Saturday, April 14, 2007

Must See TV

TV is awful in general.
In the past year I have done a lot more reading than normal.
There aren't very many original shows on, and the good ones try to play games
with the ratings by saving new episodes for sweeps months.
This causes a huge gap with weeks of reruns that kill the momentum.
In the past couple years I have bailed on several shows including "Lost"
which I really liked. Even this spring I have noticed Rachel has moved
"Gray's Anatomy" from appointment TV toDVR since they have had a ton of reruns.

My only surviving mainstream shows:
1. The Office
2. The Soup (E tv)

So I find myself hunting for more informative shows. Here are some of my new favorites:

Planet Earth (Discovery HD) - Amazing in HD,
the first couple episodes were the most amazing things I have seen. The
slow motion replay of a Great White shark jumping out of the water to
attack is crazy. Although, like most nature shows, there is quite a bit
of cute animals hunting other cute animals that can be sad. Also, the
last couple of episodes have had a lot of footage overlap the the first
few.
Grade: A+

1,000 Places to see before you die (Travel
Channel) - Based on the book. I thought it was neat that the first 2
episodes went to places I have already been (Alaska and Italy). The
couple is surprising not annoying, unlike the pair on "Road Trip" (INHD).
The show is the opposite of Amazing Race, here the goal is to enjoy
each exotic location you go to, not be the fastest rude American to get
through. This show may put Peru on my list.
Grade: B+ (sometimes I feel like the show sets them up to do things I could never experience if I went there)

World's Deadliest Catch 2

(Discovery?) - Hosted by Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs). Follows King Crab
fisherman from Alaska. Very dangerous work. In a few weeks time a boat
can bring in $500,000 - $1,000,000 worth of king crab. Each crew member
can earn between $30,000 - $50,000 in one short season. These boats
face freezing ice and 70 ft waves. I was scared for my life when we
used to sail in 6-8 ft waves.
Makes me wish I had joined Dale for a leg of king crab while in Alaska.
Grade: B

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

seriously, i get so angry when grey's is a rerun. but, dave, you forgot your most favorite show: cheerleader u. don't lie to the whole cyberworld about the real you.

Martha said...

There's also a great show that keeps repeating about megaquakes on some certain lesser-known fault line (I should know it) that runs from Northern CA thru WA. Earthquakes have historically been just every 300 years and would be 9.0+ (hence megaquake). It has been about 310+ years since the last one (making one feel like it is imminent). Portland will shake for roughly 5 minutes. Serious damage occurs w/in the first 2 mins. Hmmm. And the coast will be wiped out by a tsunami, they will get no warning (will hit w/in 30 mins of the quake that will knock them to their feet), it will take 20 mins for it to hit Portland, and Japan will also get hit by a tsunami. Me? Paranoid? naaah. I just need to stop running into this show!

Oh, as for Grey's Anatomy, I've started keeping up with it online. I assume it to be a repeat, and it's a nice treat when I look it up every few weeks to catch up. I think all shows should be like soap operas - continuously running w/ no repeats. At least until the series ends. :)

Anonymous said...

i am an organic girl... i try to eat locally grown fruits and veggies and reduce my footprint however possible. but, let me be honest about something. organic cream cheese, while delicious, spreads like almost dry cement. i refuse to give it up, but my bagels are now flattened out and torn apart because spreading the cream cheese on is a full-time job. oh, the woes of being me.

Dale said...

Hey Dave, so should we put King Crab fishing as a potential business venture?

That was one tasty crab leg...

Anonymous said...

Martha I did see that special on the NW tsunami. I think you are overdue for that and for Mt Raineer to blow worse than St Helens. That was a good special as well.
I also saw the show on the mega tsunami that will hit the east coast once a part of the azores falls into the ocean.
Makes boring Ohio seem a bit more safe.

Martha said...

Rachel - just some suggestions (I haven't tried either method): either beat the cream cheese prior to spreading (could even add a teensey bit of milk or oil to it while beating) or let it come to room temperature prior to spreading your organic cream cheese (as people do with butter....).

Boring OH could potentially get earthquakes AND tornadoes (tornadoes (even storms) are extremely rare around Portland). It could happen in OH tomorrow. simultaneously. (unfortunately out here a violent quake could then cause a violent volcanic eruption. hmmm.)
Ahh well. That's the price to pay for living in such a fabulous area! The quality of life is worth the risk. (I'd rather Mt. Ranier blow than Mt. St. Helen's! Ranier is a heck of a lot further away, both Northward and Eastward. Both have been active in the last years, along with 3 others in the Cascadian range)

Karen said...

Jim-Bob and i watch Planet Earth every Sunday and get irratated when our bowling takes longer and we miss the beginning. HD at it's finest for sure!

Tom said...

How great is planet Earth in HD!!! If you miss it at 8pm it replays at 11pm :)

It also replays on the science channel tuesday night but nt in HD :(

Martha said...

oi. I miss cable. But that costs money and I don't need to sit in front of the TV anyway.

Anonymous said...

martha, don't fret. this world would be a much better place if everyone killed their television.

Tom said...

Other Must See TV (besides planet earth in HD) obviously includes the Red Sox and Patriots games. I love how I can keep me in touch with my teams when I can't be there in person! It's the only reason I stick with the Dish!

Shelby likes animal planet too :)

Martha said...

Not only do I not have cable, but my vcr broke (yes. I did say vcr). Now I can't watch movies or do my workout videos, either! Good thing I'm a book-a-holic (and internet junkie, apparently).