And by current, I mean shows I am more or less currently watching.

Criminal Minds season fourteen: For awhile, a few seasons ago, I was ready for this show to end, then there was a big shakeup of the cast (and therefore the team itself) and now I am utterly in love with it again. Chosen family! Interesting mysteries that no longer feel quite so over the top just to draw viewers. Spencer getting a twisting storyline that I liked a lot more on rewatch. Garcia/Alvez. All the team feelings.

Agent Carter season two: I'm working my way through a watch/rewatch of the MCU + tv shows (I'm rewatching most of the movies, but I haven't seen many of the tv shows -- also, I'm trying to do this in chronological order within the universe, so you can see how far I've gotten), but have been stuck on season two for awhile now. Mostly because I've been busy, but something about each episode makes me so tense I have a hard time watching more than one at a time. I only have a couple of episodes left, though.

The Good Place season two: Well, I'm about to start it, at least. I loved season one and am looking forward to season two.

S.W.A.T. season two: I'm generally caught up because it is worth it to use CBS' terrible website. There is a particular romantic storyline for one of the characters that is bringing me great joy this season, and on the whole, though I don't normally like police procedurals, S.W.A.T. is doing a pretty great job with police violence, racism, sexism, black anger, and a bunch of other things. Also: chosen family and team feelings!

WWE Raw and Smackdown: I have no idea what seasons we're on, and I don't care. I don't watch every single week, but I watch often. My favorites: Nia Jax, Tamina, Naomi, the Usos, and Becky Lynch, but I'm generally fond of most of the superstars.

Bob's Burgers season nine: I avoided watching this for a long time because the little bit I'd seen didn't catch my attention. Then my pottery instructor had it on in the studio a couple times, I got caught up in it, and now I've seen the entire series so far and stay current on this season.

THERE'S A FUCKING TRAILER FOR THE GODDAMN MOVIE AND I LITERALLY SCREAMED.

Watch on YouTube

I cannot wait to watch this.

Caught up on the first three episodes of Riverdale last night, and guys, I have thoughts.

( spoilers )

( 31 Days )

Day 4: talk about television this year

Don't mind if I do! I've been watching a lot of television this year, both current shows and old shows I missed the first time around. I really love television; I like having it on while I write, art, or play games, and J and have a handful of shows we specifically wait to watch together. (Which is much easier now that we live together again.)

In no particular order, things I have watched this year (that I can remember off the top of my head):

Friends: I never watched this when it first aired, and started watching it the end of last year, I think. I still haven't finished it, though I only have maybe half a season left, because I know what happens with Ross and Rachel, and I just can't bring myself to watch it. (Ross is terrible. He potentially could have been my favorite character [dinosaurs], but he is just so, so terrible.) I loved Monica just like I knew I would, and ended up loving Chandler and Joey a hell of a lot more than expected. This NYC is so white it is bullshit, but I've enjoyed finally watching something that is treated as quite the cultural touchstone.

Bones: This show. Oh, this show. It is ridiculous at the best of times any more, but something about the characters keeps bringing me back. I've watched it since episode one aired, and I'll probably keep watching it until the end. J and I watch this one together.

Castle: See above. It is also ridiculous, but in a more heartfelt, wonderful way, and it is 100% the characters that bring me back. Well, all the characters but Castle, who I don't actually much like. He's fine, he's just -- at the heart of it, he's an entitled rich straight white guy, and I get annoyed by him because I see so much of the annoying parts of actual people in him. I will say he annoys me less when I'm not working in a certain environment, so I'm liking him more these days. Another show J and I watch together.

Gotham: Oddly enough, this is J's addition to our list, even though it is clearly a comic book adaptation. He's not a big fan of superheroes, but apparently more open to DC than my beloved Marvel (of course he is), and he seems to like Batman well enough. I love baaaaaaaby!Selena best, and mostly enjoy seeing the way (somewhat) familiar characters start coming to life. I am infuriated by the way it keeps killing off people of color, though, and of course the treatment of mental illness was never going to be great, not in Gotham.

Flash: I have watched none of this season, but I'll catch up soon. It sort of slipped away from me, but I really loved last season.

Arrow: I'm still back in season one, but have been trying to catch up. It keeps falling to the side, and I much prefer the Flash, but I know I like some of what happens in the future, so I'll keep going.

