Worth Watching, or Not

Dr Desert Flower is in Paris this week, and London next week, speaking as an expert in her field of research at various conferences and meetings of other very smart people.  While she's out, I've been catching up on some old DVR'ed programs that I'd almost forgotten we had.  Here's my opinion on what is worth watching, and what you shouldn't waste your time on, in my humble opinion:

Invictus - I recorded it many months ago from HBO.  Superb.  Damn, Eastwood is good.  "Forgiveness is a powerful weapon, it removes fear".  Wow.   Good stuff.  I'm not a huge rugby fan, but this movie is not about rugby.  Congress (both houses) should be forced to watch this.  Morgan Freeman, fantastic.

Nick Swardson's Pretend Time - hilarious, disturbing, sick, not at all for children, weird, very strange, very funny.

Denis Leary's Douche Bags and Donuts - acerbic, caustic, irreverant, sarcastic, very enjoyable.  Do not watch if you are a devout Roman Catholic who thinks that the Church is still infallible.

Lewis Black - always funny, always angry, always insightful and amazing.  We saw Lewis at the Dodge theater on New Years 2 years ago, he is still point on.

Louis C.K. - harder to grasp than Leary or Lewis, more complex, but still very funny.

Big Bang Theory - having a wife who is a PhD makes this mandatory watching in our home.  It's written very well, and anyone who has worked with scientists or engineers or both, have known people who are JUST LIKE or very similar to the characters in this series.  Always a humorous half hour.

30 Rock - Dr Desert flower fell in love with this comedic series soon after it came out.  The "GE" humor in it to date has been spot on.  Baldwin's acting, combined with Tina Fey's writing make this extremely clever show difficult to miss. 

Futurama - so glad the Comedy Central has revived this series!   Very funny, relevant social commentary.  Kudos to Comedy central and Matt Groening. 

Dr Who re-runs - where's the new episodes?  I've re-watched the Tennant and Eckelson and Smith seasons..  looking forward to seeing how Rick Karr's look-a-like does next season.

Friar's Clubs Roasts - just a round of comics insulting other comics.  Not worth the time, unless you're in a really mean mood.  I don't care if I never watch another one.

Bob's Burgers - Fox's weak attempt to break the MacFarlane / Groening animation vice grip on comedy.   I tried to watch it with an open mind as I put on another 10 Km on the stationary bike.  I enjoyed the bike ride more than the low quality animation of the niche New York City genre writing.  No thanks.  I won't be recording this again.

And of course, Daily Show and Colbert, are the staples that I enjoy, Monday through Thursday, with an occasional Bill Maher chaser on Fridays.

Not reviewed or commented upon here, are Lost, Americans at Idle (AKA American Idol), So You Think You Can Dance, Hawaii Five O remakes, Any of a host of "Reality Shows" that are mostly all train wrecks, all of MTV's programming, Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, Extreme Make Over, Most Dangerous Catch, and Whale Wars, none of which I have watched more than 1 or 2 minutes of before turning it off to do something better with my life.