how I learned to stop worrying and watch what I want to watch

[jlh]

My friend sarahtales just made a post about the television she watched in 2009 and whether she tends to like the same kinds of things. I went through what was on the ol' DVR in 2009, and was happily surprised to see some trends in my own viewing:

• Competency Porn: Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, So You Think You Can Dance.
  
• Mysteries, non-dark: Castle and White Collar. Mystery and romance, my two favorite genres that taste great together.
  
• People singing pop songs on my TV: Glee, American Idol.
  
• Affectionate friends: How I Met Your Mother, Community.

I'm so glad I found new scripted shows in 2009 though I'm sad that none of them are really shows one talks about (except Glee, but I refuse to talk about that show on the internet). Not a lot of fannish stuff here, as there is no sci-fi, nor a lot of "best shows on TV" stuff. But television had felt like a chore for a while, and it's nice to just watch things because I like them. I don't think I've felt that way, except about HIMYM, since the first season of Veronica Mars.

Comments

[melodiousb]

Do you ever watch Burn Notice? It combines "Mysteries, non-dark" and "Competency Porn," and is therefore the biggest reason I was disappointed with White Collar.

[jlh]

My roommate watches it, but I was reluctant because it has that central mystery/purpose thing, and I just find those sort of plots aren't done on television particularly well, and rarely get actually resolved because hey, that would be the end of the show, so they get mysteriously extended, etc.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with White Collar! I feel that it's going to dispatch with the whole Kate thing and become just generally episodic in not long, and frankly that makes me feel better after being burned too many times by ongoing plots on television shows. I find it to be pretty cute and sort of insubstantial and light the way that Oceans 11 was, and at the moment I'm really liking that kind of tone.

[melodiousb]

The overarching plot in Burn Notice is done a little better than on White Collar, I think, and I kind of like how it doesn't actually move forward at all. My issue with White Collar is that Neil and Peter are never quite as awesome and smart as I expect them to be (an expectation raised by Burn Notice, I think).