i'm a 37 year old who is way behind the times when compared to other people my age or younger. i only watch shows on tv, sitting in my big recliner.as there are only a handful of good shows on (MM being far & away the best), i never tivo/dvr anything.

My favorite shows are Mad Men, Big Love and House; each because the writing and acting are first rate (not to mention each have great soundtracks.) I prefer watching on TV, not the Internet, because I like to watch along with my partner. I prefer shows on HBO or other non-commercial networks because I can't stand the ads - silly for such a fan of Mad Men! I don't have a DVR, but I should - so I could FF through the commercials! Ha!

.....SS.....One thing about viewing on line is they do have the quick spots, but they are reasonably, acceptably short.

If you like those three (as do I), see what you think about Lie to Me, tonight on Fox.....

I have to say I'm a 30 Rock fan, Dry! (are you surprised?) ;o) I get a kick out of the humor. Of course, SNL is my favorite show of all time. Lorne Michaels is a genius when it comes to humor. Cheers! ;o)

.....Drink&Smoke.....You're back - yay!

Alec Baldwin is one of the funniest people ever, and who knew Salma was such an "A" player!

Thanks to Liz Lemon for keeping it real. Seriously.

Yes, and thanks to Liz Lemon I now have a new favorite expression for when I get to laughing too exuberantly with my sisters: "I'm lizzing! I'm lizzing!" (If you missed the last episode, it's a combination of laughing and whizzing.)

I haven't always watched 30 Rock that consistently, but have recently come to love it. My favorite Alec Baldwin line was when Liz Lemon asked Jack why he was wearing a tuxedo and he responded "It's after 6 p.m. - what am I, a farmer?"

Me, too! (getting to love 30 Rock)

I did not watch 30 Rock BH (Before Hamm) but since I got to watching it during his "tenure", I've decided it's funny.

I'll probably keep watching it...because, as you said, z, Alec Baldwin is great.

I DVR 24 to watch "sometime during the week" because it's on when "the dancing" is on (we call it "the dancing" (Dancing with the Stars) and "the singing" (American Idol) and usually watch one while DVRing the other. Don't ask me how I ever got hooked on those 2 stupid superficial shows, but, there it is....they are my guilty pleasures...24 is at least intelligent!

I generally just watch MM when it's on...DVRing it as a backup --- and then erasing that if I make it all the way through and don't fall asleep!

That above about AI and DWTS vaguely brings to mind what my grandma used to say about having to watch her "stories" (soaps) !!!! Hee!

Sorry, Dry M., I completely forgot to respond to your original questions. I do not watch that much TV these days. I watch Mad Men, The Office, 30 Rock, TCM and the Food Channel on a regular basis. I usually check the PBS lineup every evening to see if there is anything interesting I want to tune into. I have also been known to watch The Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, and Dora the Explorer, but only when I have a certain 2 yr. old watching with me. Oh, all right, I admit I would watch the Backyardigans even without my granddaughter.

I like to watch from my favorite chair, with my feet up, a tasty drink next to me and a good book to pick up when things get boring. I do not like to view programs on the computer, just as I dislike reading my newspaper online. "It ain't fittin', it just ain't fittin'" as Mammy said, at least not for me.

I also firmly believe that TV censorship should be much stricter. I am shocked and appalled at what is allowed to be shown on TV these days, especially during what used to be known as the family hours.

Friday Night Lights, Lost, Life. Breaking Bad are probably my current favorites. Do a lot of DVR, start te show about half an hour late and then fast forward through commercials.I'm eagerly awaiting Rescue Me and a couple in the spring network lineup seem interesting: SouthLAnd and The Unusuals.

I think Friday Night Lights is truly one of the best shows on TV now. Great actors who know their characters and do some terrific improv.The relationship between the coach and his wife is incredible. There is one scene, I think in the first season, in which he goes to his wife, who was then the school guidance counsellor, with a problem. He didn't like the answer so he says "can I stop talking to the guidance counselor and talk to my wife?" He didn't like her answer, either, and says "is there anybody else I can talk to?"

Please don't ask me to explain why I watch Lost.

Oh yeah, z...you reminded me... I watch TCM and AMC for the classic movies..watch one or the other's movies a lot. (AMC, for MM, too, of course, as I previously posted.)

Also, loved the recent version of David Copperfield shown on PBS with Maggie Smith and that kid that was Harry Potter when he was much younger.

Oh, and Antiques Roadshow...the worse something looks, the more thousands it's worth!
Always get a kick out of that...

I watch on-line for programmes not availible here in the States. My absolute favorite is a woderful half hour called Q.I.(quite interesting) with the wonderful Stephen Fry. You can see bits of it on Youtube. Very creative and urbane.

