Gamma what?

It didn’t really hit me how out of hand this whole educational-television thing seemed to be getting until a short while ago, fresh off of his DVDs of The History Channel’s The Universe series, my grandfather was handing the set to my uncle to borrow when he fired off (quite seriously), something to the effect of “I’ll tell ya, I sure hope we never get hit with a gamma burst. “ After which he proceeded to explain exactly what that was, and why it would inevitably kill us all. I’m sure you’ve all experienced this, as e-TV has increasingly made average-joes (and average-grandpas) across the country experts on subjects no one ever thought or cared to know about. Information that they can then spring on unsuspecting family members or strangers at restaurants in a “Did you know…”-like fashion.

I mean, The Discovery Channel and The History Channel have been around for a while, but it seems like in the past decade there has been an explosion of both new educational shows and networks, as well as people who watch them. Since he’s got a TiVo, my grandpa has moved above and beyond his usual repertoire of Perry Mason and The Price is Right to include shows like Dr. G Medical Examiner, Nova, and a keyword folder called HITLER that’s usually got about 18 different WWII-related specials in it just waiting to be watched (as well as a few random episodes of shows that just happen to have Hitler in the description). I’m beginning to think that my grandpa is getting more from his $50-or-so of DirecTV per month than I do from thousands of dollars worth of college education. Granted, my education might, say, give me the qualifications to start a career, and his on the other hand, for he and I to carry on a lengthy conversation about something like the fate of the planet after humans are wiped out.

Now, I’m not claiming to be immune to this, by any means. I will stop what I’m doing and sit in front of the television for as long as possible to watch a marathon of How It’s Made (I seriously want that announcer guy to just talk me to sleep every night). I hesitate to admit that I’ve seen so many episodes of this show, that more than once I’ve uttered the phrase “Oh, I’ve already seen this one.” And consequently, I can rattle off useless facts like, why aluminum foil has a dull side and a shiny side, or explain how they assemble a catamaran. This show has been on thirteen seasons, mind you. There are enough people that care to observe the 17-step process of making roofing shingles that they’ve cranked out 160+ episodes of it.

While I’m confessing, I also admit to being helpless when it comes to:

a. a new one, Life After People
b. Deadliest Catch
c. MythBusters—but seriously, who isn’t?
d. the Investigation Discovery Channel (I watched a fascinating special called Psychology of a Suicide Bomber, and now I’m hooked.)

Now let’s talk about e-TV success for a moment; do any of you remember that whole Planet Earth frenzy a year or so ago? As one who worked at a certain warehouse club at the time, I still can’t believe how many people purchased those DVDs (well maybe I can, since it was due in part to God…er…Oprah selecting it as one of her “favorite things”). I believe I have several family members, including my grandfather, who now own that exact set. And the series was such a hit, it was translated into a feature film called Earth, released in 2007, and the same production team is working on a follow-up series entitled The Frozen Planet due in 2012. So even though “four years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC,” it then became a movie, and now they're making another show. Just let that sink in for a moment.

Also, maybe it’s just me, but I think half of how they pull you in with these shows is a. the titles (I mean, who can resist something called Suicide Bombers: Cult of Death or MonsterQuest?) and b. the epic commercials showing you what you’ll see in said programs—like those for Life After People—following which, how could I not tune in to see how many thousands of years it would take after the elimination of all mankind for the Statue of Liberty to start falling apart? And sometimes, just sometimes, you see these irresistible commercials on other non-related channels. I believe I first saw the advertisement for LAP while waiting for the show to start at the local movie theater.

I guess when it comes down to it, even though shows like these just fill us with more useless information—besides things like what happened last time on Days of Our Lives—it’s quite comforting there are so many educational (or let’s be accurate, semi-educational) shows out there to help counteract the onslaught of such gems as Keeping Up With the Kardashians and New York… [insert new means of blatantly capitalizing on laughable amount of celebrity here]. And quite honestly, I really do enjoy most of the educational programming this country has to offer. Plus, if it’s gonna be mush anyway, I want my TV-addled brain to know just how they put together those nifty gumball machines, and whether or not a hurricane can blow a piece of straw through a tree.

The light(s) at the end of the spring finale-tunnel

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The Dormant Blog Volcano

Hey, look at that, despite weeks of silence over here in the land of Y&T, our Blogger account hasn't been cancelled.  Surprising.  Anyway, watch out, because there is new material coming your way.

• A guide to Curly and Mo's strategies of TV show piracy...er...collecting...
  
• What we'll be watching the next few long, hot months
  
• Season Finale shout-outs, as well as tearful (or not-so-tearful) goodbyes
  

Aaaand, whatever else we want.  That's what this is about, right?

Peace.

The Mid-Season madness continues

Here they are, the second pack of mid-season shows offered up by network TV (and just as much or more untimely than the last bunch.)  This pack is arguably not as good as the first group—about which, looking back, I may have been generous/exaggerated their merit.  So I’m gonna keep it as short and sweet as possible here, for all our sakes.
 
