A Month of TV Commentary: A Meme in 30 Parts: Day 8

[autographedcat]

From aiela , via madlori , the 30-Day TV Meme.

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch

Well, obviously, any of the shows I watch i think others should, because I think they're awesome. But to pick one is hard.

I'm going to go with Mythbusters, which is hardly in dire need of a ratings boost, but has many qualities that I really like. It's a lot of fun, and it shows practical science (and the scientific method) as something that's enormously cool. Even when they go in with expectations of results, they let the data speak for itself. And when their methods are flawed and the fans call them on it, they revisit their work in many cases.

Most science documentaries operate under the assumption that if you're watching it, you already think science is cool. Mythbusters is populist science taken the extreme, and it's something I think everyone can get something out of,



Day 01 - A show that should have never been cancelled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this t.v season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favourite episode of your favourite t.v show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show

Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best t.v show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First t.v show obsession
Day 29 - Current t.v show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death

Comments

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Mythbusters grew on me. Well, I should say the guys grew on me. At first, I found Adam cute-but-forgettable and Jamie meanspirited. Then I got to know them, and I lurve them to pieces.

[heathrow.livejournal.com]

I love Mythbusters, but I do wish they had larger data sets. They tend to call things confirmed when they run the test just once or twice. Drives me bonkers.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

True enough, although they are limited to the amount of time they have to spend on each one.

And, just to play devil's advocate, the question they're usually asking is "Can this possibly be true?". So a single data point conclusively replicating the myth does confirm it. If they were trying to prove the *likelihood* of something, they'd need bigger data sets. (Where to draw the line between plausible and confirmed is fuzzy, but it really depends on how you frame the questions.)

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

That's because they need to blow things up!

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I'm more of a Dirty Jobs fan myself [g].

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

But this is so similar to Day 2! Also, it's hard to answer because I don't know of any show that would appeal to everyone - there's just too much variation in taste, even if you're just looking at my circle of friends.

But just for fun, I'll name a silly pair: Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel, and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. Adam and Guy, the respective hosts, are both fun to watch, and they introduce me to all sorts of interesting eating places, even some that I might encounter in my travels.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree. I dislike things of the form "everyone 'should' watch this show" (or read this book, or listen to this music) -- just because I like it doesn't mean that I necessarily know anyone else who thinks it worth the time to even sample it. I like all sorts of things that the majority of people (in some cases the majority of my friends) regard as 'trash', and the reverse is true as well. For instance I have several friends who are very much into the 'horror' genre, most of which makes me physically sick, leaves me totally uninterested, or makes me suicidal. (There are exceptions, and 'Feed' is one of them. But if I didn't know Seanan, and that I think she could publish a shopping list and I would buy it because she'd make that interesting and entertaining, then I would have run away from it.)