Otherwise-I watch endless hours of BBCAmerica. They lately have gone hot and cold and really don't seem to understand their audience.

Graham Norton is a hoot on Saturdays at ten.

Gordon Ramsey in his native country is an informed, tough educator. In the US he is paid to be a loud-mouth bully. His F-Word Series is the 60 Minutes of food. Great..
The Restaurant was a lovely show respectfully holding a competition between couples for a job with Chef Raymond Blanc...it's coming to the US as The Chopping Block...a mean spirited, nasty version of the same.
Top Gear on Mondays at 8 has it all. Jay Leno is trying to bring it here to the US and I hope he fails. The show is smart, very funny and once again-intelligent.

I think the network shows such as The Apprentice/Dancing with the Stars or Fear Factor are rubbish.

....Oh, I love Graham Norton....He's so brilliant and hilarious and horrifying all at the same time.

Plus he's such a big sweetie.....

.....Top Gear is still in broadcast? Didn't it originate like 50 years ago?

(No offense.....)

.....Kathy McGowan.......??

.....Anthony Bourdain reigns. Apparently, they have a continuous weekly marathon on the Travel Channel.

24-hour Bourdain.

And yet, there is still at least one continent he hasn't covered......

Top Gear, by popular demand, returned in 2007. Jeremy Clarkson is still, well, Jeremy Clarkson. So well spoken, so politically incorrect, so hilarious! Try it-it has been re-vamped

I put in the mention of "The Book Group" and "Q I" especially for you. They are on Youtube-I'd be interested in your opinion!

Kathy McGowan! I was much more a Top of the Pops lad, myself...

.....Sorry.....(d'oh!)....

I'll take a look.....

Does anyone remember a drama/soap about ten years ago called "Savannah"? WB Network, I think.

In addition to MM, I watch "30 Rock", and have since the get-go. If you haven't seen it from the beginning, you have to rent the earlier seasons; it really is the smartest comedy on tv. It's a miracle they haven't cancelled it.

The other shows I always watch are "The Office", "Lost", "The Closer", "Monk". I think that's about it. I used to watch a few shows on the Food Network, or Home & Garden, but they've gotten stupid, too. Lowest common denominator stuff. The only "reality" show I watch is "Project Runway", just because I enjoy seeing how the clothes are made. Mostly my husband and I watch movies we rent from Netflix.

I remember "Savannah", never watched it, though.

Gad, how could I forget The Closer. I really enjoy that show. Plus, I used to watch the original CSI, but it got to be too much for my tender sensibilities. I won't go back to it now that Grissom is gone.

I always watch Black Adder when I can find it, or anything with Rowan Atkinson. The Food Network shows I watch are Barefoot Contessa and some of the food challenges. I used to watch Paula Deen's shows and still enjoy the early ones, but I can't abide her anymore as she has gone over the top with her saucy Southern belle act. I watched the Mario Battalli/Gwyneth Paltrow series on Spain. That was delightful, and the food looked wonderful.

I do enjoy "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives" on Food Network. And a couple things on the History Channel, like "Cities of the Underworld".

Our PBS affiliate here stinks. Lots of those tired old English comedies and oldies music acts (?), which I think are filmed performances from Branson Mo and places like that,even England I think. The audience if full of senior citizens rocking out to Herman's Hermits and the like (I can say that because I are a Senior Citizen).When I travel, I see the PBS listings in other cities, and it's stuff we never get here. I guess they don't have the money; it is the South, you know (and I can say that because I are a Southerner).

We used to watch CSI, too, until it got to be soft porn/snuff film quality.

God...now I'm glad I left out that I sometimes watch "Celebrity Apprentice"... another one of my "rubbish" network shows...oh well (only kiddin', Gavin!)

I forgot about Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, too, Mambo...love it...also, z, I agree Paula D. used to be fun...now she's a joke.

Also enjoy Bourdain and also that Globe Trekker show with Ian something or other.

I whatch Mad Men, The Tudors (coming back this weekend!!) and Scrubs! I also enjoy Psych wich is riddled with movie references and 1980's jokes, great for my husband and I who make those jokes to eachother all the time.
I watch on T.V. unless I miss a scrubs, then I might catch it on internet
Gavin, I went to school with the brother of an actress on Savanah, the red head chick, we went to a performing arts high school in L.A.

.....I've heard mixed reviews on The Tudors.....

While the period interests me quite intently, I've heard that the treatment is somewhere between Days of Our Lives, and Beverly Hills, 90210.

What I am sure of, is that Jonathan Rhys Myers is likely an actor with a possible future, in the long run.

