My TV - Back from the Dead?

I think I'm going to start watching TV again.  Ten years ago, I could have told you what was on every channel in every time slot every day of the week.  I haven't really watched much of anything in about three years.  I barely even turn the thing on.

The last shows that I tried to commit myself to were Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Heroes".  The good will that I and every other viewer, critic and exec. felt toward Sorkin's "West Wing" evaporated from "Studio 60" very quickly.  I didn't watch "Heroes" during its initial first season run but picked up the DVD box set in anticipation for season two.  I loved the first season.  I watched the truncated second season as it was happening.  That pretty much soured me on committing myself to tuning into a weekly show.  I still keep up with "Heroes" on DVD, but I haven't picked up the final season yet -- but based on its previous history, I can tell you it probably isn't good and that its plot and character arcs are exactly the same as the 3 preceding seasons.



A lot of circumstances and moods have kept my television off in the last 3 years.  I wasn't actively NOT watching TV.  I just had no interest.  I was burned out on disappointing shows that I had looked forward to and the endless number of bullshit reality shows that I was consuming on VH1.  So with everything else that was going on, I just didn't miss it, I didn't feel the need to seek it out, and I didn't feel the need to even turn it on other than to have the History Channel or Adult Swim on in the background.  I'm not one of those assholes that insists on pointing out to people that I never watch TV as if they deserve a Congressional Medal of Honor for being so far above the great unwashed masses that their intellect and sophistication mustn't be sullied by something so low brow as television.

Circumstances have changed and I'm not terribly busy with anything in particular in my leisure time on a daily basis, so I thought that with all of the buzz surrounding AMC's "The Walking Dead," I would give it a shot.  I wondered if it was even possible for me sit through an entire one hour drama (or one-and-a-half-hour drama for the debut) without getting bored or distracted. I've never read the comic that it's based on.  I'm not even sure that zombies really lend themselves to ongoing serialized fiction.  But after everyone and their brothers raved about it last week, I downloaded the first episode to try it out.

I really liked it.  There, there's your review.  I hope nobody who bothered to stumble across this was looking for detailed episode recap or an in-depth review.

I'm still unsure that the premise lends itself to an ongoing, open-ended story that television requires.  And a lot of it is heavily borrowed from the recent zombie movie craze -- entire chunks of it are lifted straight from 28 Days Later and Zombieland.  But it was very well-done, there were some pretty gripping moments, and I like the lead character.  It's all very understated, but puncuated with zombie hordes doing their zombie thing, which is smart move if they're going to get any mileage out of an ongoing show about a zombiepocalypse.

And can I just say how grateful I am that they went with SLOW zombies?  Fast zombies suck.  They were neat the first time, but the novelty has worn off.

I'm going to watch the second episode tonight.  Hopefully it doesn't lose steam.  Hopefully I don't, because I actually enjoyed watching the first episode.

If anyone is reading this, what other TV shows are out there that are really, really good?  Since I find myself willing, for the first time in a very long time, to watch TV, I might as well find some other shows to watch.  If I'm filling up all my leisure time with pointless, time-wasting bullshit, now that I've become a hermit, I might as well add TV into the mix again.  I've heard great things about "Mad Men" and "Dexter" but have never caught an episode of either.  I happened to see a couple of episodes of "Weeds" a year or two ago and really liked it, so I'll probably hop on that one anyway.

Please give me your recommendations.