What Am Watching

Like every post, I meant to write this a long time ago. I suspect that now might actually be a good time though, since I'm guessing a lot of you, like me, suddenly find yourself without a whole lot to do. So here are some things that you can watch, most of which are on the internet somewhere or other. Introductions are hard.

First of all, if you didn't see last week's Community, all you need to know is 1) it was maybe the best thing to air on television in the last year, and 2) you are dumb for missing it. The good part comes after three minutes (an aside--what's up with New-Hulu? They seem to have change it--and Wikipedia--in the last hour or so, when I wasn't looking). Since it's not letting me embed, here.

A while back I somehow got pointed toward the works of Charlie Brooker, of which the biggest and best is Screenwipe. Basically a combination of a TV review show and a deconstruction of television itself, it's one of the few TV shows that might actually make you smarter. But not boring like I made it sound--the style is a lot like (and actually inspired) Zero Punctuation, so if you like that, you'll like this. There are six seasons, but those are British Seasons so it's really like two real seasons. Also worth checking out are his other shows, Newswipe, Gameswipe, and You Have Been Watching, all of which are good in their own way (especially Newswipe), but don't have as many episodes (you can get through all three over a long day).

Why We Fight is basically the same as Food Inc, in that it could be really preachy and one-sided, and just take potshots at George Bush (in other words, it could be Fahrenheit 911), but instead it really transcends politics and gets to the bottom of the issue itself. As a result, it's still worth watching no matter who the president is. The whole thing is on Youtube but for some reason the only playlist is backward. Here's part one.

Party Down is another good show that I know you're not watching. Shame on you all. It's a black comedy about caterers in Hollywood, which is a premise that sounds really lame but is actually genius, for reasons I'm not very good at articulating. If you have Netflix the whole thing is on Instant Watch (with new episodes up Friday Mornings); if you don't there are a few episodes up here.

Lastways (that's a word, right?), Doctor Who. I started watching the new episodes and then went back and watched the whole (new) series, which is also Flixable. I sort of assumed this was one of those things nerds liked because nerds like anything with spaceships, but it's actually, gripping, funny and heartfelt, and all around good television. On the other hand, I'm trying to get through Torchwood, but all I can think is "I liked this show better when it was called Angel" (which, incidentally, is also Flixable, but I didn't mention because I already saw it).

Allright, that should hold you guys until the next one of these.