the Typewriter

The end of a 2 month era.

Netflix is wonderful, is it not? (I just had to put that out for starters.) Without it, I would have to watch TV shows when they air instead of watching several seasons in a week or a month. As many of you know, my strongest virtue is not patience.

So, right before Christmas I bit the bullet and added "Alias" to my bulging-at-the-seams Netflix queue. Everyone who watched the show has always told me that it is "SO GOOD" and that I "HAVE TO WATCH IT" because it's right up my alley (being a spy myself, and all...oops...now I have to kill you...). I never watched it when it was on TV (mostly because I didn't own a TV when it was on), and I'm sure glad I didn't. I would have never stayed sane waiting a WEEK for the next episode! I could barely wait until my next disc came in the mail after watching 4 episodes in one day! And, as you may have gathered from my entry title here, yes: I watched all 5 seasons in 2 months. I just finished the final episode of season 5 two nights ago, and yes, I am proud.

My review of it is typical if you've heard others talk about it. The 1st & 2nd seasons are incredible. The 3rd season is good, too, but more than anything you have to watch all of just because the season 2 finale is so mind-blowing that you HAVE to find out what happens. The 4th season has a different feel (it feels like different writers & directors to me, but I can't find any proof of this), but is still worth watching. And the 5th season is a little hit-or-miss in the acting department, and all the amazing fight scenes get cut for a while (due to some important plot themes), but you have to watch it to the bitter end, or you're not a real fan. :-)

This show is my favorite show I've ever watched. I thought nothing could beat Veronica Mars, but it feels SO refreshing to get hooked on a story line that doesn't involve teenagers! At last! (Stephanie Meyer probably paid for her vacation home with the money I spent on her books & movie tickets...) All other males pale in comparison to Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan - speaks fluent French & has tasteful tattoos, hello?!) & Will Tippin (how Bradley Cooper got his start). And of course Sydney is my role model & hero (we play a game in my house now called "everything leads back to Heather wanting to be Sydney").

Anyway, I'm saying old things here that people have said for years. I just wanted to say them for myself.

And for those of you out there who still haven't watched the show, do yourself a favor: rent season 1. And kiss your life goodbye.

the Office: TV show or crack cocaine?

I just can't get enough of it. I've actually never taken drugs, but I imagine all addictions have some symptoms in common: you wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night aching for it, you're always telling yourself "I just need one more...", you tell your friends you like it but not how much you like it, it's the last thing you think about before going to bed & the first thing you think about when you wake up...

You get my point.

Okay, so I'm not quite this obsessed with "the Office", but I come pretty close. I never quite got hooked to the British version, though I did love it (I hate David Brent considerably more than I do Michael Scott); but America's version of the BBC's ingenious creation is love at first sight.

If you're in love like I am (and please remember: I do NOT watch TV, so this is a big deal, people!), you should treat yourself to some OUTTAKES, DELETED SCENES, Interviews with Characters, and (my favorite) some Public Service Announcements done by a few characters. Just in case the actual show isn't enough.

Oh, and if you like the show and follow it at all -- please, do yourself a favor and watch the Season Finale for goodness sake.