My current favorite TV shows (with spoilers)

It's that time of year when folks are posting their top 10 lists. I've never posted one and I don't intend to start now, but I do want to take part in the conversation by adding my fall favorites. 1. Homeland - It's true that there were moments this season where I was pulled out from the narrative and said, "Hmmm.....that's just too convenient." But because I am a fan of emotional truth in my fiction, those moments didn't factor into my decision. Homeland was my favorite series of the year. I don't think any show made me more tense and Claire Danes is crazy smart which is always an winning combination. And my favorite moment was realizing that the truth about Brody was going to come out in the middle of the season. 2. Sons of Anarchy - How horrific was it when Otto bit his tongue in two? Or when Tig's daughter was torched? Or when the Opie was beaten to death? How awful was it to see Jax turn into his stepfather rather than his father? And that last shot where Lady Macbeth reigns supreme? I don't know if it was because of those moments or in spite of them that I found this season to be the best yet. 3. Nashville - I knew if Connie Britton were attached to a series, it would be a good one and I haven't been disappointed. What surprised me is that it's not the acting that has entertained me the most about the series. It's the music. And I'm not even a country music fan. 4. American Horror - I've always loved horror, but horror is not why I've been enjoying American Horror so much. What I find so entertaining is how over the top, the show is. Serial killers. Check. Aliens. Check. Bad Santas. Check. Demonic Possession. Check. You name the trope. Ryan Murphy has is covered. My favorite moment was when they even brought a Bad Seed in. Everything but the kitchen sink is thrown in which takes the series into metahorror territory. 5. Parenthood - Even the trailers, make me tear up. I love this show in the way I used to love Thirty Something. As mentioned above, I'm a fan of emotional truth and Parenthood has that in spades. And adding Ray Romano? I do love Jason Ritter, but I'm okay sacrificing him now that Men of a Certain Age has been cancelled.

When the Fat Fireman Sings

At the risk of sounding pathetic, I care about my TV friends. If a well-crafted show engages me, then I will make sure to watch each and every episode even if it means eating dinner in front of the HD hearth and risking irreparable damage to the family unit. If a show is cancelled too soon, I feel a sense of loss and even betrayal. (Yes. The men were of a certain age, but they were not ready to give up the ghost). But if it ends when it's supposed to with dignity and grace then I'm satisfied. If a show sustains my interest for seven years and I stick with it through ups and downs, I trust that the creators of the fictional world will respect the rules on which that world has been built when writing the last season and crafting the finale. As sad as I am that I won't be able to listen to the guys bust each others' chops around the table anymore, I am as pleased as punch that Rescue Me left me holding back tears caused as much by sadness as laughter.

Rescue Me has always felt as if it belonged in the same absurd universe as that inhabited by the Coen Brothers. There's something incredibly life affirming about texts that find the humor in the human condition. The darker such texts get, the louder the laughter. I don't think I've had as many gut-wrenching laughs as I have had in Rescue Me or Coen brothers movies. If the creators of Rescue Me chose to kill Tommy or the entire house as they teased, I would have been deeply disappointed. I expected Rescue Me to find a way for me to laugh at how tragic our lives can be and it did.

The pitfalls of immortality

I just watched a trailer for In Time starring Justin Timberlake and it set into relief for an anxiety that seems to be coursing through texts these days: A fear of living forever. Torchwood: Miracle Day is exploring it at length by giving us a world where everyone has become immortal but the body hurts and ages nonetheless. That means if you get cancer you'll have to live with the pain for centuries. The theory explored by the Torchwood gang is that BigPharma is behind the miracle. They have somehow initiated the change so that there pain relievers will become a huge money maker.

So many relevant questions are raised by Torchwood's (and I'm guessing In Time's)premise. Simple but powerful questions: How do you become a caretaker? How do you manage pain? Do the rich deserve to live longer because they have been lucky enough to either inherit or make money? At what point is life not worth living?