Supergirl: OMG ADORABLE. I love this show so far, enough that I actually use CBS' on-site streaming, which until this point I was only willing to do for Criminal Minds. It, and its focus on sisters, just makes me happy.

Criminal Minds: There were a couple season where the cases where just over-the-top ridiculous and stupid. It seems like they've pulled back from that a little bit, but I don't trust them to not go back to that well just to be salacious in the future. I love the characters so much, that's why I keep watching, and I've rewatched the first ten seasons a couple times this year. I find it soothing; despite the violence, it was one of my mother's favorite shows. That helps, I think; she introduced me to it a few years before she died.

Jane the Virgin: HELLO FAVORITE SHOW. It is wonderful, heart-warming and sweet and sad and beautiful and funny. I love Jane the most, but everyone is fantastic and understandable even when they're being terrible, and the narrator is the best.

Girl Meets World: Nostalgia forever, plus adorable friendship between the girls, and even more nostalgia, and, oh, I love this world. It makes me happy.

WWE: I don't watch the PPVs anymore, and I'm super behind on the weekly episodes, and I've only just started watching NXT because Nia Jax is everything I've wanted in a woman wrestler at the WWE, but I do love it so.

iZombie: Another J choice (though I would have added it if he didn't), and another surprise, because he also doesn't like comic book adaptations. (Though he also watches the Walking Dead.) I love Liv, and I generally love the way her personality changes each week, and I have no idea what happens in the comics, so I like the surprise of the story. Ravi is a doll, and I love when the science things.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Still not a fan of Jake, and therefore don't really care about Jake and Amy, and could definitely use fewer fat and trans jokes, but I love the rest of the characters a ton. It is mostly hilarious and touching and the chosen family feelings are strong.

Muppets: I don't even know what to say about this show, beyond nostalgia and hilarity.

Pretty Little Liars: I just flail in this show's general direction. I've watched the first season and a half a bunch of times, because each time I sat down to watch it, I felt like I needed to start at the beginning in order for things to make sense. I did that straight through with this last mid-season break, and nope, it didn't really make any more sense from watching it from the beginning. Love the hell out of the characters, find much of the story choices unbelievable at best and downright terrible at worst in the last season or so. Will keep watching until the end.

Blindspot: I will put up with a lot to watch Sif kick ass each week on my television, and this is nowhere near my limit of ridiculousness yet. Jaimie Alexander is so lovely.

Quantico: I've only watched the first couple episodes, and I really liked that. I should get caught up soon.

Mysteries of Laura: Sort of feels like Castle without as much love for the supporting characters. I find it super enjoyable when I watch it, but I rarely think about it after.

The Simpsons: I'm not sure why I keep watching. It has its moments, as always, but no episode really makes an impression.

Jessica Jones: Haven't quite finished it, and generally hate stories where rape is so central to the plot, but I fucking love this show, and I'm glad it exists in the MCU.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Haven't seen most of the current season, and the stories aren't as satisfying now as they were in season one, but it is still adorable and sweet and often heartwrenching.

House: J watches this, and sometimes I sit around doing other things while he watches it. I've never had any interest in watching it, but I've caught a lot about the characters while he's been watching it, and I don't hate it.

Cupcake Wars: I ... am not actually sure how I got sucked into watching this, but I watched the random episode collection on Netflix (which gives no real sense of continuity for the many people who come on the show multiple times), and enjoyed it, though I got disproportionately annoyed by so many contestants saying some variation on "I didn't come here to lose." Well no shit! No one does!

Great British Bake-off: Such a fantastic palate cleanser to the above. I watched not the most recent season, but I think the one before that, and it was lovely and sweet and funny and I actually feel like I learned a lot. I texted Sister K and her BFFs about a billion times while watching it, because they were watching it too, and that just added to my joy.

I am pretty sure that's not everything I've watched this year, but that's all from off the top of my head, and I'm out of time, so phew. A ton of television. Such good times. What are you guys watching? Any recommendations?

