Cable TV Original Series Overview

You're listening to Keep Cast Radio on KeepCastRadio

.com Hello and welcome to Geek Caster Radio,

episode 26. I am your host, Dave June Mike, and

joining me today is Kevin Optimus Solo Thompson.

Hello. Good day. Even though it's night day.

You sound so pleasant. What's happening? There

you go. Today we're going to be talking about

the best cable TV has to offer in the form of

original series over the years. However, before

we get to that, we're going to talk about our

TV watching habits. Yeah. Yeah. So I've broken

mine down to two lists. One list is networks,

what networks I always watch, and the other list

is a few shows that I always watch. One list

has more than the other. Let's hear it. So for

networks, and I have notes next to these that

kind of defend them, so that way you don't, oh,

that's gay. Are you actually prepared for a podcast?

Shut up. Disney Channel, I just... Constantly

watch Disney Channel. I'm actually starting to

getting out of watching Disney Channel because

all the new stuff They're coming out with like

ant farm and my babysitter is a vampire. I don't

care for all that crap But I watch Disney Channel

for stuff like Hannah Montana Wizards of Waverly

Place Zach and Cody Phineas and Ferb is really

mainly why I watch Disney Channel, so that's

Another that's one network that I always watch

TNT, I mainly watch for Law and Order reruns.

I do try to catch some of their other programming,

but it's mostly for their reruns of Law and Order,

their reruns of Numbers, their reruns of Angel,

stuff like that. USA, I've watched USA for years.

I mean, literally, I remember I was in the hospital

in 1994. and I was watching USA for the two days

that I was in the hospital. I love USA. I mainly

watch White Collar and stuff like that on there.

I also watch that for the Law and Order Special

Victims Unit reruns. And some of the movies they

have on USA are pretty good too, as well as TNT.

I didn't bring that up on TNT. HGTV. Don't laugh.

It's uh, it's educational for Christ's sake I

mean I've been watching HGTV for at least four

years now and I know there I know everything

there is to know about buying a house I am prepared

if I ever bought a house I was obsessed with

that one when I was buying my house History Channel

for pawn stars American Restoration and American

Pickers. I cannot believe and this is something

that we will not get into now, but Cannot believe

they've given Larry the cable guy his own show

on the friggin history channel. That's so weird

to me WDN wait, what do you say? I said I did

not need to know that yeah, it's Across America

with Larry the cable guy where he it's Along

the same lines is like pawn stars and American

pickers where Larry's going across the country

learning about different shit well he has a lot

of learning to do so uh... w g and actually i

watched this again for a lot of reruns of stuff

uh... walker texas ranger being one of them it's

actually the only network on tv right now in

my area that actually carries walker and reruns

uh... i also watch it because outside of the

s p and it's the only network that i can actually

see baseball even on the cubs Right now the Cubs

aren't doing so well. They're in a rain delay,

I think, but maybe they just came back from it.

No, I don't mean right now, as in right this

moment. I mean, like, right now it's the season.

The Cubs aren't doing so well. That statement's

always true, no matter when you say it. Well,

I was so pleased about, like, you know, normally

I don't... Normally, if I catch baseball, I catch

it on ESPN or something, because ESPN's a national

network and they'll show any game, whatever.

But a few weeks ago, I caught Cubs on GN and

it's like wow They're playing the Red Sox. I

love the Red Sox. Oh, yeah, and they kick the

Cubs ass. Thank God whatever Next one is Cartoon

Network, but only for certain shows I do not

watch Cartoon Network as much as I used to I

actually am loathing on Cartoon Network a lot

these days. Yeah true TV I mainly watch this

a lot nowadays pretty much anything that they

have on after 5 p .m. I will watch it It's just

from hardcore pawn to most shocking to most daring

to What's the other one I Forget yeah, just yeah,

I watch it all the time I used to watch Oxygen

for the Taurean Dean shows, but right now I only

watch it for the lower -order criminal intent

marathons that they have sometimes on the weekends.

One of my most guilty pleasures, and I don't

know if this is bad or worse than Hannah Montana,

I watch E mostly for the Kardashians episodes

and series and the E true Hollywood stories stuff.

I used to like that stuff. uh... any i mainly

watch for storage wars and dog the bounty hunter

on that's pretty much the only stuff i want to

me anymore they used to have uh... dallas one

detroit swat but they don't show those anymore

nickelodeon only for paying with the medigaskar

and power rangers samurai spike is weird spike

i find i can catch actually the only movies i

really caught on their lately are all the goddamn

star wars movies i love star wars but spike is

like sucking on george lucas' dick so hard they

air those i'd swear to god they air than the

the the prequel so many damn times it's like

at least twice a month the prequel films are

on spike you mean the regular ones no the prequel

I always catch the prequels. ABC Family, again,

only for movies most of the time. There's really

no series on that channel that I really care

to get into. And the last one is FX. Back in

the day when it was running the shield before

the shield ended, I watched it faithfully. I

loved FX back then. Now, not so much. Considering

that that asshole Charlie Sheen is on there a

lot. I love Charlie Sheen Anyway, so what are

your networks that you watch a lot? I do watch

we'll start with my sports stuff because I do

watch do watch WGN a whole heck of a lot for

the Cubs and occasionally I have to watch Comcast

even though I fucking hate Comcast channel But

WGN was always good with Cubs back in the day

I wish they had all their games and then I watched

the MLB network like mad. I actually do not watch

ESPN at all anymore. See, I'm on cable. See,

that's the other thing. You're on satellite,

aren't you? No, I'm on cable. You are? Yeah.

For some reason, my package gets MLB network

and the hub and some of those things. I thought

that was only on direct TV. That's why I asked.

No, but I love MLB network, but it has completely

phased ESPN out of my programming because I don't...

I only watch DSVN basically for the baseball,

so now that it's MLB network, I just love that

a lot more. So that's my sports, and occasionally

I will watch Spike for UFC stuff because they

show some of the fights sometimes, and they also

have their little Ultimate Fighter reality show,

which sometimes I watch and sometimes I don't.

It just depends on the season if it captures

my attention or not. As far as cartoons and that

type of stuff, the only channel I watch is The

Hub. I know not everybody gets that, but I like

some of the stuff on The Hub and not only cartoons,

but like I said, in a different podcast, I have

recorded all of the Wonder Years episodes. I

still have 50 of them to watch, but I did get

the entire series on DVR of Wonder Years over

that first, because they've already gone through

once and now they're doing it a second time,

so I stopped recording them, but I'm still needing

to watch the rest of them. I don't know, I just

love all the retro cartoons. I love... Obviously

Transformers Prime and G .I. Joe Renegades. I

did give Nick Toons a watch the other day for

some Voltron Force and we won't get into that.

That show is just... I like the characters. I

like the voice actors. I like the story. The

animation is really what bugs me. The style,

the animation, the theme song, the... Yeah, the

theme song, there should not be fucking rap in

Voltron. Yeah, and if I have to see one more

screen either split horizontally, vertically,

diagonally, or into three sections, I'm going

to throw something at my TV. Yeah, the problem

with Voltron Force is the combination of 2D hand

-drawn animation and the 3D lions that they're

using. Because it looks completely out of whack.

