What I've Been Watching -OR- "But you love Huey Lewis and the News." "But they don’t know that!"

I have no idea what I'm doing with this blog anymore... It takes a lot of time to write a post, and I'm not even writing that much! So, while I ponder things over, let's talk about what I've been watching lately:

"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", 1993–1999.
I'm really excited to be watching this! You all know my feelings for Star Trek: The Next Generation (except that I wrote that I thought Riker was a hottie. He's indeed handsome, but I really did like Data the most). I hadn't seen the TV series since I was a kid. A few months ago, I found out it was on Netflix instant watch, so I re-watched the whole series, and it was glorious. (And now I don't know who has more of my heart: Data, or Worf.) But then, I felt empty when it was all over. Well, I'd briefly watched DS9 back when it was on the air, but I stopped, and I think it's because I didn't think it was as awesome as TNG. But hey, I discovered that it's on instant watch as well! What a perfect way to fill my TNG void, plus I've been promised that things get awesome by the third season. I'm about two-thirds through the first season right now. It's okay so far, I like it but I'm looking forward to when the show starts coming in to its own.

"Castle", 2009–Present.
I love me some Nathan Fillion, and I started watching this during the third season to get my Fillion Fix. But now I'm thoroughly enjoying the show! The writing can be a little unoriginal and the characters can be a little predictable, but I like 'em all. And Rick Castle just seals the deal for me. I need to get my hands on the first few seasons for more Fillion. Plus, Beckett is a sizzling badass.

"Parks and Recreation", 2009–Present.
I'm so happy this show is hitting its stride, and that it's getting the props it deserves!!!!!!! (Here's my previous review of the first two seasons.) I think it's one of the funniest and most original shows on the air currently. All of the characters are amazing. Yes, Ron Swanson, but also all the rest of them. "Treat Yo Self 2011!"

"Up All Night", Now!
I love this show! Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph: they're so good and funny in this! (Also, surprisingly, is Nick Cannon. And one of my favorite Lonely Island dudes makes a guest appearance!) Plus it's great to see Will Arnett move away from his (admittedly spectacular) crazy weirdo roles and play an actual person for once. (Who knew he could be so endearing!) The show itself is decent, it has a lot of promise and there are lots of laughs in the mix. I also find it relatable, even though I don't have a baby...? Maybe it's just 'cuz I'm getting old, dudes. Check out this recap of my favorite episode so far: Cool Neighbors. Definitely give this show a whirl, and join me on the "I Think They Can" train!

Bonus: Show I Miss Watching:

"Chuck", 2007–Present.
I know: what?! It's not an amazing show, but it was really fun, and Zachary Levi is kind of cute. And, Adam Baldwin!! I don't have cable and don't get the basic channels on my TV, so all my television goodies come from Netflix and Hulu Plus through the PS3. And Chuck isn't on Hulu Plus. Chuck is on regular Hulu though. I haven't really watched anything on regular Hulu before, but I may as well give it a go...

Fun Fact: It took me three hours to write this. Three Whole Hours. That's 4 episodes of DS9 I could have been watching! Lame.

SUGAH SLAM!

"Parks and Recreation", 2008–Present. Three Stars (currently, and so far!).

The first season was okay. It reminded me of the British "Office" in that it definitely makes you cringe like crazy (though it's not nearly as cringeworthy); in the British "Office," however, no one's a very good person, so it's easier to come to terms with all of the horrible, embarrassing-to-watch antics that happen. "Parks" is actually harder to watch because Leslie Knope is such a nice and good person, and her naiveté is from genuine niceness, not jackass-iness. So you really feel for the poor girl.

All of the other characters in the show, however, are just terrible, selfish people, and they're not very nice to Leslie, which is difficult for me to watch. Because no one cared about anyone else, I didn't care about them, and how do you watch a show when you don't care about what you're watching? But I cared about Leslie, and I wanted to see something good finally happen to her... Well, in general, I felt that this show had potential, so I stuck with it.

There's a welcome shift in Season 2, which makes it way more enjoyable so far: the characters seem to start noticing Leslie's genuine and plucky attitude, and it's making everyone not as mean. And it's nice to see people start to come around to Leslie's side and actually support her. So now the episodes aren't just a total shitfest on the main character! And, the show is funny! Episode 2 ("The Stakeout") is pretty great, but really, I think the episodes keep getting better and better.

Amy Poehler is amazing as the show's clueless but confident lead. I like her work in general, but it's so so good to see her in a lead role! Rashida Jones is a great "straight man," and she's just so super cute. And Aziz Ansari is hilarious, I love that guy!

I don't know if this show's for everybody, but if you want to, give it a shot. I went from kind of dreading watching it, to looking forward to watching it. It gets a thumbs up from me!

"Stuff you Jemaine, and stuff you Bret. And stuff you again Jemaine!" "Why did I get double stuffed??"

"Flight of the Conchords", 2007–Present(?). Four Stars.

I was lucky that my boyfriend Tim introduced me to this show by the second episode; I avoided all the subsequent hype, which allowed me to bypass any sort of expectation, which enabled me to fully enjoy it!

This was the order I started watching it: Episode 2, Episode 1, then their HBO comedy special. At first, I was all, "What??" But then I was all, "HOT DAMN these guys are weird and funny!" Been hooked ever since.

