It started a few years before the DVR, with the occasional special on ancient battles, siege weapons or metallurgy, with seasonal binges of Shark Week, ancient Rome or Egypt, and engineering wonders.
Then, we saw frozen chickens being fired from an air canon at plane windshields. Mythbusters became a family viewing event. The one night each week where we'd break normal school year bedtimes and pile in front of the television... picture The Simpsons opening.
Knowing there wasn't possibly enough time to follow everything, shows like Dirty Jobs, Survivorman, and Anthony Bourdain had to be limited to the times when viewing marathons coincided with rainy weekends.
With the advent of the dual tuner DVR, we could get those previously limited shows, and more, to watch whenever we want. The good news was that the kids didn't have to stay up late on a school night to see Mythbusters. The "bad" news was the growing list of programs we wanted to - and could - watch. Bizzare Foods w/Andrew Zimmerman, Cities of the Underworld, Man vs. Wild. Alaska Week was added to Shark Week for those seasonal binges.
And now... Doing DaVinci, Pitchmen, Out of the Wild, The Detonators, and as of last night:
Expedition Africa. One episode, and I'm completely hooked. Heck, with spitting cobras, crocodiles and Masai warriors, we all are.Nooooo!!!! It's summer, so it's time for SciFi/BBC America series. Torchwood, Doctor Who, Eureka, and the new Warehouse 13 in place of Stargate Atlantis. I don't have that much ironing to do, unless I can convince the children to start wearing linen.
Oh. Lest I forget, Spike TV has a show called Deadliest Warrior. You know that close to friendship ending bout of bickering you could start as a kid by asking who would win a fight between _______ & _______, usually filled in with superheroes? Well, Deadliest Warrior fills in the blanks with warriors throughout history from all over the world, and answers the question. Weapons experts, biomechanical experts, emergency/trauma doctor, and a guy to crunch the numbers and run the simulations. Ninjas vs. Spartans? Shaolin Monks vs. Maori Warriors? William Wallace vs. Shaka Zulu? The first season played back to back Sunday afternoon, finishing with terrorist vs. terrorist - IRA vs. Taliban. I haven't watched it yet, but all four episodes we haven't seen are waiting behind the glowing yellow lights on the HD DVR.
I'm looking forward to Ninjas vs. Spartans. The kids are pulling for Vikings vs. Pirates to be the next episode we watch. Is it wrong to be watching the forecast and contemplating adding "one full day of rain each week" to the prayer list?
3 comments:
SIGH
and here I thought WE were so alike and it turns out its you and the husband :)
me?
Im 100% strungOUT on bravo.
entirely.
Oh, I have been known to watch Bravo, too.
And the Food Network. Nothing like finding out new ways to incorporate butter into meals. (Anything both buttery AND spicy causes my tastebud's knees to go wobbly.)
After reading your post, I need to be tuning in more often to Discovery. Mythbusters and Shark Week are big hits here--though the new shows look tempting.
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