Television Without Pity

This just might be the best season in television. With so many quality shows like ER and CSI and reality programs like the Apprentice, how can anyone keep up? All I can say is thank god for Tivo. But what if you don’t own one or if it suddenly just crashes when you’re conveniently not around? Ah but alas, there is that awesomely omniscient world of the inter/web.

And no, I’m not talking about downloading it from bit torrent sites like Azureus - cause that would be illegal (*wink*). One of the best websites to visit (an oldie, but goodie) and catch up on your favorite shows is Television Without Pity. You can find all sorts of goodies like episode summaries, forums, links, etc. Check it out and thank me later….

So which shows should YOU be watching? Here’s a quick list of my favorites:

1. Lost – The best new show this season period (sorry ‘Desperate Housewives’ fans). I must admit when I first saw an ad for this show, I thought it would bomb. It looked like it was going to be a serious version of Gilligan’s Island. But anyone who watches the show can tell you (or not tell you) that there’s more than meets the eye. With mysterious plots like: Are those dinosaurs in the island? What’s a polar bear doing in the jungle? Does the kid have supernatural powers? How in the world can that paraplegic walk? Who are “the others” that we’re keep hearing about? and subplots of characters criminal/dark past- makes this show a cult hit. For those of you who watch the show- I’ve read several and often hilarious theories on the show. The best one I’ve read so far is that the island is a government experiment gone wrong- which seems logical but who knows….only J.J. Abrams does.

2. 24 – I’ve never watched the previous seasons of 24, but I’ve heard this season is the best by far. Although some parts may seem a little over the top (i.e: Would a Secretary of Defense really commit suicide along with their daughter for their country? Or how bout a federal agent robbing a convenient store just to stall for time to align the satellites? Would a parent really kill his child for a terrorist cause?), these types of ridiculous and often nail-biting situations what makes this show a great fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. And of course, who can forget the addition of Shohreh Aghdashloo from ‘House of Sand and Fog’ playing the psycho-empathetic-terrorist mother. She has such a presence on screen and you just wonder what she’ll do next. Does anyone recognize the actor playing her husband? He was in the B-movie 'Hanging with the Homeboys' with John Leguizamo. I always smirk when he's on- a hispanic from the Bronx playing a Middle Eastern terrorist.

3. West Wing – I’ve been watching this show on-off over the years. It always had solid screenplay and good performances overall. But after hearing that creator/writer Aaron Sorkin would be leaving the show- I thought, well, that would pretty much be it. But this season has been nothing short of spectacular. They really shook things up in the White House. Being that it’s President Bartlett’s last year of his second term, everyone’s curious to know who’d be the next president? Jimmy Smits? Alan Alda? Or Lumberg from ‘Office Space’? Add that with Bartlett’s MS episodes, Leo’s heart attack, CJ’s promotion and Josh leaving for Jimmy Smits' campaign- then you got one hell of a season.

4. Boston Legal – The best spin-off this season period (sorry ‘Joey’ fans). Creator David Kelly took the best elements of ‘Ally McBeal’ and ‘The Practice’ and rolled it into one show. The ever-so-creepy James Spader keeps this satirical law firm on it’s feet and the recent addition of ‘Murphy Brown’ will keep us guessing. And of course, the two words make this show truly awesome: William Shatner. He truly deserved wining the emmy and the golden globe, cause I can’t even tell whether he’s acting or just being his looney self.