How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck...

Or in other words; Just how many TV-series can a pop culture junkie possibly keep up with besides his movies, books and whatnot? Those of you familiar with my movie-reviews at Letterboxd knows I've these last years seen about 300 movies a year. Before that the number was quite a bit higher, but I don't have exact numbers.... Besides watching movies I keep up with a large number of TV-series, read books every so often, binge-watch old TV-shows that have been cancelled, and--of course--I tend to revisit some of my personal favorite TV-shows quite often.

Some of the TV-shows I watch are the equivalent to my rom-coms in movies; guilty pleasures in other forms. In TV-terms it's usually procedurals of different kinds. Rarely ever spectacular, but I seem to still hang around for quite a few seasons in most cases. A weekly fix, if you'd like. I've also added a couple of recently ended shows, as they are within the last year of my keeping on top of-shows, and as such still feels somewhat valid.

So, which shows am I currently spending time on?  I've divided into five categories.
1. Up to date with
2. I usually bingewatch after each season, so I'm currently less than a season behind
3. I've seen at least one season, but am not quite up to speed anymore (without having ditched it).
4. New shows I'm up to date with (First season or max one complete season aired).
5. Show I've fallen behind with, but I catch up on every so often & shows I slowly work my way through bit by bit.

Category 1:
NCIS
NCIS LA
Criminal Minds
White Collar
Elementary
Bones
Lost Girl
The Mentalist
Warehouse 13
Haven
The Big Bang Theory
Supernatural
Fringe
Chuck
Arrow
One Tree Hill
Beauty and the Beast
Castle
Hawaii Five-0
Person of Interest
Sherlock
Rizzoli and Isles
Unforgettable
Burn Notice
Falling Skies
Justified
Leverage
Longmire
Necessary Roughness
The Newsroom

Category 2:
Downton Abbey
Covert Affairs
The Walking Dead

Category 3:
Hart of Dixie
2 Broke Girls
Happy Endings
Community

Category 4:
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Almost Human
Orphan Black
The Americans
Ground Floor
Trophy Wife
The Blacklist
By Any Means
Defiance
Go On

Category 5:
Revenge
Nikita
Dexter
Game of Thrones
True Blood
Greek
Vegas
Suburgatory
Glory Days
Life Unexpected

Piloting - Graceland

Just another police procedural?

Graceland have a few things that sets it apart from the mold, like several agencies working together and--more importantly--living together in their housing named Graceland, but overall this was a pilot with a lot more disappointment than intrigue. They take on too many of the Graceland residents in the same episode, and paint all of them with cliched simplicity.

It's no secret police procedurals of different kinds are my bread and butter, or my guilty pleasures as it might well be better known as. The technologies and sidekicks change, but the platform stays the same. While they do rock the platform here, it's hard to be enthusiastic about it all when it's done so lifeless as here. None of the agents pitched in the pilot are of any interest to me, and then they've actually managed to make a show in this genre that not even I have any interest to check out further.

1.01 ★☆☆☆☆ Overall pilot score

Justified, Season 3 & 4

Justified is the kind of show I like to watch entire seasons in one, rather than follow weekly. I did the same with seasons 1 and 2 back in the day, and somehow I never got around to season 3 before even the fourth season had passed by. It's a strange beast. The simple 19th century lawman procedural in the modern world is a bizarre mash-up that makes me think of The Wire done light in a Winter's Bone world, with characters that rarely make the same kind of impact those important ones did in the before mentioned show and movie. All in all it makes it better than most procedurals, but nowhere near the greatness of The Wire.

Season three spends a lot of time with a mafia local wannabe going at it with the Crowders, and with the Limehouse-crowd at arms length taking up a lot of time as a stripped Bennett-family kind of influence (see season 2). It makes for a less interesting season all together, with lesser obstacles, lesser intriguing characters and less charm than both this show have done before and others have done in the same vein.

Season four takes the old-secret angle, chasing down an old fugitive with unknown new identity as its main gear. Good old Boyd Crowder becomes a poor-man's Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or a poor-man's 'Stringer' Bell (The Wire). However you choose to see it, it's less appealing than it once used to be. Heck, by the time season four has ended I'm confused whether or not this actually is just another guilty pleasure of mine.

