As you go home, you’ll find you have a lot more free-time on your hands. No essays or projects to worry about (hopefully) and you can finally relax. The best way to spend any long and extended break is to fill it with great television. Forget about exercise, work or a brief internship, get yourself on the couch or bed and start in on some of the great shows that this current period of that small screen has to offer. While all five are recommended for eternal viewing, feel free to choose one and run with it.
Mad Men: This show will either grab you in by your Fitzgerald-cut suit and tie, or it will simply have no lasting impact. One thing is for sure, the show has had a lasting impact on a nation of viewers and the addiction to it is harder to break than a pack of Lucky Strikes.
“Mad Men” is a drama from AMC, set in the 1960’s world of New York City advertising. Right from the start you’d think a show about an advertising agency would be enthralling in and of itself. Yet, when you add in an entire cast of extremely-well acted characters and well-crafted dialogue, the product is as pure as gold. It won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Dramatic Series” each of its first four seasons (the first dramatic series ever to do so) and has won a total of fifteen Emmy’s in the show’s five-year history. While it is an excellent show, those that enjoy a bit of American history will find it appealing. Everything from the language down to the fashion is like traveling through a time-machine.
Currently, seasons 1-4 are on Netflix and iTunes stores up to season 5. Each episode is roughly 44-48 minutes and depending on how engrossed you get, one season is easily accomplished in a about two or three days.
Homeland: If there were ever a show that could be responsible for high-blood pressure and elevated heart-rate it would be Showtime’s thriller “Homeland.” While I don’t wish any of the above symptoms to the reader, I do hope you at least assume the position of tester in this experiment of shows.
“Homeland” is set in a modern-day CIA setting in America. It follows the storyline of a government officer who believes that a returned war-veteran is now acting as a traitor for the opposing Al-Qaeda forces. While simultaneously referencing topical global news such as the current war in the middle-east, and dealing with issues such as drug use (most notably of the prescription kind), “Homeland” delivers critically on both fronts. As a viewer you never know who to trust or to denounce, and every episode keeps you guessing as to what will come next.
Airing on a premium channel such as Showtime gives it a lot of leeway and doesn’t have the boundaries that a basic cable or network show has. In saying that, the show can be extremely innovative and can hit on any topic it pleases.
Luckily, this is a newer show and has only two seasons. The first season is On-Demand (as of this written article) and the according second season episodes as well.
Dexter: The only show on television that has you rooting for a serial killer. But how can one not, especially since he is more of a vigilante than anything else. Think of Dexter Morgan as a more disturbing, dark, complex, brightly colored shirt wearing, geeky forensic scientist, Batman.
Located in Miami, “Dexter” is built on the life of “Dexter Morgan” a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department. He also moonlights as a serial killer, offing bad guys in his spare time. This is barely scratching the surface of the tip of an iceberg, but it is surely the bare essentials. Other than working by profession and his other “trade”, he must keep up the day-to-day routine while being in relationships and friendships all while keeping his secret under wraps.
“Dexter” is another show which airs on Showtime, a premium channel like HBO, which pushes the limits of what’s allowable on television. The show has been on for seven seasons now, and the violence and blood is downgraded throughout the progression of the series. Earlier on in the show we see a room completely full of blood; yet in the past two seasons the amount has vastly decreased. Nonetheless, the ensemble cast as a whole is top of the line. As an avid fan of the series, I will say the writing dropped off after season four, yet it has picked up with the now current seventh season. It has consistently been nominated for Golden Globes and Emmy Awards.
That is one good thing about the series. It is now up to its seventh season, so if you get hooked early, you have plenty of entertainment ahead of you. As far as this current article is concerned, Seasons 1-7 are On-Demand and 1-6 are on iTunes.
Sherlock: For this recommendation, it would be an accommodating experience for you to read this in your best British accent. It would make the article seem more intelligently written for one, and you would have a sense for what to expect in this BBC mystery-drama starring the world’s most famous detective.
Placed in a modern-day re-telling of the historic literature series, is a show so expertly crafted it should have The Queen’s stamp of approval. Starring, of course, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as investigative consultants, the spectacle on screen is a fast-paced and expertly acted piece of mystery. It is certainly interesting to see the modern-day technology in the stories of the originally 19th century detective. While it is incredibly original in its setting, it is still grounded in the subject matter for which it is based upon.
What this show brings that many do not is a format unlike most. Specifically categorized as a “mini-series” by BBC, each episode is an hour and a half. While this may turn away some viewers, it is important to note that there are only six episodes (three in each of its two seasons). So while viewing an episode is almost the equivalent as watching a full-length movie, it is worth it as there are many sequels, if you will, to follow. It recently has been nominated for an astonishing seventeen Emmy nominations for only a two-season run so far.
Both seasons are available on Netflix and iTunes.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: If you haven’t heard of this comedy from FX, it may be because you are over the age of 35 or under the age of 16. Much talk of premium shows on channels such as Showtime has sprung up in this article. Pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable on television on a premium channel can have a major effect on an audience. “Sunny”, while on a basic cable network, could easily be transferred to an HBO, Starz, or Showtime.
To say its comedy is only derived from some sort of depraved perversity and immaturity is not the sense to be conveyed. It is a very fine-tuned and oiled machine of epic comedic proportions. Involving almost no storyline besides that it follows the lives of a group of friends (although you wouldn’t think that from watching) who own a bar. Other than that is a more chaotic and hectic sitcom than anything else on these days. One columnist equated it to “Seinfeld on crack”, and he wasn’t too far off. The menial day-to-day antics and arguments they get into are reminiscent of a show about nothing.
Consistently snubbed at the major award shows of the year, you can see for yourself just how underrated this show is by being presented to seasons 1-7 recently added on Netflix and iTunes. The current 8th season is also available On-Demand.