The Big Bang Theory is one of those sitcoms that I will put down my book to watch when it comes on. For many shows, I'll keep reading or working on an assignment and only half pay attention to the show. Not so for this one, it grabs my attention right up and I can't help but to laugh while it's on. The show is about a group of super nerdy, super genius scientist friends. Two of them, Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki [who you might remember best as "David" on the Rosanne show if you're old enough]) live across the hall from the pretty, sometimes ditsy waitress, Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Leonard and Penny have an on again, off again relationship. Sheldon has the highest IQ of his group of friends, and is definitely the least humble about his IQ. Sheldon is also quite prim and obsessive in nature. He's also quite obsessed with Star Track, especially the character Spock. Leonard is far more humble and has better social skills and is somehow able to maintain his sanity while living with Sheldon. The two other friends are Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). Howard likes to think himself a ladies man, he is never seen without a dickie (fake turtleneck shirt that is just the neck and a piece of cloth covering the chest) beneath his top shirt. He lives with his mother who is never shown but always featured as a harsh woman's voice hollering at him from another room. Raj, on the other hand, is so incredibly shy that he cannot speak to a woman but will instead whisper something into the ear of his friends (usually Howard) to have them say to the woman instead. Even if it's a woman he's known for sometime and considers a friends, such as Penny. At some point in the show, it becomes known that Raj's family is apparently very, very rich but he has never told his friends this and is apparently a bit frugal with his money.
Guest stars on this show have included a couple of other familiar faces from the late 80's/early 90's. The star of the tv show Blossom, Mayim Bialik plays as Amy Farrah Fowler (what is so funny about this in particular is there is an instance where Raj mentions getting televisions Blossom to play on their team because she's very smart, and Leonard tells him no.) Amy is Sheldon's girl friend (he always calls her by her full name of Amy Farrah Fowler). She is not only smart but apparently completely lacks in social boundaries and etiquette. She also has a tendency towards expressing borderline sexual feelings towards Penny. She sees Penny as being her best friend, though it is obvious Penny does not reciprocate this level of friendship. Also from the Rosanne show, Sara Gilbert who played as Darlene plays in this show as Leslie Winkle. Leslie is incredibly smart, can't stand Sheldon (who returns the distaste) and has had a fling with Leonard (which is funny for those of you who have never seen Rosanne, as the two characters Darlene and David were a couple).
How I Met Your Mother is about a man named Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) who is telling his two teenage children about how he met their mother. It is actually narrated by Bob Saget, who is speaking as the character Ted Mosby (I have no clue why they didn't just have Josh Radnor narrate). Throughout the entire show, the viewer is treated to the story of Ted Mosby's life and the lives of his three very closest friends: Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), Marshall Erickson (Jason Segal), Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) and Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). Marshall is Ted's closest and longest friend, Lily is Marshall's girlfriend/fiancee/wife. Barney is the chronic womanizer who always wears a suit. Robin is the latest member of the group and at one point both Ted and Barney fall for Robin, and Robin spends time with each man but the relationships do not last. Ted desperately wants to find the right woman and settle down, but he is beginning to loose hope that he will ever meet the right one. In the intern, he works as an architecture and spends his free time hanging out with his friends, usually in a bar called McGee's. The five friends (and occasionally a girlfriend/boyfriend of one of the unattached characters) are known for coming up with complex pranks to play on each other, wild bets and big dreams. For instance, Marshall looses a bet to Barney in which Marshall wins the right to slap Barney in the face 5 times as hard as he can whenever and where ever Marshall should choose. In another episode, they decide to open their own bar inside of Ted's apartment, as they are brain storming about the bar, they are oblivious to the fact that the bar they are describing is pretty much the exact same bar from the sitcom Cheers that was popular in the 80's.
This is a hilarious show, and it's one that I will stop and watch without fail if ever I come across it while channel surfing. The characters are in their late 20's to mid 30's, so it is easy for me to relate to the things they talk about and the immaturity that they still have as a group of friends.
Two Broke Girls is about a young woman named Max Black (Kat Dennings) who works as a waitress at the Williamsburg Diner. She is sarcastic, witty and sassy and I totally love her. Max meets a woman named Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs) who's rich father has recently been imprisoned for fraud and embezzlement, leaving his daughter to figure out how to get by without having her every desire met without question. So, she winds up working at the diner with Max and becomes Max's roommate. When Caroline learns that Max really enjoys cooking cupcakes, Caroline dreams up a way for Max and herself to open a cupcake business. Being cynical, Max takes some convincing but finally agrees. The show is ultimately about the two women trying to save money for this business while working at the diner and taking side jobs when they can.
I love the interplay between the two characters, and Max definitely seems like someone I'd become best friends with in seconds.
