Purchase Diary 2015 – January / February

Longmire: Season 2 (2013)


Jan 6th – €0.00 ($39.98) @ Amazon.com (paid via gift certificate)

Collection no. 12884 – 12886

Polizeiruf 110: Der Kreuzworträtselfall (1988)


Jan 6th – €11.99 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 12887

Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (2014)


Jan 9th – €21.72 ($19.99) @ Amazon.com

Collection no. 20041 – 20044

Home Improvement: The Complete Series (1991 – 1999)


Jan 15th – €32.97 @ Amazon.de

Collection no. 12888 – 12915

Arrow: Season 2 (2013 – 2014)


Jan 16th – €21.52 ($19.99) @ Amazon.com

Collection no. 12916 – 12924

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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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Smallville: Season 2

Deutsche Version | Season 1 | Season 3

Disc 1

Vortex

Synopsis: Lana’s Truck is torn apart by the tornado but Clark is there to protect her. But on the day after the storm he has to go on a search for his father who has run after the reporter that wanted to disclose Clark’s secret. While they are searching for him, Chloe makes the suggestion that they should stay “just friends”.

My Opinion: This was actually a good resolution. Of course they had to find a way to silence that reporter and this way had an ironic touch. If Lex knew what secret the reporter has taken into his grave, I believe he would have killed Jonathan instead.
And when it comes to woman Clark is as sensitive as a wrecking ball.

Heat

Synopsis: The new school year has started and Lex wants to marry! And his fiancé is Clark’s new biology teacher. She’s so hot that Clark sets the silver screen on fire just by staring at it. But something isn’t right with her. She has a strange control over all men, including Lex – but not Clark.

My Opinion: A “new ability” episode. It’s always fun to see Clark learning to control it and he always can put it to good use in the same episode. But I didn’t care much for the pheromone lady, maybe because I watched a similar story recently on Stargate SG-1.

Duplicity

Synopsis: Pete finds Clark’s spaceship (that had been lost since the tornado) in a field and he wants Clark’s help to salvage it. But then someone steals the ship and Pete suspects Clark – which isn’t far from the truth because Clark and his father actually intended to steal it. Then Clark decides to reveal his secret to Pete.

My Opinion: A really good episode. I’ve been waiting for it. Clark simply needs someone he can confide to (apart from his parents) and his best friend Pete is the perfect choice. And Pete will prove that he’s worthy of that knowledge in the very next episode.
The fact that Lionel now knows of the spaceship will also lead to very interesting storylines.

Red

Synopsis: Clark buys a ruby ring for $350. But the stone isn’t ruby, it’s red Kryptonite (not yet) meteor rock. Clark loses all stoppages and becomes a badass guy. But just as the effect of green meteor rocks worsen his condition over time, so does the red one.

My Opinion: Great episode. Loved it. It rarely happens that Tom can play Clark out of character and the red Kryptonite (sorry, it’s simply easier than “meteor rock”) gives him the perfect opportunity. I don’t really worry about the end, he will save Lana’s live once or twice and they will be friends again.
But the episode reminded me of Harley Cat:


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The Pilot Marathon Part 3

Deutsche Version | Part 2 | Part 4

Thunder in Paradise

What’s the show about?
R.J. “Hurricance” Spencer has built a very special boat. It is very fast, specially armored and has a lot of special features. He and his partner Brubaker go on special missions for their country.

“Thunder in Paradise”
Spencer is in financial trouble because of the boat he’s built. And the hotel owner Megan Whitaker has the problem of finding a husband within two days. So they make a deal…

My Opinion
Of all the “super machine” series I’ve watched (and I watched them all 😉 [Knight Rider, Airwolf, Street Hawk, The Highwayman, Viper, …]) this one is the cheesiest. The internal measurements of the boat are way larger than the external measurements and the acting is not very good. Ok, what do we expect from a wrestler. 😉 It’s definitivly more a fun series than anything else.
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