Spreading some TV cheer

Until the 27th, I can say that I'm caught up on writing (Dec 27th is the date I'll get copyedits on Once Burned). This doesn't mean that I'm free from other business duties, but it does mean that I have a little more time away from my desk. Good thing, too. Otherwise, I swear I would've needed a name tag for my husband to remember who I was *wink*.

With this additional down time, I've found some TV shows that I really enjoy. Some of these just debuted, and some have been out for years (but they're new to me! ).

Grimm

New show with a twist on Grimm's Fairy Tales. In this version, "Grimm's" are people who can see the supernatural and have the strength to fight against it. It's a hereditary thing, and the abilities only manifest when a Grimm family member is about to die/kicks the bucket. The protagonist, a cop, is thrust into his new role as a Grimm when his ailing aunt tells him of his secret lineage. If you like Supernatural, you may want to check this out. My favorite character has to be the slightly geeky, snarky werewolf.

 

Once Upon a Time

Another show with a twist on classic fairy tales. This one has the premise that the stories are all real, but the characters were cursed by an evil queen into forgetting their true identities while being trapped forever in a small town. Only Emma, the child of Snow White and Prince Charming, can break the curse. Emma is a female bounty hunter with a chip on her shoulder and no belief in fairy tales, but she's dragged into the cursed town by the son she gave up for adoption ten years before. Yes, the premise is corny, but the show pulls it off for me by being whimsical and surprisingly heartfelt. After watching two episodes, I was hooked.

 

American Horror Story

How do I begin to describe this? My best effort, which still falls short, would be calling it a cross between Amityville Horror and The Money Pit. A husband and wife struggling with marital issues think a change of scenery will help, and they move into a "steal" of a house with their teenage daughter. Right from the start, weird things happen. The tension and twistedness increase with every episode, as do the revelations about the house and other characters, until, like a train wreck, you can't look away (or I can't, at least). This series also includes twists I never saw coming and some really dark humor. So much is thrown at you in the first episode that it took until the second one for me to really connect with the characters, but once I did, I was hooked. My sister, who hates horror movies, marathoned seven episodes of this show in one sitting. I think it's because – after episode one – the characters come across so vividly that even non-horror fans can get sucked in.

 

30 Rock 

How did I miss this show before? If you're new to it like I was, the premise is the behind-the-scenes hi-jinks of a weekly live TV show on NBC (I'm guessing a spoof on many of the actors' tenure on Saturday Night Live). The characters are over-the-top flawed, the banter sarcastically hilarious, and every stereotype from the innocent page to the unscrupulous CEO is exploited to full comic potential. I wasn't an Alec Baldwin fan until I started watching this and had no idea he could be so funny. Tina Fey is brilliant as usual, as is the rest of the cast. Season One was funny, but things really hit their stride for me in the later seasons.

 

Shows I'm anxiously awaiting new seasons from in 2012 are Justified, Game of Thrones, True Blood, Sherlock, and Merlin. Shows I still like, but am getting frustrated with are Supernatural (they BETTER not have done what the last episode implied) and Boardwalk Empire (Season Two's final episode was depressing, imo).

What shows are you watching/looking forward to/getting frustrated with?

Mirrored from Frost Light.