It does not mesh well at all. So far that just

solidifies my idea that I should only be watching

The Hub for cartoons. Now hold on, before you

move on. Have you even seen, have you even checked

out the Looney Tunes show on Cartoon Network?

No, but I want to. Oh, you gotta. For some reason,

I just keep forgetting to record. You have to.

It's every Tuesday at, I think it's at seven

year time. It's 8 p .m. Eastern time. And I will

be watching some Nickelodeon for, they're the

ones that are going to be showing the new Turtle

series eventually. Yeah, next year. And what

is it, Cartoon Network doing Thundercats? Yep.

So I will give them both a shot when I do that,

but most of the crap that airs on those channels,

I can't stand. right now the only thing on carter

network i watch is scooby -doo mystery incorporated

and looney tune show for some reason i don't

watch it on tv i was just watch it on you do

yeah i will say that the only really times that

i will ever turn on carter network of the tuesday

night's is uh... at six a m and twelve noon eastern

time they run all looney tunes Yeah. Even though

they're the edited versions, it's still nice

to see the old Looney Tunes episodes on TV. Right.

As far as new shows, I basically stick to...

I do this every year, actually. But I really

did it this year, hardcore. When the new television

shows debut in the fall, I set my DVR to record

almost every single new show for that first for

the first episode at least and then I One by

one watch them and decide which ones are gonna

make my cut and which ones aren't Even though

half of them the networks cut before I can even

decide anything, but uh, I don't watch Sitcoms

or comedies when they first air Okay, I don't

watch them when they're airing new episodes.

I always catch sitcoms or comedies in rerun form

Yeah, I did not watch Seinfeld ever when it was

when it was new But I've probably seen almost

all the episodes and reruns I never watched like

King of Queens when it was new But I've watched

all the episodes and reruns I always hit those

more so in once they hit rerun stage because

I don't know I just it's not something that I

get excited about watching every week It's not

something I set my DVR for my DVR is restricted

for the few reality shows I watch and like action

slash dramas Yeah, that's just how I am But it

was very frustrating this year because almost

all the shows I liked got cut within the first

couple weeks. And then the one I liked the most

got cut after the season so it won't be back

next year and I shed a tear for that. so my new

shows that's how i do it so it doesn't really

go by network i'd just kind of record of all

see which ones i like which ones i don't write

you know the point of the first list was like

what networks do you watch most well as i'm getting

to with my with my reruns that's when i get dedicated

to certain networks. WGN, and there was, there's

another channel that does it too, but WGN always

seems to have Star Trek The Next Generation on

in reruns, and there is another channel that

does that also, and I got hooked on that for

like, I don't know, maybe the eighth time last

summer. I don't know how many times I've seen

all those episodes, not quite as many as I've

seen the MacGyver episodes, but I've seen all

the Star Trek ones quite a few times. I don't

think Star Trek has ever stopped airing in reruns.

No, so I watched WGN for that I watch ion Because

they always always always have like not marathons,

but they always have like at least Three to six

criminal minds episodes on it seems like in a

row No, I used to watch ion back when it was

called packs And back in the early days of that

network, I used to watch it for Sue Thomas, FBI.

I used to watch it for reruns of diagnosis, murder.

I actually used to watch it for a couple of its

game shows, Shop Till You Drop and Supermarket

Sweep. I used to watch it back then. I don't

watch it as much now. I'm just obsessed with

Criminal Minds, so that's why I watch ION, because

you can basically see a bunch of them in a row

or pick which ones you haven't seen and record

them. i'm waiting for that show to come to netflix

so i can watch it from the beginning but i'm

sorry i cannot see thomas gibson other than him

being great on darman graham ever watch that

show so that's why you have to try that you have

to watch darman graham i do want to see criminal

minds from the beginning because i never watched

it until like maybe two seasons ago and i've

seen most other episodes in rerun but i want

to see it in order now Yes, see that's my thing

with numbers I I started catching numbers on

TNT at like four or five in the morning before

angel comes on between six and seven and I was

like, oh wow, it's It's Bernard the elf. It's

Michael Ekman from 10th. It's David Krumholz.

Holy crap. What's he doing on TV? And I got sucked

into numbers and then that that's actually one

of the reasons why I joined Netflix is because

They have all six seasons of numbers on there,

and I'm actually going through a season watch

of that show. Oh my god But I mean, I find myself

mainly watching Ion. I watch Bravo a lot. I'm

not 100 % sure why I do that. I don't know if

it's the reality shows that they have or occasionally

they have some reruns, but I watch Bravo a lot.

A &E and FX maybe occasionally. I used to be...

A big watcher of TNT and USA and TBS, but I've

never watched that stuff now. I will not watch.

The only time I've ever turned on TBS anymore

in the past year, year and a half, is actually

probably the past three years, is in the early

mornings to see if I can catch a Saved or a College

Years or even a Good Morning Miss Bliss. TBS

programming, which I kind of want to get into

in our second part, a little bit about talking

about some of their shows. Tbs programming now

just to me just isn't funny It's not my it's

all comedy towards a certain group and I'm not

in that group. Yeah I just I don't know. It's

just a different set of programming from what

I grew up with with the USA and TNT and those

shows Yeah, or those channels. I do find myself

occasionally watching the hallmark channel Because

they show Old I think this is the channel that

shows it they show old like Perry Mason and murder

She wrote and yeah and stuff like that And yeah,

I think I even watched like an episode of like

Highway to Heaven on there or something like

that Yeah, Hallmark used to show all those shows.

They probably still do so I do I do somewhat

like Hallmark for that but uh, you know, it's

it it's really I'm not I'm not faithful to networks.

I'm faithful to shows Yeah, but we'll get more

into that as we go through but uh What about

some of the most, like what are the shows that

you watch regularly these days? The new ones,

not the reruns. I only put three down on my list

because there's, I just, because mine, I don't

really watch new. I watch networks. I watch,

you know, the greatest thing about TNT, USA,

sometimes Bravo, sometimes Oxygen is Any point

in the day when there is nothing especially weekends

if there's nothing on I can turn any one of those

channels on and they'll either be a law -and

-order Marathon or an NCIS marathon or some sort

of marathon of a show that I love watching And

I'll just lay there and I'll watch it and I'll

end up falling asleep for the afternoon see that

in college I would watch the TNT almost religiously

because of the law and order Yeah, always being

on but for new shows. I really it's really hard

for me to get into new shows like like burn notice

i since the beginning and everybody that is listening

to castro really listen to all the other podcast

that we do knows that i go off of initial reaction

that's just the way that i am i don't care what

anybody says i will never stop doing that that's

just the way i do it if i love a show in the

beginning of seeing a trailer or seeing anything

i will go out and watch that show if i can't

stand it or if i don't like the way it looks

or i don't like the way that it's promoted i

will stay away from it see i understand that

to a point i don't understand as far as just

based on promotions and trailers up to a point

some things you know just right off the bat but

i usually try to get try to watch one episode

i don't always make it through one episode with

me and burn notice at lake okay i get burn notice

it it's got bruce campbell on tv again which

is great but the guy uh... i don't know his name

off the line i know his character's name michael

was in the lead guy on burn notice i'd just i

don't like the premise of burn notice okay he

was c i a j and he got burned and now he has

to be you know in the day i just i never caught

up to that series i did see you recently what

u s a did with uh... burn notice the fall of

sam ax which is basically bruce campbell's character

story i would have much preferred burn notice

the tv series if it was based solely on bruce

campbell's character rather this other guys can

i just i cannot get in the burn notice uh...

but as far as new shows that's one of the reasons

it's like it if they're promoting it and i either

like what i see on the promotion or i don't like

it I just sometimes miss it. I've actually just

gotten into White Collar at the end of the second

season, going into the third and the fourth season.

