Winter Madness

The dark days of the winter holidays (dark days? that's my natural way to describe the Christmas season? What a Grinch.) are almost over in terms of television. The holidays themselves ended long ago unless of course you live in my house in which we squeeze every last breath out of each Garden Ridge tree and novelty teacup ornament until the night before Valentine's Day. However, brand new episodes of your favorite television shows are beginning to filter back into the DVR lineup. Most notably, NBC returns (on January 20th) with new episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, Community and, last but not least, the glorious return of one of my favorites, Parks and Recreation. So stay tuned for recaps of those episodes next week.

Over this winter break, I told myself I would catch up on shows that I had fallen off my radar. Well, I didn't really do that. Instead I dove into a new crop of shows.

Peep Show: This is a really funny show from Britain about two friends in their late twenties and early thirties. Really, that's about as good of a plot summary as the show needs. It's an interesting way to get into British sitcoms and a natural follow-up for fans of the original BBC version of The Office. It's probably not as universally appealing as The Office but it really speaks the truth about that specific age and lifestyle, no holds barred. Luckily the entire show (which is now in it's 7th series) is available on Hulu.com (click here). It really starts to hit its stride in the 3rd or 4th series once you get a feel for all the characters so give it a try.

Breaking Bad: I am currently in the second season of this show and am not the least surprised as to why people call it the best show on television. I am a huge fan of engrossing, slow-burn, character rich dramas like Mad Men and Deadwood. However, Breaking Bad is a lot easier to enjoy right off the bat. The other shows take a bit to feel out the characters and digest the storyline. Breaking Bad literally opens with the main character driving a busted RV in the middle of the desert filled with lifeless bodies as he pulls a gun out of his underwear and plans to shoot oncoming police. That's the first scene of the whole show. It is ridiculous and I am antsy to get my hands on Season 3. It's not too late to catch up since the episodes fly and Season 4 is probably not going to start up on AMC until mid-late Summer.

Louie: I watched the first few episodes of Louis C.K.'s FX show this summer and loved it but it never set itself into my TV schedule and so my viewings tapered off around the third or fourth show. Anyway, I just watched the entire first season available on Netflix and this show is really groundbreaking for a comedy. First, Louis C.K. is arguably the funniest stand-up comedian working today. Also, he writes, directs and stars in every single episode so he has complete creative control. It is definitely dark at times but the talented visual style and humor are on par with few other comedies, or television shows in general, out there. The episodes "Bully" or "God" are pretty good examples of how the show can be really funny but at the same time incredibly dramatic and endearing.

Also, here's an interesting article written by The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff on 1980's sitcoms. It's kind of long but as somebody who really only saw the ripple effect of these shows growing up but benefited from the groundwork they set for shows like The Simpsons and Seinfeld, it's worth the time.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/1980s-sitcoms,50003/1/