Sunday, May 4, 2014

Sunday Stealing

16. Talk Shows. Do you watch daytime talk TV? If so, do you prefer the calm shows like Oprah or the wilder side like Jerry Springer?
I watch The Today Show, and Kelly and Michael.  I used to watch Oprah, Ellen, and other afternoon talk shows, but now I stick with NCIS (etc) marathons and turn over to MSNBC when Chris Hayes comes on at 5 and then Rachel Maddow at 6 and then Jeopardy

17. Which daytime talk TV show would you like to be on? What would the topic be?

It would probably be fun to be on Ellen, but I can't think what topic we would talk about.

18. Before talk TV took over game shows ruled the airways during the day, which do you prefer? Or are you a soap opera fan?

I haven't watched soap operas in more than 40 years.  I love game shows.

19. Is there a game show (past or present) you think you would do really well on, as a contestant?

I'm too old for game shows now.  Reflexes and memory aren't quick enough, but I would love to have qualified for Jeopardy (which we watch every day, religiously).  For past game shows, it would have been fun to be on Password.

20. Who is your favorite game show host? Who is your least favorite?

Love Alex Trebek.  Wink Martendale had too greasy a smile for my tastes.

21. Marathons. Have you watched any TV marathons? In part? In whole? Is there a show you’d like to see run an all day marathon? On the flipside is there a show you’d avoid in marathon?

Good lord.  So many.  I did all of Breaking Bad in about 2 days so I would be ready for the finale.  I did four seasons of Sopranos in about a week.  I recently did a The Americans marathon, but that was only one season. I watch alphabet marathons on USA (NCIS, NCIS-LA, SVU, etc.)  I would love to have them do a marathon of West Wing, Northern Exposure or Picket Fences so I could see them all again.

22. Out of curiosity, what’s the longest you’ve ever watched TV in one stretch?

I think the Breaking Bad marathon was the longest, where I started before sunrise and finished around midnight. 

23. On the whole do you feel most Special Reports are really that special? Or are they simply annoying? What special report has affected you most? (IE: (9/11, Reagan being shot…etc)

Some special reports, yes, but most, no.  It's just the network trying to be first to deliver bad news.  The one that affected me the most was the first of the special reports :  the Kennedy assassination.  I was out of the country on 9/11 and missed all the reports during that week.

24. What is the (pick one: stupidest, saddest, silliest, most disgusting..) thing you’ve ever seen on TV?

Most disgusting has to be either some of those "I eat gross things" shows, or Who Wants to Marry a Millionare where a woman married a stranger on TV because she wanted his money.  I can't watch any hoarder shows either.

25. What’s your fondest memory of something on TV?

I remember watching a concert version of Les Miserables that was absolutely thrilling.

26. What’s the first show you remember watching regularly?

We got our first TV in 1953, which is more than 50 years ago, so I don't remember the first show I remember watching regularly.  I remember watching Ed Sullivan regularly and the very first TV program we watched on our own set was Life with Luigi, with J. Carroll Nash.

27. What shows would make up a perfect night of TV viewing for you?

Jeopardy, NCIS, Scandal, White Collar, and The Daily Show (that takes me from 7 to 11;30)

28. You get to create one show to put on the schedule, with any stars you choose. Who and what would it be?

Amazon.com is considering a show called Bosch, based on author Michael Connelly's hero, Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver in the title role.  I can't think of a better new show to put on any schedule.  I love Harry Bosch.

29. Canceling or Not. What show(s) would you cancel without a moment’s hesitation? Is there a show (previously canceled or just no longer airing) that you’d bring back, original cast and all?

Honey Boo Boo or Dance Moms, neither of which I have watched, but which look ghastly in promos.  The show I would bring back would be The West Wing, but since the actors are either too old...or dead...that would not be possible (and I certainly wouldn't want to see anybody else in those roles!)

30. What’s the best series finale you remember?

Hands down, Newhart where his character woke up in the middle of the night, in bed with Suzanne Pleschette, Bob Newhart's wife from his previous show and that everything we had just seen had been his dream.  Brilliant (and perhaps a nod to the finale of St. Elsewhere, where the show turned out to be taking place in the mind of an autistic boy)

3 comments:

Kwizgiver said...

I just started watching Breaking Bad and I love it!

Bev Sykes said...

Oh what a fun ride you have ahead of you!

Harriet said...

"Life with Luigi" -- I think we watched it once or twice on TV, but we all really loved it on the radio. I suppose seeing the television characters that looked different from our imagined ones from radio spoiled the TV experience.