Well, I've had a nice 32" widescreen LCD since Black Friday. Samsung--thee way to go, in case you've been considering buying a new TV. I've had a pretty cruddy S-video connection going from my PC to the TV, with a lot of long wires running across my room. Didn't look nice. Messy.
Today I moved my computer right next to my TV. I realized that there's a PC input right on the back of the TV, and there are 2 outputs for monitors on my PC (2 video cards actually, so, duh, 2 outputs). My brother (who gave me the computer in the first place) had the right cable, and I managed to find a male-to-male audio cable as well.
After a little preference-screwing-with on my NVIDIA settings, along with reading the TV manual, I've got it all set up as a dual-display. (You know, where you move the mouse past the edge of screen 1 [the PC] and it glides over to screen 2 [the TV]). All the resolutions are correct (4:3 for the PC, 16:9 for the TV) and I did a little test with Hulu.com. It all looks perfect. I wasn't sure if the Hulu videos would fit the screen--I though they were letterboxed--but they do. They look decent to boot... I'd say a 7 or 8 out of 10, but when sitting far enough away it's definitely a 8, close to 9.
As you can tell, I'm just excited about it. I was a little upset the other night after I got off the phone with the girl at work who does the scheduling. When she got my school schedule for Spring, she decided to put me on Friday nights... when Dollhouse comes on. So now, as long as Dollhouse goeson Hulu, I won't have to watch the show on my tiny PC screen. Is evil laughter appropriate here? I think so. I'm going to go now, and do that... that evil laughter.
I remember when this show originally made its debut. I didn't think it sounded very good. I do remember that Tegan and Sara songs were played a couple times on the show (from reading T&S forums) but that wasn't much to get me to watch the show.
I had finished watching seasons 1 and 2 (44 episodes, 40 minutes each) within about a week. No, I wasn't lazy, I was just sick.
But if you're still skeptical (why wouldn't you be - I haven't said anything yet about the shows quality) read the following:
1) If you like Smallville, you'll like this show. Veronica is a bit like Chloe, except not very much. Veronica isn't a reporter, she's the daughter of a private investigator who has picked up a lot of her father's skill. She's not as girly as Chloe (Veronica is a lot tougher and much more badass, and isn't at all annoying), and the writing on Veronica Mars is extremely better and sharper than Smallville - plus, there's not the Smallville cheese-factor. The similarities between Smallville, and moreso Chloe, are there but Veronica is the main role (ie: Chloe helps Clark; Veronica does most on her own but with help from best friends Wallace and Mac). Veronica investigates crimes that go on in Neptune, CA (her hometown) - crimes that could happen, which you can't say about Smallville.
2) This show is much more like Prison Break or Monk than like The O.C. (which is the impression a lot of people get; that's the impression I got of it too... even though I like the O.C.). As I said above, the writing is smart, crisp, funny, surprising. There is still a dramatic side, along with boyfriends and girlfriends, but that isn't the main focus of the show. There is a lot of mystery, and not much at all is about love interests (it's not about who cheated on who, etc, it's about who stole/killed/raped/etc).
3) For those of you who have had the pleasure of seeing Brick, you might like Veronica Mars. In Brick, the main character Brenden is basically trying to figure out what happened to his ex-girlfriend who ends up dead, which entails dealing with a high school drug ring. In Veronica Mars, seasons 1 and 2 each deal with a season-long story arc (which is pretty amazing since it never gets stale or boring): season 1 deals with the death of Veronicas best friend, season 2 deals with a bus crash that killed 8 students, 1 teacher, and the bus driver (each episode also has episode long mysteries). Both Brick and Veronica Mars have a similar tone, and the main characters of Brick and Veronica Mars are of opposite sex, but they are pretty similar. There is narration in Veronica Mars (less in the new season) which adds a lot to the level of entertainment as well.
4) The humor is kind of sparce, but they put it in at all the right moments. My favorite points in the show are when Veronica and Keith (her dad) are at home together. They've got a really funny relationship. Then, for example, there's Veronica and her taser. In a season 2 episode while visiting a college in Neptune, some douche bag from a frat was tallying up all of Veronica's "points" (30 for being blonde, 50 for being sassy, etc). She ask's the guy for a beer, takes said beer, and dumps it on the guys face. He gets mad, and is about to dump a beer on her face but is too slow; Veronica pushes the beer back in the kids face. Later on in the episode, Veronica see's the guy hitting on another girl as she walks down a hall, turns back and tasers the guy for being a jackass. It ruled.
Hmmm... I don't know what else to say. In fact, I don't want to say too much else because I don't want to spoil to much if you do plan on getting into the show.
Oh yea: the Mexican guy Eli "Weevil" Navarro was the dorky long haired kid from Kazaam. That ruled. Now that I've realized that though, whenever he's in an episode that's all I can picture when he's on screen. That, and the Kazaam underwear.
Plus Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat from Arrested Development were in an episode together. The one scene with Michael (who played a student running freshman orientations) - Veronica asked him where she could find Hawaiin people and Michael said, in typical George Michael **** "uh.. in Hawaii? I.. don't really.." which was a good throwback to Arrested Development (or rather what George Michael may have been like if the show lasted long enough for him to be a college man)
The War At Home is one show on FOX that actually deserves to be cancelled yet it's still on. That's MADDENING! It's a horrible lead in The O.C., which is sadly being canned this year after such a triumphant return in season 4.
If I had any power in TV land I would make it my first duty to get rid of this show, get rid of all the tapes, and make sure none of these actors are allowed to be in **** sitcoms ever again.
Why can't there be more stuff like Mr. Show, Arrested Development or even Friends? I'll admit - even though I have all of the Friends DVDs - that Friends can seem like it's just a rehashing of older shows, but it had great moments and great jokes & physical comedy.
The War At Home has a lot of jokes and physical comedy, but who cares? The jokes are like stale leftovers that have been in the fridge weeks past due and the physical comedy just makes me cringe. The younger actors will probably end up regretting their roles on this show in 20 years while they're being made fun of on VH1.
Too bad.
Friends
Tracked Blogs
