Previously On...: A Compendium

Recently and delightfully, I've been able to stay current on my panel of shows, or certain favorites at least. As this Golden age of television marches on, I have curated a small list of shows that fall within my very specific and disparate tastes. Included among the ranks are:

The Good Wife:
Having been a loyal follower since Season 3, I am satisfied that it is now Season 7 and the writing is still so quality. The episode titles follow a palindrome pattern – one-word titles in Season 1, two in S2,... up to four in S4. Then S5 titles go back to three words, and if you do the math, we’re now at one-word titles in S7. Will there be a Season 8? Nobody knows.

                                                             The Good Wife in One word: JuliannaMargulies
                                                                                             Two words: Legal drama
                                                                                            Four words: Not cheesy  Not easy

Limitless:

I stumbled upon this flipping through hotel tv channels one night, and my power of intuition told me within minutes that I liked it. It’s a new show and a little rough around the “snappy” dialogue edges but right up my alley for brilliant, above-the-norm main characters. What can I say, there was a hole where White Collar used to be.

Better Off Ted:

A Netflix show that ended a few years ago, the super dry humor is amazing and everyone I recommend this to love it. I like Portia de Rossi who plays the corporate shark archetype Veronica, who is laser focused on the bottom line though is occasionally forced to contend with unfamiliar concepts like empathy or humility. So close, Veronica, yet so far.

Scandal:

I still haven't decided whether Scandal is artistic and culturally progressive or if it’s so dramatic it’s trashy. I just like that they talk fast and I hate that I never get to watch it live while all the actors are live tweeting.


Other good shows if you’re looking for ideas:
Madam Secretary – if you like capable characters and strong female leads
Sherlock – if you are a human being; next season airs at the beginning of next year, finally!
Mindy Project – if you like hilariously confident female main characters
Lie to Me – if you have Netflix and like procedurals as much as I do. I seriously have the longest list of both good and moderately acceptable procedurals (Standoff, Psych, Numbers, House, Scorpion, CSI Cyber).

Shows I’m looking forward to:
Heartbeat – with the actress Melissa George (who played guest characters on several shows on this list) starring as, yes, the grand synchronization of a female lead in a procedural dramedy
Younger – season two of an unusual plotline, starring the naturally talented Sutton Foster

I kind of want to say that I need something else going on in my life, but wouldn't that get too real.

A Motivating Factor

Even when things get busy, I usually manage to fit one or two episodes of TV watching on the weekends. You always make time for the things you like to do, and I definitely like to stack up the pillows on my bed on a weekend, turn the bedside lamp on, and settle in for a good story about my character peeps solving their world-changing problems time after time. So when it's 10:30pm on a Tuesday and I'm still at work, the version of myself in TV-watching position is what I imagine when I envision the light at the end of the tunnel.

Though TV is typically an evening activity, what happened near the end of a recent trip was that I got too tired and unmotivated for exercise in the morning so decided that as an incentive, I'd put on an episode of some good show whenever I went to the gym.

(Side note: I've always wondered how people can watch the news while exercising. It sounds like a double whammy situation. As my Econ professor would say, just stick with the single whammy. I recall recording this joke on the margin of my Econ notes in college. Yes, good times.)

I ended up playing Scandal while "speed walking" on an inclined treadmill every morning the final week of that project, which, though is concessionary and barely exercise, still made my days better. I'm convinced. At any rate, it took two and half mornings of gym time to watch through a single episode of drama, not to mention it got awkwardly tricky when certain scenes came up. All in all, it was a fairly unsatisfying viewing experience, but was surprisingly effective at getting me out of bed.

Tricks of the trade for ya, although I don't recommend sharing with your Soulcycling coworkers the fact that sauntering in front of your laptop-turned-TV is your new favorite way to work out. You just won't win.

One Food Item Only

Question #14 on the 50 Facts About Me tag asks If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Given that I eat this particular thing once or twice a day already (unless I run out of it), I am super inspired to answer this question – it's the delicious, nutritious Greek Yogurt with Berries.

Here, let me show you:

Components:

  Huge dollop of Greek yogurt, plain or honey

  Blackberries

  Raspberries

  Blueberries

  Roasted Pecans


Triumvirate of Food Objectives Achieved:

  Protein

  Fruit

  Sweetness


If you're using plain yogurt, you can add a spoonful of raspberry preserves or lemon curd.

    or    

For interesting texture and to join the superfood bandwagon, add the miraculous chia seeds. (DL on chia seeds: Add water, wait, stir. Gelatinous and a little earthy-tasting. Loads of fiber and other things.)

A quick Google search has revealed to me that there are no set questions to the Facts About Me tag. The tag is just 50 facts that you share about yourself, so actually there is no defined question 14. But anyway, I shared that one fact and now you know.