I understand he's been undergoing some heavy family issues as of this past year, including the untimely death of his beloved mother....

And possibly needing professional intevention.

What I'm soliciting here, I guess, is someone talking me into finding a way to view this mini-series.

I wondered about my PBS channel not always playing what was advertised in magazines or on the internet. Here in Ariz., it is not a great line up of programs- especially music ones.

I watch Lost, American Idol, Celebrity Apprentice, Medium, the Thurs nite line up of comedies and ER and Better Off Ted -a new show which is funny and no laugh track. Mad Men is my favorite of all time drama. Breaking Bad, Without a Trace, Bones, The Closer and Law & Order SVU are other favorite shows. I DVR everything and watch what and when I want, ff thru commercials which are atrocious nowadays!
Two new shows on STARZ network are Head Case and Party Down. Very adult and very funny. Head Case has lots of famous guest stars. Soon I will stop getting STARZ though and will have to go to the Internet to get these series.

I use my satallite and DVR everyday to hunt for good programming. I keep "how to" art, craft and music shows so I can participate in learning new things with my family and friends.

Can't wait for Rescue Me next week and then So You Think You Can Dance and of course Mad Men next summer -seems soooo far away.

Dry-Steer clear of the Tudor!

It is a sexed-up soap...and the characters actually say things like "ya know" while running in the woods. It has been around for a while-and everyone is very easy on the eye.

Sorry legal-but it really is "History Class for those Who Dogged Off School"

The original Life on Mars was brilliant, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Story told in 16 episodes. Somehow, I don't think this new Sam Tyler will be jumping off any building before he wears out his welcome.

On PBS, I am a fan of American Experience and Mystery....after I have watched The Closer...I love Lt Provenza!

AMC's schedule for Hawaii is based on pacific time so I lucked out that MM is shown @9:00pm. I still DVR MM to watch when nothing good is on, and I watch "Desparate Housewives" on Sunday since they're on at the same time.
I also watch "The Closer", "The Biggest Loser","Damages","Ghost Whisper" and DVR "Medium and "The Mentalist" the rest of the time we watch Netflix movies on TV. We just started the John Adams series they had on HBO.
The only time I watch anything on the computer is sometimes on Sunday afternoon I watch classic movies on my Netfix account, the play instantly feature. I watched "Laura" last Sunday I remember Z mentioning it before so I put it in my queque. I really didn't expect it to be so good.
Anymore recommendations for my queque?.. let me know.

Gavin, are you talking about the British "Life on Mars"? I've tried to watch the American one because I was in college in the 70s, so I have fond memories of that decade; also the music on the series is well-chosen. However, I just could not get into it; I thought it was confusing, and just too unbelievable. I can go with the fact that he's somehow time-traveled, but aren't the other characters aware of the fact that he thinks he's from the "future"? Yeah, like he would still be allowed on the police force. It also doesn't mix its genres well; the humor, the violence, the science fiction. I know the British version was supposed to be excellent.

In a nutshell-Sam Tyler gets hit by speeding carwhile apprehending killer-picks himself off the ground-and finds himself in the '70's. First day of work for Sam Tyler at Police Station in the 1970's...so they just think he is a bit odd. Is he?
Are the voices he hears in his head his imagination...or are they what people are saying to him from hospital in 2008?
Throw in "the killer" as a chlid..the girl he left behind, the new love interest...and you've got DRAMA.
Very off-beat...but how many Law and Order SVU can a body take?

Yes, I love the concept of it, but for some reason the execution doesn't work (I'm referring to Life on Mars). If it is all just in his head, what's the point? I wonder if the British version is on dvd, I may rent it.

Forgot to add I love Christofuh! in that long hair and mustache. He looks like a guy I would have had a crush on back then.

Good luck-I believe that when the show came to the US...part of the deal was that the DVD would remain in Region 2 format. Therefore NO comparing!
If you read the Wikipedia and Google the BBC episodes avail. you'll get the whole idea. As was "The Prisononer"...some show ideas get lost on film; couple that with the fact that most viewers simply don't want to work very hard.
Also-the whole story was told in several hour and DONE. American shows...Friends, ER, Law and Order just go on well past the expiration date.

.....Thanks to everyone for stopping by - I'm always curious what everyone else is watching.

One thing I'm not sure everyone knows in the U.S. is just how many American comedy and drama series are a direct knock-off of the original British versions.

Many times there is a LOT lost in the translation, such as in the case of Absolutely Fabulous. Did the stateside version of that even get off the ground??

Due to computer issues, I can't spend any time here today, but wanted to post something I found this morning.... it's the first promotional spot released by AMC for MM Season 3.....