I Know I'll Watch

ABC: Castle, Black-ish, Muppets

NBC: Blacklist and Law & Order: SVU (J and I watch these together), Mysteries of Laura

CW: Jane the Virgin (though I haven't finished the last two episodes of season one; I should do that); The Flash and Arrow (YES), The 100 (another show I watch with J), iZombie (SO EXCITED)

CBS: Criminal Minds

Fox: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gotham, Sleepy Hollow (well, depends on how the first few episodes go -- the more I hear about this season, the more I'm leery), Simpsons, Bones

Sports Entertainment: WWE, college football, HOCKEY

I'll Try a Couple Episodes

ABC: Real O'Neals, Wicked City, Quantico, Catch, Family

NBC: People are Talking, Heartbreaker, Blindspot (JAIMIE ALEXANDER YES PLEASE)

CW: Containment, DC's Legends of Tomorrow (OMG PLEASE BE AWESOME)

CBS: SUPERGIRL SUPERGIRL SUPERGIRL, Zoo, Life in Pieces, Code Black (I think J might enjoy this)

Fox: Rosewood, Grandfathered, Scream Queens (SO TORN because I hate Ryan Murphy WITH ALL THE HEAT OF THE SUN)

I Need to Catch Up on Earlier Seasons

Mostly this means I probably won't watch anything on this list until summer 2016.

ABC: How to Get Away With Murder (still not sure I can handle watching a law school show), Once Upon a Time

NBC: Grimm

CW: Reign

Fox: Empire

I'm on the Fence

ABC: Marvel's Agent Carter (still haven't finished season one, because I am so frustrated with the lack of diversity, and MCU in general half the time), Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (still haven't finished season two, because this show just shits all over men of color, and I can't handle the Nazi redemption story that seems to be Grant Ward)

Taking nominations of topics to write about in December. You can leave a comment here or there.

---

Brooklyn 99. YOU GUYS. YOU GUYS THIS SHOW.

( brief season one thoughts )

Total Divas. I'm just finishing season one, and I don't even know what to do with this show. It is ridiculous and often terribly scripted, but some of the divas are a delight. The Bella twins. Particularly Nikki and all her dirty jokes and her vast collection of sex toys. This show has made me love John Cena. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! I am utterly, utterly charmed by Trinity (who is the diva Naomi). Nikki and Bryan Daniels (superstar Daniel Bryan), her twin sister's boyfriend/fiance/husband (depending on when you're watching) have such an adorable bromance. I watch this show and frantically text the Girl with ridic thoughts, and she finds it adorable. I love these silly characters so much. (Weirdness, the first four episodes of season two are on Hulu+ and season three, but not the rest of season two. That makes NO SENSE. And the WWE Network only has through the penultimate episode of the first season. Which is not helpful.)

Red Band Society. This show tries way too hard to tug on our heartstrings, which I don't like (who was that author always writing about teen cancer patients? McDaniels or something like that? I was never into her books either), but holy shit, I find the kids adorable and charming, and Octavia Spencer as Nurse Jackson is AMAZING AND WONDERFUL. I'm not such a fan of their completely unsubtle attempt at copying Clooney from E.R., not because I care about E.R., but because he's annoying. Whatever, adorable teens and their lives and their loves. I'll keep watching.

I tried Selfie, but couldn't get into the first two episodes and then I heard it was cancelled and gave up because if I did get attached, it would then be gone.

( 1.01 Pilot )

Gotham, the city itself, looks amazing, but I am not sure this is going to work as a show, at least for me.

I am tentatively excited about Gotham after seeing responses to it, particularly this one about the diversity in it. Yay diversity in comic adaptations.

Autumn is a rough time of year in my family, with some painful anniversaries, so it would be nice to have distractions from that. Bring on the new tv season. J is all excited that Sons of Anarchy came back this week, but I haven't watched it in a long, long time. So really, bring on the rest of the new tv season.

(It's not like I don't have plenty to watch. I'm still marathoning Criminal Minds, and I'm about two weeks behind on the wrestling because of it, so I have a lot of catching up to do.)

September is sad. I am sad tonight. And cold. I think I'll go cuddle my dog and watch more Criminal Minds.

( Fall 2014-2015 )

( Summer 2014 )

( Cancellations )

Just learned that The Killing gets an extra season on Netflix. My parents loved that show, and I'll have to find a way to show it to Dad. Maybe I'll catch up and we can watch the final season together. I bet my Chromecast would work on his new tv. I am sad that Mom will never have the chance to see the ending.

I'm taking a short break from a giant work project, and I wanted to post something, but I don't really have any brain left for anything but the project. Instead, have an update on my 2013-2014 fall-winter-spring television shows.