I absolutely love that show now. It's actually

funny. It actually ties into something with telecast.

Holy crap. White Collar has Tiffany Amber Thiessen,

Kelly Kapowski, as Peter, the FBI agent in charge

of Neil Caffrey. It's Peter's wife. I watched

white collar and last summer they premiered a

series called covert affairs with Piper pair

bow I've had a crush on her for years. I love

that woman. She's so awesome. She's yeah, but

let's yeah, so covert affairs is basically people

when it first for people like oh, well, it's

USA trying to do alias. It's so not that it's

more of a comedy show It's not really a comedy

comedy, but it's like an action comedy You know

what I mean? It's like it has action, but it

also has comedy bits in it and alias was way

too serious to have You know alias had some funny

moments, but it wasn't like It wasn't like this

where it's action action action. Oh, here's a

comedy moment, right? You know and then the other

one I listed was the Looney Tunes show because

It's It's a weird premise at first that bugs

and Daffy are roommates and they have to deal

with all their neighbors like Yosemite Sam and

Lola and Some of the characterizations I really

don't care for as far as what they do with some

of the other like Lola specifically they made

her an emo stalker emotional, oh my god emotional

wreck, but The Looney Tunes show, it's nice to

see that Looney Tunes has got a revival. But

the rest of my shows, it honestly depends on

the network. Like I said before, for me, I end

up watching at least maybe five or six hours

of true TV a night. Just because I like the shows

that are on that network now, and it's like,

you know, that's what I'll watch. turn on HGTV

and I'll watch a lot of their shows and reruns.

It's not really about new shows for me at all.

So yeah, White Collar, Covert Affairs, and the

Looney Tunes show are mine. All right. I basically

just have three, two outside of reality shows.

The first one I kind of already mentioned. I

will not miss a new episode of Criminal Minds

now that I have started watching that. Obviously,

like I said, I saw all the first, like, whatever,

four seasons and reruns. Since then, I watch

the new episode the day it airs. I do watch it

on DVR because I can fast forward commercials,

but I do watch it almost always the day it airs.

I won't miss any of those. I love that show.

The new show from this year that I got hooked

on that I was watching every week was Hawaii

Five -O. Something about that show was the perfect

blend of comedy, action. I loved the actors.

There's nothing bad about that show. I mean is

it like an award -winning epic show no, but it's

just darn right entertaining every week and the

other one which was probably my One that I was

most intrigued by this year, but it was also

the one that got cancelled after one season was

Chicago Code I don't know any of the people really

outside of the main villain I guess you can call

him. In the Chicago Code, I didn't know any of

the actors that were playing any of the roles,

so it wasn't based on any actor that I liked,

but maybe it was because it was set in Chicago.

I don't know. It was just... I liked the idea

of having not just a law and order type show,

not just investigated into murders like CSI or

NCIS or Criminal Minds or stuff, that this was

a... Had the edge of it on like the political

corruptness and stuff So it's kind of like numbers,

but with politicians. Well, it's basically it's

basically a police the superintendent of the

police force and then her main officer Trying

to bring down a corrupt politician Okay, and

that kind of the webs that they weave and they

have someone they had one guy that was undercover

and I mean So it's it is a cap show, but it's

also about bringing down the corrupt politicians.

So it's kind of like a different thing. So would

you say it fits more in line with something like

The Shield or something like The District that

Craig T. Nelson was in? I mean, I don't know

those shows a lot, but based on what I've seen

of those, yeah. But I don't know, it just had

a different spin on things and I kind of appreciated

it and I really kind of fell in love with some

of the characters and the actors that were playing

them. I kind of liked what they were doing and

I've always liked Delroy Lindo. Oh yeah, he's

awesome. And he plays a perfect corrupt politician.

But those are the main three. All the rest of

the shows that I watched regularly were all reality

shows. I apologize to those that hate reality

shows. Now, going back really quick before we

take a break to get into the actual main discussion.

You mentioned Bravo earlier and I was gonna say

the only time that I really ever watched Bravo

was at the very beginning of their real housewives

series the original show the real housewives

of Orange County I Love that show in the beginning

and I used to love that. They showed celebrity

poker. I used to love that show But Bravo has

expanded their real housewives franchise to almost

every other freaking city and it's so much that

i can't keep up with it and i can't control yeah

it's so out of control i i can't keep up with

it i can't even keep up with real housewives

of orange county anymore because i never know

when the damn things on because i remember at

the end of the last season it was like oh hey

here's andy what's his name with what's on bravo

the recap of this season of real housewives not

what what what the season's already over five

you know uh... but yeah i don't know so i think

we're going to take a quick break and we're going

to come back with the bulk of the show which

will be what kevin well let me just do you want

me to introduce it now yeah okay well this is

how it all came about folks uh... basically mike

had made a tweet at some point i can't believe

i just said that I do not promote Twitter. Anyways.

Twitter is awesome. I hate Twitter. Twitter is

awesome. He had made a tweet about that he was

getting ready to watch something or he was excited

about watching something on, I think it was USA

or... That was probably white collar. Yeah, something

like that. And I said something about his taste

in TV shows. And it basically led to a discussion

on, I made some type of comment about any shows

that air on USA TNT or those types of networks

are usually crap. So the gist of this show is

exploring. The cable networks and are they all

crap? Are they mostly crap? How do they stack

up against the the regular big? You know the

big four networks or how do they stack up against

the pay? Cable networks and then just a little

discussion about within the cable networks You

know which channels are offering the best as

far as original series go So it's all about original

series and it's all about the cable networks.

