I noticed something very interesting
while I was watching some TV one day.
I noticed that I like bright things.
Super-bright.
No not the amount of light that it puts out,
(though I seriously didn't like that one harry potter movie)
But how smart it is, or maybe...
how significant intelligence is to the program.
As I looked back these were some shows that I noticed I watched.
Most of them use excellence as a substitute for
the tradition formulas that hollywood tends to believe in.
So without much ado, I give you a look at the shows I have found my self watching.
Psych: My friends used to rave about it, but I had my doubts. How could it possibly be that good, I'd never even heard of it. But of course, I was wrong. The more I watch, the more clever it becomes. It's two really smart guys solving crimes, one's got a great memory, and an eye for detail, the other just happens to know a lot of things that no one else knows. And it's funny.
I admit I'm a little jealous.
and then there were two.
See the Mentalist is basically the same show, but without an amusing sidekick to play off. It's not quite the same, and perhaps it's a little more serious, but I still kind of like it. Usually they focus more on the main guy and his 'special abilities.' (again basically observation and remembrance), and less on the gory details of a crime drama. I hope they can make something good of this one. It's better than most, but I'd say still a w.i.p.
NCIS: firmly planted on the line between crime drama and comedy. Near as I can tell it started with a few episodes on J.A.G., and well six years later its better than ever. It takes a team to solve these things, the best team, crazy smart person here, crazy smart person there (crazy smart as in really really smart - top o' the class kind of people). My mom got me started here,
and I admit I usually like it.
Sidenote -- Does anybody else love foxtrot? I think it's awesome. I mean what other comic can tell jokes with math equations and still be funny. Way to be Bill Amend!
and speaking of math...
How about that Numb3rs show?
I mean awesome. Solving crimes with probabilities and statistics, and well, math.
Again it's really smart. Again I wish I knew some of that.
And speaking of what I wish I knew...
Jeopardy. I mean how cool is that a whole show about how much you know, and if you get it right you come back, and then you get to do it again. I've always kind of liked it. Ok I love it. I mean I even taped those Ken Jennings days (yeah my brother did some church work with him in Europe). What is... Amazing... Good clean fun.
And speaking of amazing, one of the greats has got to be the original Iron Chef.
One hour to create a whole menu and every dish has to include the secret ingredient, so secret that there's no way to prepare for it. Just two chefs, Brilliant chefs, and staff, and any ingredients they may need.
Now part of what makes Iron Chef so good is the English narration: Alton Brown and his insightful comments about the ingredients and the dishes, yeah he's a little nerdy, but that may be why I liked it.
And when I found out his show Good Eats is exactly that, the science, and history, and trivia off food, well I decided I liked it too. It's really good.
And how about that PBS. I mean I love watching a good episode of Charlie Rose, or the Nightly Business Report. And now that I can watch ole' Charlie do his thing (interview Americas best thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and roundtable discussions) at a slightly better hour, life is really good.
And what about quantum leap one of my best friends got me started here. I'm not sure how many of the seasons I missed, but the guy created a time machine, I mean how cool is that. (random sidenote, same guy created NCIS... Other sidenote I hear they're making a movie).
Yeah I think the same friend introduced me to SeaQuest.
I remember Due South, you know the really smart mounty. He played his own way, but he was sharp. So Coool.
Of course the quintessential tv super smart guy is MacGyver. He can get into or out of anything, and he doesn't like guns. He doesn't even need them. He just uses what's around.
One of my favorites... back before my mission, was The Pretender. A smart guy, righting others wrongs. The cool thing here, besides of course the righting of wrongness, was that he could do pretty much anything. Not just smarter than your average bear, way smarter.
Finally I would like to conclude with Chuck. I like Chuck. He's very down to earth, trying to do the right thing, and somewhat socially awkward. Clearly it's his brain that makes this show work. Ok and the humor, but still it's cool to see a nerd (typical or not) save the day every now and then. And here it's basically every not just now and then.
So there you have it I like the exceptional.
The intelligent, and the outstanding.
Consciously or not, I look for the bright ones.
Yeah I really like the bright ones.
while I was watching some TV one day.
I noticed that I like bright things.
Super-bright.
No not the amount of light that it puts out,
(though I seriously didn't like that one harry potter movie)
But how smart it is, or maybe...
how significant intelligence is to the program.
As I looked back these were some shows that I noticed I watched.
Most of them use excellence as a substitute for
the tradition formulas that hollywood tends to believe in.
So without much ado, I give you a look at the shows I have found my self watching.
Psych: My friends used to rave about it, but I had my doubts. How could it possibly be that good, I'd never even heard of it. But of course, I was wrong. The more I watch, the more clever it becomes. It's two really smart guys solving crimes, one's got a great memory, and an eye for detail, the other just happens to know a lot of things that no one else knows. And it's funny.
I admit I'm a little jealous.
and then there were two.
See the Mentalist is basically the same show, but without an amusing sidekick to play off. It's not quite the same, and perhaps it's a little more serious, but I still kind of like it. Usually they focus more on the main guy and his 'special abilities.' (again basically observation and remembrance), and less on the gory details of a crime drama. I hope they can make something good of this one. It's better than most, but I'd say still a w.i.p.
NCIS: firmly planted on the line between crime drama and comedy. Near as I can tell it started with a few episodes on J.A.G., and well six years later its better than ever. It takes a team to solve these things, the best team, crazy smart person here, crazy smart person there (crazy smart as in really really smart - top o' the class kind of people). My mom got me started here,
and I admit I usually like it.
Sidenote -- Does anybody else love foxtrot? I think it's awesome. I mean what other comic can tell jokes with math equations and still be funny. Way to be Bill Amend!
and speaking of math...
How about that Numb3rs show?
