Hell: Summer or War?

Sure, I’m trying not to write another blog/story about the doldrums of summer for TV, but it’s an annual rite of passage, right?

I’ve never been a fan of reality TV (okay I admit I did watch a couple seasons of The Real World and Road Rules but American Idol and Survivor never really appealed to me). So the summer is even more troubling for me than for some. Couple that with my recent decision to give up on satellite. Well… in actuality my wife and I recently moved in the house we are living in, and thus no longer have access to the satellite. Sure, we could go downstairs and watch, but why bother when we have an HDTV upstairs and most of the shows we watch during the year can be found on Hulu or ABC.com For those rare shows we do like to watch live (CHUCK) we have a trusty pair of digital rabbit ears. And to be honest, it hasn’t been too bad, except for that fact that for some reason we cannot get the local ABC station. So with summer now here and in full bloom, what am I to do?

Let me back up a week. My Grandfather was a WWII Vet. In fact he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. This past summer was the 65^th Anniversary of D-Day, and because my Grandfather was a Vet and because we live so close to the National D-Day Memorial, I dragged Andi to an hour long ceremony. It was a beautiful day to get out of the house, a bit too sunny, but all in all a good day. Being there got me to thinking how I had not seen Band of Brothers in a year or so.

It took me a while to find some time when Andi wasn’t around (she is not a fan of war films), but I finally popped in the DVDs and started watching. You know what surprised me most? How many current TV stars were in this show. Names most people wouldn’t know then, but now may know. Actors from Band of Brothers went on to current and recent hits (and bombs) like Life, Boomtown, Desperate Housewives, Fringe, What About Brian, Battlestar Galatica, Life on Mars (US), and others [Pop quiz: Can anyone match the actors with the shows I just listed?]. Not to mention hit movies like Wanted. Now, Band of Brothers is not for everyone but there are some amazing moments in that mini-series and it shows in great detail, not so much the acts of war, but the day-to-day grind of war. Mostly though, it’s proving me a road map for shows to watch this summer. Ways to pass the time.

I’m starting with Boomtown. It’s a natural evolution since one of the writers for Band created Boomtown, while dragging some actors with him. I’m already two discs in to Season 1(will Season 2 ever see the light of day?), and I have to say how much I miss this show. Not so much for the basic premise of showing the crime from different perspectives as much as the heart of the show, which is these characters. There are definitely some shows out there that could learn a thing or two from this show. But after watching Life, I’m not sure where to go as I have to wait for some of these shows to hit DVD (after watching Star Trek I think I need to give Fringe another shot).

So... any suggestions on how to survive TV hell, after all Burn Notice is only on once a week and Eli Stone will only be back for 3 or 4 episodes?