Thankfully there's a few things that works really well as we take our steps around in Raylan's world, and much of it is thanks to a certain kind of humor that works built on the world itself. Not quite enough to make the entertainment value outshine the lesser interest I feel for these seasons compared to earlier ones (or greater show's...), but enough I'll still probably tune in for season five once its done. At least by now I know it's with lesser expectations and a more guilty pleasure mind.

It also makes me ponder whether or not I shouldn't take a look at revisiting The Wire sooner rather than later...

Season 3 ★★★☆☆
Season 4 ★★★☆☆

Falling Skies, Season 1 & 2

I always knew I would tune in for Falling Skies sooner or later, mostly because of Jessy Schram. I've been a fan of the girl ever since her stint at Veronica Mars, but also because of her minor roles elsewhere, and as such always felt like I had to check out series where she got bigger parts.

And I've never made any secret of my lack of love for everything Spielberg, so it's most definitely despite his executive producing the show I finally gave it a go.

There's a distinct difference in the two seasons thus far aired, but I'm not gonna spend time looking into those. As far as the quality goes, they are both pretty much in the same ballpark, even if they did pick up from the opening few episodes.

It's easy to think of The Walking Dead while watching Falling Skies. Zombies are swapped for aliens, but they do in both cases take backseat for the human connections and interactions within their groups. While the potential of both shows are great, Falling Skies falls shorter than TWD--much because of the typical Spielbergian bright side attitude. The potential is equally great--or even better--but the execution is on both FS-seasons just a notch below the disappointing second season of TWD. With only ten episodes a season they have the proper framing to make it tight and quality, but still spend too much time wallowing in scenes and situations that are too light and family-friendly. Pick up the dark side, and there might actually be something there.

As long as Jessy Schram keeps getting credited, I'll still probably tune in for another season.... My expectations aren't very high thou, so more of a guilty pleasure kind of thing. That's also why I rate it according to my Guilty Pleasure's three star system.

Season 1 ★★☆
Season 2 ★★☆

Piloting - Defiance

SyFy returns to its roots with Defiance, but how well does it stack up on its own?

I'm honestly not sure. One thing is certain. Defiance manages to take on quite a few cliches and much spent stereotypes in its two-hour pilot-episode. If you managed to get through it without once thinking about Firefly, Romeo and Juliet and half a dozen other well known shows, stories and movies, you're a better person than me.

But just because it indulges itself in cliches and well spent formulas in its opening, doesn't really prove its going to be one thing or another. The real test comes with the next 3-4 episodes, and the direction it takes then. For a pilot, these plot-devices works well to establishes outer perimeters for all characters we're introduced to. It's how they let their characters develop that matters in the long run, and by doing it this way they did at least not lose their audience in very complex new world. It's pretty easy to get a general feel for what's in store, and thus not to complicated to have certain characters different set of audiences will leech onto.

Our center of gravity is without a doubt Nolan and Irisa, the two strangers arriving in Defiance. A human father-character and an alien adopted daughter, both well equipped to take on danger. Personally I found Nolan a bit too typical for the kind of center protagonists of these kind of shows, but Irisa's got potential. I just fear--from the little we saw in the pilot--that she's gonna be spent wrong. Then again, I'm a sucker for strong female fighting-spirits characters...


The pilot got its share introduction, politic family feud, action in both war and brawl, drama and a slight bit procedural lawkeeper. Some of it worked, some of it was intriguing and some of it left me feeling like I've seen it all before. I'm far from convinced we've got a hit on our hand, but for a pilot it got me invested enough I'll certainly tune back in for a few weeks.. That's not nothing.

1.01 ★★★☆☆ Overall pilot score

"Bent" (2012 ->), season 1

Amanda Peet, David Walton and the kitchen up for remodeling

I guess that was the entire season for Bent; three airing days with two episodes each day. To me six episodes hardly is enough to be a season at all. To most shows even 13 seems like short seasons, but here we are. I have no idea how to interpret NBC's workings here, but I guess it would take real impressive ratings to overcome it and get renewed for a second season.

There's no doubt Amanda Peet was the reason I tuned in. I found here both adorable and talented in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and have been awaiting her return to TV. The other lead, David Walton, was a new face to me. Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) holds the third starring role, while support from Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights) is the final familiar face to me. Other supports include Margo Harshman, Joey King, Matt Letcher, J.B. Smoove and Pasha Lychnikoff.

