General Hospital

I have been watching General Hospital since I was a small child. Perhaps my entire life through, my mother and sisters. Over the years us girls watched Days of our Lives and General Hospital. I am the only one who still watches. I tried forcing it on my kids over the kids. My oldest watched until a few years ago. My son stopped the second he realized what I was forcing him to watch. My youngest watches with me faithfully. I know I can only count on that for so long so I will continue to cherish it.

For the past few years the story lines have been very predictable, repetitive and at times downright annoying. Somehow, my morbid curiosity forces me to watch each day and at times look forward to it.

The past few weeks, the show is on fire! It is finally interesting, finally semi-unpredictable and truly entertaining. I am glad I spent 40 years paying attention as now they have brought back old storylines and infused into current storylines and they actually halfway make sense, and they have been able to pull old footage and ad into make the stories more believable.

I am impressed and a little sad that it is Friday and only one more episode for the week.

The good thing is there is plenty of tv to keep me watching. Gotta love NetFlix.

5 seasons in 1 week, umm thats a lot of tv….

A few years ago my oldest daughter really wanted me to watch Weeds, with her. I really wanted to watch, after the first episode I was easily hooked. I did not get to see more than one season at that time. Finally I got time to watch it but had family staying with me and it was too much activity to really pay attention, I missed a lot. So now I am re-watching and finally getting to see just how crazy Nancy is and just watch she really was doing when I was only halfway watching.

I know a lot of people are not interested in watching drug shows, but then again it’s in every show, What show does not have episodes of people smoking weed. It has been around for ever and  I doubt it is going anywhere, if anything it is more and more socially acceptable and not as big a deal as it once was.

So the story is a cable series so it is not really for kids but I will admit all three of my kids have watched the series. My youngest is just now getting through it she saw the first 4 seasons on her own time so I figured if she already watched what is the difference to watch with her. So now as we are on season 5 a lot has happened but of course there is still lots to go.

Show starts like any other, introduction of main characters. The Mother, Nancy, the teen son Silas, the younger boy who is about 10 is named Shane. Then there is the housekeeper, Lupita, and you start meeting the rest of the cast, Doug- her accountant and best customer, Dean another customer and friends husband, and sons girlfriends father. So you start seeing how they all interact and how her role as their dealer comes about. She shows up during the poker game, golf course and so on. She seems to be semi-wholesome in the beginning. Well , that does not last. She is a hot mess but somehow you will root for her to get away with it all, to live her life to find happiness.

You find out her Husband died in the very first episode. So she had this housewife lifestyle with him and she did not know how to keep that going. Once she figured it out, well she figured it out. The kids grow up as the story unfolds and they each have their own dealings with the mother and their Family Business…

I really enjoy it. The way I see it is if you love Gangster movies, shoot em up movies, family stories, drama and a little love and crazy scenarios I think you could really enjoy the show. It’s been out a long time so you can catch the whole series on Netflix and no commercials! Yay

So who watched Glee?

When my daughter said to me Mom, let’s watch Glee I was kind of like eww, why. Then she said come on Mom you love musicals and whenever shows have singing episodes you love them. So I agreed that she may have a point. I or I should say we were in the mid to end of Season 2 of Charmed, which I am loving by the way. We can talk about charmed another time, see I have seen many episodes way past where I actually am but I am trying to watch straight through.

Glee surprised me. I was a little shocked at the immaturity of the teachers , come to find out that is some pretty funny stuff shoved in the middle of all that high school drama. The singing is mostly enjoyable they have some talents and they touch upon all kind of things that could and do come up in high school.

Coach Sue, she is a hot mess the things that come flying out of her mouth never surprise me anymore, as anything goes with her. Her relationship with Becky(whom has Down’s Syndrome) is sweet and funny , you can tell always under her meanness she cares. She has turned Becky into a mini her and Becky pulls of the feistiness in an adorable way.

The Glee teacher, Will Schuester starts of the show in a loveless marriage and is in love with the guidance counselor. He fights for the kids and over all he proves to be a pretty decent guy, although a bit immature would be part of his description.

Over time you do find yourself routing for certain characters, watching the kids come out of their shells and become people who actually stand for sometime. They believe in themselves and that allows them to shine.

Some of the singing is outstanding and others is just like where is the GONG! Sometimes I would find myself singing right along and sometimes I am like I think we need to fast forward a few minutes before I throw some tomatoes at my TV, and well that is just messy and gross so thank goodness for fast forward.

When one of the main characters died in real life they had to add it to the show. They did a fabulous job adding it and not ever saying what really happened. Although you wondered a bit they have his brother say something along the lines of What difference does it make how he died that was only a moment in his life, isn’t it more important how he lived. At first I was like really they are not going to make up some story, but in the end I guess I feel like that was a pretty good way to handle it.

