This is going to be a little geeky and “inside baseball,” but if you guys weren’t TV geeks, you probably wouldn’t be here in the first place, right? That’s why I wanted to talk a little bit about the newest episode of Samantha Who?. This episode, titled, “The Dog,” was written by Pamela Ribon, who some of you may know as Pamie.

I first became aware of Ribon’s work through her Gilmore Girls recaps at Television Without Pity. Eventually she stopped writing about TV and started writing for TV, with jobs on such shows as Mind of Mencia and the short-lived ABC sitcom, Hot Properties. There were talks of her turning her second novel, Why Moms are Weird into a television show, but when that didn’t work out, she snagged a job on Samantha Who?.

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Two things to clarify before we begin:

1. Definitions: Stupid shows make us groan, and they even take the low road from time to time (or always), but they generally have smart concepts, smart writers, smart jokes, or all three. In contrast, dumb shows simply have no saving grace. They’re made for a group of people who don’t exist; bubbly, stupid female 18-34s, who are also intelligent and well-versed, love to shop and spend money, believe in sleeping around and monogamy, treat friendship as a precious object and also back-stab everyone around them. The shows themselves lack smart concepts, writers (or so it would seem from the work they turn out) and jokes. For example: while there’s a lot about 30 Rock (forgive me!) that makes me groan, I recognize that it’s stupid funny, not dumb. Tina Fey is a brilliant writer, while at the same time, everything that comes out of Jane Krakowski’s mouth makes me feel like I’m losing braincells. But at least I’m using some of them.
2. I watch Greek. There, I said it. Now, let’s begin. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear AMC,

Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. I won’t actually burn you to the ground, but I will metaphorically end you with my mind if you dick over Mad Men. Yes, I know that you said it will be back this summer, which is all well and good. I mean, I would prefer it if it came back right now; hell, what I really want is for Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks to just come over to my house and act out scenes from the show, but I get it. I don’t always get what I want.

But let’s be honest here. You’re AMC. You’re not HBO, or Showtime; you’re not even TNT. What I mean is you’re not exactly known for your original programming. You were what old people tuned into on Sunday afternoons when they wanted to watch reruns of Murder She Wrote, or Unsolved Mysteries, or whatever the hell.

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Our Guest-Clacker today is Julia Hass, a twenty-something living in the Boston area. Upon realizing she could not major in “being Tina Fey” in college, she’s been taking some time off trying to figure out what to do with her life, and watching TV. A lot of TV. She discusses her various attempts at employment, politics, pop culture, music, her family, and super-cute boys at her personal blog.

Is anyone else sick of this Twilight phenomenon? Because I am. God, I am. In case you haven’t heard, Twilight is the epic love story of Bella (a human) and Edward (a vampire), full of enough thwarted, passionate romance and heartfelt-yet-ridiculous declarations of adoration to make any tweeny girl sigh.

And while I have never been a fan of the whole cliched vampire/human pairing, this takes my dislike to whole new levels, and I will tell you why — it hurts every notion I have ever held dear about heroines. Bella, as far as a heroine goes, is pretty lame. She’s flat, drab, and completely helpless without her boyfriend, who follows her around everywhere and (creepy spoiler alert!) watches her while she sleeps.

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I have to admit, there are times when I can be a snob when it comes to a new TV show.  The fact that a show is getting rave reviews and millions of people are tuning in each week often only adds to my disdain.  With the dumbfounding success of reality shows that do little more than exploit its stars or contestants, and procedural dramas that rely more on special effects than creative storylines and compelling characters, I don’t exactly have a ton of faith in the American public as far as entertainment goes.

However, my TV snobbery often comes around to bite me in the rear, as it were, and many a show that I deemed unworthy of my attention at first glance has turned out to be one of my favorites, once I gave it a chance.  Here are a few of the shows that have proven me oh, so wrong.

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