A show about a single mother and how her kitchen remodeling contractor influence her life doesn't exactly sound like a long-runner. I know I haven't remodeled my kitchen lately, but it doesn't exactly scream four-five successful seasons. And it isn't really that funny either. Some decent jokes, but rarely without a two minute scene of bonding, decency or helpful suggestions to matters at hand. To me it doesn't really work on any level, neither comedy nor drama. It actually holds to much of the drama feel all together in my book, and I'll not be very upset when the inevitable cancellation is confirmed.

★★☆☆☆ Season 1

Guilty Pleasure: "Lost Girl" (2010 - >), season 2

Lost Girl follows Bo (Anna Silk), a fae of the succubus variety. Unlike the rest of faes, she hasn't chosen a side between the dark faes and the light faes. She also has a human for best friend, where other faes look down on our species whilst hiding their world in plain sight amongst us. These two facts helps getting her into trouble all over the fae world.

The first season of 13 episodes didn't suck, but it was early clear this show would never raise above the guilty pleasure-stamp. The second season was a 22 episodes one, and has recently completed its run at Showcase.

Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) - the sidekick

I'm honestly not sure why I've stuck with it so far. I don't really like the leading character of Bo, or for that matter actress Anna Silk, or think she's hot, so that's surely not it. And it's not like the world of faes are that entertaining. It's all a mumble jumble of strange abilities thrown around, a few century old feuds here and there, and so on and so forth. It just lacks substance in its fantasy world.

I guess Kenzi, Bo's human best friend, played by actress Ksenia Solo, is as close to the reason I'm hanging around as anything. She's sadly mostly reduced to a sidekick, but her unique clothing style and sassy humor are amongst the stand-out things about this show. A character from a gypsy-like background with Russian ancestry, and a whole lot of street smartness to go with it.

Overall Lost Girl have been downhill during season 2, and it's not because it's really been that much worse than season 1. Their universe might just have worn out on me, along with very little freshness to kick it up a notch. That makes for a season leaving me hanging in the same old, same old-loop without anything spawning renewed interest.


★★☆ Season 1 (rated now on long-term memory alone)

★☆☆ Season 2

The Guilty Pleasures Three Star-scale explained at the bottom part of the Rated TV-page.

"Alcatraz" (2012 ->)

Once upon a time the name J.J. Abrams gave you anticipation. These days his name is everywhere, and rarely any of the shows are interesting. Thinking back at the first season of Alcatraz, his latest involvement, brings me back to the words of Tim Surette over at tv.com:

"You know what I find interesting? That a serialized drama with a huge story to tell and only a 13-episode first season to tell it in could completely skip an episode and not miss a beat in season-long arcs."

He said so reviewing the double feature of episodes 9 and 10, which Fox jumped ahead to according to their initial schedule after episode 8 got pushed back due to some sports overtime or something like that. Ain't that a kick in the head?

Alcatraz have a lot in common with another project carrying the Abrams name as executive producer and creator, Fringe. They are both exploring events out of the ordinary, with sci-fi elements as well as science, and they are both trying to tell three stories at once. Of course Fringe does so well, and there's the problem. Alcatraz doesn't succeed on any of their three levels. The weekly procedurals are uninteresting, they have failed to keep progress on their arch story according to time spent and their 60's stories are just plain boring.

Of course Fringe's first season wasn't the greatest either, but at least they offered more interesting stuff on at least parts of what they tried to do and they had actors who captured us. Other shows like Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, at least I'm told, Breaking Bad also really get things going in later seasons, which buys Alcatraz some room to grow if allowed by the network. I doubt it will happen, even if I haven't exactly kept an eye on Alcatraz' ratings, and I can't see this show being renewed for another season.

It's not awful. While I notice many viewers elsewhere have more than a few questions about leading lady Sarah Jones' acting, she's kind of grown on me. Not a lot, but I just mostly think they use her wrong... I've got a lot more concern to throw around for the rest of the cast, as there's several problems lurking elsewhere.

Anyway. I've watched the season as its aired along, and learned little new. It's not like I'll look forward to the new season if renewed, but learning from other shows I'll probably give it a couple of episodes to work out its kinks. If they do continue down the same path, they'll for sure lose my interest pretty quickly.

★★☆☆☆ Season 1