Somusing

Several months ago, I went through a new and different phase. I'll call it my Korean Drama phase because that's what it was. My friend Veronica wrote to me on Facebook and said, "You should try a Korean drama. They're usually only about 20 episodes long and like a Spanish-language soap opera, but clean." This sounded weird to me--I had never watched a Spanish soap opera and I had no interest in anything Asian--but I was a fan of Hulu and it turns out there are several Korean dramas (subtitled in English) available there. Veronica recommended I start with a show called Pasta, and thus it began.

Pasta is about a girl who works in the kitchen of a high-end Italian restaurant. There are some fun cooking scenes and assistant chefs yelling, "Yes, Chef!" There are also some quirky, funny characters. It's mostly a romance, though. I'll warn you that, according to wikipedia and this show, it's typical for Korean dramas to feature a sweet girl falling in love with a guy who treats her badly, in this case because he's her boss and he treats everyone badly, and, you know, he's trying to help her become a real chef. It's a fun show. The romance is sweet and old-fashioned--this is, I suppose, traditional Korea, where holding hands is a big deal. I think it's still my favorite.

My Lovely Sam Soon. This one has some elements of Bridget Jones's Diary, like imaginary scenes of heroism on the part of the main character that contrast hilariously with her real life. Sam Soon is apparently a very old-fashioned and ridiculous name in Korea, akin to something like "Bertha" might be here. She hates her name, is slightly overweight (although she looks great to me), and her mother thinks she's an old maid. There's romance, pretended and eventually real. It's funny. I liked it quite a bit.

Boys Before Flowers. Yes, it's true that some of the titles don't translate very well. This one was about a group of super rich high school boys and the daughter of a dry cleaner they eventually befriend. Apparently, feathered hair and tight clothes are popular for guys in Korea. In spite of the odd fashion choices of the rich boys, I enjoyed this one, too. It was silly sometimes, but also funny and sweet. This is another one where the girl goes for the guy who's meanest to her, and I kind of wanted her to end up with someone else.

Bad Love. This one is a little racier than the others, at least in subject matter. There's an affair, I think. I can't remember this one very well, actually. What I remember is that the girl started out as a cellist but because of some injury had to stop playing. It was too long. I still enjoyed it, though.

It was delightful to find during this phase of mine that a friend of mine also enjoys Korean dramas. Her husband went on an LDS mission to Korea, which piqued her interest. She watches them with her daughters, though, which is selfless and family-oriented of her. Anyway, I stopped watching them so I could go back to knitting while watching TV. I did manage to do some knitting while watching and reading the subtitles, but it wasn't very fun. From what I've read, Korean historical dramas are supposed to be pretty good, too. I imagine I'll watch more someday. I thought they were fun--fun to hear Korean and fun to be intrigued by Korean culture and food. Also, they were generally quite a bit cleaner than American TV.

I loved, loved, loved this TV show. The best thing about it is the character of Veronica. I think she's 17 in the beginning episodes of the show (maybe even 16), and she's one of the smartest TV characters I've ever seen. She's not just private eye smart (she's the daughter of the local P.I./former sheriff and does her own sleuthing on the side); she's also relationship smart. And when was the last time you saw a TV show character who wasn't a total idiot about relationships? I finally stopped watching Grey's Anatomy because I couldn't stand the retardation of pretty much every character. (oops! I accidentally slept with so-and-so! i must do everything possible to keep what's-her-name from finding out! that is the best thing for our relationship!) There's a reason I don't watch daytime soaps. (And mostly that reason is that the plots proceed at a snail's pace, but also, it's the stupid relationship stuff.)

I'm not saying that Veronica never makes a mistake or does something stupid, but when she does, she takes steps to correct it. She's honest and seems to actually have some principles. I know Buffy is another strong, smart, young female lead, but Veronica is even better: she battles the bad guys (and they're just regular, non-supernatural bad guys, which is nice), she does well in school, she helps out the unpopular kids, she gets along with her dad (of course, her dad is another excellent character). She's not perfect, but she's a great person.