So that's what we're gonna be talking about We'll

be back after this To be So why don't you leave

this because yeah? No problem your vision So

I mean basically the first thing we need to do

is Tell you what we meant by cable channels because

some people might be confused as you know The

novice TV watcher doesn't know the difference

maybe between networks and cable channels and

whatnot But the cable channels that we're talking

about basically consists of channels like A &E

Bravo, FX, Ion, Lifetime, Oxygen, Spike, Sci

-Fi channels. Lifetime's not listed. What the

hell? TBS, TNT, TruTV, WGN, and then USA. Those

are all cable channels. It's not your big network

for Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC. It's not your pay channels

like Showtime and HBO, et cetera. It's all those

other channels, the ones that are up in the 40s

or 50s probably in your TV. Guide but those are

the channels that we're talking about and I think

just to start things off We're just gonna kind

of break down a little bit of how these channels

compare to maybe the net big networks or the

or the pay channels and One thing that bugs me

and maybe it's just because I don't get the pay

channels But it seems like every season all the

ones that get all the critical acclaim and all

the shows that are apparently the best show ever

on TV Are always either on Showtime or HBO? It

bugs me because to me all they're doing is saying

because it's on those stations that I think series

if you took the same series sometimes and placed

it on NBC or something instead of HBO all of

a sudden nobody would say anything about that

show and it would be like oh that's not that

great of a show or it's okay but it's a network

show so you know we can't give it that much credit

I agree that some great shows have aired on HBO

and Showtime, but I think a lot of times those

shows get credit just for being on those channels.

And to me, that kind of has always bugged me.

You know, like Sopranos, that was a great show.

I'm not trying to take anything away from that.

But I find it very hard to believe that every

show that airs on HBO is the best show ever,

which is what people make it seem like. But those

are the ones that get the critical acclaim, obviously,

and they... are probably though the most comparable

to our regular cable channels as far as the number

of new shows each year. Because the number of

new shows on the pay channels and these cable

channels are very low. There's not a ton of new

shows every year compared to like Fox, CBS, ABC

and NBC which pump out like at least a dozen

if not more shows for every season that are brand

new. In fact, we're already seeing commercials

on TV right now for some of the new shows that

are coming to those big four. Right. So I mean,

one difference right off the bat between the

different types of networks is the number of

new shows you see. And obviously, you see the

most on the big four and you see fewer on the

pay and the regular cable channels. But I don't

know, it just bugs me that everyone always says

just because a show is on HBO that it's like

the greatest thing ever. OK. Well, since you...

pointed out HBO and Showtime. I actually looked

up both networks on Wikipedia, and I'm just going

to run down the TV series. I'm not going to run

down sports programming. I'm not going to run

down reality documentary series. I'm not going

to run down Showtime's adult programming. And

by adult, I mean triple X. So Showtime's drama

series include Dexter's Dexter, which is running

from 2006 to now. billy twenty eleven present

which is started that dexter is the longest running

series as far as drama on showtime billy shameless

and the board is all started this year for their

comedies they have weeds californication nurse

jackie the big c and episodes i don't know what

that is it just as a result of uh... weeds has

gotten so big that it tv guide network actually

runs it now on their feed uh... dexter i know

a lot of people love dexter uh... so that's that's

uh... it and for h b o let me just look this

up a really quick programming uh... for the reasons

for uh... sorry and not fully prepared on the

h b o side thing one second uh... key no future

programming content uh... alright so they have

game of thrones which everybody is into right

now that's what i'm saying every show that airs

on htl is supposedly the best show ever right

ok but i don't looks cool i give it credit right

i'm just going down the list here as far as later

ones that i recognize i know everybody's in huge

talks about game game thrones uh... boardwalk

empire uh... funny or die presents how to make

in america uh... See, Life and Times of Tim,

True Blood, everybody's into the True Blood thing,

Entourage, Wire, or The Wire, Sopranos, you know.

That's my point. I have a friend that thinks

he's like a god of TV, like he thinks he knows

everything about TV. If I asked him to list his

five favorite TV shows, I guarantee you it would

be Boardwalk Empires, The Wire, True Blood, and

one of those other ones you listed. I mean, it

would just be HBO shows. And there's no possible

way that every single one of these HBO shows

is as great as people say they are. OK, well,

for me specifically, the only one I've ever really

watched fully and dedicated to was The Sopranos.

That show is awesome. Yeah. One of the reasons

why I think people highly rates the cable shows

the cable paid tv shows like each viewer showtime

is because it's fucking each viewer showtime

they can say fuck whenever they fucking want

to you fucking get it they can say they can say

and do anything that they want because they are

a paid service and it doesn't come with your

regular cable package uh... i will point this

out later but one series in our list here on

the paid uh... method at the the cable networks

one series launched original programming for

a network and it was the first series to say

the word shit without being bleeped on regular

cable broadcast that wasn't that wasn't premium

i mean to me a lot of these shows and again again

it does go back to what you were saying about

you don't get hb or showtime same thing with

me i don't get hb or showtime i used to i used

to i remember hb was a kid i love me some fraggle

rock anyway but you know Lot of these shows.

It's like you know people are talking about oh

Game of Thrones Oh Boardwalk Empire, and you're

thinking okay? Well these shows are probably

on you know TNT at some point or you know they

talk about them like They're on regular television,

and they're not they're like oh well. It's HBO

show like I don't get HPL, you know. So since

neither of us get it, we'll just assume the masses

must be right and the best shows ever are always

on HBO or Showtime. I wouldn't say that. I think

that any show, it doesn't matter what network

it's on. It could be on cable access like Wayne's

World was. It depends on the producers the directors

the writers of said show the sopranos had amazing

amazing writing it did it had amazing actors

it had amazing music used in it uh... and i'm

going to keep using that as an example for the

paid channels because that's really the only

one i watched outside of uh... richie diaries

on showtime back in the day i think that they

like that's not a start uh... Yeah, I mean so

these are the pay channels are the ones that

get all the critical claim as far as my main

argument or my main I guess if I had a little

like Main statement here that was all about the

show was my argument was that the basic cable

channels What I mean is the network channels

excuse me the network channels of me, you know

the main four put out better quality than the

free cable networks I disagree with that. So

that is my stance, and Mike's going to try to

dissuade me, but my point is the shows that I

watch on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox almost are always

seems like the people behind them take them more

serious. It seems like the shows get better actors.

They have better writing. It just seems like

they always trump the shows you get on stuff

like the networks we're about to talk about.

But hopefully Mike can dissuade me from that.

OK, well. there's one thing we need to say about

the networks is most of them cbs is an example

use for now you have cbs with csi which is going

on a multitude of years now it always gets renewed

because it has great writing and great acting

uh... critic critical criminal mind even though

i've never really seen it except a few episodes

here and there that always gets renewed n -c

-i -s n -c -i -s always gets renewed i mean i

don't ever remember ever hearing that show ever

being in trouble how is it yeah i think that's

a box and i don't like that show uh... but what

i'm saying is because of what the networks have

for their written that not even new shows just

their regular they always come back shows the

networks do have a one up but I also believe

that the cable TV stations have a one up that

is on the networks as far as their original programming

is what is to what the networks big programming

is like I used off offer I use the example of

NBC's the Cape that Got dropped another example.

