Blogging Challenge: Binge-Watching

For the last two years, I've been taking part in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge over at Long and Short Reviews. The first link will take you to the list of topics; the second one goes to the homepage, where you can find a post with everyone's responses each week. Feel free to join in!

Today's prompt is "TV shows I binge-watched" and man, that's been a while.

I can list off shows that you'd think I might binge-watch: The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica... but I haven't. In fact, it's been a while since I've felt like I could commit the time and attention to binge-watch anything, and that's in spite of truly excellent recommendations that have been thrown my way. 

I think the closest I got was the first season of Lucifer, a while back. I've the first season of Rick & Morty, but that was definitely staggered rather than binged. Way back when Firstborn was first born, Beautiful Wife and I binge-watched a lot of Buffy and Stargate. I've put on things that I watched before, like Blackadder or Upstart Crow, to keep me company whilst sorting laundry. Other than that...

I really don't. My schedule just isn't built that way. 

But that's not to say that I don't see the appeal, so leave a link to your answers in the comments if you're so inclined!

Nature Cat

So... Secondborn is watching Nature Cat in the living room. Nature Cat... puzzles me. I'm still unclear about why he sounds like Robin Hood, for example. But in this episode, Nature Cat appears to have gotten lost... while hiking... in nature. And, in fact, Nature Cat frequently seems to know almost nothing about nature at all. Actually, the more I think about this, the more I think that Nature Cat may be the least aptly-named feline in the modern world.

I feel like there should be some backstory here. Like, maybe Nature Cat was an ordinary suburban housecat until he accidentally got outside and stumbled onto some sort of ancient temple? And then this Voice says, "You have returned to my altar. You shall be my representative. You are now... Nature Cat!" And now Nature Cat has this vital quest to complete even though he's completely unqualified for it on almost every level?

I dunno. I never saw the pilot episode. But I feel like that's basically how it should have gone.

Venger Needs A Better Strategy

A few years back, in a fit of nostalgia, I purchased a DVD with the first season or so of the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon (caution: YouTube video). (You can read about the history of the show here.) Two days ago, Firstborn stumbled onto the DVD and started watching it.

The first time I re-watched it, it occurred to me that I'd badly misjudged Eric, the Cowardly Cavalier. Sure, he was obnoxious; sure, he was constantly complaining; sure, he was often trying to get the group to avoid walking directly into the most dangerous areas around. Sure, he criticized Dungeon Master for giving vague (and unhelpful) hints and riddles instead of actual guidance, and for disappearing when the group could most use his help. Thing is, he was very frequently right.

This time, watching it with the boys, it occurs to me that Venger is missing a really obvious opening. I mean, he keeps sending monsters after the kids, or setting traps for them, or using his magic to try to trick them. And I suppose, since Venger is "The Many Faces Of Evil" that such things kind of go with the job description.

But The Many Faces Of Evil would probably have gotten better results if he'd just shown up, introduced himself, and said: "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot, and that's totally my fault. I was thinking of you as enemies, but it doesn't have to be that way. Why don't you come work for me, instead? I promise that I won't send you anywhere without telling you exactly where you're going and why. It won't just be vague riddles that cause more trouble than they prevent - I'll give you real information. At the end of the year, you turn your weapons over to me and I will see to it that you all return safely to your home. In the meantime, you'll receive generous salaries. You'll sleep in well-appointed houses - or all in one big house, if you prefer - with comfortable beds, excellent food, and hot running water. What do you say? It's all here in the contract, just sign at the bottom."

With an offer like that, I'm thinking that at least half the group would have turned on Dungeon Master in a heartbeat.

Thanksgiving: WKRP in Cincinnati

Classic television:

I could look dramatic, too...

We have a television in the server room. (There are actual work-related reasons for this.) When not needed for anything else, which is most of the time, it's set to the Weather Channel. That's pretty bland fare, for the most part.

Recently, though, I've been seeing advertisements for shows like Ice Pilots and Turbine Cowboys. And if Reality TV has taught us anything, it's that successful shows have a sort of trickle down effect. (This is basically a result of producers saying things like, "This show made money. How many ways can we repackage the basic concept before the whole trend collapses under the weight of its own silliness?")

So now I'm wondering just how long it will be before someone shows up to make my own career look like a marvel of courage and ingenuity in the face of extreme danger. "Knights of the Server Room: you've never seen I.T. like this before. Premiering this fall on The Learning Channel." The tag line would be accompanied by a picture of someone in full climbing harness, suspended by a pulley from the ceiling, running network cables on the back of a thirty-foot-tall server rack.

What would your job sound like if it were ridiculously overdramatized for a Reality TV program?

Late edit: Apparently Cracked noticed the same pattern back in January...

Monster Bug Wars

Why did I not know about this show???

Sample below the cut:

Your Day As A Sitcom Episode

Michael Mock has survived another day of work, but can he get the kids in bed before he passes his window and can't get to sleep himself? Tune in for tonight's exciting episode of Parenting Limits Your Options.

How would you describe your day if your life was a TV show? Are you living in a Sit-Com, or is your life more of a Drama? Something else entirely?