Season/Series finales are upon us and as I looked through all these reviews on AV Club, I started to notice the sheer volume of “fandoms” I’m a part of. I’m not quite sure how it got to this, but damn. I watch a LOT of TV. This is the list of television shows that I have watched this past 2011-2012 season:
1. 2 Broke Girls
2. Alcatraz
3. Community
4. Criminal Minds
5. CSI
6. Don’t Trust That Bitch in Apartment 23
7. Fringe
8. Game Of Thrones
9. GCB
10. Glee
11. Grimm
12. Happy Endings
13. Hawaii Five-0
14. Homeland
15. How I Met Your Mother
16. Leverage
17. Modern Family
18. New Girl
19. Once Upon A Time
20. Pan Am
21. Parenthood
22. Project Runway
23. Revenge
24. Smash
25. Suits
26. So You Think You Can Dance
27. Terra Nova
28. The Big Bang Theory
29. The Sing-Off
30. The Voice
31. The Walking Dead
32. Touch
33. Up All Night
34. White Collar
Wow. How do I keep up with all of them?!
I’m really quite surprised, to be honest. I mean, I do go out. I have friends. I have a job. I blog often. I sleep. And I still get to watch all these shows? Perhaps 24 hours in a day really is more than enough…
That last episode of Community has me incredibly conflicted.
(What? You, like so many other people in this world are not watching Community? You’re not going to understand this post, then.)
I like that the characters are developing, that they’re really coming into their own. But I have always found comfort in the antics that Troy and Abed get in to. For me, it is their immaturity and innocence that has laid the foundation for all the meta-humour on the show. Because we see Greendale through their eyes, we are able to accept the reality of this universe, even though we know plenty of it is highly unlikely in the real world.
We always knew one of them would grow up faster than the other. And we always knew it was going to be Troy. I just didn’t expect to have to pick a side.
Yet, this set-up seems to be heading in the direction of something really good. For that, I’m excited. I’m excited to see how this friendship is going to be tested. I’m excited to see how it will pan out. While I’m confident it will all be okay in the end (I’m sure Community fans wouldn’t have it otherwise), I’m also afraid that the underlying issues will be addressed too abruptly and that everything will be solved by the next episode. I need the tension to play out a bit longer, because this friendship deserves that. Also, it would make the reunion a lot sweeter.
Seriously. If only someone would pay me to watch TV for a living. I reckon I’d do a really good job analysing story lines, characterisations, filtering the hits from the misses. It’s no easy feat y’know? Some shows can be excruciatingly painful.
But let’s just pretend that watching TV is my job, okay? That will completely justify this post.
Two new shows that you need to watch this season:
Smash gives us an insight into the production of a new Broadway musical, and some of the key people behind it. With an effort to bring the story of Marilyn Monroe to the stage, we’re made to choose sides as two aspiring actresses (Karen, the ingenue with the voice, and Ivy, the more experienced supporting act who yearns to finally be the headliner) vie for the lead role, and our hearts. It’s still a little early, so I’ve yet to pick a team. The other characters have their own issues (of course they do), and I like these actors (Debra Messing & Jack Davenport) enough to care. It was also a nice surprise to see people from SYTYCD (Spencer Liff! Alex Wong!) having bit roles, doing what they do best. So is it better than Glee? It certainly has the potential to be.
Alcatraz BLEW MY MIND. I can’t even begin to explain how crazy/good this show is. It’s classic JJ Abrams with Mysteries! Twists! Time travel! An island! Jorge Garcia! I know, I know… Sounds a lot like Lost. And goodness knows how much I miss that show! I still feel sad whenever I think about that finale. *sniffs* Alcatraz doesn’t seem set up to be as character-driven as Lost, but the story is certainly intriguing enough to keep viewers around for awhile. And because I’ve remained completely spoiler-free, I caught myself dropping my jaw at least three times in each of the first two episodes. Definitely a good sign of things to come? And might I mention again – Jorge Garcia. It’d almost seem wrong for any Lost fan to not watch this show.