I like how they brought broadway, rock,disco and pop together in ways that I would probably never think of. Over all if you have kids in the high school or younger age and they like music they will probably enjoy this show. Like I said earlier if you can get past the immaturity of the whole show you can get down to the humor in it and it is worth the watch.

 

What is everyone binge watching?

I went for a really long time not watching tv. Since I have picked the habit up of Binge watching I can say I love it. I love picking a show and seeing it from beginning to end. I love the feeling of approaching the end and knowing I am going to miss that show. I also know when I am not sure what to do with down time, I have a show I can re-watch while I do regular around the house kind of stuff.

I talk a lot of tv with my sisters. I have a few friends who watch some of the same shows so there is always someone to discuss at least one of the shows I am currently on. I watch most tv with my youngest daughter, the one I always write about@teamangel.

Since she is only 12 I can only watch but so much with her. I can watch other shows with my older children, but my son who is near 17 now gets embarrassed by certain things in my presence. My oldest daughter does not live at home anymore so when she comes over we always wind up talking through anything we put on anyway.

Right now we are currently watching the following shows:

That 70’s Show

Cheers

It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia

Charmed

SuperNatural

Greys Anatomy

Empire

Once upon a time

Better Call Saul

General Hosptial

 

 

and sometimes we like to watch the contest shows on the Food Network and The HGTV shows when we are in the hospital. At home we only have Netflix and Hulu, by choice but it is nice to catch some of the other shows once in awhile.

We are planning to rewatch the last season of Gilmore Girls just before the Reunion or whatever they are calling it comes out end of next month.

I would love to hear what series shows you all have watched. Maybe I have way more to talk about and maybe I could look forward to the suggestions and what you loved about the ones you have already watched or in the process of.

 

In the last few years I have watched the following

Breaking Bad

Weeds

Greys Anatomy- up to current

MadMen

Private Practice

House

Royal Pains

Arrested Development

Orange is the New Black

Part of Narcos- just have not gotten back to yet

ParentHood

Supernatural- up to current

Young and Hungry

SuperStore

Hart of Dixie

Gilmore Girls

Pretty Little Liars

Gossip Girl- never got past the 1st season

I am sure a whole bunch more but they are not coming to me at the moment.

I think I loved all of them in different ways. Breaking Bad took me out of my tv comfort zone

Weeds- Nancy had me cracking up the entire series with her craziness.

House made me feel smart and Grey’s well that just showed me that I am an emotional mess.

I could easily talk about any of the shows I already watched and I am eager to find new and old shows that I have not heard of or had a chance to see.

So tell me about your TV talk!

 

 

TV series Parenthood

I started watching the tv series Parenthood about 10 days ago. My sister and I had a deal, she watches Supernatural-my favorite and I watch Parenthood. See she does not like that kind of show it and it took me and my daughter over a year to convince her she will love it. Now she is mid season 3 and I think we have finally accomplished what we set out to do, find another fan!

I am fastly approaching season 4 of Parenthood so I have had some time to reflect on this show. I will admit I am loving it, I will admit that it has made me cry more times than I would care to admit and I will also admit my daughter who was set to hate the show likes it a lot.

Watching a show that shows parenthood for what it is, love, ups and downs, hard work and total amazing payoffs, is very nice. I like seeing other people have challenges that I have faced and watch how they go about it. I think it is neat that a tv show would bring a disease like Asperger’s to the forefront. Any parent loses their patience with their kids. Any kid can be annoying at least some of the time. That kid has no ability to control those things so discipline is different and regular day to day has to be learned, can’t just do what comes naturally with other kids as this may cause major meltdowns.

Being a parent of a special needs child I thought I have seen it all. Clearly I have not. Watching how these parents must learn to deal with their child, special schools, special rules, special ways to make eye contact and the need to have to cater to the child’s needs opened my eye’s to something I had only heard of but did not really understand.

I love how the whole family interacts with one another, the closeness, the differences , how the siblings and parents work with one another to the cousins loving and fighting with one another. I will have to say It is worth the watch.

I can’t decide who is my favorite character yet. I like them all equally I guess. Crosby and Zeek make me laugh the most though.

So not sure what I will binge watch after this but I have a few seasons to go while I decide.

Gotta love my Netflix addiction!

Oh No, We are on the final season….

My youngest daughter and I spend a lot of time watching tv together. We choose different series, some based on suggestions from other family members and some just because we decide we like them. My son is a teenager, that equates to whatever we choose he says eww and won’t watch. He misses out on the girly stuff but we do find plenty to watch together. Having a child with special needs, sometimes we have to just stay home. We can go out and do things just like anyone else but we must take more precaution. We also have to go based on weather, and how she is actually feeling by the day. Long term weeks ahead plans are hard to make and when we do sometimes we have to disappoint. I believe the people who know us get it. If they don’t they should.

