Tiger father begets tiger son.*

Magnet #614 - Chibs from Sons of Anarchy

A friend of mine made this Sons of Anarchy magnet for me, because we're very worried about Chibs after he got blowed up a couple of weeks ago.

I can't believe we're already in the back half of season 2.

Storyline-wise, the systematic breakdown in the Club hierarchy and camaraderie has been fascinating to watch. The show has always blurred the line between gray and more gray, and it's been interesting to see where everyone's loyalties have been placed. The intensity hasn't let up - with each episode getting crazier and freakin' awesome, and more bad-ass than the one before.

Viewers are showing up for the show, too. Basic cable, and last week, they beat Leno.

I realize that I'm watching out of my demo. On so many levels. And yet, I don't care. it's rapidly become my only appointment TV of the week - which is saying a lot, given how much television I actually watch.

SoA's become not only a must-watch the night it airs, but a must-watch twice the night the night it airs.

That's just how damn good it is. Thanks, @sutterink!

And that's all I'm going to say. Don't want to spoil last night's kick-ass episode.




*- Chinese Proverb

Must see T-what?

Magnet#586 - Reflections

Another stockhouse swag magnet that I just realized had a tiny tv on it. Perfect, as I reflect upon the fact that this time last year, my year-round TV Dance Card had 64 shows on it.

Now, it's the end of September and we're smack in the middle of fall premieres, I find my DVR at 65% full.

A sad state of affairs. Of course, that's after I wiped off a good 30% this past weekend, and have three hours of that Ken Burns' National Parks documentary sitting on it.

I can't figure out if we're still feeling the effects of the strike, or the dismal economy, but I don't know what's up with Fall TV this year. This is the first time in years that I haven't gone to the Paley Center premiere parties, where they preview the new shows a couple of days before they air.

Not a one show was worth rushing up to Midtown after work for me. Sad.

So what's left on the roster, and left to try when they air*?

ABC (7)
Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy, LOST, Castle, FlashForward, V*
(Tried and Dumped: Eastwick)

CBS (5)
NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, Flashpoint, Three Rivers*
(Tried and Dumped: NCIS: Los Angeles and probably The Good Wife)

NBC (2)
Chuck, Friday Night Lights
(Tried and Dumped: Mercy and probably Trauma)

FOX (2)
Fringe, Bones
(Tried and Dumped: Dollhouse and Glee. Yes, that's right. I dumped Glee. You know there's a magnet a-comin'.)

The CW (5)
90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries
(Tried and Dumped: Beautiful Life, and probably Melrose Place)

TBS (2)
The Closer, Saving Grace

USA (5)
Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, White Collar*

BBC-A (3)
Doctor Who, Top Gear, Skins
(Hiatus/in production/not airing stateside yet, so doesn't count: Torchwood, Gavin & Stacey, Robin Hood, MI-5, Merlin, Being Human, Primeval)

AMC (1)
Mad Men

ABC Family (1)
Greek

FX (1)
Sons of Anarchy

Lifetime (1)
Army Wives

Sundance (2)
Architecture School, Iconoclasts

Total: 37

Ride free or die

Magnet #564 - Harley-Davidson

Here's why I should never be a Nielsen family: I skew show demographics like no one's business.

It's not often that someone from the same demo watches Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place, ABC's Brothers & Sisters, BBC-A's Doctor Who or Top Gear, Lifetime's Army Wives, CBS' NCIS, and FX's Sons of Anarchy.

Can't help it - I love my tv in all its many forms, from cute to brutal. Add in a pretty boy and a love story, and I'm a goner.

Sons of Anarchy is one of those shows. Brutal, I mean. If you haven't watched the show, think Sopranos (which I never watched), with a gun-running, outlaw biker gang, taking care of their own in Charming, CA, and meting their own brand of justice along the way.

I don't mind saying that I had a pretty visceral reaction when I saw the first previews last year - you couldn't have paid me to watch. Not my cup of tea. But, if you've read any of the television posts on this blog, you know I totally had to give it a shot. It's what I do.

Sucked in. From the supersick opening titles with the fab ink graphics to the fanfreakin'tastic soundtrack - Sucked. Right. In.

And, I swear, it's more than just a pretty boy. Mind you, Charlie Hunnam's Jax Teller is easy on the eyes - especially in his "I swear every biker under 30 wears the baggy jeans and hoodies" cut, with his cute helmet and glasses, riding his bike. (As for love story, I do so want him together with Tara, his high-school sweetheart who got out of the life and became an upstanding doctor, but still has her killer tat on her lower back. She's played by Maggie Siff, who is oddly almost unrecognizable as Don Draper's client Rachel Menken, from S1 Mad Men.)

Anyway, after I got over the distasteful aspects (the outlawing, the violence, the supremacy of the other, other bad guys, etc.), I found myself left with a heap of engaging character complexities and impossible situations, brought to life by superb writing and raw acting.

Seriously, in what other world would Beauty & the Beast's Vincent Ron Perlman and Married with Children's Peg Bundy Katey Sagal be believable as Clay and Gemma, the aging patriarch and matriarch of an MC. In what other world would you be so engrossed in small touches of their lives (her menopause, his arthritis) and the well-being of their relationship (his infidelities with a tarty-tart, her spending the night in jail for smacking that tarty-tart upside the head - with a skateboard) that you forget that they possibly murdered her first husband to be together?

And, these two are just the tip of the iceberg - it's a magnetblog, remember? Of course, the Harley on this magnet is totally something that the Samcro boys would have to modify the bejeepers out of before taking out on the road. Yeah. Don't even get me started on the superawesome bikes.

Season 2 starts tonight at 10 on FX - this preview pretty much sums up most why I'm watching. Check out Maureen Ryan's and Alan Sepinwall's reviews for real reasons why you should be watching, too.

I guess if I had to think about it any harder, I'm betting the real reason I like this show, is because I feel like such a bad-ass watching it - like I could actually be a biker chick, kicking ass and taking names. (But you know, nicer.)

eta:
OMG! I don't know how I forgot about this! But, now I'm wondering if the Samcro clubhouse is anything like the old Hell's Angels haunt we used to pass every so often down in NC. And every time we'd pass it, Mom would be like, "that's where the Hell's Angels are!" as the whole family would look to the left as we passed.

eta2:
Oh. My. Good Gravy. That was one helluva season premiere. Ya'll better catch up. For realz, yo.