Suburgatory is about a teenage girl named Tessa Altman (Jane Levy) and her single father, George Altman (Jeremy Sisto) who move from New York to the suburbs, much to Tessa's dismay. Her father's goal is to move her to a safer environment so she can have a better life, Tessa's goal is to convince him to move back to New York and away from the suburbs. Tessa is able to incorporate herself in with a small group of kids who are more similar to herself, but the school is mostly ruled by the suburban elite with their platinum hair and Chanel accessories.
George is definitively the most attractive bachelor around and this draws the attention of more than a couple of the neighborhood women, including married neighbor, Dallas Royce (Cheryl Hines), who is the mother of Tessa's arch nemesis, Dalia Royce (Carly Chaikin). It becomes clear after some time, that Dallas has fallen in love with George, even if she doesn't say it, he can see it too. Of all strange things, Dallas and Tessa seem to develop a friendship of sorts as well.
This is a cute, feel-good type of show. The humor is clean and the characteristics of the people in the suburbs are over accentuated in a humors manner. I definitely enjoy watching Suburgatory.
Weeds is about a mother who decides to sell marijuana to support herself and her two sons after her husband - their father - Juda Botwin passes away. Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) finds herself in over her head on multiple occasions when her boys become aware of her financial pursuits and convince her to allow them to be involved. Nancy's brother-in-law, Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk), is deeply involved in the lives of his nephews and is falling in love with Nancy, who turns him down.
Nancy and the group of neighbors and family who have become involved in her drug dealing find themselves on the radar of the feds. A wildfire spreads and is heading towards their town of Agrestic, California when Nancy decides that it is time for them to flee she helps the fire along by setting her own house on fire (just to be sure the fire doesn't happen to miss it) along with the marijuana her oldest son, Silas Botwin (Hunter Parrish) was growing inside.
At their new location, she finds herself involved with the mayor of a city in Mexico who also happens to be the kingpin of the drug smuggling ring she's running a cover business for; a baby items store. Nancy finds herself pregnant and soon married to Esteban Reyes (Demián Bichir), but wanting desperately to make sure their child is an American Citizen, and also because she fears that once the baby is born, she will be considered unnecessary, she flees to the US to have the baby, Stevie Reyes (played by two different children, Ethan Kent and Gavin Kent). The Botwins/Reyes spend some time in Mexico with Esteban until they are forced to flee once more when Nancy's middle son, Shane Botwin (Alexander Gould) takes matters into his own hands to deal with a woman threatening his family.
While fleeing, however, Nancy makes a sacrifice to keep herself and her children safe from Esteban and his thugs, who wish to kill her for Shane's actions and because she fled with Esteban's son, Stevie. Nancy finds herself in prison, forced to watch her children grow up through her occasional phone calls and video messages. Her oldest son, Silas has now entered into adulthood and her youngest is being raised by her sister as if he were not Nancy's child. Finally, when Nancy is out of prison and is able to reunite with her children, there is a battle of wills between her sister and herself over who Stevie belongs too. In the end, it is decided that Nancy will stay with her sister so that she may stay involved in Stevie's life and Nancy can have stability while she finds a job in accordance with her probation.
All seems to be going well until Nancy is shot in the head. She doesn't die but spends some time in a coma, they are unable to retrieve the bullet and Nancy must learn her basic motor functions all over again. She complains at one point that everything tastes like black licorice. When she leaves the hospital, she is walking with a cane and is determined to do something different and better with her life.
This dark humored comedy is a must watch for anyone who has thought about taking the "easier route" in life.
Dexter is perhaps one of my very favorite Showtime original shows. It is based off of a series of books by Jeff Lindsay. Unfortunately, I have yet to have the opportunity to read these books. The show, however is about a man named Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) who works for the Miami PD Crime Lab as a blood splatter analyst. He also happens to be a serial killer. He's a good serial killer, though, he only kills people who deserve it such as rapists, murders etc.
Dexter was adopted by Harry Morgan (James Remar) who was a police officer at the Miami PD. Harry knew of Dexter's "Dark Passenger" since Dexter was a child and guided him in a "code" of how to choose his victims, how to kill them, and how to dispose of the bodies without getting caught. Harry thought this was how he could protect his son, since he knew what Dexter would eventually become and how much worse it would be if he didn't instill this "code" in Dexter while he was young. Dexter's sister, Harry's natural daughter, Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) has also followed in Harry's footsteps, working as a police officer (who later makes detective) with the Miami PD.
We get to follow along with Dexter as he lives out his life, thirsting for blood but trying to maintain his facade of normalcy. The story is designed to get the viewer to sympathize with Dexter, and it does a magnificent job of doing so. I found myself fearful for Dexter when he was close to being caught, heartbroken for Dexter when his girlfriend splits up with him (after he's finally come to accept that he has feelings for her) and I came to rejoice with Dexter when he triumphed over the ruthless cop who was tracking him down.
This is an excellent show and is guaranteed to bring out the "dark passenger" in all of us.
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