Revenge is a dish best served cold

It all started with The L-Word. Before I began watching that show on DVD on my laptop from the comfort of my own bed in February 2009, I had been living a TV-less life for nearly seven years. When I was younger I watched (and loved) a lot of TV shows, with all my time favourite being Beverly Hills 90210. But I got off TV pretty much cold turkey when I moved into the dorms during first year of university. A. had a TV and once I went to his room specifically so we could watch (what else?) the special 10 year anniversary since they graduated from high school Bev Hills 90210 special. But otherwise, I never watched it, and I didn't miss it.

I went through the rest of university, and beyond without ever wanting a TV or actively watching any shows (with the notable exception of Sex and the City. However, somehow that seemed different; I think because I had to make a special effort to watch it, and never just had a TV I could flip on or off whenever I felt like it.) But then, everything changed with shows suddenly becoming so available on DVD and on the internet. The L-Word was the first show I watched on DVD and it was addictive! It was so easy to just watch the next episode, and then the one after that. My favourite thing about watching shows on DVD is that the season is already done, and I can just watch episode after episode without having to wait another week to see an episode.

E. recommended Veronica Mars to me back in the fall, but I didn't get around to asking her to lend me all three seasons on DVD until the beginning of April. From the first episode I was hooked. I watched seasons 1 and 2 (44 episodes) in a three week period, one time watching 4 episodes in one day. Excessive? Definitely. But I was also able to, so figured, why not? Plus, both seasons 1 and 2 feature season long mysteries which culminate in the season finale, bringing every episode one step closer to Veronica solving the mystery.

I just recently discovered Party Down, which is created by the same person - Rob Thomas - who did Veronica Mars. Many of the same actors are on both shows. Party Down is so funny, and sadly is already cancelled after just two short seasons of 10 episodes each. I only have one episode left, and I'm saving it for a reward after things - my apt, classes, my life in general - become more settled in Montreal. Overall, Party Down makes me glad TV exists.

True Blood is another show I started watching this spring. I rented the season 1 DVD and was given one week to watch 12 episodes. After 5 days and 3 episodes, I felt certain I would have to re-rent it (or risk late fines) in order to watch all the episodes. But then I went a little crazy and watched 9 episodes in 3 days. Time well spent. I've since watched all of season 2 and am having to endure watching season 3 as it airs, meaning the excruciating cliff hangers at the end of each episode (and season) which I avoided for 1+2, are a fact of life for season 3.

Really, over the past year and a half I've come to understand that I never knew, even during my Beverly Hills 90210 obsessed days (although granted I was ages 9/10/11 in the peak of my loving that show), that TV could be this good. I used to (embarrassingly) pride myself on the fact that I didn't have a TV and didn't watch any shows, but now I just wonder what I was missing all those years. It seems I have a lot to make up for, and therefore am happily planning to watch Freaks & Geeks, and then Six Feet Under next. Very exciting!

PS: By now you've probably noticed this post has nothing to do with revenge. However, "revenge is a dish best served cold" is a line/concept used on both Veronica Mars and Party Down that I really like! If I were into getting revenge on people (although thankfully I'm not) I'd definitely serve it cold.