Geek vs Life

I don’t know where you live on humble reader. I know for myself I am in crags and canyons of Southern California. The temperature is the mid nineties. The sun has melted some of my CDs I took with me on my road trip. Or maybe you are in a region of the country where the reign of rain is about to begin. Fall has shown her colors. The point is maybe you want to escape indoors…to take a break from the calamitous weather. The other problem is you seen everything or more to the point everything you want to see. Well you could read a book, but if you wanna veg out I have some suggestions for you. Bear in mind you will need a region free DVD player for most of these suggestions. You can find all these originally on the BBC.

“The Mighty Boosh!”

This absurd comedy stars Julian Barrett and Noel Fielding in farcical behaviors and non-sequitur bits. I could describe a plot but that is just an entry point to the comedy. The first season (known as series in the United Kingdom) the two main characters Howard and Vince are zoo keepers, however most of the episode may take place in other locales, like an underground boxing tournament, the outback, and training facility. OK that is the first episode locations, but you get the point. It normally has a musical number that spans over any genre thought of. The tales themselves often have magic, and/or mystical settings. Again the humor is quite bizarre. This series is like a real life version of the Family Guy, thorough the off spring of Monty Python. So yeah a funnier, more intelligent comedy, but definitely absurd, as this exchange might suggest:

Mysterious Being: I dream of things that you have never dreamed.

Howard: Like what?

Mysterious Being: Rubies.

Howard: I’ve dreamed of rubies.

Mysterious Being: …Lesbian Ham.

So some good stuff, but maybe you want some drama. Oh and you like mysteries. Well how about:

Is a two season (again series in U.K.) series about a Detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) of present day Manchester who gets run over by a car. He wakes up in Manchester but the year is 1973. It isn’t clear if Detective Tyler has time traveled, in a coma, or an insane man from 73, who has imagined his future. Either way he is a detective in this time period. It is a standard cop show in many respects, but highlights the differences in policing from then and now, and in general attitudes, and views. Sometimes these clashes lead to a subtle humor, although not drag out funny. The fantasy element hooks you, but the cases are quite good them selves. The production values are top notch, and while the ending is satisfying, it is ambiguous, and debatable about what happens next. (In fact, I think Sopranos finale might have a gleamed an idea or two from this series finale.) They might make this into an American Television series, but I really recommend watching this before the butcher it.

The bottom line: This is the best science fiction you are not watching. More to the point better than most science fiction on television. Doctor Who is about the Doctor, who is a Time lord, the last of a nearly immortal race. He can go to any where and any time. He has adventures. He saves the world. He meets a British girl, named Rose Tyler, and invites her to see the galaxy, and time. I don’t wanna say much about the series, but to rent it…now! I will say Doctor Who is a British Institution. The character has been around for over forty years, and this new series is a continuation of that legacy. (Remember he is nearly immortal.) You don’t need to have seen earlier series to understand the new series. Rose Tyler is our prospective. Everything is new and exciting, and because of that we learn with her. If you have seen earlier series, I am sure it will be more enriching experience, but I wouldn’t know. I was a newbie to this series. I had seen an occasional Dr. Who episode on PBS growing up. The good news is they have taken the ideas of Dr. Who and gave it a 21st century production values. So yeah go see it. It rocks. Oh yeah some more good news. If you have a region one DVD player, they have released the first two seasons for us, North Americans, to play on our systems, however, if you want to see the third season, you will have to own a region free DVD player.

So yeah enjoy hiding from the sun, or clouds. And watching American free TV.