I originally posted this list back in September. Here's how it has rolled out.

Sunday

ABC: Once Upon a Time (though I still have half a season to watch)
FOX: The Simpsons | Family Guy | American Dad

I still haven't caught up on the last half of the previous season of Once Upon a Time. I think I'll start this show again at the beginning, because it's on Netflix, and trying again. As for Sunday animated stories, well. They're funny enough sometimes, but I find all three of them more boring than funny, and Family Guy in particular even more offensive than it used to be. I should cut that out.

Monday

ABC: Castle
FOX: Bones, Sleepy Hollow (maybe), Almost Human (maybe)
WWE Raw

This may be my favorite night of television. Sleepy Hollow is definitely my favorite new show of the season, and I want more and more and more of it. It is the greatest, and all the ways it shows families, and particularly Black families, makes me happy. The supernatural stuff is just a bonus to all the awesome.

I like Almost Human well enough, but I'm never OMG MUST WATCH THIS NOW. I'm watching it with a group that posts about it each week, and that's made it fun, and made me think about it more.

Castle and Bones continue to be enjoyable.

Pro wrestling is basically the greatest entertainment part of my life right now. Nothing else to say about that, really, except WRESTLING SAMOANS ARE AMAZEBALLS.

Tuesday

ABC: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (maybe)
CW: The Originals (maybe, though I haven't watched The Vampire Diaries in years)
FOX: Dads (maybe -- probably not, because of the racism issues already popping up, but Seth Green), New Girl (maybe, I wasn't too impressed with the last half of the season), The Mindy Project
FX: Sons of Anarchy (though I haven't finished last season because something in it hit me really hard and I had to stop watching)

S.H.I.E.L.D. often pisses me off with the way it deals with race in particular, but I enjoy it enough to keep watching. There's a casting spoiler that means I'll be tuning in at least until that episode because YAY.

Everything else, nope. Gone.

Wednesday

CBS: Criminal Minds
CW: The Tomorrow People
NBC: Revolution (maybe, I still need to finish last season), Ironside (maybe)

I'm still considering Ironside, though I don't think the earlier episodes are available on Hulu+ and I may still catch up on Revolution via Netflix. Criminal Minds is ... I still love the characters SO MUCH, but the stories are eh most of the time.

I've also added WWE Main Event now that I'm caught up on the rest of the wrestling, but it is pretty boring and mostly recaps the other two shows, so I may drop it again.

Thursday
ABC: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (maybe)
CBS: Elementary (though I still haven't watched last season. I should figure that out soon)
CW: The Vampire Diaries (maybe, though as I said earlier, I'm seasons behind), Reign (maybe)
NBC: The Michael J. Fox Show (maybe)

I marathon episodes of Reign usually, and have pretty much zero care to authentic history, but good lord, it is fun and delightful. And The Michael J. Fox Show is the surprise of the season for me, because I adore it. I find it charming and sweet and funny, and I love the family dynamics a lot. I hear it is not being well accepted, which makes me sad, because I would happily watch it for ages.

Friday
CW: The Carrie Diaries (maybe, I don't think I finished last season)
NBC: Grimm (maybe, I still have half a season of this one too), Dracula (maybe), Crossbones (maybe), Bones (when it replaces Junior Masterchef in late fall)
WWE Smackdown

Carrie Diaries continues to be fun and enjoyable, though I don't really understand why, because I could not care less about Sex in the City/Sex and the City/don't even care enough to look up the correct name.

Much like with OUAT, I'll probably restart Grimm at the beginning via Netflix. Never did try Crossbones, and couldn't past the first episode of Dracula, alas.

Again, wrestling yay.

Saturday

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BABY! And catching up on everything I haven't watched during the week.

Well, college football has ended. I mostly spend Saturdays with the BFF, but sometimes catch up on things I am behind on watching.

Other TV:

I'm watching season one of The Following on Netflix. I've seen pieces of it, but not all of it. BFF got me watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and then I marathoned everything available on Netflix, and now I am sad, because I don't have more adorable ponies to watch. I didn't plan to keep watching Community, but I'm giving it another try. I've also started a rewatch of Dexter season one, which is the only season I've seen, with the intention to finish watching it.

What else should I be watching? Preferably available via Hulu+, Netflix, or Amazon Prime.

Also, I bought a Google Chromecast awhile back, and I pretty much love it.