(Pardon my grammar)
I used to be like most people and like to watch movies and get into the occasional tv show (growing up, it was the 23min sitcoms and now it MUST be either a REALLY funny 23 to 30min sitcom ((thank you HBO and Mr. David)) or shows that build plots/sub-plots/etc from episode to episode...can't stand the hour epsisodes that have no central plot or very weak attempts at ones a la any CSI or lawyer/hospital types).
All of the above changed from watching a few...hell not to be overly dramatic, but life changing shows that made me realize how incredible watching a tv for a few hour can be (I'll name those at the end if you care and want to skip the crap between now and then).
I used to be into movies much more than tv, but that's changed (and I suspect it is for a lot of other people as well whether this has been noticed in some studies/articles I haven't come across or it still hasn't been realized yet). Reason being is movies always end after roughly two hours and as a viewer you know this before and during the presentation. Sure, it may be a trilogy or be in the horror genre and have 12 to 15 sequels, but ultimately it will end in that first viewing or in the last sequel that didn't make enough money to greenlight another production (well, until it has a reboot a decade later....).
TV on the other hand is much different. Don't get me wrong, to be a strong tv show, there also must be an ending, but the great thing about tv is that unless it gets cancelled after the first season (like so many great shows have due to multiple reasons which all are quite sad), it can go on for quite awhile. As a viewer, we really don't have any idea when that will be unlike movies as I wrote above. That mystery of what's still in store makes tv great. The easiest way to describe this feeling is for all the sequel movie lovers out there. You saw the first film and thought it was great and you can't wait to see what will happen in the sequel. What the storyline will be this time, how the characters develop, new characters introduced, etc. The hype is never ending every summer and just getting bigger and bigger (which is an entirely different problem with movies I won't get into here...). Well, as a viewer of a tv show, you know there will be X episodes this season and unless its on the cancellation radar, you know there is at least another season coming up. And maybe another and another and another...
Now don't get me wrong, you can't keep producing season after season and you the pace of seasons must be fast enough not to bore your audience on too much character development and very little action, but you also can take your time if you have a show with a decent audience on a network that believes in the entire scope of the show. Old tv doesn't really work in this fashion (I mean Cheers was great, but the central stories weren't that strong and it was just a matter of when the network/actors/writers/etc felt like it was time to wrap it up because it lost something over the years. Same with the CSI types, but when you talk about shows like Breakinng Bad or BSG, you really can't add extra seasons to the scope without really screwing stuff up (if you don't believe me, look up the show Heroes...and hopefully not Heroes Reborn). Now the creator has to have the entire story scripted out. Not word for word or episode to episode, but loosely give or take a season, I would say (not to mention, if you are a creator/writer who likes to work in what the fans want to see, you need to do it this way and I see nothing wrong with that nor do I see an issue with those that don't use fan feedback).
While, I'd imagine I'm going to add input on this site more for movies than shows because I'm not one to write about individual episodes, but a full season or entire show runs, I did want to point out why I care and am taking time to write a bio on a site...which leads me back to what I wrote at the beginning. There are a few tv shows that after watching the entire run, I became such a huge fan of those shows that they opened my eyes to how incredible something on a screen that is done right, can really change the way you view things that I find myself searching in all nooks and crannies for one little nugget (ie - movie or tv show that passed me by) that will make me feel like I did when I was watching Battlestar Galactica for the first time or The Sopranos. When sitcoms finally lost the laugh track (while at the same time I got older and noticed much more detail in what I was watching) Curb Your Enthusiasm, Trailer Park Boys, Always Sunny, and #1 for sitcoms, easily - Arrested Development (thank you so much Netflix! 2 of 2 that stopped making new episodes, you resurrected!).
Now, there are other great shows, of course, but the list above (minus one more show) is my list. Sure, The Wire, DeadWood, Seinfeld are special as well and I even have two guilty pleasures that are probably not on anyone's lists because they have some glaring flaws (especially the first one) - StarGate Atlantis and SG1. They just create new worlds in my head and at the end of the day, I think that is what I'm looking for from tv. Something that I don't have or do or a world we don't live in, etc. The shape it takes is something else...and that's why my #1 show BY FAR (BSG #2 if ya cared) is LOST.
That show was just so wild and realistic in that "what if something unrealistic was real...how would that play out?" kind of way. Like finding a hatch in the middle of a jungle as well as an old school scientific commune. I'd imagine if they did have that, there would be a station where you watched other stations and shot a notebook with your notes through a bank teller drive up shoot. Well...no I didn't, but that's why when you see that big stack of notebooks, it just blows your mind in two and you want to see more and more and more and when you can't, you start creating and thinking of what the hell is going on in your own time when the show is not on. Just amazing.
I'll wrap it up like this. I know this is kinda insane/crazy, but I loved that show so much I have yet to watch the last 3 episodes. Ironically, Desmond in the show was doing the same thing carrying around the last "Mr. Charles Dickens" book that he hasn't read yet saying he will read it before he dies. Well, believe you,me I never forgot that line and what he said when the last season was wrapping up and those last three episodes were aired, but I wasn't doing it to follow him (and no for you jack A's out there, it wasn't 'cause the finale was supposedly not very good...I mean think about it, besides I believe Breaking Bad, just about everyone hates finales...hell The Sopranos finale was probably one of the best endings/episodes in the show's history yet people hated it. Know why? For the same reason, I'm a little scared and don't want to watch those final three shows, because that means it's over. To me, it means THE END of not just the greatest tv show of all time, but the most enjoyable, impactful pieces of fiction in my life is done in ALL fictional mediums that time and man will ever create.
So that's who I am. That's my site bio and mom I appreciate you reading all the way through till the end (screw you dad! you lied!).
