Summer Watch List

So, as you may have noticed, it is summer.  And aside from a time where some of us like to engage in this little-known activity called reading, it is also a time when the cable networks put out some of their best shows.  So what have I been watching?  Not Breaking Bad.  But lots of other things!

Episodes

I'll admit that I've already finished Season 2 of Episodes.  Much like Downton Abbey, it airs in the UK months before it comes to the States, and so it's easy to find links online.  And so even though I only started watching the season last weekend, I'm already done.  The reason for this is that it's SO EFFING GOOD.  Literally everything about this show is fantastic, but especially the actors.  Matt LeBlanc continues to be great at playing a parody of himself, and Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan are always brilliant as the transplanted British writers/producers, but this season gave more of the spotlight to the supporting actors, and Kathleen Rose Perkins shines like a goddamn star.  Her portrayal of Carol is at once pathetic and empowering; infuriating and endearing; hilarious and sad.  She's taken the character from the one-note Rigid Studio Executive and turned Carol into someone we root for and whose motives we come to understand.  And she's just SO fucking funny.  John Pankow as the studio head Merc Lapidus is a comedic gem, and Genevieve O'Reilly as his blind wife Jamie plays her role with a quiet subtlety that'll make you laugh out loud (as two characters are fighting and chaos erupts amongst the cast, she just keeps yelling, "What's going on???!!!").  Daisy Haggard as the erstwhile, clueless exec with the weird moaning voice steals every single scene she's in and Joseph May as Andy Button is the type of character who would eat a popsicle made of shit if you told him it was fudge - while smiling.  I honestly can't pick a favorite character because I love them all, and I didn't mean to brush past Greig and Mangan because they carry the show, and both actors' abilities to transform from glib to gutwrenching in the blink of an eye is astounding.  They grab you by the heartballs, and just won't let go.

Anyway, not to give anything away, but the season finale is one of my favorite moments of comedy of the entire year.  There're only nine episodes, so get watching and seriously, don't miss out on this show.



Criminal Minds

This show is a very basic CBS crime procedural, and you can't find episodes on Netflix.  But I love me a good CP, and a friend turned me on to Criminal Minds and basically said YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT, so I did, and it's GREAT.  I mean, I would watch Mandy Patinkin demonstrate the proper way to cane a chair, and if I can watch him being a criminal profiler for the FBI, even better.  Add to Mandy the hot black guy and his fantastic flirtation with the cute zaftig computer nerd, and I'm SO THERE.  Add to THAT the fact that the adorable autistic brainy dude is the fucking awesome intern who gets shot in The Life Aquatic, and this is my new favorite show.  Thank the universe there are seven long-ass seasons for me to devour.

Wilfred

I have not met a single other person who watches this show.  Which is a goddamn shame, because it is a highly enjoyable show.  Most of the people I've talked to about it say, oh, I watched the first episode and it was really weird and I couldn't get into it.  And, ok, yes, the pilot is VERY weird and he does try to kill himself and instead starts hallucinating a man in a dog suit.  And, ok, I admit that things do not really ever get LESS weird.  But they do get MORE funny, a lot more funny, the more you get to know the characters and the tone and structure of the show.  And this is one of my favorite bits of all time:



It's safe to say that if you don't like Elijah Wood, you won't like Wilfred. But if you are currently indifferent to him, you'll probably fall in love.  And if you already like him, then watch this show already!  It's super great!  Matt Damon jokes!  Dogs!  Existentialism!  What more could you ask for from a cable summer comedy?

Louie

If you already watch Louie, you know that it is a superb and surreal look at being a conscientious, modern, urban father and comedian.  If you don't already watch it, odds are nothing I say is going to convince you.  But still...you should watch Louie.  We should ALL watch Louie.

Weeds

Yes, I know last year I said I was quitting Weeds.  Or maybe that just meant I was quitting doing recaps because they were just me talking about how DUMB and unrealistic everything was (last season was particularly terrible).  But I've kept with the show this long, of course I had to stick around to see how everything turns out.  And I have to say, the season has been pretty interesting so far.  I really love that it's not so much about weed anymore but is more of a reflection of how Nancy's life could have been if she hadn't been so selfish all the time, and that she constantly has her own failures (as a parent, as an entrepreneur, as a person-who-loves-Andy) shoved in her face.  This show will never not be dark, but I'm confident that they're going to wrap things up in a satisfying way.  And if not...fuck 'em.


That's it.  That's all I've had time for, what with all my Game Of Thrones-ing (I'm about to start Dances With Dragons!) and working and overall having a pretty fantastic summer in this city of love I'm lucky enough to dwell in.  Dawson's is ALWAYS on my mind, but I've got to finish DWD before I even think about that, otherwise I'll write one recap and then it'll be months before getting around to the next one.  But I promise, within a month, The Creek recaps will be a go.

Thanks again for sticking with me through this transition, and, as my final piece of sage wisdom, if you only watch one comedy this summer, make it Episodes.  Everything about it is awesome.  But otherwise, get outside and enjoy the effing sunshine!  Be like Tom N. Haverford and make your favorite movie a book!  The "N" stands for nerd.


Image via tumblr