Big Bang Theory

A while ago I wrote about my love for geeky men. I'm the one drooling over the guy in glasses playing D&D until all odd hours. Dressing up as a Klingon for a convention is actually a plus rather than a minus. Most geeks I know are passionate about things and that's incredibly attractive. And so of course I've started watching The Big Bang Theory. And have completely lost my mind over the show. 

I'm late to the party as usual. The show already has five seasons under it's belt and I've just started watching. When it first came out, everyone raved. I knew people who wouldn't go out on Mondays so they could catch it. It was all the rage. So of course I refused to watch. It has only been since the reruns have started in syndication that I've become hooked on the show. Okay not hooked, addicted. Obsessed. I watch numerous episodes a night and am still disappointed when the programming changes. I've been debating buying whole seasons even if I haven't seen half of the episodes (rare for me). It's just so cleverly written. The dialogue sparkles, the retorts are witty, the jokes are funny, and the cast is just fantastic. Even the science is good (so good I have to look things up a lot). 

 And of course I love the boys. Not just because of the rounds of Klingon Boggle or Halo nights. Or because of the way they are passionate about their work. I love their geekiness. Their comic-loving, cosplay-dressing, board-gaming playing selves. I have a mad crush on Leonard although that doesn't surprise me since I had a crush on Johnny Galecki when he was on Rosanne years ago. Nothing has changed there. Except the glasses are a little better and the clothes are definitely better. But what startles me is how much I adore Sheldon. He's meant to be irritating. He's meant to be frustrating. And yet I still find his odd idiosyncrasies adorable. And I find his arrogance hot. I'm not sure why. Perhaps that odd mix of arrogance and fragility makes me want to protect and throttle him at the same time. Either way I know that eventually I'll buy at least one or two of the seasons. It's too good not to own. And watch over and over. I'm a geek after all. 

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.

Idiot Box Art

For the last year or so (ever since reading The True Meaning of Smekday) I've been following Adam Rex's blog. He's great about putting up sketches and some of his conceptual art. He even puts up characters he's drawn that are waiting to be placed in a story. I love his art style and I love his sense of humor. 

The last couple weeks he has been showing his blog readers the stages of a painting he's working on. He started with conceptual drawings and we have gotten to follow it all the way up to finished piece. The painting is part of a show going on at Gallery 1988 and is an homage to 1980s television shows. The show is called Idiot Box. Rex's contribution is an image from the terrible TV show Small Wonders. So when he linked to the show this past week I had to check it out. And there were some great contributions. 

They had everything from The Snorks, Gumby, The "A" Team, Sesame Street, Alf, Saved By the Bell, Ren & Stimpy, and dozens more. I was in heaven. These are all shows I know and sadly all shows I watched. The art includes oils, watercolors, diorama, sculpture, screenprints, woodcuts, and collage. There is just a ton of artwork there, all for sale. I even thought about picking up one of the Fraggle Rock pieces. I'm sure I probably can't afford it though. (when I went back it had already sold for $2,500, well above my price range!) For anyone who's a child of the Eighties (like I am) you need to check it out. Here are a couple of my favorite pieces. 

McGyver by Wade Schin (and yes I had to check out his website after seeing this.) This piece has already sold.

The Fraggle Rock piece I wanted by Ewelina Ferruso. I love the texture on the trash. Already sold.

And the awesome Schoolhouse Rock collage by Patrick Gannon. Again already sold. 

Check out all the other pieces. A very cool gallery exhibit.