The story is good, too. The first season has one overarching mystery throughout, with one-episode P.I. jobs along the way. The second and third seasons have shorter, multiple-episode mysteries. There's good writing and decent acting. I fully intend to make Jon watch it with me someday.

The disclaimer: As the parent of teenagers and a former naive teenager myself (at least to some degree), I didn't like all the drinking and drugs and mean people and sex in the show, but I know from other, more experienced people that it all really happens, at least for some kids. Just thought I'd warn anyone who's interested: there is plenty of bad stuff.

I forgot this show when I wrote that novel-length post about TV. Better Off Ted has hilarious fake commercials for the company depicted in the show. The rest of it is funny, too. I like it.

On Hulu:

Lie to Me: Based on the research of Paul Ekman, this show is about a deception expert whose consulting firm helps solve crimes by looking at microexpressions and other facial indications that people are lying. The main character is cranky and otherwise entertaining. The show just finished its first season.

Burn Notice: Nice cinematography and some MacGyver elements that are especially entertaining. This is about a spy who's been "burned" and takes odd jobs while trying to figure out how to get his real job back. His odd jobs are the kind that require spy skillz, so there's a lot of action and fun. Also, good music. The third season started a few weeks ago.

Southland: I've only watched a couple of these; it's pretty graphic, but graphic for broadcast TV, not graphic for cable. It's about a bunch of L.A. cops who are not particularly likable. Kind of painful to watch. In its first season.

Royal Pains: A new USA show about an ER doctor who gets fired from his New York hospital and becomes a concierge doctor in the Hamptons. It's mildly funny and pleasant. Sometimes I think the medical conditions he's spouting are made up. Campbell Scott plays the wealthy, reclusive German guy in whose guest house he lives, and that's entertaining.

The Philanthropist: There's only one episode of this so far, and I'm intrigued. A billionaire starts getting personally involved in philanthropy, personally delivering supplies and such, which makes for adventure and escapades. I can't think of anything quite like this show; it's a curious mix of your typical action/adventure show and realistic people in need.

Kingdom: A British show about a small-town lawyer whose brother has recently disappeared and is presumed dead. Funny, quirky characters and a pleasant and slower than usual pace.

On ABC's website:

Castle: This is about a famous mystery writer who starts hanging out with a homicide detective for research purposes. It's funny and interesting. Second season starts in September.

The Unusuals: Yet another cop show, this one in New York. (Surprise!) But it's kind of the seedy underbelly of New York. I like the cops on this show, although they're pleasantly quirky.

Lost: Jon and I watched the first season of Lost on DVD soon after it came out but then couldn't bring ourselves to get into it again--too much of a commitment! Until now. I discovered that ABC had every single season, every episode available online. So that's been my life the last couple of months, especially while Jon and Zed were gone. I'm pleased that the show continues to be interesting and complex, but I think it was easier to watch it quickly than it would have been to watch it when the episodes were actually airing. I'm looking forward to the last season. (Jon, by the way, chose not to start watching this again with me, but I think I might tell him the whole story and make him watch the last season with me.)

And if you're really bored, here's my run-down on the TV-watching sites I've been using. (And I mean really bored; I think about this way too much.)

I really like Hulu, which has Fox, NBC, USA and a bunch of other stuff, including a pretty varied collection of movies. You can watch all of NBC's shows on nbc.com, too, but I like the clean look of Hulu and the fact that it's silent until you actually start watching something (unlike ABC's site, which starts obnoxious ads as soon as you open it). You have to watch 15-30 second commercials (ABC occasionally slips a 60-second break in) a few times during each show, but the video quality is excellent. For some reason, Hulu's commercials are quieter than the show, while ABC's are louder, just like we're used to from real television. Hulu streams everything without stopping (though you can pause it), while on ABC, you have to click to continue after each commercial, which is sometimes annoying but also sometimes convenient if you have to go do something during the commercial (like pretend to fulfill your role as mother). ABC also requires you to download their own video playing software, but it hasn't given me any trouble yet, except that it doesn't work on my favorite browser Google Chrome. I have to use Firefox.

I guess I've mostly been sticking to NBC and ABC shows, and I'm not sure why. It seems like CBS is all reality TV and CSI variations, and since I watch a lot of these shows by myself, I haven't been brave enough to try any of the interesting-looking Fox shows. They look too freaky.

