Thursday, August 16, 2007

Desert islands now come with cable!

Tim Goodman at the San Francisco Chronicle came up with a great "what if" game: What if you could only watch three TV channels? 3. Tres. Drei.

Goodman's picks are HBO, ESPN and FX.

I'm really not sure what he's watching on FX that's so hot, but whatever.

I'd agree that it would be tough to dump ESPN now that it has Monday Night Football, but I'm not a big enough baseball or basketball fan to miss it the rest of the year.

HBO... now that's a tough one. There's really nothing on there now that I simply could not live without (as much as I like Flight of the Conchords). But there certainly has been before and I have faith that there will be again.
Of course, the rules of the game don't stipulate that you're stuck with the same three forever, so presumably I could add HBO or ESPN for part of the year and limit myself to other choices the rest of the time. Heck, there's long periods of the fall and summer when I'm not too far away from that now.

Man, I just realized there's really nothing other than "Lost" I watch on ABC. I can't pick a network just for one show, can I? ABC is pimping "Pushing Daisies" this fall - probably my favorite new show of the fall - but that's still just two shows. It'd be easier if they still had MNF. Of course, they do still have the best college football package...

OK, so my three:
1. NBC - "30 Rock," "Friday Night Lights," "Heroes" and "The Office." Those first two may not last the year, but I'd still need my NBC for the other pair.
2. Discovery - There's no one thing I couldn't live without here, but lots of stuff I like - "Dirty Jobs," "Deadliest Catch," making fun of "Man vs. Wild," repeats of "Survivorman," "Mythbusters."
3. Comedy Central - "Daily Show," Colbert Report," "Reno 911," "South Park." Really, Comedy Central is HBO with a better track record. I don't see how I could make it through an election year without Jon Stewart (even when he goes off on moralistic rants like he did last night with Stephen Hayes).

Now it's your turn.

8 Comments:

At 1:52 PM, August 16, 2007, Blogger Eli the Mad Man said...

Goodman's picks are HBO, ESPN and FX. I'm really not sure what he's watching on FX that's so hot, but whatever.

The Shield, Rescue Me, Damages, The Riches, and for many - Nip/Tuck (just not me personally).

I think what it boils down to is that FX isn't afraid to show GREAT television. They don't just green light crap in droves and toss it out there only to get canned in 2 episodes like EVERY SINGLE other network.

The Shield, Rescue Me and Damages are three of the best dramas on television, bar none.

 
At 1:59 PM, August 16, 2007, Blogger AndyW said...

Eh, I think "The Riches" is better than "Rescue Me," although both have burned through potential storylines with abandon.

It's good stuff, but I don't think many people watch all of those shows, meaning you'd be picking FX for one or two of those shows. Goodman may, in fairness, watch all those and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" to boot.

Me, I need more depth. There's a lot of hours in the day to fill with TV.

 
At 2:31 PM, August 16, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree on FX:

I watch Damages, The Shield, Rescue Me (I agree not as sharp as the first year) and occasionally Nip/Tuck and The Riches.

I have avoided all those summer crap fill-in game shows....well, er, uh the Singing Bee was pretty cool the other night :-)

 
At 3:21 PM, August 16, 2007, Blogger AndyW said...

Eli and PK still need to pick two more. It's the power of three...

 
At 8:55 PM, August 16, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

TNT would be number 2 with The Closer, The Company and Saving Grace.. and HBO, which I don't get but if I had the choice, for more innovative shows than you can find on the three main networks.

 
At 8:00 AM, August 17, 2007, Blogger Eli the Mad Man said...

I'd have to go with Goodman on ESPN, since I'm a huge sports fan.

So far... FX, ESPN and for my last pick - that's a tough, tough call. It'd either have to be Discovery, History or National Geographic since I'm also a big history buff.

What to pick? (theme song from Jeopardy playing in the back ground) What to pick?

I'd have to say - History Channel. And yes, that is my final answer. ;)

 
At 9:06 AM, August 17, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tough choices but I go with ESPN (couldn't live without it!), NBC (some of my favorite, can't miss shows like "Heroes" and "Medium") and one necessity since I have two little girls...Disney Channel.

 
At 12:55 PM, August 19, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow...i guess i failed the GUY test miserably...I don't like ANY sports...so ESPN would be out...I guess my picks would be the weather channel, fox news, and national geographic...in that order...haha

 

Post a Comment

<< Home