A Great Show You May Not Be Watching

In television there are shows known as mid-season replacements, which can basically be pinch hitters when another show fails to connect in the ratings. They can either be inane reality/game shows (which they often are) or...they can turn out to be quite the little gem. Lest we forget that such TV titans as Grey's Anatomy and The Office both premiered in January. Well this past January, I discovered another Gem in ABC's Eli Stone. Not only was it a good show, it was like an Oasis of Scripted Television in the midst of the reality soaked writer's strike. Check out the Promo below:



The reason I am blogging about Eli Stone now is that ABC is repeating the first season starting this Saturday at 10/9 central. Set your DVR...or go to abc.com, where I believe the whole season is still available online. It's a fun and quirky show that really grew with every episode, and I am VERY excited to see where they take it in the second season. I am not going to say too much about the plot, cause you can get the basic premise of the show from the promo, and I would rather you take the same journey with Eli that I did. But I will give you 5 reasons why you should watch...

1) Jonny Lee Miller (aka Angelina's first husband) is hot and immensely likable as Eli.
2) Any show that features George Michael in a recurring role has got to be worth a look.
3) It's from Greg Berlanti, the current exec producer and show runner of Brothers and Sisters. If you love THAT show as much as I do, you can get a good idea of what to expect as far as writing and family drama from Eli Stone.
4) It features Broadway Vets Victor Garber and Loretta Devine (aka Adele on Grey's). Yay for the Broadway Peeps working on TV.
5) Characters often break out into song and dance. If you love musicals like me, you gotta check out some of the numbers on the show. See reason #4 and expect awesomeness.

I think what I like most about this show is its recurring theme that it is NEVER too late to change what direction your life is going in; no matter how much you may dislike about the person you are, you ARE capable of change if you wish it; and the very thing that you THINK could be your life's tragedy could be the very thing that saves it. Comforting thoughts, no?

Bones and The Perils of YouTube

Okay, this post was originally going to be one of a series called "The Best Show You May Not Be Watching". And well, it still kinda is.

Towards the end of the Writer's Strike, I decided to get all caught up on shows I felt I should be watching. I plowed the American version of The Office in about two weeks. Love it. But when I got all caught up, I was sad. What show would I marathon now? Well, thanks to hulu.com (best site ever, btw), I rediscovered Bones. Now, I had casually watched Bones in its first season, and had always liked it, but it often conflicted with other shows I watched thanks to Fox constantly shuffling its time slot. Well, Hulu had the entire first season online, and I dove right in...and became obsessed. I netflixed Season 2...and then realized that not all of the current season 3 was online. What to do?! I could NOT wait for the DVD to come out. I needed my Bones NOW! Well, that is where my lovely friend Nate came in handy. Being a bit of a computer whiz, he got all of season 3, put it on a memory stick, and mailed it to me. (THANK YOU NATE) And really people, I don't think any of my other friends watch, and you really should.

Why is this show so great, you might ask? Isn't it just your standard procedural show, ala CSI? No. It's CSI with character development...I would put Bones in the same vein as House and The X-Files. Yes, there is always a crime/mystery to be solved, but there is also great humor and characters you actually care about. And David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel have RIDICULOUS chemistry. Booth and Brennan are the new Mulder and Scully...you are just dying for them to get together, but the whole thrill is in the will they or won't they element. And we all love that, don't we (um, Jim and Pam anyone? I thought so.)? Plus, they are just great as partners, the characters just complement each other very well, and you care about their back stories and what happens to them. The supporting cast is just as likable as the leads. And the science of the show is just freaking cool (and has a high gross out factor for anyone who might be squeamish). The show really came into its own in the second and third seasons, and is now definitely on my must see list for the fall...which throws a wrench into my viewing schedule, but that is another blog. Anyway, check out this clip from season 3, which I feel captures the essence of Booth and Bones perfectly:



Okay, the perils of youtube...in my search for the perfect clip from Bones to put on this blog, I stumbled upon the many fan videos made for the show. You've all seen things like this before. Someone takes their favorite characters from a show and basically creates a music video with scenes from various episodes. These exist for just about ANY show with a central couple...Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Dawson's Creek, etc. And what I find is that when you watch one, you cannot help but watch another...and another...and another...

Until you realize that you have spent most of your evening watching them. Yes, friends, this is how I spent my Tuesday Night. Watching Booth and Brennan videos on youtube. Here are the two best ones I found:





I can't decide which is worse...the fact that people take that much time to make the "perfect" video or the fact that I sat and watched said videos all night? Thoughts?

In the Meantime, lessons I have learned from tonight:

1) Youtube is the biggest time sucker on the planet.
2) David Boreanaz is DELICIOUS. And under appreciated. I mean, the man has been working for pretty much ten years straight on television between Buffy, Angel, and now Bones. And he always seems to have amazing chemistry with his leading ladies. So gold star to him. He's creeping towards the top 5.
3) I need to own Bones on DVD. My birthday is in December. Just keep that in mind. :-)