Having just watched all of How I Met Your Mother, and liked it, I suspect I like all TV shows, or at least all sit-coms. I think of myself as liking some but not others, and even having reasons for liking the ones I like, and even for some being better than others. But I doubt all that now. So I'm going to test out the possibility that I like all sit-coms.
First a quick definition of "like". I am talking about the kind of like that implicates a deeper fit with a personality, and a connection with aesthetic and value-based judgments. I am not talking about the kind of "like" that is a mere failure of the "dismissive" function to decide what is wrong with every hour Josh spends doing anything, including TV. That force is strong within Josh, and may have substituted throughout his life for real preference and "liking". I dismiss anything I feel like dismissing, just bc I don't have room in my life for it, or bc when I watched it I just had a bit of bad beef or a blot of mustard, or bc too many other people like it, or bc not enough of the right people like it, or bc it was too cliched (except when I decide cliche is ok), or bc it was too sentimental (except when I decide that's ok), or just simply bc to accept the TV show in front of my face at one instant is to accept that I must get into and watch all of that series and therefore all equivalent series (and therefore have to spend my whole being pursuing sit-coms, for instance) etc, etc. I suspect that with all the arbitrary dismissing going on, there's no me in my preferences. And so, no true "Like" button.
So I'm searching for my real Likes in TV shows. But it wd be too large an experiment for me to identify 5 shows I think I wd like based on friend reviews and brief descriptions, and 5 shows I expected to dislike, and watch them all, and rate them all, and see if I rated the expected-to-likes higher. And it's a weak experiment design anyway.
Instead, I wd like to guess that I do have genuine preferences, then try to find evidence for the null hypothesis. The way I'll do this is to watch a bunch of shows and see if I end up liking every last one of them. Now in a sense I've already done this, just by living my life and watching some TV, and I have supposedly liked many shows (but I'm saying this "like" was a mere result of the shows happening to escape my dismissive function). I have disliked many shows too, dismissing of them w/o watching more than a couple (or zero full) episodes. So for this experiment, I will watch enough episodes of a few series to get into them, and try to be open and assume I will like them once I'm warmed up to the characters. Viz, I will try to turn off the dismissive function.
I asked around for some good shows, making the universe of potential shows not at all random (instead of lining up the top-rated programs from the past X years). So sue me. Here are the shows I got from friends. Next to each I put comments on why I might/not choose them.
Comedys:
Will and Grace (exactly the kind of show I was thinking of, sit-com, laugh track, huge show, many years, couple of friends/fam watched it, don't expect to like it)
Mad About You (same as Will and Grace)
Raising Hope (Good for a completely unknown com)
Modern Family (Good current sit-com, couple fam like it)
The New Girl (too easy to like, already biased in favor due to first show involving sex with Zooey)
Outsourced (decent choice)
Mr. Ed (good old choice)
It's Always Sunny (already deep into this show)
Flight of the Conchords (already deep into this show)
Seinfeld (already like, but a potential in a "Re-watch" category)
The Wonder Years (already like, but good potential for a "Holds Up?" category)
Friends (liked, but Holds Up?)
The Office (already seen, liked, re-watched and liked)
The League (already seen and liked, but may have liked less than other shows, so potential "Decent" category show)
Mr. Ed (Old category, classic)
Green Acres
Dramas:
Castle, Bones (seen it), Terra Nova, The Glades (curious about this), Gray's Anatomy (oo, expect to hate this), Dr. Who (seen it), Grimm (too new), Once Upon a Time (too new), Mad Men (potential), The Closer (cop show category), Torchwood, Dr. Quinn (expect to hate), Friday Night Lights (good neutral and popular drama), The Walking Dead, Spartacus, Justified, Gilmore Girls (not good choice, expect to like, given inclination to Dawson's Creek and 7th Heaven and WB crap).
I think it wd be too complicated to include shows I've seen already and liked, so I'm eliminating those for now. Reviewing the possible candidates, I noticed I want real challenges, shows I expect to hate. That way if I like it anyway, I'm more sure it's bc I really just like it.
I'm starting w Grey's Anatomy. It's not a sit-com, but it is perfect for all the other important reasons. I expect to hate it bc I watched lots of ER in college, but never connected to it. And I never loved Scrubs. And I think I dislike soap operas. Plus, it's streaming to Netflix.
Update. I liked the first episode, although the explanatory, sentimental, deep-thoughts voice-over at the end was irritating. Main character portrayal reminds me of Alley McBeal. They play the head of surgery and supervisors like army sergeants, which makes sense bc our generation has no war, but everyone relates to dealing with someone yelling at them about how tough a time they are having (bc then you're strong if you make it).
Update. I really liked the third or fourth episode. I like this series. Experiment over. I like all TV shows. I love medical diagnosis; I shd like House, but was mellow on it bc the whole point of the show was diagnosis by a genius (I'm always jealous of fictional geniuses). Here's it's just one part of the show, but one that excites me.
for one
So I want a show no one picked--that way I have no reason to think I will like it (maybe Two and a Half Men). And I want Will and Grace, a prototypical sit-com (I think). It might be nice to include a show I know nothing about and have no expectations about (Raising Hope). I also expect to dislike Grey's Anatomy, bc I watched lots of ER w/o connecting to it (but I suspect I was Dismissing), and bc I (probably) dislike soap operas. Other good dramas are Mad Men, some random coppy-detective show (The Closer, Law n Order, NYPD Blue). So this is prob the best drama to try. Although
No comments:
Post a Comment