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I have a large, crappy flat-screen television.
Weve owned it for more than a quarter-century.
I watched the planes smash into the World Trade Center on it.
It sits on a rolling library table that has never been rolled.
My wife and I are both in our 70s.
Everything were capable of tech-wise, I taught myself to do.
Which is next to nothing.
Roberta, my wife, is unable even to turn on the TV.
She barely watches it anyway.
Im the only one who still watches.
I will watch for no more than two hours a day.
I have watched maybe 30 of them and now cant find any others.
We give a shot to get ourselves addicted to fictional shows.
But finding them is boring and its a real commitment.
I love dress-up costume shows, but most of them are shite.
Youll see my taste is pretty narrow and very specific.
Theres no story, no actors.
They are shot generically, artlessly.
This stylelessness is a style unto itself.
COPSThe classic show Ive recorded hundreds of its episodes.
COPS(rebooted)After George Floyd,COPSdisappeared from the airwaves.
I now record every episode of this much-updated version.
Sheriffs: El Dorado CountyThis show is dedicated to this one area of California.
To say nothing of their familiarity with long stretches of nothingness, the chaos, and violence.
This program follows a few prisoners as they are booked.
We see scores of people who will bail out in a matter of hours.
We get a real slice of life.
On Patrol: LiveI love this show.
It follows a handful of national police departments for three hours on weekends.
I could easily watch 24 hours a day of this show.
First ShiftA supercut version of previousOn Patrol: Liveepisodes with more banter.
It isnt good, but if you have nothing else, its worth it.
Forged in FireHere is a show about metal forging and shaping craft-making, process, forms.
Boy, for a while, I could not get enough of it.
Formula OneI never knew what Formula One was before this megahit show.
Ask me anything about F1; I can tell you.
I want to dedicate my whole life to following the circuit.
Full SwingI couldnt care less about golf.
Many of the white bros who watch it in person seem to be Trumpists.
As with Formula One, the creators fashion enough drama to get me to watch it.
I met some of the kids who make this show.
They work at Vox!
I asked if I could work on it and they laughed.
We witness tragic and heroic stories.
We witness great stories.
CheerThis one follows a cheerleading squad.
All or NothingThis documentary series spends a season with a professional team in various sports.
I love every season that Ive been able to find.
FargoI maintain that the filmFargois a documentary.
This made-for-TV series is fantastic.
I dont care what the plot is.
The landscape is flat, empty, open, often frozen.
As a son of the Great Lakes who often visited Minnesota, the accents are all familiar and fantastic.
Peaky BlindersIt stars Cillian Murphy and my favorite living actor, Tom Hardy.
I would watch him in anything.
Call My Agent!A French show about actors and agents and the French film industry.
Sweet, surprisingly funny, touching on deeper issues.
A French VillageThis show is a great slow-moving clunker.
In micro- and macrocosmic ways, it deals with how the French collaborated with the Nazis.
A great metaphor for our current American moment of Republican collaborators and enablers.
OzarkIf you’re free to get past the violence of the first few episodes.
Breaking BadI love shows with no humidity.
This is the best ever in that respect.
Better Call SaulBecause it was actually maybe better thanBreaking Bad.
Battlestar GalacticaThe perfect vehicle for Iraq War times.
Bush-Cheney America with pinches of semi-jingoistic sci-fi.
Curb Your EnthusiasmMen like this show.
I am a man.