If I were writing a paper,I'd probably bring in our fascination with vampires, but I'll save that for another time.

Insidious

I have a high tolerance for bad horror movies so my expectations weren't all great for Insidious. In fact, after suffering through an incoherent The Rite last week, my expectations were probably lower than normal. But even if my expectations had been higher, I think I still would have been satisfied with the unholy union of the Saw and Paranormal Activity creators. The movie was creepy. There was not a trace of torture porn. The twist to the haunting wasn't nearly as cool as The Others, but it was clever. The acting was more than adequate, especially Rose Byrne. There was just enough of the satanic in it to be compelling for a lapsed Catholic. It even presented "Tip Toe through the Tulips" as a demonic ballad. How could I not like it? But, best of all, it nods to my favorite subgenre, metahorror.

If I were writing a paper on it, I would focus on the ghostbusting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who, for me, seemed to represent to the two creative forces behind the movie. They lightened the mood just enough and reminded me as a viewer how creepy it is for me to enjoy horror.

P.S. They're cancelling Men of a Certain Age? Isn't TNT supposed to save shows (i.e. Southland) not end them? It breaks my heart to know I'll never hang out in the diner with those three especially after such a perfectly balanced finale. Alas. I wonder what the campaign to get them would require?

Summer TV

USA has done a marvelous job at creating a TV brand perfect for summer. For most of the year, we tend towards the dark--crime thrillers, post-apocalyptic sci fi, black comedies. Most recently I'd add rainy as well as we faithfully followed The Killing. But since dog days have finally kicked in here in the great white North, we've turned our attention to the bright, blue charm of the USA network. When I gave the boys a choice between Alphas and Burn Notice. It was Burn Notice. When I offered Torchwood, they chose White Collar. And I couldn't argue with them because I too am seduced by the uber-charming USA gentlemen.

Of course, we haven't shaken our taste for the dark. Falling Skies is watched religiously in the household as will Rescue Me. And when September comes around, we'll be viewing Miami through a lens much darker than that of Burn Notice.

Treme

I'm watching the season finale of Treme and savoring every minute of it. Ladonna has tapped into her rage and pulled herself out of her personal hell. Janette has been given the chance to open another restaurant in New Orleans. Wendell has found a way to fuse old-time New Orleans music with modern jazz and rebuild his father's pride and home. Even the seemingly not-so-happy endings of Antoine's band and Davis' role in his band are so beautifully crafted they give me pleasure. How could I not beam when I saw Antoine lead his high school bound in performance on a city corner during Jazz Fest?

There's so much to love about the show. . . the acting, the devotion to the music,food and people of New Orleans. But I think what I enjoy almost as much as the music is the slow burn of the show's pacing. It's as if the characters and the plot meander but always with purpose. When random acts of violence occur, they are as shocking as they ought to be. I can't wait to find out if the show captures the mood of New Orleans as effectively as it seems to.

A taste for viral plagues

Somewhere under "Preferences" in my Netflix profile is the entry: Customer enjoys watching movies about viral plagues. Given our rather dark taste in films, I can only imagine what else is on the list.

I suspect the reason for the profile update lies in my decision to view "Black Death." Contrary to the apparent suspicion of Netflix, however, I didn't choose it because of the plague theme. It was the opportunity to see a greasy-haired Sean Bean wielding a sword and wearing a chain mail. (What am I going to do next year when Game of Thrones returns without him?)

Just as the name implies, the movie is set in England during the plague years, but it is definitely not written from the same script as Monty Python used. Darker than dark, it follows the Bishop's envoy who is intent on ridding a village of its satanic protector. When Luc asked if there would really be any monsters in the movie, I assured him that terrified people were monstrous enough and I was right.

Although the movie was dark, by the end you couldn't help but feel optimistic about the fate of humankind. Sure there is plenty of violence and despair. People still commit unspeakable acts. But in the majority of countries, we certainly aren't burning healers as witches, watching half our family die and hearing "Bring out your dead."