TV Meme Days 10-12: Playing Catch Up

It's not that I'm losing steam, I'm just losing sleep. I started a new job, and getting four hours of sleep two days in a row destroyed my thought process. But I'm refreshed and renewed and ready to get back to work on the meme.

Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

I flaked when it came to this one at first. Half the time, I just assume a show is going to suck. Given the types of projects I follow my people to (Tru Calling, Close to home, Four Kings), I just figure these shows are going to suck, but my favorite actors are going to rock in them. But RyAn actually gave me my answer right away, and I felt like a dingbat for not seeing it without his help.
Battlestar Galactica

I did not anticipate liking this show NEARLY as much as I actually did. I figured there would be bits that I liked, and pretty people to look at, but I didn't have high hopes. When I first started writing up my entry about the show, I even said, "This isn't going to be a show I sing the praises of all the time."

Little did I know just how wrong I was. I've finished the second season, and refuse to watch the third until I get the blog post written for it, and it's absolutely murdering me. The way the 2nd season ended has me up in knots, wanting to know JUST WHAT THE HELL HAPPENS, and I'm fearful of getting spoiled. The twists and turns are fabulous, and the heart of the show is exactly what I look forward to. Science fiction is not something I actively reach for, so to enjoy it as much as I do is a wonderful surprise.

Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Sigh.

Project Runway. What the hell is going on with you? I think we need to clear the decks and bring brand new damn judges in. The past THREE seasons have been nothing but a severe disappointment to me.

I picked up on the show late. It was in the...fourth? Or fifth season when I started watching. Whichever one Rami and Christian were in, that was my first season. And I caught up on all the reruns and was just blown away at the personalities on the show, and the creations that came from them. This show made me want to learn how to sew, and create gorgeous garments.

And then...what, you ran out of real designers? This last season especially. I have a half-assed blog written about how disgusted I was with the "talent" level this season, and the judges fawning over some of the most disgusting garments I've ever seen while steadily ignoring the ones I loved. They're so focused on "innovation" that they don't seem to care that the designs are HIDEOUS. I may not walk around in high fashion or designer labels, but I still know what looks good. And apparently, the judges don't.

Clear the decks. Whole new judging panel. That's the only thing I can think that will straighten this train wreck of a show out.

Day 12 - An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
See previous entry re: best episode ever. Honestly. But I guess that's not an appropriate answer, hmm? Having a DVR helps with this a lot, because I have some shows that just steadily pick up the repeats, and I can't skip past them or keep them from being recorded. Reality competitions especially, I'm guilty of rewatching ad nauseum.

I'm going to pick something that, when the show was being rerun on Nick at Nite, it was the episode I always stayed with. I watched it over and over when I was little, and when I checked the DVD out from the library, it was the only episode I really remembered, and the one I specifically looked out for.
The Dick Van Dyke Show, Season 5, "It May Look Like a Walnut"

I loved this show, and this episode was the absolute epitome of why it was such a great show. I remember being scared out of my wits by this, and yet I couldn't stop watching it. I would turn on the show, and wait for the opening title to see if it was this episode. 5 times out of 10, I'd turn it off if it wasn't.

There's a lot of amazing visual gags featured here, not the least of which is the one featured in the graphic, Mary Tyler Moore sliding out of a closet on a wave of walnuts. That's classic DVD Show site gags. But Danny Thomas marching into Rob's office and speaking in that high British tone was also completely amazing. I knew him already from watching Make Room For Daddy, and while I didn't know at the time that he had a role in the production of the show, I was pleased as punch to see another actor from another show appearing on this one.

I had three actors from three shows that I loved all in one episode. I loved The Mary Tyler Moore show even more than DVD, and only really wanted to watch DVD because of her. And she is HILARIOUS in this episode. When Rob goes to touch the back of her head and she shrieks, "MY EYES! Don't touch my eyes!"

Just fabulous all the way around. I would buy Season 5 of Dick Van Dyke on DVD just so I could watch the episode whenever I wanted. It's classic TV that still could work today, if someone decided to copycat it on their show.

They couldn't leave out the walnut slide from the closet, though. I still rather expect to see it when a character opens a closet on TV now.