boob tube

[chelidon]

I have to admit, I could probably just do without the TV entirely, except for movies via Netflix. But you know, when you've got a bunch of people in the house splitting the cable bill, that gets it down into the $10-$15/month range per person, and perhaps that's worth it for the few times I watch in an average month. And you can't have a cable modem without paying for digital cable, dammit. And one member of the household who shall remain nameless is an occasional Law & Order addict, and there's the occasional Sci-Fi or History Channel special, or the late-night bizarre TV channel-surf competition (whoever can find the strangest or most surreal thing on TV in the middle of the night -- I almost always win the remote, seeming to have a certain flair for turning up the truly bizarre). Whatever.

But when our new housemate moved into the room where the TV was, we, after some hemming and hawing and protest on my part, moved the TV up into the living room, in front of the Catheter Couch (so-named because it is so hugely sinfully comfortable, with the addition of a catheter and an IV saline/glucose drip, you'd never need to move again). So far I haven't taken the time to run a live coax cable over to that part of the room, so we have movies and no TV, which suits me fine. But I have to admit, I've been spending more time staring at the boob tube in the last week than I have for quite a while. And the reason is four little words. One is "Firefly." And the others are "The Muppet Show." We've been working our way through the 4-DVD Firefly set, and it just keeps getting better. Intelligent, witty dialogue, good plots, strong characters...of course they had to cancel it. Still, I'm thankful for it -- proof positive that someone, somewhere, for some brief duration, can get paid to write well, direct well, cast well, and so on.

And then there's the 4-DVD set of the full first season of the Jim Henson's Muppet Show, just released after what, 25, 30 years? Still, 24 episodes of pure fun, much of which is delightful and intelligent at the same time as being unabashedly goofball, and none of which I have to censor for my kid. If you saw these and loved them, you'll appreciate seeing them all again, years later. If you haven't seen them, do yourself a favor and get a copy. You'll laugh, a lot.

Comments

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm in the same boat with the Muppet Show! We've done two of the DVDs so far. :)

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

We're going to dig into them more tonight, I think, if I can get enough work knocked out. gods, Henson was a genius.

[eeedge.livejournal.com]

I think that they wrote well and cast well for Angel and Buffy, too. I just didn't really *like* any of the characters in Angel, and jolly few of them in Buffy. I really like almost everyone in Firefly.

I'm with the masses, though. Out of Gas is my favorite. It's made me cry each time.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

hmm, I think that's the next one I have yet to see -- maybe tonight ;>

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

Out of Gas is amazing.

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

I have to second about the casting and writing, etc. on Buffy and Angel - though I like all the characters on both shows, so that's different. To paraphrase, God is Joss and Joss is God and God is a person like Joss Whedon.

Also . . . The Muppet Show is on DVD?????!!! :runs off to buy a copy:

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

lso . . . The Muppet Show is on DVD?????!!! :runs off to buy a copy:

Yes, yes! You mussst buy the dissssk... :>

It's just season 1, but that's still 24 episodes. Looking at the guest star list is a serious blast from the past.

Agreed about Mssr. Whedon. The bunch of us watching the first couple of episodes were noting that this is one of the few recent series where they surprise you by having the characters do the smart thing, and in keeping with their character, rather than the really dumb thing that fits a stereotype or is the formula thing to do. You know, that point where you say, "oh for goodness sake, just kill him..." ...and they do. Astonishing.

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. It's actual writing. ;-) I have loved Joss for it ever since the premise behind Buffy became well-known: you know that blonde girl in all the horror movies that wanders helpless into the [alley, woods, parking lot, taffy factory] and dies at the hands of the relentless, murderous villain? what if, instead, she kicked the villain's ass?

The Firefly characters are amazing, as is everything else about the show. Blasphemously (props to snakey), I have begun to love them the most of all Joss's creations. I hope to be at the Serenity movie on opening night.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

I hope to be at the Serenity movie on opening night.

I don't do opening nights, but I just might see you there ;>

[eeedge.livejournal.com]

The only thing I find frustrating about Whedon's shows is that B and I have a 95% rate of knowing whether Whedon himself wrote an episode or not (obviously, without looking at the credits). As a result, it's often a let-down if the storyline is up to snuff, but the writing isn't Whedon.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

There is something truly dangerous about moving the television into a frequented part of the house. I was contemplating putting our TV in the pseudo-dining room of our new house, but keep backtracking to the realization that I'd see it everytime I moved from kitchen to living room and back again... sheesh.

A'course, we've also had a cable modem for what, almost a year now, and haven't had the TV hooked up since? Just took the line straight into the cable modem and never did use that splitter. Shows you how much we really missed it, that it took us several months to even buy a splitter, and then never bothered to even install it...

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Ah-yup. The cable modem is still downstairs where it was, and it's been weeks now since we moved the TV. We had deliberately put the TV in a remote room, so that TV wasn't just something that happened, you had to deliberately walk down to the basement and into that room. I find I dislike having it sitting in the living room, taking up all that space, silently staring...bleah.

[(Anonymous)]

there is no end to my love for firefly.

and the muppet show? one of the best birthday gifts i've ever gotten.