Watch This: Weeds

One of the Promotional Pictures for Weeds

For the past few years I have been sitting on the line of being entertained and being dragged along when it came to the television show Weeds. I got into the show back when it was first starting, loved the first three seasons right away, and I actually was out recommending it to friends. Then the series hit an all-time low for me where I was not satisfied with the series for the next three seasons. And it was not until season seven that I started to feel that this show was starting to rise-up and get better again. Now, in its final season I am once again telling people that if they have not watched this all the way through that they should. Here's my review of everything currently available for Weeds.

Watch This: Sherlock

I know a lot of folks don't have the ability to watch British television series here in the United States, but if you own Netflix then you should be able to look up the following one. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I recommend Netflix as a service, not because it hogs your internet and kills your ability to use other devices, but because it gives you access to several top British television series that you probably want to watch. So check to see if you get this one, I promise it is not a let-down.

Sherlock [2010]

To describe this show in the most basic form, it is the re-imagination of what Sherlock Holmes would be in modern day. It is a clever, witty show where the young crime-solving genius goes about Great Britain solving crimes that the police cannot put together. So if you are into crime television shows, then look this one up right away!

If I had to describe what I like about this series versus all of the other crime series that are out there, it is like the television show House was turned into a cop drama. He has the same sorts of characteristics that you see in the original House character. Witty, extremely intelligent and not afraid to flaunt it, and overall for some reason like-able when everyone else in the world seems to hate him. 

But where this show really shines right now is in the mysteries. They are well crafted into an hour and a half show where the characters seem to have major issues that need to be solved and they have truly super-vilianous characters with a reason to act the way they do. This is no petite crime show, he's going after the series killers and super-crooks that no-one else can catch. All-the-while they try and keep the character true to the original story-told version, where the evidence is key and technology sits more on the back-burner for this one.

Anyway, if you have about the same amount of time as a short movie, then pick up a copy of the first episode and watch it!

The Spotted Canvas uses the Sherlock^® television promotional media but is not endorsed or certified by Hartswood Films and BBC Wales. All of the Sherlock^® logos and trademarks displayed on this website are the property of Hartswood Films and BBC Wales.

Watch This: Shameless

Truth be told, I did not find this series and I will not claim that I did. Instead, it was my great friend Vicki that showed me it while I was visiting San Francisco. I remember it all clearly, I was tired after walking around the city all day and she said she thought this show would be right-up-my-alley of comedy. Now, I'm always a bit skeptical when people tell me that, but I'm always up for trying a new television show (especially when a friend recommends it to me). Let's put it this way, I got two more friends hooked because I wanted them to see how awesome it was!

Shameless [2011]

First thing I have to say is that this is the United States remake of the British television series by the same name. Now, according to my friend the first seasons are identical say for a few differences. And according to the same friend, after the first season they both tend to split into two different directions. So this recommendation is for the United States first two seasons (and third one coming out soon) and not the British series which is on number nine. And yes, what we call a season here in the United States they call a series there (just to clarify).

Anyway, I started watching this with a friend and was instantaneously hooked. It is about a bunch of people that have no class, no color of collar, and are poor beyond reason. The cast is amazing, the episodes are unbelievable, and what you watch is, well, shameless people doing what they have to do. I know, it sounds really weird based off of that line, but it was in the ingenious way that they will do anything and you are never quite sure where things are going that hooked me instantly. I owe Vicki a huge thank-you for this one.

But why I want to recommend this is because while the first season is really a comedy with a bit of drama, the second season is more of a drama with a bit of comedy. So why is that a good thing? Well because I got hooked with trying to understand the characters and what they were doing with the first season, laughing out loud at the actions they did and really trying to understand them. Not to mention because you never know what their limit to what they will do is, and it seems to always be dropping, it just gets better and better. That is what I call a perfect beginning. But then you get to the second season, which has a lot of the same sort of comedy, and suddenly the writers really turned up the drama a notch. They take the characters to the next level and make you fall in love with even the ones you hate. It is in that sophisticated and yet hilariously perfected writing that I honestly want to recommend this television show.

And from what I learned about the difference between the Great Britain version and the United States version, it sounds like you really need to watch the United States version to see how amazing the writers really are. They've changed some things so that it will fit our comedy, they've worked out the kinks that we would not understand because they were British saying, and in the end recreated an amazing product. But then to diverge from the original plot and have an even more incredible show, now that's impressive.

So if you have time to spare, go watch the American version of the television show Shameless.

The Spotted Canvas uses the Shameless^® television promotional media but is not endorsed or certified by Showtime Networks, Inc. All of the Shameless^® logos and trademarks displayed on this website are the property of Showtime Networks, Inc.