I can give for NBC is my own worst enemy that

got dropped after one season. Well, I mean That

kind of goes back to my point though that the

big four put out way more shows per year So obviously

some are gonna get dropped but there seems to

always be a couple good ones brand -new good

ones every year and then there's always those

ones that are coming back a year after a year

after year and Just by the sheer numbers of shows

they try to do. Of course, you're gonna have

a lot dropped. My point is the cable networks

don't ever seem to have anything that even comes

close to reaching the quality of even the shows

that get dropped from the big four. Let's say

I did, okay, the quality of shows against the

big shows that come back, I might agree with

you on that, but the quality of shows versus

what the big networks drop, I severely disagree

because, no because, TNT and TNT and USA are

the two that I will use as an example. The closer

has gone on for six years now. I don't know how,

but... It's good writing. Well, before we get

into a couple of those specifics though, I know

it's kind of jumping backwards a little bit,

but let's just, you know, preface this that one

reason for this could be because most of these

cable networks, the idea of them showing original

series or original programming was never... part

of when these shows, when these channels formed.

They were all formed as a channel for syndicated

or rerun shows. They were formed for movie channels.

You know, their main purpose or their main goal

was never to air original programming, for the

most part. There's a few exceptions, but you

know, that's not what they were about when they

came about. Yeah, and it wasn't really I don't

think I can remember any until like the early

90s is about when I first remember one of the

first Types of these networks that was airing

or starting to promote an original series and

I remember that being USA and The only reason

I was ever aware of it was because It was a thing

where they always had Monday Night Raw, or whatever

they were calling it at the time. It was basically

almost always Monday Night Raw when I remember

this. But they would always show right after

it, starting in the 90s, that's when they would

try to promote a new original series, and it

would air after Raw. And they would try to get

that crowd to keep watching. And I remember specifically

like La Femme Nikita at one point I think Pacific

Blue or something like that was airing right

after Raw. So I mean it was, it wasn't until

the 90s where I think most of these channels

just started flirting with the idea of putting

out original programming. Right, yeah, I will

agree with that. Pacific Blue, I believe back

in the day it was on Tuesdays. Okay, then that

must not be the one. I do know Lefam Nikita was.

Right, yeah. Always after RAW. Yeah. And, you

know, so obviously they haven't been doing it

as long as the networks have, so I'll give them

a little bit of slack, you know, a little bit

of credit for that. And the fact that they're

always going to be going up against the fact

that they're not doing original series is not

their main bread and butter, which that's all

the main four networks are trying to do. So it's

not maybe not a fair comparison, but... Don't

know I just to me even the shows that are popular

on these channels are not my cup of tea Okay,

there will be a few exceptions which we'll talk

about But I don't know let's why don't we just

kind of go a little bit network by network and

and discuss their attempts so far and whether

they failed or not. Well, you can take the first

two because I only watch A &E for the reality

stuff. I don't watch it. Well, that's what I

was going to say. A couple of these are going

to be easy because they really are still not

really doing too much with the original series.

A &E and Bravo are still almost all about either

reruns or reality television. I can't remember

all the... Does Bravo do like the... They do

the models and some of the food ones. So I mean

they're bread and butter as reality shows. They

have had a couple. I've heard that Breakout Kings

on A &E is decent. I've heard about the Glades.

I've never really heard of anything about the

Awful Truth or Breaking News or significant others

on Bravo. But I will say that A &E seems to...

The vibe from their original programming seems

to be a little bit more serious than some of

these other channels. Yeah, it is. A &E, specifically

with the Glades, I've seen ads for that. The

Glades is almost like, just for me going off

ads that I've seen about it, the Glades is almost

like a burn notice type, but for A &E. And it's

that same type. It's not the Glades from what

I've seen. Be able to ascertain is it's not the

same premises burn notice, but it's that same

type of right It's a cop show for any that isn't

reality. It's well, you know something like that

to me You can almost break this into the following

I mean, I know I'm jumping ahead a little bit

but I think you can almost group these into the

types of programming they put out and You can

almost discount Bravo oxygen and lifetime. Yeah,

they're all kind of the same type of this more

I don't want to say female -based, but they all

go for that audience more so. bravo goes for

male and female cuz they do have you know this

the cook like top chef and master chef and stuff

like that oxygen always has catered to i mean

lifetime yeah arson in lifetime and uh... women's

entertainment we the we channel which is not

listen we will not be talking about it but those

three channels of always mainly you know aimed

at women right but my point is that that they're

all kind of in that type of realm and to me The

serious ones out of all the ones we're talking

about and what I mean serious is the more drama

driven and action without much comedy is A and

E, FX and Ion. To me those three do a little

bit more of the straight up, like as close as

you can get to like the paid cable channels to

me. Whereas I think TNT and USA are a little

bit more, not light -hearted but a little bit

not quite as serious as those other ones and

then of course you have TBS and Spike which are

at the other end of the spectrum I see the thing

with TBS and TNT those are both Turner Network

right those are both are owned by Ted Turner

but they put out completely different stuff right

exactly to me TBS and Spike you can't even take

serious It depends, but yeah, I would almost

agree with and then of course sci -fi is its

own thing which we'll get into yeah Don't get

me started, but are there are there any of the

let's start with a serious group And we already

talked about A &E a little bit, but is there

anything I see I see FX TNT in USA. I see those

three as serious That's the way I see it. I can't

take USA and TNT serious because they always

have comedy thrown in there okay, well, let's

look at TNT in USA first then because I'm just

going to run it down. For TNT you have the Closer,

Leverage, Hawthorne, Men of a Certain Age, Memphis

Beat, Resilient Isles, Franklin and Bash, Dark

Blue, Saving Grace, Raising the Bar, Wedding

Day, Trust Me, Heartland, Saved, Wanted, Witchblade,

Bull, Crusade, and LA Heat. Now, out of these,

the Closer, Leverage, Hawthorne, Memphis Beat,

Resilient Isles, Dark Blue, Saving grace those

and which blade which is now canceled. Well,

these are canceled These are the entire run of

every original series that these channels have

ever done. So it's not just all current shows

Right, but what I'm saying is those shows Like

I just listed all the shows that I just listed

are the shows that I see are serious on TNT Which

is closer leverage Hawthorne. This is even closer

is not serious. It's so comical No, it's not.

Everything I've seen about the Closer, it's...

I've seen quite a few episodes of the Closer

and I don't dislike it, but it's like a light

-hearted version of any of those other ones.

Law and Order, NCIS, CSI, it's like a somewhat

light -hearted, not taking itself as serious

version of those. Okay, I haven't watched a lot

of the Closer, what would I have seen of it?

I've seen the lead character played by Kara Sedgwick,

she gets really serious with suspects. But I

mean, but then it's just like raising the bar

in Franklin and Bash, like best comedy versions

of Law and Order. Okay, well, Franklin and Bash,

since you brought Franklin and Bash up, which

that is a different series, it just premiered,

Franklin and Bash stars Breckenmire, and Zach

fucking Morris, Mark Paul Gosling. Which Raising

the Bar star Zach Morris too. Did it really?

