TV Views

There are many good shows on cable television.  In fact, the amount of time needed to watch all the good shows  outweigh the amount of time available to your everyday out-of-work sleep deprived individual.  I have my cable internet and TV supplied by Wide Open West, known in my area as Wowway.  Channel 1 is "WOW on Demand" or WOWOD.  WOWOD allows me to select numerous different shows from a wide variety of channels and be able to watch a chosen program at any time I choose.  As an example I can watch several "30 Rock" shows, one after another, at 4:17 a.m..  If I need to use the toilet at 5:03, I can pause the show while I am away from my TV, and pick it back up on my return without missing a gag or a story plot point

Wowway also supplies, at no added expense, all the STARZ and Encore channels.  These are mostly movie offerings and it does not take long for one to view all.  There are more selections added at the beginning of every month, but it does not take long to watch these.  The movie offerings I enjoy, but it is the series of original programs I crave.  Spartacus, Camelot, Party Down, and Pillars of the Earth are among the most addictive entertainment for your viewing pleasure.  "Torchwood" is another series that begins next week and it promises to be as wonderful as any of the others.

This evening I added another "must-see" TV to my ever expanding list of personal favorites.  It is a program on TNT called "Franklyn and Bash."  I do not know the names of the leading actors (nor am I inclined to look them up at this moment) but they are familiar faces.  Franklyn and Bash are lawyers at a law firm run by Malcolm McDonald.  Malcolm is the actor's name, not the character's.  Malcolm has been a favorite of mine since "Clockwork Orange."  The show could be called "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure with Perry Mason"   The latest episode I watched featured Beau Bridges as Franklyn's father.  Beau Bridges is an actor with two mustaches; one over each eye.  I hope this show has enough viewers to keep going.  It is good!

So I added "Franklyn and Bash" to my list of must-sees.  Other programs on my list include: In Plain Sight, True Blood, Camelot, Burn Notice, The Closer, Law & Order-Criminal Intent, Falling Skies, Warehouse 13, Fringe, Castle, Psyche, Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly, 30 Rock, Community, Cougar Town, Hot In Cleveland, The Middle, Modern Family, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, The Borgias, Nurse Jackie and  many more serial programs.  Then I also get into watching DIY, Discovery, PBS, the History Channel, E!, Comedy Central, the Food Network, A&E, TruTV, Animal Planet and the Weather Channel.  I have favorites on each of those.  And there are several well-scripted reality shows I watch such as "Gene Simmons" and "The Apprentice."

Every once in a while I will discover an old show that I had never watched when it originally aired (The Golden Girls, Firefly, Everybody Loves Raymond...) and I will dedicate blocks of my time to "marathon" viewing.  I have missed so much.  I don't think I will ever catch up.  This will be hard for you to believe, but I never have seen a single episode of "Mister Peepers."  It starred Wally Cox as Mr. Peepers, and it was on from 1952 until 1955.  I know, I know, it IS available on DVD.  What's a poor boy to do?

If Saint Pete requires passing a TV trivia quiz in order to enter the pearly gates, I am doomed.  There is so much to see and so little lifetime to see it.  I could probably do well if the category is "1960's Westerns" or "Archie Bunker Quotations," but if it's "Snooki and the Situation Trivia" or "Who Are the Stars on Dancing With the Stars," then its off to hell with or without the hand basket.

The only show that may be coming off my list is "Two and Half Men."  I cannot imagine Ashton Kutcher even coming close to Charlie Sheen's humor.  I'll give it a shot and see, but my hopes are not very high.   I never viewed Kutcher as a believable actor. Even on "Punked" he wasn't that convincing, and he was portraying his own self.  Hard to comprehend why Ashton is getting one million dollars per episode.  I would have done it for half that.  And I openly admit I cannot act.  That makes me one notch above the Kutch.