The Bright Lights Don't Receive You

This is a particularly dull summer for television. Granted, all the top-tier programming usually ends in the spring and summer is supposed to be rerun season, but in the past few years the networks have had some new shows to fill in the gap, but all we get this year is more inept analogs of American Idol.

Times like this are what DVD releases of TV shows were made for. Since a typical box set of one tv season is between $20-60, Netflix can become your new best friend in this summer draught. Netflix and bittorrent, actually, but only the latter when the first isn't an option.

So far this summer I've seen:

The Sopranos
All six seasons in two weeks. Everybody was talking about The Sopranos when it was on, but somehow I knew I was too young to appreciate it at the time. A fourteen year old would probably only notice the sex and violence, and miss the completely groundbreaking acting/writing/narrative/plotting/direction. Reminded me of how much I enjoyed Psychology class in high school (and how much I hated it in college).

Firefly
The select few of you rogues that took my advice (either time) to see Serenity all loved it, and when I told them to see/rent/buy Firefly, the TV series it's based on, they loved it more. The abruptly-cancelled sci-fi show was the first of its kind to not make you feel like a tubby 12 year old Star Trek kid for watching it, but an adult who can appreciate humor and doesn't like his tv shows to talk down to him. The show only spans 4 disks, so it's pretty ideal for picking up from Netflix, but lately you can buy the whole DVD set for under $25 (Try Amazon or WalMart.com). If you want to see more Serenity sequels or more seasons of Firefly, buy the DVDs.

Everwood
Everwood came on the WB four years ago and I tried to see it when I remembered, but the network was putting too much emphasis on formula shows akin to Dawson's Creek and Smallville and put Everwood on the backburner. Having just watched the first season (which I got from Amazon.com for $16), I feel like an idiot for not being its biggest fan when it was on television. Everwood probably the only drama about teenagers and adults that seems aimed toward adults and not teenagers, for it's more about telling a story than about showing off attractive youngsters wearing the same sneakers and clothes as those advertising between the show. There's a real story there, and it's delivered like a novel. Everwood was cancelled this season to make room for the 90th season of 7th Heaven, yet only the first season was released on DVD. Since the show is over now, the only way you'll be able to watch seasons 2-4 is by downloading them illegally, but if enough people get the first season legitmately, maybe they'll get the hint and put out more DVDs.

I'm very careful not to make recommendations without taking them seriously, and so far I've only had one person complain about a TV/movie/game suggestion I've given them, so I suppose accurate suggestion is a kind of currency of mine. With that, I tell you this: you really ought to check out Firefly and Everwood. Firefly is not Star Trek, and Everwood is not Dawson/One Tree Hill/Gillmore Girls/Smallville/7th Heaven or any of that WB drivel lowest-common pandering. Trust me.

Here are some other tv shows you could check out this summer (I've already done so, and they're all on DVD):

Freaks & Geeks
Judd Apatow is the man responsible for The 40 Year old Virgin, Anchorman and more; but nobody seems to pay any attention to his TV series. Along with another show called Undeclared, Freaks & Geeks is one of the best shows ever to be cancelled. Taking place in a suburban Michigan town in the 80s, it's mostly a highschool show but instead of focusing on Pretty White Kids With Problems like every other highschool show on Earth, Freaks & Geeks is about the people that most of us were in highschool. Television's most marketable power is the ability to show us unimaginable worlds, but it's greatest power is the ability to show us our own world; and never have I been so reminded of my own life than watching this show. It only spans a dozen or so episodes, so it's good for a Netflix queue. It's a very good DVD release too, there are a lot of fun audio commentaries.

Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
This one I can't recommend universally, there's a certain qualification to appreciate this show. It's a very hardcore sci-fi series that's too stigmatized by the campy 1970s goof-fest it's based on. The new series is very dark, filmed documentary-style, and a pretty sweeping narrative. Its problem (and the reason I love it) is because it doesn't joke around about how hardcore nerd-fare it is. To really appreciate how good this show is, you have to be very aware of how bad most shows like it are. If you can stomach the idea of a race of robots that tries to wipe out humanity, the show is a real gem. If your exposure to science fiction ends at Obi-Wan, it might just look like another Star Trek to you.

LOST
If you have to stay away from the show on TV because you missed the first season and know you'll be lost (which was the story with me), season one of Lost on DVD should be great. The video quality on the DVDs is quite amazing, and is definitely prefer ed over watching a bunch of 300MB downloaded tv rips with korean subtitles. Trust me.

I've currently got season one of House M.D. in my Netflix queue.