So now we have been faithfully watching the Gilmore Girls. When we realized that the theme song was an irritant to my son we said, fun fun fun we will love and sing this song. We thought at some point he would find it catchy and maybe come watch an episode or two. We were wrong. We are now on the final season and he has not watched one. Oh well as they say , actually his loss as I think he would quickly develop a crush on Rory as she is very smart and pretty. He is a really smart kid so that would probably be a crush factor.

Now that we are on the final season I will have to say I have really loved this show. I see a bit of myself in Loralei and I adore the relationship she has with her daughter. I loved seeing how her tarnished relationship with her parents changed over time and got better. I could never live in a small town like that, but I would so love to visit every now and again. The people who live there are always involved in something. Being a huge Supernatural fan, I was always hoping Dean would be back and sweep Rory off her feet. Truth is I think now that I am approaching the end. I don’t hate Logan and I really liked Jess. At first I hated Jess because I wanted her with Dean. Funny how we love an actor from another character and then we just – well want what we want.

I wanted Loralei and Luke to work out but somehow I figured she would wind up with Christopher. Hopefully by tonight or tomorrow we will get to the end. I am sure I will cry , because I hate endings but I suspect it will be good as everyone seems to love that show. I am looking forward to Netflix bringing it back for a miniseries, or whatever they are calling it.

I am so glad I have found some good shows to enjoy. I spent so much on cable over the years and never really watched anything but my soaps and sports. Now I only have Netflix and Hulu and I find so many programs I have to decide what I will watch in what order so that I don’t dedicate my entire life to tv watching. I do need to find some time to work, and take care of my house and kids. Ahh the life of a work from home, homeschooling recently widowed person. I think it is all working itself out just the way it is supposed to.

I am addicted to NetFlix

About a year ago I decided that I am giving up Cable Television. I decided that it is too expensive and that I spend more time looking for something to watch than watching anything. I did not want to give it up for two reasons, sports and local news. Well I have clearly moved past all that. I now look online for results of things. I do miss the sports sometimes, but I enjoy Hockey Radio. It is exciting, it reminds me of being a kid. We would not want to miss our beloved New York Rangers, but living on the Island we not getting to watch many games on TV.

I have many shows that I can easily watch on Netflix. I can binge when I want and I truly am addicted to that. Right now I am totally caught up on several shows and I feel like eww, I have nothing to watch. I can binge watch  some shows all day but others I need a break and have to start something else. My kids and I agree on some and not on all. Mostly my youngest daughter will follow my lead and watch whatever I choose. My son is not that way at all. He has turned into his Dad. When my husband was alive he controlled the tv. He even controlled what the kids watched in the other room, unless I was home and then those rules did not apply. He would always say, Lisa go in the room and tell the kids watch whatever you want. Dad is a jerk and he just wants you to watch certain shows,  but I am home now watch whatever. He was an at home Dad for quite a few years and he would have to be the jerk sometimes. He liked Good Cop Bad Cop, Always one of us had to be nice if the other was mad about something. I miss him. I am now trying to play good cop bad cop alone and the kids just roll their eyes and wish they would come take me away in the White Coats, to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time…..

There I go, off topic as always. So My son surprised me with some of the shows he wanted me to watch, to catch up on so we could chat about it. He turned us on to Supernatural which has become a favorite show to leave on in the back ground when I am cooking and working or doing other stuff. People who don’t watch it perceive it to be Dark, Negative or to religious. It is truly not any of the above. It is like a story of brothers who will change the entire world and beyond,will literally go to other realms if you will, to help each other and they fight stuff and are hot, so it is fun. He also got us into, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Private Practice, Sherlock and some others. I got him into Breaking Bad and Weeds, I know some Parents would not approve. My son is 16. He has literally seen just about everything on Netflix and Hulu and he has never once became any of those characters. He also plays video games but does not go outside and shoot up the neighbors. We have always been an open family about things and my kids have grown up in bad neighborhoods their whole lives. Me sheltering them from the real world would bring them more harm than good in these environments. Yes, in a good wholesome neighborhood I may have tried to shelter them until they were older but to me that was not in the cards.  Anyway back to Netflix my Son has great taste. So far I have not hated any of the shows, as a matter of fact I have loved most of them. I mentioned Supernatural but Grey’s Anatomy has become part of my family in a way. First thing at 6 this morning my son comes in my room. Mom I can’t believe Jackson did not marry that Tatianna girl. I knew exactly what he was talking about and sure enough my daughter chimed in with an I know , really. I adore my kids and strangely I think our NetFlix addiction has brought us closer.

I have watched my son, go from wanting to be a Diagnostic Doctor, To a soldier, to a Criminal to FBI and on to a Politician. I think that my little daughter has had her eyes opened to so many fun stories, We watched Once Upon a Time the entire series to it’s current now in like 9 days. We were totally hooked… Get it hooked(The character Hook) Yes I have a very corny sense of humor. I know some wish I would just stop, but yet I never do.

Hope I am not the only one totally addicted to Netflix but I believe it beats the alternatives, I was considering.