Surviving Suburbia
Mondays, 9:30/8:30c on ABC

It took all kinds of television survival skills to make it through this, the longest 20 minutes of television in the last month.  Who on earth thought what America needs is another life-in-the-suburbs sitcom with a laugh track?  With Bob Saget, no less.  As a grumpy suburban husband (Til’ Death, anyone?)  We all realize he’s still trying to shake the good-guy pigeonhole of Full House, but we just don’t wanna be witness to it.  And with a host of forgettable actors you recognize, but you can’t remember their names because they’ve just been on gazillions of other failed shows, it’s doubtful this show will get any better, or any more bearable.  So if you’re masochistic like that, you can watch all the mind-numbing episodes here.
Pass:  It might get cancelled.
Fail:  It might not get cancelled because there’s nothing America likes more (especially down-in-the-dumps, economically-challenged America) than a mildly funny half-hour sitcom to cheer them up and make them forget their troubles—except the “troubles” of a cushy life in the suburbs, of course.

The Unusuals
Wednesdays, 10/9c on ABC 

Everybody and their dog desperately wants to produce a successful cop show.  And for every decent attempt, there are a gazillion bad ones.  I’m convinced there’s some machine somewhere, cranking out variations on the law enforcement theme, in a desperate attempt to create a hit.  And with the minimum of 3-4 of these type of shows that appear every premiere period, I’d say the machine is broken.  The Unusuals, hoping to successfully mix things up, aims to highlight the—wait for it—unusual side of the NYPD, but ends up being no different than the rest.  There are good cops, and bad cops, and quirky cops, and quirky/out-of-the-ordinary cases (which seem to be required every third episode of any cop drama anyway).  I find it hard to see anything really original or promising with this one.  Check it out here.
Pass:  An eclectic cast, including Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia), Harold Perrineau (Lost), and Adam Goldberg (crazy roommate on Friends, along with a hundred other things).
Fail: Not that unusual, not that interesting, and not that funny.  And enough with the random police scanner voiceovers—not amusing in the slightest.

 
Parks and Recreation
Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c on NBC 

A new comedy from the creators of The Office—that beautiful gift from heaven we’ve all grown to know and love.  And if you’ve watched any of the first few episodes of P&R, you know that it’s that same kind of humor, and a similar format, with different faces (except for Rashida Jones, of course. She’s the same face).  Many have been quick to write it off as an Office clone, and that it will be necessary for it to come into its own down the line.  This may be true—can you say Leslie Knope = Michael Scott?—but you can’t deny, it’s still funny, copycat or no.  And I’m probably biased, because of my raging girl-crush on Amy Poehler, but what can I say, the woman is genius.  So thumbs up to this one, for more originality than anything else in this group, and enough of the same-ol’ to keep us comfortable and laughing.  Get your fix here, and make it snappy, because NBC can sometimes be stingy buggers with their online content.
Pass: Two words – Amy Poehler.  Ok, eight more words – from the people who brought you the Office.
Fail:  It will eventually need to break away from the shadow of The Office.

Southland (or SouthLAnd, if you prefer…get it?)
Thursdays, 10/9c on NBC
 
When you’ve watched as much television as I have, every new show seems like a grab bag of actors from a handful of other a. unsuccessful/cancelled or b. good/retired shows.  And this one seems like it’s got more than usual, but a familiar face isn’t always bad, and I do watch an irregular amount of television.  Anyway, Southland is a gritty look at life on the streets with the men and women of the LAPD.  I know, surprise surprise, another cop show. Set in Los Angeles.  Described as “gritty”.  But there’s something about this one that makes it seem a little bit more realistic.  First off, it’s more of a real-time format, and focuses on the relationships between the characters, rather than sticking with some of the formulaic tendencies of other shows that follow one case from start to finish, with exciting predictable twists along the way.  And it stands up to the “grit” description, bleeping out obscenities rather than pretending that cops don’t say certain words that start with F or S as other glossy network cop shows do (which is a pet peeve of mine).  Also, it’s set in South Central Los Angeles, and dedicates a fair amount of time to the issue of gang and drug related violence, something usually just touched upon in a few scattered episodes.  So I’m intrigued by this one, I think it has the potential to be something good.  Oh, and may I just say, I quite like the opening credits.  Not really important, but I’m mentioning it anyway.  So check it (and its intro) out here.
Pass:  Another interesting cast, and a bunch more people you’ll recognize.  The lovely Ben Mackenzie (The OC), Michael Cudlitz (Band of Brothers, Standoff), Kevin Alejandro (Shark), Tom Everett Scott (Saved), Patrick Fischler (Mad Men), Emily Bergl (Men in Trees), etc.  And enough of that “something different” to keep it going…hopefully.
Fail:  It’s still another cop show, so it’s already on thin ice.  The bleeping is something to get used to, but gives the show more of an edge. And NBC, you don’t have to pull out the LA in Southland on every commercial preview or teaser to remind us that it’s set in Los Angeles.  It’s a 50/50 shot between NY and LA to begin with, so I think we can figure it out.

Alright that’s it.  No more long-winded (and painfully late) reviews for a while, I promise.  Happy watching to you all!