Coming Distractions July 7th, 2009

The Unborn
Knowing
Push
Coco Chanel
Night Train
Five Fingers
Resolved
Congorama
MST 3K - Vol. XV
Deranged/Motel Hell (thanks to a customer suggestion from right here on this very blog!)

I know summer is the perfect time for barbecues, for fireworks, for eating hot dogs (or their veggie substitutes) on your front porch as you watch the rain drip out of the gutters...and all that lovely yadda yadda summer-stuff. I also tend to think summer is the perfect time to catch up on all the great (or, at least, comforting/anesthetizing) TV on DVD. And since this is our Independence Day Weekend, not to mention the Quadracentennial celebration, I thought it would be fun to gather together some U.S. TV shows and the cities/regions which they celebrate/disgrace.

Miami: Dexter. Nothing like dealing with body-disposal in that raging Florida heat. Did you know that the actors (Michael Hall & Jennifer Carpenter) who play brother/sister Morgan duo are married in real life?

Las Vegas: CSI. Yeah, CSI Miami & New York exist too, but we all know they don't hold a candle to the original (Sorry David Caruso & Melina Kanakaredes (also of one of my mother's favorite shows: Providence ('99-'02))

Philadelphia: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Going too far since 2005. Greater Pennsylvania: The Office.

Washington D.C.: West Wing, of course.

New York City: For opposite ends of the city's spectrum see Law & Order and Sex and the City. Of course the list goes on- 30 Rock, Seinfeld, Gossip Girl, Mad Men (for old-timey) etc.

California: Not even gonna bother. I like to imagine that even before television was invented at least 1/2 of L.A.'s citizens walked around with small cardboard screen-like cut-outs framing their faces.

Louisiana: True Blood.

Utah: Big Love

Small-town Connecticut: Gilmore Girls

Small-town Northwest: Twin Peaks

Kansas: Jericho

Texas: Friday Night Lights

Boston: Boston Legal

Baltimore: The Wire

New Jersey: The Sopranos. House, M.D.

Seattle: Grey's Anatomy

If you want to get truly patriotic, you could rent John Adams or Deadwood (in order to see how this great country of ours expanded westward. I learned, among other useful facts, that the frontier was filthy. Really, really filthy.)

Any shows/geographies you'd like to add or amend?

Happy 4th of July everyone (or as we Burlingtonians like to say it "3rd of July")!