I’ve had a lot going on of late, so it’s been difficult to work my way through it all in order to write a post. Apologies. Thankfully, my favorite minion has been on the ball! But I’m pulling it together today in order to start new series of posts- Guilty Pleasures. Like the title says, these are things that I love and adore, but I feel a little guilty for enjoying it. I obviously have a lot of these- you already know of my love for the bad movie but here are some more.
Actually, to ease into it… I’m just going to talk about the TV series from this last season that I consider my guilty pleasures.
Arrow.
Stewart did a lovely refresher piece on this series not too long ago, but I wanted to chime my two cents in. Arrow is not brilliant writing, it is not poignant stories, nor is the finest acting in the land. This is not The West Wing.
Arrow is a solid break from reality, with witty characters, entertaining action scenes, plenty of good looking guys running around without their shirts on, and exactly the kind of show I want to see. The writing is good and generally flows well- you know the writers have a good time creating stories. The acting… well, it took a while for Stephen Amell to express emotion- though I attribute much of that to his characters situation, there were many reviewers and comments that complained. The chemistry between the characters is brilliant… tangible, even. And I am not ashamed to say that John Barrowman entering any scene makes me giggle with glee.
I love the look of the show- even if the Queen’s do live in the Luthor mansion (which is sort of weird). The gritty feel of the dirty Starling City to the clutter of the police squadroom to the grime in Green Arrow’s lair… Everything comes together to create a block of TV that I look forward to each week. I dread hiatuses. And I hate that I’m left with so many questions after each episode. But they keep me coming back… craving the next episode like a junkie looking for their next fix.
I look forward to the DVDs so I can marathon episodes easily.
ps… no spoilers but another site I peruse just posted pics from the 1st season finale and I am dying to see the scene in question.
Elementary.
I have several friends that are diehard Sherlock Holmes fans and thus this series, starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu, almost forces them to blackmark me. But… I don’t care. I adore Jonny Lee Miller- I have since first encountering him in Hackers way back in the day- and anything he does is worth watching. In particular, I find the chemistry between the 4 leads (Miller, Liu, Aidan Quinn, and Jon Michael Hill) to be fabulous. There’s an air of exasperation from everyone in regards to Holmes but also awe. And Miller gives a vibrancy that I enjoy.
The series itself is a serial, crime of the week type thing with one arcing thread that occasionally pops up- M, which fans assume is Moriarty, Holmes nemesis. I enjoy this type of show because for the most part you can pick it up whenever and not really have missed much, but Elementary does have a lot of character development so I’d say it’s important to watch in order. And regularly.
This is a guilty pleasure for me because so many people give me a disdainful look when I mention watching it. They’d prefer I devoted myself to the BBC series. And I will get around to watching that. Eventually. But right now I need to watch the deliciousness of Jonny Lee Miller solving crimes.
I think these are newest of my TV Guilty Pleasures… there are many more, of course- I do love my TV shows!- but they are older series. I’ll get to them later.
dee2henry
intellichick
ladydethpool
magnitudev1
natashanerdlush
nerdlushguests
elizabeth ann
Billy
stewartmoncure
thetwoohsix
NerdLush 
I missed the last few eps of Arrow, but am catching up fast before the season finale hits in a couple of weeks. I’ll probably check Elementary out when it hits DVD.
Sad to say, my guilty pleasures this season revolve around things like Orphan Black and Defiance, Kind of weird those would be guilty pleasures when my current plate of regular viewing right now is Mad Men, The Americans, and Hannibal, but what’re gonna do?
I’m iffy on Defiance- heard some friends give it negative, also I am not playing the game- how necessary is that connection? And I just saw something on Orphan Black (the beauty of being somewhere with cable!) so I may add it the watch list when there’s more banked.
It’s weird what becomes a guilty pleasure… I have a specific group of people who are right with me on my love for Arrow. Others are confused. Others hate it passionately because it’s not 100% canon. But like my love for bad movies, Arrow provides that *break*… that time to rest and relax from the week with the only focus being on who is gonna die, how often we’ll see his abs, what witty remarks Felicity is going to make, etc… That’s why I love it so. 🙂
Defiance has been improving since the pilot, which was okay, but like most pilots tried to stuff way too much subplot in. The game itself is only tangentially involved with the show so far, so you won’t miss much not playing the game.
i’ll give it a few more weeks and then check it out when i can marathon in a large block