I had an epiphany earlier tonight regarding modern television and my thoughts on geek culture. I've missed the last 3 episodes of LOST and I missed 2 episodes of HEROES over the last few weeks. I could have watched them as they were recorded to DVR, but then I thought, "why bother?" My girlfriend and her brother do not understand why I don't want to go back and catch up and I realized tonight, I really don't care. Out of the dozens of characters across both shows, I honestly do not care about any of the characters or find them the least bit intriguing. Despite everything that goes on in Lost, none of the characters make it worthwhile, and they keep adding new characters instead of developing the old ones. My friend Javi won an Emmy for writing on Lost, and I did enjoy it in the past, but it doesn't hold any sway anymore. Heroes is just silly and pointless to me and rips off comics for the mass market and makes me cringe. I'll watch it, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. In contrast to that, I am only 8 episodes into the first season of Deadwood, and there is not a character on that entire show that I am not involved with and interested in watching their stories unfold.
This takes me to another point about how much of "geek" culture I am not interested in. I don't care about Star Trek and have no desire to watch Battlestar or Dr. Who. I want story and character development, not just nonsense and mystery and confusion. I'm not saying those shows don't offer that, I just have no compelling need to watch them.
My current "watch" list, other than sports, is really just Life on Mars, Batman: Brave and the Bold (which is just flat out fun) and catching up on Deadwood and The Wire. I just don't have time for the commitment of modern television.
6 comments:
I wish I was not hooked on Lost, but I am.. even if all the characters I ever really liked have turned into douches, the story is so well written I keep watching.
I kicked the Heroes habit several episodes ago and feel better for it, I feel like I should be watching and enjoy both Heroes and Chuck for my nerd status... but I just don't enjoy watching those shows... they don't appeal to me.
I think I would like Battlestar and the Wire, and just started enjoying the new Dr. Who on DVD.
My absolute favorite show right now is Burn Notice on USA. It reminds me of Magnum P.I. It's the type of tv I miss, fun, well written and if you miss one episode you are not screwed.
Yeah bro,
It's tough finding great tv right now. For awhile I was really into Mad men, but its stalled out for me after 1 1/2 seasons. I quit heroes after season 1 finale. Both the Wire and Deadwood were fantastic. I wish they'd go back to making a fourth season of Deadwood. Ian mcshane is said to be just as good in nbc's new show Kings. I'm not sure what to make of Dollhouse. It's interesting enough to be patient with...
Ben - Yeah Magnum was a great show. I am hesitant to get into anything new right now as it just seems like such a commitment.
DJ Render - Yeah, the premise and preview for Kings looks great, I'm looking forward top that.
I guess it's the comic fan in me, but I'm hooked on LOST and Battlestar; both have had some weaker episodes but overall both have been very enjoyable and I HAVE to know how they end!....Even tho' I'm sure it will be a disappointment. A lot of the fun of LOST is just trying to guess where they are going to go and trying to find all the little hidden stuff.
I have heard nothing but great things about The Wire and will probably be checking that out eventually. BTW, I would recommend Dexter, I have really enjoyed that and can't believe it's a show where I actually root for the serial killer (not giving anything away there...)
I don't like 'commitment' TV. I like my TV like I like my comics - one and done. I don't have the patience for something like Heroes or Lost. I gave Heroes three episodes to win me over and it failed. I did see the first season of Deadwood and thought it was great. I don't know why I haven't put season 2 on my Netflix queue. I'm even more of a snob when it comes to movies since I'm paying to watch it. I saw Hellboy II yesterday and had to turn it off about 30 minutes in. I eventually watched the rest and it's undoubtedly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I thought for sure it was going to be more like the book with the fantasy horror aspect. I thought the first one stunk, but 'II' was Van Helsing bad.
I totally agree about Lost and Heroes.
And I am going to be starting Deadwood in the next week or so. So now you've got me excited.
Post a Comment