase Diary 2012 – October

Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe (2011)


04 Oct – €7.27 (£3.92) @ Amazon.co.uk

U.S. Marshals (1998)


11 Oct – €4.80 (£2.98) @ Amazon.co.uk

Bond 50 (1962 – 2008)


11 Oct – €111.51 (£89.23) @ Amazon.co.uk

Leverage: Season 4 (2011)


11 Oct – €0.00 ($24.28) @ Amazon.com (paid via gift certificate)

UHF (1989)


11 Oct – €6.04 (£3.96) @ Amazon.co.uk

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Purchase Diary 2012 – May

The Blues Brothers (1980)


02 May – €8.92 (£7.43) @ Amazon.co.uk

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)


02 May – €9.48 (£7.93) @ Amazon.co.uk

Castle: Season 3 (2010 – 2011)


02 May – €22.99 @ Amazon.de

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)


02 May – €11.68 (£9.89) @ Amazon.co.uk

Friends With Benefits (2011)


02 May – €8.37 (£6.94) @ Amazon.co.uk

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Purchase Diary 2012 – March

Chasing Amy (1997)


01 Mar – €2.17 ($11.14) @ Amazon.com (partially paid via gift certificate)

Unfortunately this Blu-ray from the US is from Canada and Region-A-locked. I will have to get the British version after all.

Clerks (1994)


01 Mar – €2.07 ($10.49) @ Amazon.com

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)


01 Mar – €2.74 ($14.99) @ Amazon.com

Horrible Bosses (2011)


01 Mar – €2.14 ($10.99) @ Amazon.com

Chasing Amy (1997)


06 Mar – €8.28 (£6.83) @ Amazon.co.uk

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Those that came …

Deutsche Version | Those that came … those that wentthose that did bothand 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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