Welcome back by the way,

Then I made the move into a fibre household and learned all about the beauty of DVR.Now I still watch hardly any telly but when I do I can sit down and watch back to back episodes of anything I want.If it’s broadcast we can simply FF through the ads.If it’s cable there are no ads anyway so…

New fave is Showtime’s “Dexter”.I’m completely hooked.

Have you been reading Mark Kermode in The Observer? :)

No, but I may do. Ta for the link.

I’m very much with you on box-sets, as I think the post suggests. If regular TV is like reading a chapter of a novel in public, surrounded by noise, interruptions, advertising, and assorted negative stimuli - then boxsets are akin to the full, unexpurgated experience…complete with comfy chair, lots of time, and plenty of peace and quiet.

I haven’t seen any Life on Mars (so can’t comment), but I did see the first ep of Heroes and was reasonably impressed. I should add at this point that I hate supposedly “quality TV” critical faves like 24 and Lost. For me they represent cynical, mainstream attempts at professional worthiness. Too polished, too humourless, too shiny, too risk-free. Stupid TV dressed up as intelligent TV.

The Sopranos is a different beast. It can be pretty indulgent at times (extended dream sequences, ham-fisted imagery) but at its best it has an emotional rawness and honesty that’s quite intoxicating. The fantabulous acting talent on display (particularly the always amazing Edie Falco as Carmela) also lifts it far beyond the oridnary.

I know most telly is evil, but the best thing to do is cherrypick and mute when the ads come on.

I’m not sure about that. I mean I agree about the evilness etc., but tend to feel that muted ads are still ads. They are (after all) still designed to communicate their message when the mute button is pressed and it still feels like an intrusive presence in my house…as if my privacy and right to be left alone is being compromised!

I’d like to believe that very disciplined picking and choosing is possible but I’ve never seen anyone pull this off. Once the TV is on, it has an awful habit of staying on.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2174932,00.html

Box sets are an ad-free godsend and I played catch-up with The Sopranos this way, but what of the joys of watching a great series as it unfolds, even if, like me you work at home and miss out on watercooler discussions?

What about Life on Mars? Heroes? The Sopranos? Back to back on BBC4 t’other night I watched two very interesting documentaries. The first was about Factory Records, followed by one about the hush-hush, gluttonous world of haute couture.

I know most telly is evil, but the best thing to do is cherrypick and mute when the ads come on.