I have been meaning to write about some of the great shows that are on cable right now and I finally get a chance to catch up. My friend Daniel has a blog where he writes only about TV shows but he never blogs about shows on HBO or Showtime and right now they seem to have some of the better shows out there.
I have blogged in the past about HBO’s Entourage and now that the second season is over I already am interested in what is going to happen in season three.
Showtime’s Weeds is is another great show. Those that know me know my stance on drugs having grown up in the "Just say no" generation but this is still a great show. I guess given the fact that it more about drug dealing than drug using is one of the reasons I tolerate it. Maybe I sound like a bit of a prude but I am who and am. The character development has been good and Kevin Nealon is very funny on the show.
The last show that I wanted to write about is BBC Extras. This show was a joint project with the BBC and HBO. All of the first season has been shown in the BBC and will be shown soon on HBO here in the states. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant the creative team behind the BBC show "The Office" — the good version, not the sub par version shown in the states. I have seen all of the first season and I have to say they have done a fine job. The premise of the show is that Ricky Gervais is a struggling actor who tries as hard as he can to get acting roles in movies or TV shows where he appears as an extra. Merchant plays his very unsupportive agent (and really is not that funny in his part). Each episode they have a different real life actor playing themselves working on a film. The first week was Ben Stiller as a director making a film about the struggles of a guy in WWII. The next episode stars Ross Kemp who I only know from the BBC Eastenders show. Kate Winslet was extremely funny in the third episode trying to get an Oscar playing a nun. She gets involved in a discussion about how to talk dirty/sexy over the phone which was very funny and so unlike her. The next episode stars Les Dennis who I cannot say I know his work since most of it has been in the BBC. Samuel L. Jackson was on the next week and I have to say that I do not think they really used him that much but it was still a very funny episode. The last week was Patrick Stewart. This was funny on a few levels because he was trying to ride his Star Trek fame but no one he talks with had ever watched the show. Also he plays this very perverted person who thinks he could really have X-Men like powers that he would mostly use to make women take their clothes off. I guess I have written about the guest starts but I have neglected to write about Ashley Jensen who plays Maggie Jacobs and is Gervais’s best friend and also someone who is an extra on the film or TV show each episode. She has a great part written for her as someone who is not fully socially adjusted and can say the wrong thing and the wrong time but has a heart full of gold when it comes to trying to help her friends.
I am sure Daniel can tell you what are going to be the good shows this fall on public tv (not PBS but the over the air channels) but for me some of the best shows are on your premium cable channels right now. I guess I now wait for Sopranos sixth season.
A digital recording of my life 