Dave and I spent the past week catching up on our DVR recordings. While I used to always think of myself as someone who didn’t watch all that much television, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I watch TONS of television, just hardly ever when the shows initially air. I’m a tv-watching marathoner. Here’s some of what I’ve been viewing and what I think is worth you guys checking out:

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (13 episodes)

This is Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s new CBS sitcom. While the first episode of Christine was a bit flat, the remaining ones were absolutely hysterical. Louis-Dreyfus relies a lot on facial expressions and awkward physical comedy to get the laughs, and it works. But it’s really the exceptional writing and spot-on timing that put this show over the top. Check out my full review of The New Adventures of Old Christine HERE. I made a video clip HERE of a really funny scene (it’s about 2 minutes); or click HERE to view it on YouTube.) The show will return to the CBS line-up in the Fall.

CONVICTION (13 episodes)

From the creators of Law & Order, Conviction is an NBC’s law drama that focuses on the lives of New York City Assistant District Attorneys and their everyday work life. What’s refreshing about this show is that the characters are not perfect, they don’t win every case, and they don’t have all the answers. These ADAs are low-paid novices doing the grunt work and oftentimes, they make mistakes. But they’re not idiots, just a bit naive. And their leader? Stephanie March, reprising her Law & Order: SVU character ADA Alexandra Cabot, now the Bureau Chief. Unfortunately, the show was NOT renewed, but you can get all 13 episodes at the iTMS for $1.99 each.

DOG BITES MAN (10 episodes)

New from Comedy Central, it’s the comedy of Anchorman with the mockumentary style of The Office, with the added element of improvisation. The show goes behind the scenes of local news station KHBX-12 in Spokane, WA, and follows the fictional new team — who boast about being known for their hard-hitting exposes — as they interview real people who aren’t aware that the reporters are actually actors! The first episode, which aired last night, shows the team at sexual harassment sensitivity training where we learn some of the embarrassing sexual exploits they had with one another!

BIG LOVE (12 episodes)

I didn’t think I’d be interested in a show about polygamists in Utah, it just seemed too clique, but since Big Love comes on right after The Sopranos, I stuck around to check it out. At first, I just couldn’t figure out why exactly so many women wanted to have sex with Bill Paxton. But after viewing the entire first season — where Paxton plays the husband of three wives — I definitely see the appeal. Paxton’s Bill Hendrickson is sweet, caring, responsible, and damn, does he have a chiseled ass! Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin play Bill’s wives — and mothers to his seven children — whose jealousies and internal power struggle keep the drama high. But aside from the family life and efforts to keep their arrangement a secret from outsiders (polygamy is illegal), Bill is engaged in a deadly battle with Roman, the leader of a fundamentalist polygamy compound who holds a financial grip on Bill’s successful home improvement stores. The show has been renewed for a second season.

Tags: New Adventures of Old Christine x Television x Big Love x Dog Bites Man x Conviction

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 8th, 2006 at 10:29 pm and is filed under The GeekZine, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.