Conor has his weekly column (that he sometimes turns over to me) and Ali has her stack.  I have a Netflix queue full shows that I'm slowly devouring (which should not to be confused with the stack of shows waiting for me once I finish these).  When I'm lucky, the seasons are on the instant queue, so I can dial up what I'm interested in when the mood strikes.  When I'm less lucky, individual disks get shuffled into the near 300 item mail-me queue.  Fortunately Netflix's turnaround is 2 days from when I mail it.  Living in the same zip as the city's main post office and near a distribution center has it's advantages.

A word of warning for the spoiler-phobes before you adopt this method of television consumption.  You'll be tempted to look up actors on these shows to find out what else they've been in.  Know that you're risking extreme spoilerage if you do so.  Nothing says buzz-kill like discovering that clever actor is only in the first 3 seasons, or that the guest star you thought was safe to look up because their part is clearly "over" actually becomes a cast member 3 seasons later.

Battlestar Galactica

There is a reason it's taken me so long to get into BSG: I hold it responsible for Firefly not getting picked up by SciFi when it was cancelled by Fox.  Irrational as it is, I blamed BSG and refused to get over it no matter how much people insisted that it was great.  It took almost 5 years of this.  It really is as awesome as everyone has been saying it is, so long as you're a fan of the "show set in space that is way more about the interpersonal relationships and mythology/religion and how it affects folks than than the space stuff, even though the space stuff is way cool, too" genre. You know, like Firefly.


Doctor Who

I'm totally cheating by adding this to the list, since I've devoured everything I can and it's no longer on the "currently watching list."  This show is exactly what something like Netflix is designed for, though, so it's hard to leave it off the list.  After consuming Torchwood on HDNet and catching a couple of random episodes of Doctor Who on SciFi, my curiosity was piqued enough to start from the new beginning.  I can't believe it took me so long to get on one of the original geek bandwagons.  It's cheesy at times because it's true to its roots. Tt's smart in that way that "only" British television can be, because it challenges its audience to catch up instead of slowing down and waiting for them. It's bloody brilliant, really and it's all waiting for you on Netflix, most of it on Instant Play.  

Rome

Rome could be any number of quality shows that HBO has put out since it turned it's eye towards original programming, but I started with this one for a few reasons.  First, it's set in an awesome time period that rarely gets seen by people who know what they're about.  Second, Kevin McKidd.  I'm not going to apologize for that.  It turns out that Rome is amazing.  It's real (i'm assuming), it's gritty, and because it's HBO it doesn't shy away from anything that might be interesting.  Everything about the show, even the dirt, is beautiful and nearly-perfected.  The stories and the way they interweave with actual history (as I remember from theatre class)  is just phenomenal.  With very little hyperbole, the season finale for season 1 of Rome is some of the best television I've ever seen.  Even with the quality of the season that preceeded it, I was gobsmacked by the beauty.

The Tudors

Like Rome, only set during an uber-trendy time period.  Like Rome, I picked it up for the Lead Actor as well.  Tudors doesn't hold my attention quite as much.  The religious/political intrigue is on the dry side (as much as that sort of thing can be), and I find myself cross-referencing wikipedia often to remind myself exactly who is doing what and why.  I question how much they're sacrificing accuracy for sexy, since no picture i've seen of Henry looks like Jonathan.  The inter-personal stuff is fun and sexy, though, and man do I love me some Tudor-era costumes.  That having been said, if season 2 wasn't available on the instant queue, it might have been relegated behind many other shows waiting in the wings.

Weeds

"Little boxes on a hillside. Little boxes made of ticky-tacky..." Weeds' theme song will get in your head and not let you go for days and days. I started watching the show a couple years ago, while I was stuck at home on "going to have a baby" sick-leave, but amidst all my other choices it just didn't grab me.   After listening to the din of awesomeness that followed it everywhere I went (to say nothing of the fun pinup girl promo posters), I gave it another chance.  I'm glad I did.   Every rumor you've heard about the awesomeness of post-SNL Kevin Nealon is true. Every award it's been nominated for is worthy.  It's a flawed little comedy, to be sure.  Sometimes they get themselves into and out of fantastical situations that make me roll my eyes, but hey, it's a comedy.  Fun fact: it's only a half-hour long but it feels like longer.  I cant tell you how many times it messed with my brain and made me think i'd been lollygagging or ironing for hours while watching this show.

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