I've had a lot of free time lately and have spent quite a bit of it discovering new TV shows online. Even with sky there is often nothing good on TV so I decided to watch shows online instead. Watching stuff online also means I can watch episodes whenever I want and I can watch shows before the come to NZ and shows that will probably never come to NZ, at least not on a channel I have. Here's a review of three of the shows I've been watching.
The Newsroom
Created by Aaron Sorkin (creator of the West Wing), The Newsroom is about a nightly news show and the people who make it. As in the West Wing the dialogue is clever, witty and fast. It uses actual news stories from the last few years to show how a newsroom works and the clash between ratings and real news. There are a few romantic story lines but they are not fluffy and girly and generally stay in the background.
After just one season (only 10 episodes) we know a lot about the half a dozen main characters and their backgrounds but it was revealed slowly, some of it by inferences/implications and there is still more to learn about all of the characters. Not many shows manage to create so many characters that it are all so complex, flawed and believable as real people. Downton Abbey also does that really well.
If you have the sky channel Soho you can watch it on TV otherwise you have to watch it online. It's an HBO show so it won't air on regular TV here.
Hart of Dixie
This is a show about a young surgeon, Zoe Hart, from New York who moves to Bluebell, a small town in Alabama, to be a GP. It's a light-hearted, easy to watch but addictive comedy. To start with a lot of it is about Zoe trying to adjust to life in Bluebell and get people to accept and like her. Gradually it becomes more about the relationships between various characters and life in a small Alabama town.
This show is on NZ TV. It's on Sundays at 5.30 on TV2 and is a typical Sun 5.30 time slot show (Gilmore Girls used to occupy that time slot). It's part way through season 1 on TV but season 2 has just begun in the US/online.
Bunheads
Another one for Gilmore Girls fans. This is the latest from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. A Las Vegas show girl, Michelle, marries a man on a whim and moves with him to his house that he shares with his mother in a small town. His mother runs a ballet school and Michelle becomes involved with some of the classes and the lives of the students. The show also follows four of the ballet girls and there are a number of quirky minor characters. The woman who plays Emily Gilmore plays Michelle's mother-in-law and the people who play Gypsy, Zach and Kirk all make appearances as minor characters in season 1. It's another light-hearted comedy and may one day make it to NZ TV, probably on Sundays at 5.30 on TV2. Be warned, it may make you wish you could do ballet.
So that's 3 of my favourite shows at the moment. Maybe I've just introduced you to your new favourite too...