I didn't know that. Oh, well, huh. Learned something

new every day. Well, Franklin and Bash is the

first thing I've seen of him on TV in at least

10 years. Well, that's because you haven't been

paying attention because he's done quite a few

series that have bombed Well, yeah, but I'm saying

like outside of his like guest roles on stuff

like an actual series for him He was on he was

on raising the bar too. I'm just confirming that

Disagreeing with you that I just wanted to confirm

it for everybody. Okay. All right So and then

on USA you have burn notice covert affairs fairly

legal in plain sight psych royal pains white

-collar the 4400 beyond reality uh... the big

easy the dead zone g verses e i have no idea

what that is the hunters kojak lafam nakita the

last ride lost on earth the nets pacific blue

peacemakers the starter wife u s a high in the

war net war next door and weird science i would

also throw in their silk stockings because it

was originally on u s a uh... out of these pretty

much Burn notice covert affairs fairly legal

in plain sight those white collar. Those are

the serious ones I see Pacific blue was kind

of serious, but comedy the huntress was very

serious Kojak was serious Lafem Nikita was serious,

but they're serious, but not serious there to

me. They're like serious, but like Like as serious

as the minor leagues is to the major leagues

No, there's there's so much action in covert

affairs and there's so much You can't compare

it to like 24 or like some other action show

that's on the network. It's like It's USA's own

spin, but I mean it nothing you cannot compare

any of these shows to 24 Network shows, I don't

know. Do you like psych? No, okay. I don't either

Psych is not something I get into. The only shows

that I've watched on this list is La Femme Nikita,

Kojak, a very tiny bit of Pacific Blue, and Monk.

Now, I cannot stand... I love Tony Shalhoub,

but I cannot stand Monk. But they're all still,

to me, subpar original programming. I don't get

it. Well, Covert Affairs I really like, not just

because it's, oh my god I want to marry Piper

Parabot, just because it's the first series that

I've seen that puts a blind person in a CIA position,

and it's so hilarious, but there is also action.

One of the ones that I want to bring up with

USA is White Collar. White Collar is... it's

funny, but it's kind of like... I prefer White

Collar over Showtime's Dexter because they're

actually kind of the two... they're kind of very

similar to each other. Dexter is a... is a serial

killer who also helps the FBI, I believe. And

White Collar is a former criminal who is now

helping the FBI. He's not a serial killer, he's

a con artist. I really like White Collar because

of the cast. I didn't catch it when it very very

first started. I caught it at the end of the

second season. I caught all of the third season

and now it's on its fourth season, I believe.

And I really like it. I think it's pretty cool.

I think it's a really cool way that they've done

it. um... as far as the rest of its like i said

before covert affairs and white collar pretty

much the only ones i watch out of their current

you know the original programming i love pacific

blue back in the day yeah i mean these two channels

have done the most as far as that they have make

making the most effort to try to be like a network

as far as like one of the big fours. I mean they've

really started to pump out new shows and they're

really trying to go for that in certain time

slots. So I'll give them credit for that but

still every time I see a preview for a new show

on TNT or USA it's like who was in the room when

these shows got pitched and who gave them the

green light. Okay now I need to say something

about TNT though. When I first saw ads for men

of a certain age with Andre Brower, Ray Romano,

and Scott Bakula of all people. Quantically.

First of all, I thought Scott Bakula was Dennis

Miller when I first saw the ad. It was one of

those one take, like, you know, it's kind of

like you have to do a double take on it because

I had just seen it out of the corner of my eye.

Yeah. Men of a Certain Age is Cable's reaction

to Sex in the City. And I've heard that show

is great. It's a male version of Sex and the

City. It's these four guys, three or four guys,

that are all friends, I guess, but they all have

their own lives, but they all meet up each day

or each, you know, whatever. It's basically Sex

and the City for men. I've heard it's really

good. It is! I haven't actually gotten into it,

but the one episode I saw that I thought... Baccala

was Dennis Miller was something about him stealing

a car, I think. Oh, jeez. I don't know. I haven't

watched it all the way through, but every time

I see ads for it and every time I catch maybe

five or ten minutes of it, it's a really good

series. But all in all, it's Cable's answer to...

It's the male answer to Sex and the City. So

basically, we have TNT and USA as the... the

middle ground here. They're somewhat serious

at times, somewhat comedic at times, they're

kind of trying to do everything, but to me they're

just not doing a good enough job, but to me they're

in the middle. And I still say that the shows

that we're getting on FX, Ion, and A &E are a

touch more to the serious side and i think the

best example that is running down the effects

list with stuff like rescue me sons of anarchy

uh... justified it's always side the shield nip

tuck uh... damages over there lucky dirt the

riches lights out some of the beach starved and

i'm not going to name that other one at the side

uh... but i mean and i haven't seen a lot of

these because i'm not the type of person that

can watch the stuff that they show on the truck

uh... but okay now I this is where I have to

come in because FX Started their reality or not

reality started their original series with the

shield in March 8th of 2002 yes I actually remember

the date ladies and gentlemen Tuesday night 10

p .m. March 8th 2002 it was supposed to be this

gritty new groundbreaking in your face cop show

and it's so was but i think you know those are

way better than anything to your u .s .a. has

ever put okay okay and that's fine there they're

more serious but again you i agree with you that

the effect shows are way more serious they have

way less comedy in them but you cannot discount

the tnt shows for the u .s .a. shows for what

they are understand i know what they are and

i don't like that I'll give them credit that

at least I can understand why people do like

them and they're not unwatchable Now some of

the you know, I don't want to get if you take

the best ones They're not unwatchable, right?

Right, like if you took the majority of the ones

that survived more than a year or so They're

at least something that I can understand people

watch them. I can understand, you know them having

a fan base I wouldn't like pull my eyes out before

I watch them Right. Compared to one of the groups

we haven't talked about too much, which is TBS.

Hold on, hold on. We gotta stay on FX for a second.

With FX, the shield was amazing. This was the

show that I said earlier, was the first show

on cable television that they allowed the word

shit to be said without being bleeped. the shield's

first premier episode you have michael fucking

chiklis the goddamn commission as this hard -ass

convict mackey chasing down a suspect who has

cocaine or some sort of drugs on him and the

suspects like home and i don't know you don't

know you can search me search me well i don't

want to call the uh... that mackey searches the

guy He's like, oh, you didn't think we were going

to find all this cocaine under your nutsack?

And I kid you not, it shows Michael Chickless'

character pulling a bunch of drugs out from under

this guy's balls. If that's not serious and in

-your -face and action -packed, I don't know

what is. I mean, just the whole feel of the shield

is what set up FX's serious, drama -filled...

Original series rescue me is Dennis Miller series.

