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You've got something to say? Well, so do the nearly 2500 users on the Hitched! forums. From dragging skeletons out of the closet to pushing through the PhD, from dealing with ailing family to wondering whether Katie Holmes's new bob really does work for everyone, we've got a little bit of everything.How to Waste a Perfectly Good Weekend: Your Guide to TV on DVDs
by JEN BYCK
Battlestar Galactica: Sci-fi gets dead sexy.Whee! It’s Friday night! You’re young! You’re bendy! You’ve got cash to burn! It’s time to hit the clubs and rock out with your cock out!
Or... not.
If you’ve been sufficiently brain-drained by the week and are way too tired and salt-infused to be bothered with the constriction of “real pants” – put on your sweats, slip a touch of bourbon in the baby bottle (kidding, kidding... maybe), load up the DVD player, and get ready to hit that Pizza Pizza speed-dial button: It’s time to get sucked into TV on DVD and make some new fictional friends.
Too easily pshawed by critics, TV writing is actually way better – and far more addictive – than movie writing. With TV, the writers have a love-in for the characters they create. TV writers work with the knowledge that their characters “live” beyond 1.5 hours of movie time, and each episode is crafted with the background and foreground to make the characters that much more believable, lovable, and/or hateable. With each season, another layer of the plot unravels with deep-fried onion blossomy goodness, ready for us to devour.
You will likely not be able to get though an entire season or series of these in just one weekend, but if you start, you will guarantee yourself at least a few weeks of responsibility-neglecting pleasure (who needs clean underwear, anyway?).
The Top TV on DVD Finds:
Buffy: The Era of Dawn and Faith.Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Don’t let the name of this show fool you - Buffy is freaking awesome and smart and everything high school should have been (yes, including the gruesome deaths of those on the cheerleading squad). While there are a couple of dud episodes in the mix (Double Meat Palace, anyone?), all seven seasons will please. Be prepared for some Spike crushes. You will know what I mean by that when you feel the tingle in your loins for the Billy Idol inspired (or inspiring!) vamp come Season 5.
Battlestar Galactica
Get this through your head: Sci-Fi is sexy. Dead sexy. And by this, I mean the awesome biceps and shoulders of BG star Jamie Bamber (Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama). Hubba hubba. Oh, and the script is also interesting. Totally. The script... yes, that’s why we watch it. (And yes, you do - Barber’s physique slowly becomes secondary to the plot. Slowly.)
The Office: Ryan, the business student, just can't make a sale.The Office
Are people around you obsessed with the possibility of a Pam and Jim hook-up? Anyone making weird cracks about you being a Dwight? If so, please, please put down the bow staff and watch this show. You will quickly get over the awkwardness of Steve Carell’s character and get sucked into the lovely quirkiness of the staff of Dunder-Mifflin.
Veronica Mars
Joining the cancelled-before-its-time club is the fantastic Veronica Mars. Teens! Mystery! Clever dialogue! Fans of Buffy will develop a quick bond with the ‘09ers’ (as in residents of the 90909 zip code) and their Joss-like banter. The Dandy Warhols theme song is just a cherry on the top of this delightful TV sundae.
Grey’s Anatomy
Finally understand what all the McDreamy / McSteamy talk is all about. On the verge of its fourth season, you can easily catch up with this medical dramedy and be enamored / ultra-annoyed with the wonderful tampon-concerned characters of this show.
Arrested Development
Were you one of those silly people that never tuned in while this was on the air? If so, you are a horrible person. But since Fox has a habit of rejuvenating series based on DVD sales, I implore you to finally get with the frozen banana stand and embrace the Bluth family. This shiz is funny, yo. He named his son George Michael, for god's sake. Watch, watch, watch. Silly, clever fun.
So Get Going! (On the Couch.)
Choose one this weekend and go for it. Dive into the fog that is the reality of these worlds! If anything, you will come back to the office on Monday with snarkier comebacks, a desire to wear your tank top reversed, or a hankering for putting your coworkers’ office supplies in gelatin. Whatever it is, let it get you through the week until the next weekend.
2009 Holiday TV Guide
If you were to name all the things you like about the December holidays, campy TV specials would probably make it somewhere on the list.
The Lady Television Problem
With the writers' strike in what feels like permanent effect, we are all no doubt feeling the pains of having to fill our precious, precious time in other ways.
Flight of the Conchords
Picture it: Two young, handsome, and talented New Zealanders come to New York City to make it big. Only, wait. Well, they're sort of young. And handsome? Maybe not the classic definition, but they're certainly their own brand of adorable. And talented?
Chuck
When I saw the commercials for this show, I was drawn to it. I couldn't help myself. Something about the absurdity of the whole concept - which they kept as mysterious as possible in the ads - made me giggle.
A Fall TV Primer: Friday and the Weekend!
Today you get an extra helping of fun: Here's your fall lineups for Friday night (also known as "where television goes to die") and the weekend! Will 2007 bring us a reason to willingly destroy our social lives? Only time will tell. As always, check your local listings!