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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The Pilot Marathon Part 7

Deutsche Version | Part 6 | Part 8

Two and a Half Men

What’s the show about?
After his wife has thrown him out, Alan Harper has moved in with his brother Charlie who is a ad jingle composer, a womanizer and lives on a beach house. On the weekends Alan’s son Jake lives also there.

“Pilot”
Just when he was about to get laid, Charlie’s brother Alan calls him and asks whether he can move in for a few days when he’s already standing in front of Charlie’s bedroom door. Alan’s wife has thrown him out but he believes that it’s just a phase – Charlie doubts it. And on the weekend Alan’s son Jake also moves also in. Charlie’s life is about to be turned upside down.

My Opinion
Charlie and Jake are a great team and Alan has a cool dry humour when it comes to Charlie’s sex life and his behaviour towards women. But the supporting cast is also awesome: Bertha the housekeeper and grandma Evelyn and Rose – Charlie’s personal stalker. πŸ˜€ One of the funniest sitcoms these days and from the same producers as The Big Bang Theory.

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The Big Bang Theory: Season 1

Deutsche Version

The Big Bang Theory Cast

Season 1

Disc 1

Pilot

Synopsis: The two theoretical physicists Leonard and Sheldon get a new Neighbour: Penny, a waitress in The Cheesecake Factory. And suddenly two galaxies begin to crash into each other.

My Opinion: I liked the series from the beginning, all these cultural references gave me a happy. But I also liked the small details like Howards’ belt buckle (this time a Nintendo gamepad –> look out for it, it changes from episode to episode!) and the “table of elements” shower curtain.

The Big Bran Hypothesis

Synopsis: After he’s seen the chaos that is Penny’s appartment, Sheldon cleans it (and Leonard helps him) during the night while Penny’s sleeping. Naturally she freaks out when she realizes what they’ve done.

My Opinion: I think every episode of the first season is funny as hell, so no point repeating it over and over again. TheΒ  best scenes of this episode were the discussion about Lois Lane’s fall and the re-design of the IKEA media center.

The Fuzzy Boots Corollary

Synopsis: After having no luck with Leslie, Leonard tries to ask Penny out to a date. But she totally misinterprets the invitation, thus not considering it a date.

My Opinion: I recognized Sarah Gilbert (Leslie; Darlene in Roseanne) at once but I needed a friend to really open my eyes. I didn’t think I knew Johnny Galecki (Leonard) from anywhere until my friend pointed out that he played Darlene’s friend David on Roseanne.

The Luminous Fish Effect

Synopsis: Sheldon gets canned after he’s insulted his new boss in his very own – and typical – way. But he uses his time off to invent new things the world was waiting for, e.g. a luminous fish as a night light.

My Opinion: First Sarah and now Laurie Metcalf (Jackie in Roseanne). It’s like family reunion. Wink I am wondering where the authors get all these ideas, e.g. to make a physicists weaving his own poncho. It’s hilarious. I also find it terribly funny when Sheldons asks things or answers to questions with no regard to the appropriateness.

The Hamburger Postulate

Synopsis: After they been practicing with their classical instruments, Leonard sleeps with Leslie and is now torn between his fantasy about Penny and the prospect of having a real relatuonship with Leslie.

My Opinion: And again it’s Sheldon and his not having a clue about social conventions that makes me laugh the most (“Message received!”). But the entire banana scene was also really great.

The Middle Earth Paradigm

Synopsis: Penny invites the four – Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Raj – over to a Halloween party and Leonard hopes that he can present himself in another light during that party.

My Opinion: Nerds. Wink All the costumes were great and also the commentaries about them (Flashs walk in row; hobbit vs. elf; Robin Hood vs. Peter Pan) and I also really liked the closing scene.
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