It's very cool. It's about him as a firefighter

and all this other stuff Sons of anarchy everybody

loves that show. I can't really get into it It's

about a motorcycle gang. I believe I've heard

great things about it. I've heard great things

It's just not something I can get into it's always

sunny in Philadelphia is FX is one comedy show

in this lineup. I think That show just is too

weird for me. I can't get into it uh... nip tuck

i agree with you i'd just that's net nip tuck

is a more serious more explicit version of house

to me i can't watch it as well i don't but but

i mean the point is that i think these these

networks and i don't think any and i and are

there quite yet but i think they're trying to

be more like affects uh... instead of like tnt

in u .s .a. that's just my opinion i think that's

the direction they're trying to go i'm not saying

they're there yet Yeah, and there's none. I don't

think there's any really shows up worth mentioning

that as far as which ones Ion has run so far

No, cuz I don't know any of them But on the other

end of the spectrum we have Tbs and spike Now

I would also lump CFE into this too. No, no,

we're not we're not not at all Would you say

that's the worst? No, no, I I'll talk about that

a minute spike whoever is in charge of doing

their programming should be fired and killed

okay fired i can agree with killed that's a little

they put out the most horrific crap i've ever

seen and the biggest example of that is blue

mountain state anybody that ever tells me they

like blue mountain state will ignore for the

rest of my life as to whatever they tell me because

anybody that likes that has no brain cells working

in their head I'm sorry. I don't even know how

this crap is on TV. It's almost as bad as when

MTV tried to do a couple shows back in the day

And I'm not gonna name which ones but I mean

I Don't understand MTV that's that's a show in

it that's in a show in itself No, no, I don't

know if you want to cover it like if you want

to get around to covering networks eventually

on telecast but Oh my god, is MTV a DCR show

in the future? Right. But I'm just saying, like,

the stuff that they talk about in Blue Mountain

State, it's not funny. It's not intelligently

written. It's like a bunch of high school football

players or college frat boys writing their own

damn scripts. Being like, let's see if we can

get away with this. Let's do the most crazy,

nonsense stuff just to see if we'll get it. past

the people that give us the okay and the people

keep giving them the okay and it's just crap

and i won't say the tbs stuff is crap but it

is not for me and it's attempts at comedy that

aren't funny there's only One show that I ever

watched on TBS, and I believe it's been canceled,

was the Bill Angwall shows because I'm a huge

fan of his. TBS's lineup is Are We There Yet?,

Meet the Browns, Tyler Perry's, House of Pain,

the Katelyn's, Down to Earth, Glory Days, My

Boys, Neighbors from Hell, and Safe at Home.

I watched My Boys for a day or two. Huh? I think

I watched My Boys for like an episode. I couldn't

get into that. Glory days. I couldn't get into

that. Are we there yet? Meet the Browns and Tyler

Perry's House of Pain. I'm sorry. I don't want

people to hold this against me, but it is black

comedy. It's not funny. It's not like if, I don't

know. I have nothing against certain comedies

and stuff like that. I love Kings of Comedy.

I love Queens of Comedy. I love a lot of the

stand up comedians, but I am not a Tyler Perry

fan. Yeah, no. And that's basically all that

is. And are we there yet? They took the movies

and they made a TV series out of it. And it's

like, seriously? I'm just saying, the Spike and

the TBS stuff are straight up, you can't take

serious. They both are trying to go the comedy

route or the Spike's case, the juvenile route.

I think those two stations have failed miserably

at original programming so far. Yeah, I absolutely

used to love TBS back in the day, like at least

10 years ago. Now, like I said before, the only

time I ever turn on TBS is like 7 o 'clock in

the morning to catch Saved or College or Miss

Bliss. That leaves us with one network that we

haven't talked about yet. And my worst. No, my

opinion is actually this network is the most

experienced at coming up with original programming.

They've been doing it for the longest. They've

been putting the most effort into it. I mean,

they are trying to be a network that is based

on original programming. I mean, I know that

they have their sci -fi movies and they have

reruns of classic sci -fi shows, but they center

their network or their channel on original programming.

Now they've put out way more. Than any of the

other channels we've talked about and not me.

Yes. They've missed quite a few times But they've

gotten it right Quite a few times as well. Yeah,

let me go down the list here. You have being

human Eureka warehouse 13 heaven or not haven

andromeda battle star galactica bionic woman

like scorpion caprica the chronicle the dresden

files far escape first wave flash gordon good

versus evil the invisible man mission genesis

the outer limits painkiller jane the secret adventures

of jules verne sliders stargate s g one stargate

atlanta stargate universe see a trend there tremors

welcome and welcome to paradox now for me personally

before we get too far into this I... Sci -Fi

is a network on a whole I cannot stand because

of all of their crappy original movies. Yeah,

but we're not talking about original movies.

I know, I know we're not, but I'm just saying

Sci -Fi on a network on a whole, one of the reasons

why I do not watch it is because of that. Actually,

real quick, if there was like a Mystery Science

Theater right now that was like ongoing right

now, they could take all of these Sci -Fi original

movies and do them immediately. Yeah, I know.

Out of the shows that were listed here, I loved

Andromeda. I've never gotten into Ballastar Galactic

or Bionic Woman. I never get into that. I loved

Sliders, Stargate SG -1, 10 -year show, Richard

Dean Anderson, you know. The best ever. Yeah,

agreed. Atlantis and Universe, I never get into.

They are on Netflix, so I'm gonna get into that.

I watched Stargate 1 from the beginning to the

end. I fully plan, like once I get done with

my numbers run through on Netflix, I fully plan

to, if it's still there at the time, I fully

plan to start watching SG -1 from the beginning.

