What We Watch on TV

In an effort to break a three month writer's block, I'm posting an entry about what we have on our DVR. Nielsen Media, I'm here if you're interested. To give this post structure, I'll follow the "Top Ten" format.


10. Top Chef
I love this show. It would be my top show if this were a bachelor's DVR. But, it's not and therefore there are 9 other shows in front of it on the pecking order. Ironically, we seem to always eat something really bland on the night we watch this show. It makes the food on the screen seem that much more enticing. My favorite Top Chef contestant of all time: Hung. Watching him dismember chickens was liquid gold.

9. The Real Housewives of Orange County/New York/Atlanta
Train wreck. That's the only way to describe this show. In O.C., it's silicone and botox mixed with greed and lack of parenting skills. In NYC, it seems to be long vacations, big shopping budgets, and skimpy Speedos mixed with poor parenting skills. Atlanta deserves a separate post of its own...let's just say that those "ladies" could benefit from a heavy does of some Emily Post and, true to form, the kids seemed to raise themselves.

8. Numb3rs
Kate thinks the lead actor, David Krumholtz, is the bees knees. All I know is that he looks like my friend Bobby Cuza. The plots are interesting enough, and they try to be kind of Tom Clancy with a mixture of numbers, science, and criminology. It just seems really forced.

7. Criminal Minds
Once again, watching this show as a couple reminds me of the fact that Kate has a "thing" for Agent Gibson. The show consistently delivers a balanced diet of cerebral and visceral crime drama. I'll forgive it the occasional cut corner when it comes to plot or special effect in the interest of the greater story line...an FBI unit that follows psychotic or serial killers. Extra points for
Mandy Patinkin ("Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father...prepare to die.")

6. CSI: New York
It's pretty much the CSI formula. Crime Drama + beautiful agents + Encyclopedia Brown sized capers. The big difference here is the lighting. Whereas Vegas has dark lighting, CSI: Miami has neon lighting, New York has "dramatic lighting" which also seems dark to me. On the CSI scale, I put it ahead of Miami, behind Vegas.

5. Gossip Girl
Blake Lively...Yowza! I think there are other actors and actresses in this show. I'm not really sure about much else. I like the way it uses mobile technology to show how the kids spread information and rumors about one another. Now, if I coud just get my mobile content placed on this show...

4.CSI: Las Vegas
The O.G. DNA tracking, crime scene investigation, murder scene depicting, drama series. I will never forget picking this up on Netflix, back when Kate and I were dating... We'd watch CSI: Las Vegas DVDs for hours on end, just soaking it all up. This series is just, plain, good. We'll miss Grissom.

3. Sesame Street
Timeless. I watched it. Jimmy watches it. Mary Kate watches it. I love how they work in the celebrity guest stars. Current fav: "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" by Aaron Neville.

2. Caillou
At first, I hated this bratty kid. All I new was that if I turned it on, Jimmy would sit mesmerized for 30 minutes as this little French Canadian bald boy would bitch and moan about his day to day activities. Pretty soon, I was hooked and found myself liking little Caillou. It doesn't hurt that his parents are clearly hippies. Mom rocks the one-piece and clearly doesn't wear a bra. Go Caillou's mommy! Caillou's daddy clearly loses his keys and wallet about as often as I do, which is daily. I'm starting to feel a connection here...

1. Thomas the Train
According to Quicken, Thomas the Train ranks somewhere between "rent" and "college loans" on my monthly expenses. As goes Jimmy's obsession, so goes our DVR. 'Nuff said. Thomas grew on me. I'm beginning to really get into the stories and the narration. Favorite engine: Silly Billy.

Honorable Mention:
- Miss America
- Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
- Jon and Kate Plus 8
- Real World
- The Hills
- The City
- The Secret Life of the American Teenager
- 90210


What we LOVED and wish there were more episodes of:
- Arrested Development
- The Wire

Stuff we used to record, but don't anymore:
- Jeopardy
- CSI: Miami

What we're not watching, but that I hear about ALL THE TIME:
- Heroes
- Lost