I mean awesome. Solving crimes with probabilities and statistics, and well, math.
Again it's really smart. Again I wish I knew some of that.
And speaking of what I wish I knew...
Jeopardy. I mean how cool is that a whole show about how much you know, and if you get it right you come back, and then you get to do it again. I've always kind of liked it. Ok I love it. I mean I even taped those Ken Jennings days (yeah my brother did some church work with him in Europe). What is... Amazing... Good clean fun.
And speaking of amazing, one of the greats has got to be the original Iron Chef.
One hour to create a whole menu and every dish has to include the secret ingredient, so secret that there's no way to prepare for it. Just two chefs, Brilliant chefs, and staff, and any ingredients they may need.
Now part of what makes Iron Chef so good is the English narration: Alton Brown and his insightful comments about the ingredients and the dishes, yeah he's a little nerdy, but that may be why I liked it.
And when I found out his show Good Eats is exactly that, the science, and history, and trivia off food, well I decided I liked it too. It's really good.
And how about that PBS. I mean I love watching a good episode of Charlie Rose, or the Nightly Business Report. And now that I can watch ole' Charlie do his thing (interview Americas best thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and roundtable discussions) at a slightly better hour, life is really good.
And what about quantum leap one of my best friends got me started here. I'm not sure how many of the seasons I missed, but the guy created a time machine, I mean how cool is that. (random sidenote, same guy created NCIS... Other sidenote I hear they're making a movie).
Yeah I think the same friend introduced me to SeaQuest.
I remember Due South, you know the really smart mounty. He played his own way, but he was sharp. So Coool.
Of course the quintessential tv super smart guy is MacGyver. He can get into or out of anything, and he doesn't like guns. He doesn't even need them. He just uses what's around.
One of my favorites... back before my mission, was The Pretender. A smart guy, righting others wrongs. The cool thing here, besides of course the righting of wrongness, was that he could do pretty much anything. Not just smarter than your average bear, way smarter.
Finally I would like to conclude with Chuck. I like Chuck. He's very down to earth, trying to do the right thing, and somewhat socially awkward. Clearly it's his brain that makes this show work. Ok and the humor, but still it's cool to see a nerd (typical or not) save the day every now and then. And here it's basically every not just now and then.
So there you have it I like the exceptional.
The intelligent, and the outstanding.
Consciously or not, I look for the bright ones.
Yeah I really like the bright ones.
6 comments:
Hmmm, this isn't quite the direction I thought you would go when I was helping you with a title, but, yeah, I like a lot of those shows too.
I mean, how can you go too wrong with awesome skills and talents and brains! Why not learn a little while vegging in front of the TV?
I don't watch a lot of tv nowadays, but sometimes I'll watch it while hanging out with my roommates.
I really like NCIS, Psych, and The Mentalist, too! I caught the similarities between Psych and the Mentalist right away, but the two shows are different enough that I enjoy both of them.
I ♥ the original Iron Chef! The American version is good, but the original is my favorite!
Have you ever seen Bones? I've caught it on a couple times and enjoyed it, especially the title character (it's her nickname). It's on Fox - give it a try if you ever get the chance!
My mom totally loves Jeopardy and sometimes I get to watch it with her - it's fun to test my knowledge.
Speaking of PBS, have you ever seen NOVA? That is an awesome show!
I'm glad you like intelligent programming, too!
I definitely love Jeopardy! And I used to watch a little MacGyver and Quantum Leap back in the day but haven't really seen any of the rest of them.
In general, I think we have a bit of pretty good programming. As long as it's not soap opera-like. I like shows that make me laugh.
Ohhhh, I loved Pretender! I miss that show.
In other good show news: Bad news stupid stupid ABC cancelled the three best shows they had going on, including Pushing Daisies, which was the cleverest thing I had seen on TV in a LONG time. Too bad I never made time to watch it. I guess I have no right to be sad.
Also. I heart Jeopardy! (and I don't say that very often.)
First off this may be a dumb question but which Harry Potter movie are you referring to. Second NCIS I watched for the first time the other day and quite liked it. Numbers is also one of those shows I so could get hooked on so I try to avoid though the times I have watched it, I was quite intrigued. Jeopardy is always fun to prove just how smart or dumb I really am depending on the day. Iron chef. What more can I say competitive cooking in 60 minutes with secret ingredients. Fun. Quantum Leap and Seaquest were some of my favorite when I was younger for some reason. I really wish they would come back with more reruns. The good ones anyway. I loved the Pretender and the Profiler (though not on the list) which was on around the same time. Chuck is also great because he is just a normal guy, but yet, not really. I completely agree on Psych also. Its comedic timing is perfect and so funny. Do you ever wonder if maybe since you were so wrong on this show, maybe in your naiveness you are neglecting I don't know say maybe movies that have some pretty good potential? Good choices of bright entertainment.
This is a pretty fun post. I like many of the shows and some I haven't seen.
I, of course am pretty big on Psych. I love it. Also, there is a Christmas episode coming up and I am very excited. I also like Monk, which is also about a smart guy. I used to like Monk more, but Psych has surpassed it now at least for me. I haven't watched the Mentalist. It sounded too much like Psych for me to try. It sounds like its good though. I am cutting back on TV, but, maybe I'll catch it one of these days.
Like many who have posted here, I really liked The Pretender too. It was one of my favorite shows when it was on. I like most of the shows listed, I would also include Frasier.
I loved MacGyver. Well, I am a fan of Richard Dean Anderson. He could make an explosive device with bubble gum and a paper clip. How awesome is that.
I thought I would add a cartoon (I can think of a couple) to the mix. How about Brain from Pinky and the Brain? Sure he was trying to take over the world, but he was smart. Laughter often ensued.
I like Chuck a lot too.
So I think, yeah I like smart characters too.
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