Lost in TV Land

I would be writing more blog posts if I could pull myself away from the Psych marathon that has been running in our house since Sunday. I know I've mentioned that I love this show but since we picked up Netflix and I have access to the first four seasons, it's all I've been watching. And really all I've been doing.

Jeff and I got hooked on Psych while watching reruns that ran after Burn Notice. I wasn't really sure I wanted a new series but this one was just so well written and so much fun that we stayed. It was the fourth season so we knew we had missed a ton of episodes. When we got Netflix, the first and second seasons were one of the first things we added to our queue. We would watch them an episode at a time for a while. Until this past week that is. Suddenly I can't stop. We've been watching at least three to four episodes every night.

I love a good well written TV show and Psych is definitely well written. The dialogue is quick and witty. There is so much variety in the types of episodes that it's impossible to get bored. One episode that we watched recently was a classic horror film, last night it was a monster movie, and right after that was a Bollywood movie. The show is constantly playing with genres, camera angles, and mood. One day it's Keystone Cops and the next Law and Order.

But the thing I love most about the show is the characters. Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) are constantly playing off each other and the effect is hilarious. The situations that Shawn gets them into are both embarrassing and side-splitting. Gus plays the straight man to Shawn's wackiness but Gus is such a great physical actor that his face often says more than his mouth. Shawn's Dad Henry is played by Corbin Bensen with tons of sarcasm but some good heart. He's the tough cop who can still find time to take care of Shawn.

And of course there are the cops. Juliet O'Hara is played by Maggie Lawson as the cop looking to make her way up the police ladder while still helping Shawn. She's sweet but still tough enough to handle the police work. On the tough side there's Carlton Lassiter who's played by Timothy Omundson. Lassie (as the boys call him) is the ultimate aggressive cop. He's only happy when he's bringing down bad guys and firing his gun. He's the perfect straight man for Shawn and Gus but he's such a great over the top character that his lines end up being hilarious. I have to admit that I've developed a bit of a crush on Lassiter. Not sure why. He's just such an interesting character.

It's a great series. And I'm horribly addicted. Jeff and I should be through the series this weekend and I have to admit that I'm thinking of leaving them in the queue. I know I'll be going back to my favorite episodes over and over.

My Head is Officially Mush

TV, even good intelligent witty TV, makes me stupid. If I want to turn my brain off for a couple days the fastest way is to watch some television. I'm not only stupid when I'm watching the shows, but for a couple hours afterward. So you would think I would turn the TV off and get things done. You would think that I would just avoid watching anything. You would think.... And you'd be wrong.

Cast of White Collar

The problem is that cable channel USA has developed a number of original series that are so fiendishly addictive that I am powerless to their pull. It started with NCIS, my gateway drug into the USA world. I started watching NCIS reruns on USA and then started seeing ads for some of their original programming. The first one we tuned into was White Collar. I've talked about my nearly obsessive addiction to White Collar here. That show lead us to Burn Notice, the series about a burned spy who is working to get himself back into the good graces of his employers. With a great cast and an engaging ongoing story, Burn Notice is intelligent narration and dialogue mixed with explosions and car chases. How could I not be hooked?



Then last year after watching a White Collar episode, Jeff and I stuck around to catch another of USA's originals Psych. This humorous police drama about a fake psychic detective and his partner quickly became my new favorite show. Shawn and Gus are hilarious and the rest of the police force play straight man beautifully. It's quirky and witty. I've been thinking about going back to the archives and watching the first three seasons, since we only started catching it in the fourth.

Cast of Psych

The last of the shows, and the most recently one to have been added, is Royal Pains. A medical drama/comedy about a concierge doctor in the Hamptons, has a great cast of characters, some beautiful scenery, and a lot of humor. Jeff fought watching this one for a while but I think we both have finally become hooked. But this leads me to my issue. This is the season for new episodes. White Collar has a new episode every Tuesday night, Psych is Wednesday night, Burn Notice and Royal Pains are Thursday. So every night this past week I have plopped myself in front of the TV to watch these shows. And that means that I'm not getting anything else done.

The even sadder thing is that once the new episodes are over, I stick around to watch whatever rerun is on. I've watched the new White Collar episode three times this week, including twice in one night. And the worst part is that I'm not looking to change. I've never been a huge TV fan, but suddenly I'm looking forward to "my shows", a phrase I had hoped never to utter. I used to get so frustrated with people who would run home to catch a particular show on TV and now I'm the one doing it. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. My brain is officially heading downhill. Thank god I'll be entertained on the way down.

Crime Drama That's Criminal to Miss

I've had a lot of time to watch TV these last couple weeks. In fact it's one of the few things I can do once I get home from work. I find that most of the time I'm too worn out for any real writing and reading hasn't sounded all that good. So the TV goes on and I become a blob on the couch.

Most of the time I don't watch much though. If the TV's on I'll check out a old Mythbusters episode, or a rerun of NCIS. But that's really it. And I never plan my evenings around a show. That is, until recently. Jeff and I have become completely enraptured with USA's new series White Collar. The show follows the exploits of Neal Caffrey (a master forger and white collar criminal) and his brand new boss Peter Burke (FBI agent). Peter is the only person that's been able to capture Neal before and when he escapes from prison, Peter is brought in to recapture him. But this time, Neal isn't sent back to jail. He's given an tracking anklet, a two mile radius, and begins to work with the FBI solving forgery and other white collar crimes.


Like that other Odd Couple series from days ago, this show is all about the differences between the two characters. Peter is incredibly smart but by the book and a little on the dull side. Neal, on the other hand, is charming, manipulative, cocky, and impulsive although he's just as smart. The two play off each other beautifully. Peter is constantly frustrated by how easily things come to Neal and Neal is always trying to get Peter to see things in less than black and white. Each episode is a different case although there is one thread that runs through the whole series. Neal escaped from prison to save his girlfriend Kate. He has had contact with her but she is being held by someone. The series interlaces the crimes with the hunt for Kate.


It's hard to imagine that the premise of this show would make it all that good. When we first saw previews for the show not only was I not really interested, I was a bit annoyed with how frequently they were played. But after the first twenty minutes of the first show (Neal's amazingly daring escape from prison) I was interested. In the first episode, when Peter leads Neal to his new home (a seedy motel) and then returns the next morning to find him living rent free in a Penthouse apartment (must be nice to have charm), Jeff and I were intrigued. And the end of the first episode sealed it for me. After that, Jeff and I made no plans for Friday night. We had a date with White Collar. The new season starts tonight and from now on I won't have any plans for Tuesdays. I never expected to like a series this much. But it's just too clever, too witty, and too engaging to pass up. A guilty pleasure but a somewhat intelligent one.





Main Cast from left to right: Peter Burke (Tim DeKay), Elizabeth Burke, Peter's wife (Tiffani Thiessen), Neal Caffrey (Matthew Bomer), and Mozzie, Neal's friend and fellow con (Willie Garson)