Comments on: Of Bygones! and Guilty Pleasures (and Weeds)

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:36:19 +0000

I love Weeds but I know what you mean about Nancy, she is so reckless and self destructive. I think next season will either make or break the show for me. You should watch Mad Men and True Blood, both are exceptional shows.

By: MinD

MinD — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:39:35 +0000

I take it from this you aren’t a Chuck fan? I haven’t read that particularly book, but I’ve checked out Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs as well as another one, but its title escapes me. Either way, I find his theories, ideas, etc. so different than the norm that it was difficult not to love him as an author. He’s upfront and not apologetic whatsoever for throwing completely bizarre notions out there. His criticisms, to me, were great in what I’ve read.

By: Megkathleen

Megkathleen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:45:17 +0000

Oh! AND a TV show about grad students is Genius. Somebody needs to get on that.

By: Megkathleen

Megkathleen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:44:40 +0000

I hate Nancy Botwin after watching the fifth season. She’s horrible! I have a hard time enjoying a show where I can’t stand the main character. Also, I love Chuck – if only because the book I read by him had an essay about Saved By The Bell. I can’t even remember what he had to say about it, but I do remember liking it.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:32:32 +0000

On 20-somethings in popular media (a la Ally McBeal..)
I have a blog in the can responding to something and old film major roommate once told me.
He said, “You can’t make a 20-something’s life interesting. It’s just not possible. No one wants to hear about you getting drunk on Wednesday and ordering a pizza.” Now this was heavily speaking to college stereotypes at the time, but more than that, he was speaking of an unwritten rule that Hollywood fairly strictly abides by. You don’t often see 20-somethings represented in popular media and when you do, they’re played by 38 year-olds and adapted to fit an “everyman” ideal, not necessarily to represent 20-something life – they end up seeming older, but also more childlike (the contradiction makes sense bearing “Friends” in mind.) Anything further and I’ll end up rewriting my future blog post on here, but I felt the need to share because it’s something I’ve been kicking around a lot lately.

By: mandy

mandy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:20:38 +0000

I barely remember Ally McBeal but I dont really recall watching it. Sadly I’ve also never seen Weeds. I am so far behind when it comes to watching tv. The only series I own on DVD is the Gilmore Girls.

By: Herding Cats

Herding Cats — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:58:49 +0000

I love watching TV on DVDS. I’m sad about Weeds. We just started watching Season 1, and I love it, but it sucks to know it goes downhill.

I really, really think you should try out Dexter or Six Feet Under. Both are amazing shows!

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:10:29 +0000

None of these shows air in China.
Blows.
I don’t even know what I do with my time.

By: Caz

Caz — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:39:50 +0000

The boy and I just worked our way through the first 4 seasons of Weeds. I agree with you , I liked this season less (it was less funny and more desperate than the others.)
And Nancy is straaaaange. Like you said, I sorta cut her some slack for the first season or two, but now she’s just nuts. And crazy selfish.
Anyway, I’ll probably give the 5th season a chance, but we’ll have to see.

By: Ari

Ari — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:08:39 +0000

Awwww now I want to watch Ally McBeal! And yeah, I quit watching Weeds when the 3rd season was over. And I never heard anything good after that so I figured I was done.

Love watching TV on DVD. I can watch tv shows WAY too fast tho.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:21:08 +0000

Oh, I loved Ally McBeal. It was such a crazy show for me at that time… (I think I was still in high school).
I also loved Weeds, the first 2-3 seasons, just like you, but then lost interest. I loved the humor at first, but then it all started going downhill. Will definitely not be watching again!

By: Amy --- Just A Titch

Amy --- Just A Titch — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:55:55 +0000

I’ve never been able to get into Weeds and I never watched Ally McBeal, but friends have said I’d love it. The shows I can’t get enough of are Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm—I’ve got them all on DVD and can watch them any time, over and over.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:33:01 +0000

Weeds was fun for the first two seasons. I have no need to watch anymore. I generally like Mary Louise Parker, but the act gets a bit old after a while.

TV on DVD is a glorious though. I’m working on Six Feet Under at the moment. I recommend it (and The West Wing and Lost and…)

The bit about guilty pleasures is interesting. I don’t know if I can just flat-out say that I like Fergie though. Thus, she remains a guilty pleasure.

By: Cass

Cass — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:54:10 +0000

So happy to see you mentioning Ally McBeal, I miss that show. I’ve told myself the next TV on DVD purchase I’m going to make is the complete series.

I also see what you mean with Weeds. I’ve been an avid watcher and S4 just didn’t cut it at all. S5 was a little more promising and I’ll continue watching but I keep crossing my fingers that it will get as good as it once was. But that’s how it is w/a lot of shows, S1-3 are great and then either the writers get cocky/lazy.

By: phampants

phampants — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:20:40 +0000

I adore TV on DVDs What other shows do you have?

Here’s mine:
- Chuck
- Scrubs
- Lost
- Monk
- Family Guy
- The Simpson
- 24
- Big Bang Theory
- Doctor Who
- Torchwood
- Futurama
- The Office
- The Office (UK)

I’m sure there are a lot more

By: Jordan

Jordan — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:19:21 +0000

Interesting post. Sorry for the long comment, but I have a lot of things to say, because these are the kind of subjects I could talk about all day if people let me. Firstly, I know what you mean about watching TV on DVD. I think it’s so enjoyable because you can take in a lot of episodes in a short space of time, and you really feel immersed in the world of the series. Or at least that’s how I feel, and it’s not something you really get from one episode a week.

I tried to think of a show you could watch about people in their mid-to-late twenties, but couldn’t come up with many. I think by the time most writers have enough experience and a reputation to create a show, they’re probably already in their thirties or older, and so more likely to write about that part of life. And I guess they hire older actors for similar reasons. It can definitely seem a little odd to viewers.

I have the same occasional unease about criticism as you do. Sometimes it seems as if the media is just a bunch of people taking shots at each other and their work. Itdoesn ’t help that a lot of reviews seem to miss the point and focus on personal attacks or possible social implications of the work, ignoring whether the piece is actually any good or not, and why. I think in the end though, people will always have their own opinions, and some just love to attack what is popular for the sake of it. You just have to make your own mind up about things, and not let the fact that some disagree bother you. Easier said than done, I know. It’s one of the things that makes me question whether I would ever actually want to have anything published.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:36:55 +0000

I don’t care for Chuck Klosterman. I know a lot of guys who like his writing, but they are all scensters.

By: Emily Jane

Emily Jane — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:26:17 +0000

I’ll admit I haven’t seen any of these shows but I’m ALL about TV on DVD as well! I also love watching them years after they’ve been released and everyone else is already done with them and it’s still new – I was like that with Sex and the City, I only started watching after the movie and I still have three seasons to go :)

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:11:26 +0000

Ally McBeal always was, and will remain, one of my faves. Ally really DOES make it all about her though – but what I like about that is that she fully admits it. She’s honest in how selfish and narcissitic she is!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:18:53 +0000

Yeah, I love Weeds. Love love love. BUT I totally get where you are coming from. The fourth season was way out in left field, and seemed to be nothing but sex scenes. Which, I’m not comlaining, but that’s not really what the show was supposed to be centered around (ie; Californication/Hung). It was almost like they were running out of plot ideas and thought “hey, let’s throw some sex in there and no one will notice.” But we did. We noticed. Anyways, Nancy is upsetting me with the decisions she makes. Was anyone else rooting for her and Andy to get together, or is that just weird?