Now THAT's TV

I am in love with ABC Online! They have an HD online player for their most popular TV shows, and I can watch on my computer in HD, which I don't have on my TV, with only about three commercials. It's awesome! There's something kind of intimate about watching on a little screen right in my lap, like I'm having my own personal little TV show just for me. I have watched some things online from other networks, but none of them have the high quality player that ABC has. Fortunately, most of my favorite shows are on that network. I can even plug in the headphones and watch on the couch while everyone else is watching something else on the big TV. So cool. I'm so easily amused by technology.

I am currently catching up on the unaired episodes of The Nine, which was a fantastic show that started last fall and ended up getting cancelled by the idiots at the network (hey I love their player but not always their programming choices). It's about nine people who were hostages in a bank robbery, and then they get out and the story slowly unfolds about each of their lives and about what really happened in there. The plot reminds me a bit of the movie Inside Man, though not exactly. It's really gripping and has a lot of great acting, including Tim (sigh) Daly, yummity yum yum (he will be on Private Practice, the Grey's Anatomy spinoff, this fall - reason enough to watch) and lots of others. ABC decided to burn off the unaired episodes this summer, and I forgot to watch at first, not used to having new stuff in the summer, so I missed two episodes, and then they decided NOT to show them but just put them online. So, online there are four episodes there, but the two I missed are NOT there, so I have a few plot holes. I have searched the Net trying to find them somewhere to no avail, dang it. I even emailed ABC about it, but just got a canned email response.

Online TV is great for things that you wanted to watch but missed or forgot, etc. I'm trying to also catch up on Saving Grace because I just keep missing it on TV. I REALLY want to watch Mad Men on AMC, but I no longer HAVE AMC due to a brilliant decision by my cable company to shift around what I get without digital cable (which I don't want to pay extra for), but AMC is not showing it online, so I'll have to wait until it comes out on DVD and rent it. I have heard a ton about how good it is, and would seriously watch it, but, well . . .

I have noticed that the new trend is to have really high quality, short run series for the summer now. This is a great idea, but I have always breathed a sigh of relief in the summer that I could take a break from keeping up with my regular shows. I LOVE my shows, don't get me wrong, but it's nice to have a period of time where there is no Must See TV. Now, blast those TV writers, they have come up with all these really great-sounding new shows that just run in the summer. I've missed most of them this year because I've been busy and just didn't want to invest in more shows, but now I'm thinking I missed out on some really good stuff. If this is the pattern to come, I'm gonna have to start watching next summer, or hope they put them all online . . . love me some good TV writing! It's like a book only they act it out for you. I was watching Shakespeare in Love last night, and Violet was explaining why she loves plays so much and it was just how I feel about good TV. Ha. TV is not just for the uncultured, so there.

Now I'm going back to Episode 11 of The Nine.