This is what tonight's Glee made me think of...

Eat Shit, Jessica - It's Carrot!

I told you that you would be spammed with random posts this weekend. I was thinking this morning about things that make me laugh (I don't know why - it was just one of those things I think about every now and then), and I remembered this clip of Orlando Bloom on Graham Norton. I know I've posted this on Facebook before, and probably Twitter, but I don't think I have here (if so, it's worth watching again so stop whinging).

TV I'm Currently Enjoying

A few weeks ago I did a post about some of the 2011 pilots I'd watched, and I must say, I haven't continued on with many of them, although admittedly there were a few gems (Suburgatory is a tad hit and miss but when it hits it's awesome).

My social calendar I know it's sad shut up I hate you The US fall season is well and truly under way now so Noodles and I have been catching up with some old favourites as well as picking up some new ones. A habit we started when I wasn't well a few months ago and have now fallen well and truly into is to hop into my bed after dinner (or sometimes with dinner... okay, usually with dinner... okay, pretty much always with dinner lately) and watch our stories until it's time for her to go to her own bed. We're like Charlie Bucket's grandparents (how did they go to the toilet?).

Anyway, these are some of the shows we've been enjoying of late.

In Which I Watch Some 2011 Pilots

This year's new crop of TV shows has been a bit... unexciting. We haven't really had a bumper year for cool new programs since Community, Glee and Modern Family all popped up three years ago. And they're all looking a bit stale now, so maybe Americans should start taking some cues from the Brits - short seasons, a couple of Christmas specials, get out while it's still sharp.

There have been many new programs I haven't even bothered looking at - that Sarah Michelle Gellar one, for example. I'm sorry, but she can't act for shit, and Buffy was over-rated. YES I WENT THERE. Even Ioan Gruffudd isn't enough to tempt me (as pretty as he is to look at, he can't really act either).

One (and two) Season Wonders

Since it's Winter here, my house is freezing and I haven't been well, Noodle Arms and I have lately gotten into the habit of going to bed after (or sometimes with) dinner in my room, and watching our stories on the laptop until it's time for her to go off to her own room to sleep. We're not really into those shows that are easy to find and have a bazillion fans (you know - Two and a Half Men, House, Dr Who, Grey's Anatomy, whatevs), so we're always on the lookout for something fun and a bit different to watch. Unfortunately, we always seem to fall in love with the gems that only lasted a season or two. I've spoken before about the grandaddy of them all of course, and the utterly perfect Freaks and Geeks, and now I'm going to recommend a few more who are looking for something to watch that's a little off the beaten track.

 Bakersfield P.D. 

I have been looking for this forever, and I finally found it on youtube. A quirky sitcom about an educated cop (Giancarlo Esposito) who moves to a town apparently full of idiots.

 Grosse Pointe

A comedy about the making of one of those 90s teen night-time soaps, created by Darren Star, who knows a thing or two about 90s night-time soaps (he brought us the wonder that is Melrose Place and the dreck that is Sex And The City).

Popular

Think Glee without singing. But better.

Undeclared

A college comedy created by Judd Apatow, and featuring a few of his regular stable in early roles (a very young Seth Rogan and a lovesick Jason Segel were two of the regulars). It also starred Charlie Hunnam when he was young and purty (post-Queer as Folk, pre-Sons of Anarchy), and featured guest stars like Busy Phillips, Simon "Wolowizard" Helberg, and the always fabulous Amy Poehler.

Pushing Daisies

Once you suspend disbelief and get past the really quite stupid premise (shy young man can bring people back to life by touching them, but only for a minute or someone else dies), this is just one of the most gorgeous shows ever. Visually, it was a stunning technicolour marvel - you half expect Gene Kelly to come tappa-tappa-tapping through. Lee Pace is the dream man of everyone who likes the sweet, awkward shy type (me me me!), Anna Friel is kind of annoying but has a fabulous wardrobe, Kristen Chenowith sings fairly regularly (yay), Chi McBride is wickedly droll, and Swoozie Kurtz and Ellen Greene steal their scenes as two slightly crazy spinster sisters. There is so much to love about this magical show that I can't even begin to tell you - just watch it and find out for yourself.

Reaper

Young man turns 21 and finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil (Ray Wise hamming it up beautifully) years earlier. So now he becomes a bounty hunter for Hell, along with his slacker buddies Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez). This show lasted two seasons and ended on a really annoying cliffhanger. Grr!

Wonderfalls

Our most recent discovery - I had heard of this but had no idea what it was about. When I read somewhere recently that it was created by Bryan Fuller, the guy who created Pushing Daisies, that was all I needed to hear. An over-educated, anti-social retail clerk (Caroline Dhavernas) finds that inanimate objects start talking to her and giving her frustratingly vague instructions to help people. She is surrounded by her loving but overbearing family, her childhood best friend and a potential love interest bartender, none of whom know her secret and find a lot of her behaviour strange and concerning as a result.

Did you love any of these? What are your favourite one (or two) season wonders?

I have absolutely no idea what is going on.

It's hard to describe to someone who wasn't there what it was like to see Twin Peaks the first time it was shown on television. I recently rewatched it with Noodle Arms, who was seeing it for the first time, and she enjoyed it immensely, but couldn't get why I was always going on and on about how groundbreaking it was. Quirky TV shows with mysterious, incomprehensible plots are fairly common these days. It's not the most consistently well-made programme - for quality of writing, casting, plot and story arc I'd give the gong to either The Sopranos or Freaks and Geeks, both pretty much flawless productions. A lot of people would add Six Feet Under, but that whole season with The World's Most Annoying Actress (Lili Taylor) playing The World's Most Annoying Television Character killed that show for me.

Television Is Just Like Real Life. Or Not.

You know how in Law and Order and similar programs the people being questioned always keep doing what they're doing? Someone's walking around with a clipboard ticking off stuff while the cops follow behind them and the conversation's all "Oh yeah, he worked here for a week last month. He was always late, we had to fire him."

Now, maybe people in New York are used to being questioned by the cops, I don't know. But if they came into my work to ask me about something, I would not be sitting there tapping away on my computer and not making eye contact. I'd be all, like, scared and excited and stuff. And probably acting shifty because I always feel guilty when there's police around, even though I never do anything wrong.