Things that don't give me nightmares #8.

The second tier of good channels.




Turner Classic Movies.
Oh, holy crap, this shouldn't be in the second tier, this should've been in the first tier neck-and-neck with Ovation!!!
I don't even need to explain this one, do I?
Here's me being elitist again, but if you aren't up on your classic films, you're a slob.
Game over.
FX.
They've got "Rescue Me", and a bunch of other good shows.
They've shaped up to be an impressive little channel.
So good, they keep making me forget they're part of the Fox empire.

Comedy Central.
They've got whole chunks of the day, and even days on end, where there's nothing but shit on, but, they've got South Park, & Colbert, and the roasts, and uncensored Ron White, and Lewis Black, so, there's a smattering of good stuff.

Y'gotta figure, we're damned lucky, in these futuristic waning days of the 00's.
What you and I see as a smattering for one channel, is more than we EVER had on the WHOLE damned channel lineup in the 80's.


Bravo.
Yeah, lotta people rag on James Lipton, and his little show, but I dig it.
*Shrug*

Plus, you got the Kathy Griffin stuff.

I think that's a good teamup, you hit this crummy culture from both sides that way.

Kathy Griffin tears down the crap celebrities that poison the culture, and James Lipton ass-kisses and waxes philosophical with the decent actors that...y'know, make good stuff in our culture that isn't poison.
Well..mostly.
He's had a couple twits on, but IMHO not harmful twits.
Y'know, like Angelina Jolie is overrated as fuck, but she's never made anything as obnoxiously and punishingly awful as Showgirls, or Basic Instinct, or Gigli.

Looking over the filmography of a classy actor has the same effect as "Unwrapped", for me, it's like "oh yeah, he/she did all that good stuff, there's yet another decent and productive human that isn't trying to brainwash or slaughter his/her brothers/sisters on this fucking planet".

Call me lame, but that's a soothing thing to me.

Same deal for a Kathy Griffin concert, but I'm soothed more by the applause of her audience.
She points out what most of us are already thinking about these dopey tabloid celebs, so it's obvious stuff, but seeing those crowds, it's like "ahhh, thousands of people who are SANE".

It's that "you're not crazy, THEY are", factor I mentioned before.

It's a cathartic thing.

E!
Eh, think the only thing on here anymore is "The Soup", and I barely ever watch it, and if so, for a couple minutes.
But, I'm glad it at least exists, for the reasons above.

Food Network.
Well, of course, they have "Unwrapped", but also, "Good Eats", which is pretty cool.

Science and food, you can't beat that combo.



Cartoon Network.
For Adult Swim, obviously.
Although, I am getting a bit pissed at the encroachment of the awful live action shows they've been blowing out of their ass.
But, the good shows, while puny in number, are more than they had when they started, so as with Comedy Central, I can't bitch too much.


TVLand/Nick@Nite.
I lump these together, cuz they're sort of the same.
One's just a 24/7 version of the other.
Any channel that keeps All In The Family, and MASH in the cycle is good.

So....that's it for TV.

Books and internet are better, but TV ain't a total loss yet.