As AMC's critically acclaimed Mad Men series prepares it's return this summer, the studio has unveiled the first TV spot for season 3. Not revealing anything that's about to happen in the season to come, the spot showcases what the series is all about. Take a look...

http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEuhxCxxAWSFyA

Thanks for the link, Dry....makes me anxious, though.......boo hoo.....hurry July!

I don't have a TV set anymore : I'm fed up with war, violence, vulgarity, propaganda, disinformation ; maybe because I'm getting older (40)
I'm fed up with all that crap and I don't want to loose my time in front of a tv set (it's often my feeling after watching a tv program)

I read newspaper on coputer : It's free and I can choose the articles I want to read. I don't want to buy a newspaper just to read less than 5 articles (I agree to pay for an article but how to evaluated an article before buy it, how to evaluate its fair price ?)

I read books on computer: not great because of the low resolution of screens but I'm fed up to load myself down with books, furniture, etc. In one cd rom you can burn thousand of books and ebooks have a lot of functionalities.

I watch TV on my computer: I watch documentaries and I rent a dvd when I want to watch a movie (not easy to found healthy movies)

I started again to watch tv by discovering Mad men and Breaking Bad. By waiting for the third season I'm watching The Twilight Zone on dvd.

.....It's almost not worth paying the price of cable subscriptions anymore, when you can get exactly the show you want on DVD or download, have full control of when and how you watch, not have to worry about the DVR, etc.

Personally, quality is more important to me than quantity. Give me one bright genuine gemstone in a sea of cheap, gaudy baubles.

I never liked network television much - ever. It just all seemed so inane, even the shows that were supposed to be "great" or "popular." I don’t watch American Idol or Dancing with the Stars (despite a dance background)…..Yee gawds - what’s wrong with me!!

That's probably totally unfair and prejudicial, but the first time television fictional dramas or comedies EVER really grabbed me, in terms of something other than PBS or whatever, was HBO, then SHO, then Cinemax, and now, finally, the basic cable channels. Hooray!

Previous to the availability of all this wonderful programming on cable, there has been the superb science and nature programming ("bug movies") on Nat Geo and Discovery, some of the forensic and medical shows, odd things on the BBC, IFC, Sundance, Bravo, etc.

Anything that is intelligently written, intelligently entertaining, and interesting and/or educational.

Series like Sex and the City, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Fat Actress, Deadwood, Dexter, John Adams, True Blood, Weeds, Big Love, and probably more than a few I've omitted.

Breaking Bad is everything they say, and Bryan and the others are GREAT but, for whatever reason, I don't manage to work it in. However, now that AMC seems to be streaming the show from the website (are they going to do the same for Mad Men??), that can certainly change.

I think the thing about Breaking Bad for me is the similarity to the Sopranos and a couple others, in terms of the deployment of such like shock-value tools in the box.....kind of a “been there, done that” feeling. I always had the idea, anyway, that those original "shows-that-shock" got the notion from Quentin Tarantino, the original “wig-splitter.” Mainstreaming of violence and crime to the point of comedy.

Breaking Bad, for me, just isn’t the fresh discovery, as Mad Men. There has never been anything LIKE Mad Men before, but that is where the comparison ends. Breaking Bad is obviously a great series, so maybe it's just my "head space" right now.

The other thing I’m loving about the intelligence trend, particularly now on basic cable, is the fact that great actresses “of a certain age” are WORKING, getting GREAT roles on GREAT shows, and getting a lot of critical acclaim.

That, as opposed to schlepping around in a back pasture somewhere, whinnying about the great old days when they were making a living, and making the occasional awkward guest appearance on Fantasy Island or Falcon’s Dynasty (or whatever).

Now that the focus has FINALLY settled on "SmartTV," at least for now, any night of the week there is plenty of intelligent drama programming like House, Bones and Lie to Me.

Some lighter fare I've been sampling recently is Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, which is actually turning into a pretty engaging weekly escape. Couldn’t get into Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, despite being a Terminator fan.

As to comedy, much of the programming on Comedy Central (madTV, Kids in the Hall, Blue Collar Comedy Tours 1 and 2), Monty Python, 30 Rock, Ab Fab, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, and a host of other shows that have fallen by the wayside. The Soup on E! is funny, and also a loyal fan of Conan O’Brien.

SciFi Channel has been changing its programming somewhat, and their name, in a bid to become a more well-rounded network, if I'm not mistaken about that. Should be interesting…..

Now for the confessions.....For whatever reason, I used to like the Osbournes, Snoop Dogg's Fathahood was fun, and I've also been sucked into Girls Next Door and the Kardashians' reality show, as of late. Talk about inane.

