Melrose Place IS a Really Good Show

Let me clarify before you stop reading this blog thinking that I have no taste.
It's good in that cheesey goodness that only television can provide.

I never watched Melrose Place during it's original run. When I found it on CBS.com/Classics I was a little surprised seeing as it is a FOX show. Then I got over and said, what they hey, I'll give it a shot.

The first few episodes of season one are god awful. Truly craptastic.

Then Heather Locklear came in (Episode 21 "Picture Imperfect") and things got a lot better.
It's not the catty drama that I enjoy about Melrose though, it's the themes each episodes touch upon. They really set up the classic 90's storylines in TV dramas.

Plot lines such as:
-Car Jacking
-Racial Violence
-AIDS
-Gun Control
-Affair
-Sexual Harassment

In the first season there were also cast members that never came back. Most notably the token black character played by Vanessa Williams:

Oh, no no no - not that one. The one from the show Soul Food that played Maxine Chadway.. yeah that one. She played an aerobics instructor with a boring plot line about dating an awesome millionaire.

The character that possibly had even less of an interesting plot line was "the gay guy", Matt Fielding. He is basically there to listen to stories and inform people it's ok to be gay, and of course about AIDS.

In one episode they go so far to have him comfort the Vanessa Williams character by saying, "I know it can be hard to understand issues like this, like all my friends with AIDS..." Did I not mention the stellar writing yet?

It's by my favorite writer ever - Darren Starr. He's a writer of my total fav show - Sex in the City. (That's sarcasm folks.)

The sad ending to this post, CBS.com only has season 1. From what I hear/read/beg friends to tell me about it gets a lot crazier. While I'm intrigued to see what happens for myself, I did grow up watching Days of Our Lives and can spot a soap opera obsession budding when I see it.

I think I may just give up on Melrose for now and move on to something even more classic:
Dallas

Stay tuned :)

Surf or Hulu?

Either way, you're never going to miss a show again.

Sure, watching TV on your PC doesn't seem ideal, but with all the new ways to convert video for iPods and to stream on your television, you should really start getting into this.

Did you realize that if you pay for an internet connection, you can pretty much see any show for free?

I, of course, figured this out early - and not by watching YouTube.

There's been an absolute revolution in TV on the web with in the past year. Better quality, more variety, and easy streaming. It's a TV junkie's favorite show marathon on a rainy day. (For those of you "book readers"this is as exciting as Oprah's book club books being on super discount at the local Barnes & Noble, oh boy!)

What Sites Are Worth Watching?

You want to be legit, and you don't mind commercials?
Check out Hulu : http://www.hulu.com/
Not only do they have current TV shows, but they also have past favorites, shorts that don't make it to air, and HD streaming. Which is a great way to utilize that LCD monitor you have.

You want to see pretty much anything you want and don't mind pop-ups?
I highly recommend Surf the Channel: http://www.surfthechannel.com/cat/television.html
Not only do they have pretty much every TV show I wanted to see, they also have movies that are still in the theaters.
Legit?
Probably not.
Good for the broke and TV lovers?
Fabulous.

Go forth and watch!