We all have those television shows which serve us as utter escapism, which help us transcend our bodies and our daily lives. Often they even become true guilty pleasures worthy of repentance--that's how guilty and self-indulgent they are. But some of these shows also irk as they transport--they panic viewers even from within the vantage point of inspiration. And that's what the love-hate relationship is about.
It's like being in love with someone who occasionally does something really helpful, but from any outsider's perspective is otherwise destructive. Some more recent shows ("Prison Break," and "Heroes") are still growing on me, and we'll see which way they go. But here are five shows that have me so alternately jazzed and jittery that I just had to share them with you.
1. "Lost": John Locke's crisis of faith, the leadership battle between Sawyer and Jack, and burying Nikki and Paolo alive ... awesome. And then there's last season's "Doc Brown/Marty McFly" conversation of an ending ("We've got to go back to the future, Marty! I mean, Kate!"), which I alternately love (because I didn't see it coming) and hate. (no new shows until February 2008? That's just mean. Thank goodness Lostaholics at Beliefnet are taking control, and creating an online forum to talk about religious themes in the show.
2. "24": While Jack Bauer and CTU are alternately together and broken up, and while the rest of the world (beginning with Los Angeles) suffers from repeated terrorist attacks, I tune in every week to watch them ratchet up the tension and exploit the precarious sense of security that we have in this post-9/11 world. As my sense of homeland security goes out the window, the only person I want in charge of setting up perimeters in the real world is Jack Bauer. And I know that can never be.
3. "Entourage": As a woman, I'm supposed to hate this show--for reveling in the superficiality of men, for encouraging immature behavior in relationships and in life, for treating beautiful women like promiscuous, self-promoting sex objects, and for treating normal-looking women like dogs (or worse, because the guys genuinely seem to like dogs). But I can't help it. I love the Hollywood stuff, the hilarity of the ensemble as they stick together, as they revel in their own good fortune and superficiality without conscience or much of a consequence. And of course, the appalling/appealing Jeremy Piven, who is either my fantasy or my nightmare, but he's with me in REM sleep just the same.
4. "Grey's Anatomy": "Seriously?" This show hooked me in the second season and prompted a Netflix trip down Grey's memory lane. And then, when I wasn't looking, BAM! Denny's dead. He had a bad heart. And I'm heartbroken. I could do without most of Meredith's inane voiceovers, as she tries for a Carrie Bradshaw observation with more than a hint of Dr. J.D. Dorian. But at the end of the day, my hatred is for the writers and producers who brokered the death of Denny.
5. "Weeds": And you think your parents made some questionable decisions in your lifetime? At least they probably weren't suburb-dwelling pot dealers. (I'm assuming, I know.) It's amazing how this show, and the incredible Mary Louise Parker, manage to take the more mundane family dramedy and impose an overlay of the drug-dealing world. Why hate it? First, for being on Showtime, which I don't have. And secondly, the show reveals that the reason Nancy (Parker) has had to take this job to support her family is because BAM! Denny's dead. Well, not Denny, exactly--her husband, Judah. Played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who also played Denny Duquette on "Grey's Anatomy", and who, at this point, I'm sure has got to be paranoid about his own ticker. I bet he gets EKGs all the time.
So here's to a world where we can tackle on television the things we worry about, while remaining, in reality, safe from terror, with no plane crashes on uncharted island, where no one has to sell pot unless s/he wants to, and where men and women treat each other with respect. And here's to good heart health. Seriously.
What shows do you simultaneously love and hate?
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I walked away from network TV for the summer and every show that I am watching is on cable. The only problem with shows on cable is that they don't follow the same rules as network TV and you may hear language or see sex that you aren't expecting. So, the hate part for me comes in the form of immoral situations and unpleasant language.
THE CLOSER. I think Kyra Sedgwick is fabulous. My wife and I both love this show. We never miss it. A little bloody at times.
MONK. Just about the only other show that we watch together, however she hates the often violent murders that take place at the beginning of the show. This show isn't about the crime solving or the mystery, it's all about Monk and how he makes us laugh.
EUREKA. I missed the whole first season, but tuning in this summer, I discovered a gem. It has just enough quirkiness and fun to keep me watching.
KYLE XY. I'm not sure I like it as much as last summer, but I'm hooked all the same. The problem here is that it shouldn't be on a channel called ABC Family. If I had kids, they would not be watching. Teenage sex, and an obvious agenda of pushing the gay life as completely normal, has turned me to hate a few episodes.
MAD MEN. The jury is still out on this one, but I am stuck on it already. I love how they really make you feel that you are in 1960. The subtle comments in the dialog that say..."they really said stuff like this back then, didn't they?" Definitely a guilty pleasure as it has no morals whatsoever and I hate that Don is having an affair (or 2) when he has this wonderful and beautiful wife and children at home.
I have a love-hate relationship with Dr. Phil. Yes, he does give people some help in the form of wake-up calls (what happens on-screen) and real therapy (provided behind closed doors). But the show itself is really mostly about some people's conflicts, drama, and stupid mistakes, and that I spend any time at all watching these other people act out their personal failings definitely makes the show a guilty pleasure for me.
I love Monk and Psych--I find them utterly delightful, and not at all hate-inspiring, therefore didn't include them on this list....
But I recommend them!
makes sense to me,very well put and respectfully understandable.I see that beliefnet covers a very large range of subjects and i am most interested in hearing more from you people in the future.
sincerely and respectfully yours
tomvc
Does anybody watch the 4400? i think that show is way up there in the leagues of Lost and Heroes (more so Hereos) because some of the cast of characters have special supernatural abilities The 4400 seems to have a story line based on apocalyptic end times as the world is finding out our connection to other beings in outer space There's also this creepy Jesus Christ/Anti-Christ figure named Jordan Collier who says he was sent to save man kind
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