Finally, like many, many others out there, I've seen Die Hard like a hundred and fifty-seven THOUSAND times!

With all of that being said, because the U.S. and the world are currently undergoing some fascinating conflicts (however you feel about that), mostly what’s on my tube(s) now, for the analysis, is the news.

Oh yeah.....and Mad Men…..of course!

.....The Riches was very fresh and original, but the break has been so long there is no telling if they will bring it back. That would be a real shame.

The unlikely pairing of Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard (love him) - who are both Brits - makes for some brilliant chemistry.

Who knew?

.....SCfan, you'll be amused to know that I had the most vivid dream last night they added an "All Mad Men, All The Time" channel.

It was so realistic that when I woke up, I actually grabbed the buttons and started looking for it!

(Musta been the Szechuan!)

Well, Dry..at least "The Mad Men Channel" would be a change from "The Hunt For Red October" and all the Godfather sagas (which I love...just need a break so I can forget them enough to be able to enjoy them again!)

The Osbournes!......"Shaaaaron!"--(when doddering old drug-sotted Ozzie couldn't find the trash compactor bags....after 20 minutes of searching!) That one was good...made one feel completely normal after watching it, right?

As for The Soup on E!...did you catch it the time the Mad Men dropped by???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew11tgM08Wc

.....Loved it!

...."it's Miiilley"!!!" (Cyrus)

I kinda like Vincent's off season scruffy look....

.....I hear he's a riot to work with, and in general.

Just out of curiosity awhile back I checked to see if any of the MM folk have MySpace pages...Vincent K. has about 5... all going back quite a few years.... seems he'd start a new one every few years rather than update... one of his reasons he was on MySpace was for "dating"....bless his heart...surely he has no trouble finding dates...I guess you never know....!

Seems he has about 8 different pages!...and some of his pics look VERY young...wonder why he doesn't just have one page...odd....

Oh...a few of those are fan pages...there's one pic of him where he looks about 12!

He sure has lived a lot of different places, it seems.

His eyes are just gorgeous.

I am interesting in Breaking Bad because it's an adult serie. The issue is interesting, serious. There is a kind of magic in chemistry and what one can do with chemistry. It's interesting to see the transformation of the character. He's going to die and he becomes alive like ever.

.....Everyone kind of ditched MySpace when FaceBook became the chi chi social network site, so what I've found is a lot of sites "last logged in" in 2006 or whatever.

Now everyone's on FaceBook, I guess.

.....FF.....The scene with the bathtub and the body. THAT was interesting.

The kid didn't use the polyvinyl crate as he was instructed, but instead used the bathtub, which dissolved!!

You're most likely right, there, Dry...about FaceBook being the current "thing"... I don't "do" either one (FaceBook or MySpace) I just force myself to use MySpace now and then because that's the preferred communication (?) of my nieces...you have to if you want to check how they are doing....sigh....and Dear God In Heaven, I will never get into their beloved "texting".... so that's the only other choice (MySpace) to see if they're still alive...

I'm a big fan of 30 Rock too there Drink!

I like Mambodeb got into watching Life on Mars on t.v. from my "easy chair" I really liked it because of the music and clothing. It drew me away from Law and Order. But I can always watch that in the summer

Yeah, Chelsea...I do that with 24...rather than DVRing it, I just am waiting until the re-runs start to have something "new" (besides MM!) to watch in the summer....

.....Since switching to almost all-internet watching, at least as far as serial programming, I find I can fit in a whole lot more shows than before, giving me an opportunity to finally see what everyone has been talking about on some, and explore some new ones as well.

Recently added to my weekly viewing was Leverage, which is good fun. Because of what Mambo Deb and Chelsea said here, I'll probably check out Life on Mars next.

Any other recommendations?

Long time Dry Manhattan!
Hope you are well. I am old-fashioned as I only watch shows on the tube. No DVR. If I didn't have On Demand I'd see almost nothing. "Breaking Bad" has my attention right now. Uncomfortably real and superbly acted. In general I guess I'm a big fan of quiet desperation (and sometimes not so quiet) as a theme for TV and film. I haven't made the leap to watching TV on the computer. It seems wrong to me...but having a cell phone seemed wrong to me too and now, of course, I can't see how I'd survive without it. I love the hulu ads with Alec Baldwin...he is the bomb. 30 Rock is a gem.
I also got hooked on "Damages" which just concluded it's 2nd season. It's completely far-fetched and melodramatic. Glen Close is fantastic as a first-rate villain.

Hi, Glamara!

Nice to have you back, we missed ya....hope all is well....