The best things about online TV are that it's free (no cable or satellite bills!) and you can watch whenever you want to. Most shows appear on the website the day after it airs on television, and that's fine with me. I suppose if I worked in an office where people congregated around the water cooler to talk about last night's episode of whatever, I might be annoyed, but as it is, I'm pretty happy with online TV.

Now that TV is available online (as it always should have been), here's what I've been watching:

The Office: Of course.

30 Rock: Very funny, and differently from The Office.

Ugly Betty: The last episode of the first season was a masterpiece. It's getting less interesting, but I still enjoy it.

Lipstick Jungle: Maybe this is entertaining to me because the women's lives are so different from my own. Or maybe because the people who write it have no idea how successful relationships work, but they're trying.

Chuck: Oh, I love this. The action is over the top and the plots impossible, but who cares when it's so funny. I love that Buster from Arrested Development is on it now. Buymoria rules!

Grey's Anatomy: I had never seen this before a few weeks ago, and now I'm totally into it. What a soap opera! But with way better acting, some funny lines, a decent set, and some very interesting, improbable though possible medical conditions. I'm watching it on surfthechannel, and I'm almost at the end of the third season, so don't give anything away from the fourth or current seasons, please.

Jon has mentioned the word "intervention" in reference to me and my TV watching, so I'm trying to keep it reasonable. But the Interwebs make it so easy!

In the last few months, I have watched almost every episode of all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls. Ridiculously, I feel a sense of accomplishment about this. Also a sense of embarrassment. That's approximately 106 hours of TV watching.

In my defense, while I watched, I did a lot of knitting and caught up with a few years worth of entering receipts in GnuCash.

Mostly, I enjoyed the show. I liked all the references to books, music, art, etc. I liked the quirky characters. I liked the clever, funny, fast dialog.

I did not like the soap opera-like pace of the show and obvious manipulation to keep people (me) watching. It was so convenient for the money-makers that nobody on the show learns that honesty in a relationship is the best policy until the seventh season. But at least it all turned out right, and I can pretend that they've all learned their lesson and will never act like idiots again.

This is the nature of TV, though, and I'm hoping to stick with the 20-minute stuff in the future--The Office and 30 Rock. I feel kind of dumb that I've resisted 24 (2 1/2 seasons of which Jon and I watched) and Lost (watched the first season on DVD), but then I let myself get sucked into Gilmore Girls. Of course, part of the problem is that you can watch this stuff online now, which is really cool but requires more self-control than I have.

Oh, and I hated the theme song and the similar-sounding music that cropped up during the show. But I liked the town troubadour's music and other music in the background.

I watched the series premiere of this TV show while I was at Ivy's house and liked it pretty well. The next day I read that it was watched by so few people that it probably wouldn't air a second episode. Ha ha! Considering how often I watch TV, this has happened to a large proportion of the TV shows I've watched and liked, like Keen Eddie. But Quarterlife apparently began life as a web series, so I guess if I really care, I could watch more of it. Maybe someday. I don't think it was great, just not as inane and annoying as the rest of what's typically on TV.

Since I was at Ivy's when this aired, I got to watch it. But it was kind of boring. Jon Stewart was funny in an I-think-the-Oscars-are-stupid kind of way that I find interesting. It's fun to see pregnant actresses (Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba and Cate Blanchett). And I'm glad Juno won at least one of four awards it was nominated for (best original screenplay). Otherwise, like I said, kind of boring. But I got my TV fix for a while!

What can I say? It's still great. Now Jon and I are watching every last piece of whatever they've put on the DVDs. We might be able to make it last a couple more weeks. In the meantime, Season 4 is well underway, and we know nothing about it, so don't tell us!

Arrested Development is some of the best television from the last few years. I love the Segway-riding Gob and the son named George Michael (and they only mention the singer/songwriter George Michael once in the whole series!) and the manipulative, drinking mother. It’s all smart and hilarious. Many thanks to Chris and Camille for loaning us their DVDs. We’ll send them back soon, but probably not before reviewing some episodes.