Stay Tuned

So I'm a complete television junkie. I get hooked on a show, I watch it religiously. I buy the DVD sets, and watch it again. Then I find another show, and repeat the process. I always used to have a few shows on that I watched constantly; now I have 6. Two are new, replacing two that just ended last season. Television has become such an inexorable part of my life that I mark my calendar (theoretically, since I'm not organized enough to have a real calendar) by what TV show is on each day, and by what DVD set is coming out each week. I've gotten so into it at times that I've even read virtual TV shows, and spent a large portion of time writing a virtual series of my own, as well as writing, producing, and acting in an amateur TV show in high school and undergrad. As I've said before, if I had the chance to ditch law completely and write for a tv show, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I love it that much.

Possibly even more than movies, and anyone that knows me knows I love movies. So why TV? Because it allows for so much more development. Compare a 2 hour movie to a standard 22 episode season, with each episode around 45 minutes long -- somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 hours. You can really connect with a character a lot more in television than movies, because you get so much more time watching them, in so many different situations. Plus, a good series can change the tone of every episode. Each individual episode can emphasize drama, action, or comedy. And each can still advance a long-term story arc. They're like the chapters of a book -- each one is meaningful in its own right, yet each is a building block which leads to the final payoff, the big conclusion - - the reason why the writer created this book or season in the first place. Each season has the same importance to the series as a whole, just like each book.

Of course, TV has its downsides too - the incredibly long time commitment it takes to watch, and it takes longer to get the payoff moments. Individual episodes can vary dramatically in quality. And, of course, you've got commercials. Pain in the ass.

However, the bottom line for me is that with a good television show, a well-written one with excitement and humor and well-drawn characters and deep storylines, you get to spend a lot more time in a fictional universe that you really enjoy. It's like a really good book or movie that never ends; you can pick it up and keep going and keep going.

The point of all this? I pretty much want to write about TV. So over the next week or so, this blog is going to be dedicated to my television addiction, and present a rundown of all the shows I've watched, all the ones I watch now, and why. So there.