Fall TV is here! And that means I now spend approximately 50% of my time reading episode recaps. Mostly on The AV Club. (I used to be really into the recaps on Vulture, but they are not as quick to post and The AV Club really reeled me in with its grading system.) Of course, I watch all of the shows that I read about. But I watch a lot of shows so I end up reading a lot of recaps. What was I read-watching (watch-reading? I dunno) this week?
– Adventure Time: I caught up on a few recent episodes (“Earth & Water” and “Time Sandwich”, for those of you who are fans) this week. I thought the review of “Earth & Water” was particularly thoughtful.
– Breaking Bad: Duh. I’ve never been as big of a fan of this show as my friends/everyone on the internet seems to be. But…I have been the opposite of bored by this season and find that I look forward to reading the recaps on Sunday evenings after the show airs to see if I missed anything.
– Boardwalk Empire: I vowed to stop watching this show after Season 2 ended because I thought it would hurt too much to not see Michael Pitt’s beautiful face every week. Also, it’s just not a great show. It’s fine. But I like period pieces and Steve Buscemi, so.
– Broadchurch: This show has been on BBC America for six weeks now. I don’t get BBC America on Verizon FiOS, which is currently the greatest tragedy in my life, so I watch this on Amazon. Anyway, if you’re not watching it, you should be.
– New Girl: Perhaps the greatest surprise of my life – thus far – was that I started watching and liking New Girl last year. (I would recommend everyone start with Season 2 and then go back and watch Season 1, like I did. Season 2 is just so much better.) I watched the Season 3 premiere late last night and literally thought about reading the review – which I accurately predicted would be a B+ – when I woke up this morning, which is a sad and very revealing fact about me.
—
So, what else? I am still reading Last Call because it’s really impossible for me to read non-fiction quickly, unless it’s like David Grann or Geoff Dyer or John Jeremiah Sullivan. (OMG, note to self: I should write about how much I love John Jeremiah Sullivan soon.)
Also, I am getting really excited to see Anna Nicole the Opera next week. The review in the New York Times was great. Reading it made me revisit one of my favorite magazine pieces of the recent past, a New York Magazine feature on Anna Nicole published shortly after the original production of the opera opened in London in 2011. I actually ripped this story out of the magazine and still have it in my “inspiration files” because it really is such “a peculiarly American story”.
One last thing: I don’t read advice columns very often, but this one on The Awl today caught my eye. Probably because the headline is “Am I Really Just A Booty Call?”. And, you know, maybe that is a question I have encountered in some fashion before. Anyway, I thought there was some pretty great advice in there for young, intelligent women who are in possession of smartphones. (I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, but I guess I wouldn’t stop anyone from trying some of the things she suggests.)
I love recaps too! I just rewatched “Freaks and Geeks,” and there’s a great recap series on the AV club. But I gave in and gorged on episodes and now I’m ahead of the recaps.
I also love “Television without Pity” for recaps. Some of the writers are better than others – a great recapper can be like a friend watching along with you – Jacob Clifton on TWP is one that jumps immediately to mind.
I never read TWP but I will be doing so from now on. Thank you!