Anyway, nothing. I actually just recorded the

mini -series for Battlestar Galactica. Basically,

Battlestar Galactica, for those of you that don't

know, was a series in the 70s. re -imagined quote

-unquote in 2003 and it started as a three -hour

mini -series and then in 2005 started as a full

-on series and then it had spin -offs or not

really spin -offs but kind of like Stargate SG

-1 had Atlantis etc. Battlestar Galactica, Caprica

is the same thing basically so it's been going

for a while and then I think it got re -reimagined

in like just a few years ago. But anyways, I

am actually going to start watching Battlestar

Galactica right now because I've watched almost

the entire miniseries and it's actually set me

up pretty good so far. Like you said, Andromeda,

Sliders. I didn't ever watch Farscape, but I

heard good things about it. And the Stargate

ones, I haven't watched them, but they just look

epic. And to me, that's what makes sci -fi almost

I know you were going to say that they're like

the worst out of them, but to me they're almost

the best at original programming. Even though

they've failed a lot, they've come up with some

stuff that's way better than anything that we've

mentioned so far. I will say that for their original

television programming, sci -fi is doing very

well. They've always done well in that. However,

their movies, and I know we're not talking about

movies, but that's one of the reasons why i don't

like sci -fi is because of everything else the

original programming is great it's very rare

like i'd i'd just looked it up stargate s g one

atlantis and universe are all on netflix i will

watch them on netflix i will watch the series

but i refuse to support that jail because it

just so mind -boggling It's like, why isn't Millennium

on this channel? Why isn't Firefly running in

reruns on this channel? Well, it's the thing,

you know, I think it could be done better. I

think the people in charge of sci -fi could make

some better decisions. NBC! No, I'm just saying,

like, certain people could make better decisions

as far as what programming they run, because

the sci -fi genre has so many things out there

that you could put on this channel. Right. The

thing is, with sci -fi, and when people are creating

sci -fi stuff, That's just the nature of it is

that you're going to get some weird, whacked

out, crazy crap. You know what I mean? You're

going to get some stuff that completely misses

the mark. Because sci -fi, there is no successful

formula that you can follow like a sitcom. Or

like, you know what I mean? Like a sitcom, you

can basically do the same thing that's been done

for 50 years and it'll work. Right a difference

true with different names and different setups

like right with sci -fi It's like you have to

be so creative to because you're always trying

to do something that hasn't been done and Right

exactly you get a lot of crazy crap Right exactly

and when I coughed out NBC earlier, it's because

NBC Universal is sci -fi's parent company. Yeah,

and I mean literally how do they not have they

should have rights for all the Star Trek series

ever? You know that you know And there's so many

of them from the original Star Trek through all

the Enterprise and Deep Space Nine and Next Generation.

I mean, they should have those running on reruns

all the time. Like you said, with shows like

Firefly, you know, I mean, we could go on and

on about all the different stuff they could have

in reruns, not to mention some of these that

are ongoing. yeah files i mean they that's what

it should be and then instead of running original

programming this is crap all that shit and only

run sci -fi movies that have actually been successfully

in reruns but i mean you can make better decisions

but they are their own entity as far as all the

channels and we can't really compare them to

any of the other channels we've been talking

about this well i kinda can because as far as

networks a as far as what i watch I will watch,

I will actually sit through a TBS show before

I sit through any of the sci -fi stuff. Well,

and I am watching the Battlestar Galactica reruns

on BBC. Right. But I don't know, to me it separates,

you know, like we have A &E as the serious stuff,

we have TBS and Spike as the other end of the

spectrum, we have TNT and USA as the more mainstream

stuff, and then sci -fi is its own entity. Yeah.

Yeah. But I still stick with the fact that none

of these are as good as the stuff we get on the

major four. I currently, nowadays, I disagree

with you. Back in the day, if these shows tried

to go up against like A -Team and Airwolf and

Knight Rider and MacGyver and all that, I would

probably agree with you. I do not watch network

television anymore at all. I haven't watched...

You should have watched Hawaii Five -0. I haven't

watched Fox. I haven't watched NBC, ABC, or CBS.

What's your problem? At least a year and a half.

Why? Because I just haven't every time a new

show has been announced for any of those networks

It's like I'll look at it. I'll look at trailers.

I'll look at the promotional stuff I'll maybe

watch the first episode and I just don't care

Hawaii 5o is something I'm gonna have to catch

up on I I have only seen the premiere episode

of it of the very first season It was okay. It

didn't really catch it. It didn't really catch

me, but it's not something that I'm just like

gonna just say you know screw it that's something

that i'm willing to look at will look at at some

point uh... but for me one of the reasons why

i have watched our television at least two years

is because i'm just like i i used to always by

the dvd sets for nc isaac i love nc isaac for

my favorite shows uh... but I stopped buying

them and the seasons have gone. I'm so far behind

now on catching up on what's been happening because

I like doing stuff chronologically with that

show and making sure that I know what's happened

from season to season. I'm so far behind that

I haven't even been able to catch up. The tutors

I'm looking forward to the most for next year

that I think you should give a chance to is called

Person of Interest and Alcatraz. But I'll have

to see stuff for them. I haven't no I'm serious

Alcatraz Alcatraz has Sam Neill in it and it's

done by JJ Abrams That's why you like it and

Jim Caviezel in person of interest and I love

Jim Caviezel. Oh You mean Jesus lovely in person

of interest the count of Monte Cristo is in person

of interest I don't know but I mean to me I hope

these channels continue to try to do original

programming. I would like to... I will say for

USA that Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, White Collar,

In Plain Sight, Psych, and Royal Pains, those

all have faithful fan followings. I'm just saying

I hope these other channels continue to try.

I hope INE and stuff like ION and some of those

other channels even try harder. I hope to see

some more good stuff out of sci -fi. I don't

have a lot of faith in TNT and USA, but I still

hope that they continue to try to do it, because

there's no shortage of places that are running

rerun shows. We can get those anywhere. the more

new program that's out there the better in my

opinion i have not watched effects since the

shield ended uh... i just i can't get in any

other i tried getting into justified and i like

to justified really cool but uh... again it's

like i fell out of touch with it and i just i

don't want to catch up at this point i've got

so much other stuff i need to watch uh... i never

get into damages i didn't really get into any

of the leak atlantic like the shield was my main

thing for effects and that and that like it's

kind of like i had blinders on the shield shield

shield that was it because i love that show uh...

any other issue i have with effects it constantly

runs reruns of that show is completely losing

at this point what are you talking about because

it has uh... it has uh... ashton kutcher replacing

target that's the worst decision and television

history possibly you can replace charlie sheen

with ashton kutcher anyways uh... but i think

i'd like people you know if you're listening

out there you know go to the website and i want

you know the feedback what would you think does

the best on original programming the big four

the the pay networks or the the networks that

we've been talking about the regular cable network

and what are your favorite regular cable network

series of all time yes let us know So with that

we're gonna take a break I'm gonna go to some

ads and then we're gonna come back with the outro

Movie Week in Review is the Geekcast Radio Network's

weekly movie podcast Steve and Mike take a look

back on their favorite films and give you their

thoughts They also bring in co -hosts at times.

If you are a movie buff listen to M -Wire only

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Tune in. Emerging from the dark humor that was

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TF2 and Mike and Pecan Court Michael move on

to Transformers Animated coming June 26, 2011.

Transformation Animation Podcast. 15 podcast

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Animation Podcast. We are back, so there you

go folks, that's our take on cable TV, premium

TV, network TV type stuff and comparing, contrasting,

which is better, which is worst, whatever. Any

final thoughts for you? find it interesting that

these channels decided to you know whether it

was in the 90s or if I'm getting that data off

but you know that they at one point made the

decision to go the route of trying to come up

with some original programming you know it's

been a bumpy road and I still don't think any

of them are quite there yet with the exception

of maybe FX but I'd like to like I said I'd like

to see it continue I'm always interested in seeing

new ideas and new shows I just wish I could take

some of it a little bit more serious But maybe

that'll change over time. And I will say one

thing as far as any of the cable networks, doesn't

matter if they're paid or not. HBO, the very

first original programming that they had back

in the 80s with Fraggle Rock. HBO wouldn't have

original programming without the Fraggles and

the Doosers and all that stuff. They would never

do that series again though. Let it live on in

infamy, dammit, don't rehash it. Anyway, that's

a topic for another show. Thank you for joining

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I am TFG1Mike with Optimus Solo. Thank you for

listening. Until next time. civilization and

history has fallen. But now, one ship, one crew

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