Television Picks

According to the onscreen guide, I have about almost 100 free television programs (plus 40 music channels) available through my cable box. I've been in Chicago for over five years now, and I think there are channels I've still never watched. I'll venture that of those 100 channels, at any given time 95 of the programs offered are lousy, and maybe one is good by my standards. Yet, for some reason, I can't unilaterally condemn the machine. I'm reminded of the Old Testament story that if there were ten, just ten, holy people in the city, God would not destroy it. So I still look for redeeming programs. Much praise for TiVo, which I can't recommend enough. After several years with the box, it's hard to watch TV without it; I keep wanting to hit pause.

Redeeming programs can either question or entertain. Entertainment is tricky, because the show can be funny without being painful. I don't need another in-law joke, or comment about Janet Reno's blue dress, or the fact that if Mr. Cheney's heart fails, George W. Bush would become president. Give me innovative comedy, please. Entertainment can also come by presenting an interesting situation or challenge in a well-thought-out way. But the best programs question things. Through strong portrayals and plots and writing, we're forced to look at others and think about ourselves, or consider concepts like good and evil we often ignore. I want characters to change, struggle, and toil, and I don't always desire the Disney ending.

What's on My TiVo

Gilmore Girls. Lesser men might be embarassed by putting a show with female leads at the top, but that's not me. A show on the WB, this is the most intelligent show on mainstream TV right now, not afraid to quote Mussolini if circumstances warrant. Perhaps the witticisms are too fast and furious, but I'd like to converse like Lorelai and Rory. Not watering down speech is a good way to make this list.
Veronica Mars. This is another intelligent show that takes advantage of TV. TV is made for quick witticisms, close-ups, and drama. Characters can grow and change. Minor characters can become important. Continuity can be maintained. Good and evil can be explored through the same people. Mystery is possible. Similar to other shows I like, there's a clear author, strong roles for both genders, and intelligent talk. This year they're even back to back.
The Amazing Race and Dancing With the Stars. I've always liked game shows, and these two choices are much closer to that format than almost all "reality" pap. I'm a little scared that The Amazing Race is on CBS, whose demographics tend towards Metamucil and Viagra. What happened to me watching just the WB? These are games, and fun games that have a sense of beauty around them. Not every show has to challenge my brain; occasionally it's time to recreate.
The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. The sendup of events and occurrences is great. The amazing part is that Jon Stewart gets political figures, both Republican and Democrat, on serious topics, generally those ignored by others. Stephen Colbert, in the spinoff, has improved and is often funnier than his lead-in. These are the two best News shows on TV, real or fake. That's more a sad commentary on so-called "News" shows than anything else, but it's true.
Scrubs. The comedy that makes me laugh more than any other. It's not afraid to set up jokes, go over the top, and have caricatures. By being sometimes silly, it becomes extra funny.
Battlestar Galactica. Science fiction has an advantage over other genres - it's allowed to have the concepts of good and evil. You see, because to most people they're hypothetical. People have suggested this to me since Season 1, but I just started with Season 3 this fall. I'm not disappointed. The story has good traitors, bad traitors, fallen heroes, redemption, multiple coherent plots, and an arc. Cool.