If you've never seen the show before, I suggest starting with Season 1. You can either watch them in order, or check out the following few episodes (my faves) in preferably this order:

Season 1, Episode 3: Mugged
Season 1, Episode 7: Drive By
Season 1, Episode 6: Bowie

Season 1 is great, even though some of the episodes aren't that strong. It's a great introduction to the characters and their style of song-writing and humor.

I was so stoked when it turned out that Season 2 was in fact a fact and not a myth! It's quite different than Season 1 because: In Season 1, the episodes were written around already-existing songs. This contributed to a sense of flexibility and random fun that I fell in love with. But in Season 2, they'd ran out of songs and had to write all new ones. So because of this, the songs revolved around the episodes, which created a different style of writing. I loved this, as well! Plus, they obviously got more $$ for Season 2, so it was cool to see where they could take the show and their songs with more available resources. Also, I feel like there were less weak episodes than in Season 1.

Um, I feel like I must admit that Jemaine appeared in one of my dreams after the first time I watched the show... I think both Jemaine and Bret are super cuties (Bret's gorgeous, but I think Jemaine's more my type, it might be the glasses), but what really gets me is how WEIRD they are! I love it!

I'm going to see them play in April. Kristen Schaal, who plays Mel (their only fan), is opening up for them. She's HYSTERICAL!! The show wouldn't be nearly as good without her!

I wanted to leave you with a video of the first part of "Season 1, Episode 3: Mugged," but I can't find it on YouTube anymore. Blast!! I think it's a great intro to the show. But instead, I will leave you with the Ladies of the World video that Tim and I found randomly one day! It's one of my favorite songs, and the video is pretty bizarre.

"I don't want to be human! I want to see gamma rays! I want to hear X-rays! And I want to — I want to smell dark matter!..."

"...Do you see the absurdity of what I am? ...I'm a machine! And I can know much more! I can experience so much more. But I'm trapped in this absurd body! And why? Because my five creators thought that God wanted it that way!"
— Brother Cavil

"Battlestar Galactica", 2004–2009. Five Stars.

YES FIVE STARS! ITS MY HIGHEST RANKING!! This was such a stupendous series. There is so much to say. But I will only say a few important things.

Yeah I'm in to Science Fiction, which is why I started watching it. Interestingly, I'd never seen any of the original series (neither '78 nor '80), and I kind of refused to watch "Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries" because I thought it looked dumb. But when they made it into a TV series, I decided to give it a shot. AND I LOVED IT!! Robots! Apocalyptic themes! Space travel!

But wait, there's more! There's also amazing acting! Drama! Mind-blowing character development! Heavy religious and philosophical themes! I consider this more of a drama/thriller than a straight-up sci-fi show.

After the first or second season, I did go back and watch The Miniseries. And yup, it was good!

I LOVE HOW THE SERIES ENDED. I won't mention anything because I don't want to spoil it, but if you want to fight about it in real life, just name the time and the place!!

There was a separate miniseries called "Razor", which was pretty intense. Though it was a little difficult to watch at some parts, I dug it.

I haven't watched this; I'm generally not a fan of webisode "extras" that go along with TV series. Has anyone seen 'em though? Recommend watching them?

All of the actors are PHENOMENAL, and it would take up too much of my time and patience to write all about it here. But I want to mention, the one actor I'm most impressed with is Tricia Helfer, who plays the Six models. She's pretty darn hot, and it's no surprise to me that she was a model. But I am surprised that she was relatively new to acting when she started the show. She did an AWESOME job playing the different Six Cylons, which had the most significant and varied personalities and looks, most notably "Caprica Six" (both the version that Baltar sees and the real life one, who are both so different), and the abused & raped victim-turned-warrior "Gina Inviere" found on Battlestar Pegasus. Lately I've been noticing her on some other shows too, like "Burn Notice" and "Chuck". I hope she keeps up the good work!

I recommend this show. It might be a good idea to start with the Miniseries first, then watch Season 1. And if you're not feeling it after Season 1, then you can choose to stop watching if you want. But I suggest watching all of the seasons before you come to a conclusion.

So, there's going to be a movie called "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan". It's about everything that happened, but from the Cylon point of view. I'll check it out, it could be pretty interesting!

I am, however, not really looking forward to "Caprica", which is supposedly a new TV series happening later this year. It deals with the Adama family and happenings on Caprica 50 years before "BSG." So it'll deal with topics like the development of the Cylons and how the war came about and such. This could be a terrible, terrible spin-off, but I'm still probably going to give it a chance.

"I'm Not From Here! I Have My Own Customs! Look at My Crazy Passport!"

Futurama, 1999–2003, 2008–Present? Three and a Half Stars.

I didn't get to watch a lot of Futurama when it was originally aired, but Comedy Central has been re-airing old episodes. Even though I only seem to catch the same few episodes over and over... they're pretty darn funny! This was a good show!

So, following in the footsteps of Family Guy and Jericho (well, not any more), Futurama is apparently back on the air. Huzzah! Last weekend the two-hour season premiere, Bender's Big Score, aired. It was hilarious! But when I tried to find out about this show online, I guess this was considered a movie? Click on that last link; what?? I just can't believe that I hadn't known that there was a Futurama movie.

I set up a series recording on my DVR to record all the Futurama repeats, and now I'm seeing lots of episodes I didn't even knew existed previously. This post's title is a quote from one of my favorite episodes, "Raging Bender" (I don't care what that reviewer wrote, I still think it's a wicked funny episode).

Also, I always loved the title "Futurama," it's hysterical and ridiculous and totally up my alley!