Why I Dread the Holidays
Every December, TV stops being entertaining. It’s nothing but endless repeats. This is why people get depressed during the holidays; because there’s nothing on the tube. Sadly this makes for a very brief column.
How I Spent Christmas
Thank goodness for DVD’s and On Demand. Y’see on December 25th there was like zero watchable programming on. Fortunately there were some episodes of Six Feet Under on On Demand that I’d yet to watch. So I was able to spend some quality time with the family, albeit the Fisher family. And I mean really, what says “Christmas” more than someone dying every hour?
Since it was only the first half of the 2nd season (and I’d seen the last season and a half) it’s still cool to watch the characters evolve. David is a jerk. Nate and David treat Rico like such a herb. It’s tough to watch Rico get shat upon by his employers.
I’ve really begun to appreciate Ruth as a character. She’s so adrift as a person and she’s trying to get her life in order. It’s equally nice to see David become more comfortable in his sexuality. But he’s still way too pent up most of the time. Hopefully he’ll loosen up when (if) he hooks back up with Keith.
Thankfully the rest of season two is now available On Demand, so any day now I’ll be waiting for season three to show up.
My roommate Z got me a great Christmas gift; The Simpsons Season Seven on DVD. It’s such a great gift. The only problem was that I had never bothered to get around to purchasing season six.
Thus on Christmas Eve I went in search of Season Six. I’d like nothing more than to tell you it was impossible to find and make it seem like it was an epic quest. But in reality, it wasn’t. I went to the Target across the street from my job and I picked it up no hassle. No lines, no problems.
I don’t know if I’ve addressed this before, but I’m a bit obsessive compulsive in certain areas, comic books, music and TV are three of those areas. As a result of my affliction I’ve spent the last four days exhausting the Season Six DVD’s. I’ve watched every episode twice, once without commentary and once with it.
I really do love the commentary on The Simpsons DVD’s. I’m sure that some folks tire of David Mirkin’s repeat gags (for instance his fuzzy memory on whether The Simpsons influenced Rear Window or vice versa), but I love it. I really do appreciate his sense of humor. I like how he explains the jokes.
The commentaries are great for explaining why episodes continue to center around Lisa (because the writers dig her emotional core) and for noting what was left out and what the networks wanted to change. For me, watching an episode with the commentary is almost as entertaining as watching the episode without it.
But…
I also picked up The Simpsons: One Step Beyond Forever the episode guide for seasons 13 & 14, and I was shocked to find that I could barely remember any episodes. I’ve got all the other episode guides. I always pick them up because I do want to find out what I missed in those episodes that I loved so much.
But seasons 13 & 14 (which ran from fall 2001 to spring 2003) were apparently when my passion for the show had subsided because I honestly only remember a handful of those episodes, which really makes the book rather moot. Which sucks.
And there you have it. That was my Christmas with the Fisher & Simpson families.
Links!
Josh had technical difficulties last week, but it doesn’t stop him from putting together a terrific column.
(Oh by the way Josh, I’ve voiced both my praise and scorn for The Boondocks. When it’s “on” it’s a very funny show, but when it’s not, it can be painful to watch.)
DeeDee brings up some interesting points about Nip/Tuck’s finale, which still sucks.
Kevin has his game plan for the ’06, and it looks like a winner.
J.A.M.
Joe (the “J“) has yet another caption contest that I’m too slow for (I think I’m close to getting one for the Cruise/microphone incident). He also finds redeeming aspects of War of the Worlds. Talk about an optimist. Oh, he’s also got other mini reviews of more up to date releases.
Aaron (“A“) gives you The Best and Worst in Hip Hop circa 2005. Was there an actual Hip Hop song worse than My Humps? Aaron seems to think so. Oh and he’s also got some news that seems to be less than optimistic. Uh oh.
Sadly I’m done. Hopefully networks will start airing some new shows so that I’ll have something to write about next week. Because if they don’t I’m in some real trouble.
