TV I’m Watching

We watch about 90-95% of our TV off of our DVR, which seems fairly remarkable.  So what is it I’m watching these days?

Torchwood:  This Doctor Who spin-off has developed a sort of dark charm of its own.  It’s as much Horror as SF, and is usually focused as much on the characters (or the folks they encounter) as on the Monster/Widget of Week.  It’s complex enough to be still finding its feet, and I’m okay with that.  I look forward to this one every week.

House, MD:  I watched a bit of this at the tail of last season, and fell in love with it.  I’m not sure why a medical mystery show starring as thoroughly unpleasant a doctor as you can imagine appeals so much.  Maybe it’s because of the reactions of the people around him. Maybe it’s because Hugh Laurie is a delight to watch.  Maybe it’s because his passion to defeat disease, not help people, makes for a nicely un-Marcus-Welby sort of tale.  Whatever, it’s great fun.  I’ve even picked up the Season 1 DVD set …

Chuck:  It’s geeky.  It’s action-ish.  It’s alternately poignant and funny and thrilling.  It’s half Bond, half Dilbert.  Chuck is not without flaws, but I enjoy watching this computer-nerd-turned-spy series a lot.

Bionic Woman:  This show wants to be Alias so hard it hurts.  But the characters aren’t nearly as good, the writing isn’t nearly as taut, and the overall story isn’t nearly as good.  The acting is pretty good, bound as it is by a thousand stereotypes in writing and not terribly impressive direction.  This is most likely to go on the personal chopping block first, but I keep hoping.

Dinner: Impossible:  Watching the chef thrown into one improbable and difficult situation after another — make [meal] for [lots] with [limited ingredients, dubious staff, sketchy facilities, etc.] in [the next few-to-several] hours — remains a lot of fun.

The Daily Show:  Jon Stewart is a national treasure, as are the writers and fellow cast of the show, as they lampoon the day’s news and try to see how seriously they can treat serious subjects while still causing tons of laughter — or how humorously they can treat serious subjects while still causing folks to think.  Triffic stuff.

The Colbert Report:  Following on TDS, Colbert is amusing, but much more one-note (faux conservative) in its town than its parent show.  Still lots of fun to watch.

Alas, a number of the above have been — The Daily Show and The Colbert Report — or will be — House, Chuck, Bionic Woman — impacted by the ongoing Writers Strike.  Aside from L&O and Star Trek reruns, I may have to dig into the TV schedules again to see what else I should be watching.