But I have rediscovered telly in the past while, which I had neglected for my college years. And while that might not seem like a bad thing -TV often being a tool used to scrape thoughts out of heads -I had forgotten how good and not mind-numbing television CAN be. That's not to say I've been stocking up on Attenborough and QI only, and I do like my fair share of tosh like anyone else. What reconnected me with TV was ultimately Sherlock, the most gloriously well written, well acted and well executed programme that has been made in a veeeeeeery long time, but also Downton Abbey, which despite it's sentimentality is also beautifully performed and written. Don't like Downton? Well, then get off my train, I say. I like that show more than I do most people. Let me have my Downton and I'll let you have The Wire, ok?
Oh yeah, baby. That's the stuff.
Yeah, yeah, I know. The Wire is amazing and I'd totally love it if I watched it. Fair enough, that's probably true, but I don't have time to make that commitment, guys. I don't stream or download series, I watch them on TV or DVD like a pleb. Unless I can't find them and must resort to Youtube.
I am no saint.
But here are a few shows I've discovered/re-discovered, and think you'd like. (Downton and Sherlock aren't mentioned here because I literally could not express how much I love them. It is an achey type of love.) :
Dead Like Me
This series originally came out in 2003, when I was but a young, impressionable lass and it has coloured my life ever since. I think it was the first 'grown-up' tv show I really liked. After Sabrina the Teenage Witch came Dead Like Me, basically. I re-discovered this quite randomly on Youtube and watched both seasons of it in a week. The basic premise is that an eighteen year old girl named George is killed by a falling toilet seat from a space station (Hilariously dark, no) only to learn that after her death she is joining the ranks of the undead as a Grim Reaper of the souls of those about to die. It's quite a dark premise, but the series is actually a comedy with occasional dramatic bits. It's just so good, that I'm quite proud that thirteen year old me liked it. Go mini-me! The best part of the series of the cast, especially the lead actress Ellen Muth (despite being a bit... anorexic-y) and Callum Blue as Mason. Mason is one of those wonderful characters that just isn't pulled off well enough that often. He's a hilarious fuck up. Sweet, but a bit of a shit too. Callum Blue should have done A LOT better off of this character. What a wonderful, wonderful show whose time with us was all to brief.
Mason, Mason, Mason.
Moone Boy
Everyone likes this show. It's just come out and everyone seems to love it. And they're right. It's a comedy that's not only funny, but it's also warm and life-affirming for reasons you can't quite understand. This show just makes you feel good. Everyone is nuts in their own special way, and life is much better because of it. It has that silliness rooted in real life that Father Ted had, which is probably why it's been hailed as the Second Coming of Ted. Chris O'Dowd is the man, pure and simple. Have I RAVED ENOUGH YET?! The second episode about the Mary Robinson election campaign is pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. And the character of Padraig, best friend to the lead character Martin, is the most beautiful little lad I've ever seen. What a legend. You will struggle to find anything quite as delightful as his Pat Shortt shtick as he gets his hair cut in episode two. Lad! God bless us Irish. We are simply mad craic.
Hunderby
Julia Davis. Where have you been all this time, you mad 'wan? Anyone anywhere ever who says women can't be funny needs to be pointed swiftly in the direction of Ms Davis. She's dark and twisted and utterly hilarious. Basically this show is a fairly brutal satire of po-faced BBC period dramas (which I also love madly, by the way). A young woman named Helene with a dodgy past arrives in a puritanical village called Hunderby and promptly marries the truly awful vicar. She inconveniently then falls in love with the local doctor Graham. Julia Davis plays an amazingly evil housekeeper too. The whole this takes the piss fantastically of period dramas that always take themselves so seriously; gurning angst, gasping passion, jaw-dropping insults towards women said in a blasé way. You feel so guilty about laughing at so much of this, that you get quite the thrill of being naughty somehow.
Bad Sugar
Again, Julia Davis. Oh Julia, you wicked woman, you. This was just a pilot, again a pisstake of certain tv series, but by God, I really would love to more. This time poking fun at Dynasty-style rich family intrigue shows. I can't say too much about it, as it was only a pilot episode, but even the castlist would probably convince you to watch it: Julia Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, Sharon Horgan, Olivia Colman, Reece Shearsmith. Guys, that is a funny bunch. A really funny bunch.
The Tudors
Yeah, it was trashy, but God I do love a sleazy period drama. In my defense, it's mainly the first two series that I enjoy, particularly Natalie Dormer's Anne Boleyn. She is a frighteningly good actress with a totally hypnotic-looking face. This is the most in-depth and multi-faceted version of Anne Boleyn I've ever seen. Natalie Portman's Other Boleyn Girl can bugger right off. And for all it's trash, there's tons of politic and religious upheaval to prevent it from being all about wench-bothering. There is always a sense of momentum and direction, and I'll admit I looked up way more about the Tudor dynasty than I probably would have otherwise. As much of an idiot Jonathan Rhys-Meyer's seems to be, he is just the right person to play a fairly awful man, but with some redeeming qualities. I've only really bothered with the first two seasons, as I said, but I caved and got the boxset and will investigate the Dormer-less seasons with a fair eye.
So there you have it: The TV I've been loving lately.
Honourable mentions go to: Sinbad, Castle, Friends and the Big Bang Theory.
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