Old Shows to Find

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My previous favorite show gets its own page. In some ways, it's depressing that one has to look to fantasy to find a world where females are strong. (Quick, name a show with a strong female lead. Tough, huh?) It's also depressing that the show that deals best with responsibility and friendship and love has a name that must drive people away. Though the last two seasons weakened (perhaps a UPN experiment gone wrong), with less focus on evil, it still reigns supreme.
Angel. The spinoff from Buffy (though it stayed on the WB) now deserves its own slot, since I had it on permanent TiVo as well. The fourth and fifth seasons - with the consequences of passion, a baby, and several enemies plotting - had better consistency overall than later Buffy. Again, science fiction; again, dealing with consequences; again, powerful yet fallible characters.
Homicide, Life on the Street. The black Jesuit-educated detective Frank Pembleton, as played by Andre Braugher, is the strongest character I have seen on TV. The power and control amaze me, and lead to one of the guiding principles of my life: "He who loses control loses." Get "The Subway", or "Three Men and Adena", or "Extreme Unction" and be amazed; there's no way to avoid the questions and pain.
Sports Night. My night owl habits allowed me to watch a few episodes of this old Sorkin show, and it falls into the category of shows not afraid to run without a laugh track. Actually, the first few episodes have laughs, and I cringe; they're so out of place. Why don't more people understand how to be funny without guffaws and sex jokes? Beats me.
Joan of Arcadia. It's a show about God. And it's not a show with unlikeable characters that pretend to be Christian (yes, I'm thinking of you, 7th Heaven!) The single best hour of television I saw in 2003-04 was "Jump", episode 12, which at least wins the award for most creative use of a science fair. Overall, the characters struggle with the concept of the creator, and the concept of living a good life. In other words, they're like typical folks, just better written.
Babylon 5. I don't watch many movies, which confuses people because I do watch TV. Well, besides the cost and time factor, a single two hour journey doesn't provide the expanse for character development. People always claim that these 'art house' joints provide such brilliant characters. I never see why. On the other hand, a coherent TV drama has about 15 hours per year to keep things moving. JMS's work shows why the long form's better.
Iron Chef. No other show focuses on beauty under pressure better. The way master chefs can create stunning delicious masterworks under such time pressure amazes me. Part of life is appreciating elegance and the goodness of creation, and this reminds me of that part. It's on the Food Network, but avoid Iron Chef America, which has no concept of beauty.

The Big Screen

I prefer television over movies, because movies don't have enough time to tell complicated, multiperson stories. The advantage of films is their brevity, the ability to concentrate on a small portion of the human condition, and tell it with flair. The other option is to tell a humorous tale, not needing to satisfy mass market commercial sensibility. My favorite movies work this way. I don't like gratitutous violence, profanity, or sex. There's a place for that, and I can like funny non-bitter raunchy stuff. Random violence is harder, though; I value human life too much for random shooting. Also, it frustrates me that violence is considered so much less damaging. Two swear words earn a movie an "R", as does any female nipple. Blood everywhere, though, does not. It's just more evidence of confused American sexuality.

There are a few things I like about movies, nevertheless. I like comedy through words, like His Girl Friday and Office Space. Big dance numbers always help a movie, like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I like well-played drama with a moral element, like Citizen Kane. The ambiguity of movies like Falling Down and The Apostle is often interesting, though a movie has to have good and evil, not just amoral folks. Endings that don't resort to the Disney formula are very appealing. Josh being sad as he wins in Searching for Bobby Fischer is one example. Roman Holiday and the 1962 version of the Manchurian Candidate are others, though I won't spoil those endings here.

As you might expect from this introduction, I don't visit theaters much. In 2005 I saw four movies in the cinema. This may not seem high, but it's higher than any other year of my life. Maybe if I write brief reviews, you can see how I think.

Chronicles of Narnia: A good movie, not a great one. The source material is excellent, of course, and it's good credit that the story is faithful. The children act well. Where the movie fails is in subtraction and addition. The movie subtracts moral ambiguity; the White Queen is too obviously evil, and Edward falls too fast. The story doesn't need added wisecracking animals. Most painfully, the battle between good and bad forces is too dramatic; the director thought he was Peter Jackson in Lord of the Rings, with fancy expensive CGI, where it's clearly not appropriate.
Walk the Line: A very good movie showing the strengths and weaknesses of the format. Reese Witherspoon is excellent as June Carter, and Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash well. I learned about their story, even if there were some unneeded digressions just to get Elvis and others in. But that's all I get from this movie, most of a story - most religious aspects are gone, of course. Is it that movies are preferred by people with short attention spans?
Serenity: Another good, not great film. Joss Whedon's Firefly, as you might expect, was television I like - intelligently humorous, developing, bi-gendered, and moral. Not surprisingly, it got cancelled quickly. The film version plays like a triple-length episode of TV. While I enjoyed it, it didn't attract a large audience, and that's not surprising. The marketing was targeted, and the film is missing the large pieces and explosions that play better on 15 foot screens. Nine characters are too much for a movie; it needed the backstory of television.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin: The best of the four films I saw. Yes, it's very raunchy. No, I don't like old South Asian men swearing randomly, as that's not funny. Nevertheless, I laughed many times through these two hours. More importantly, it wasn't offending, surprising my friend sitting next to me. Unlike lots of movies, the basic tone isn't bitter, and the virgin lead isn't played for ridicule or scorn. That was pleasantly surprising. Plus, there's a big dance number at the end.

Updated October 2006.