I also gave up on Lucky Louie. As Jay said, it is just not funny. It is not that I'm a watermelon-slicer. Our last family reunion ended with my sister and I yelling at eachother about incidents 30 years ago. But I have no doubt we could write a funnier show than Lucky Louie.

My favorite show to watch marathon-style on DVD is the BBC verison of 'The Office'. That is the most addictive show I have ever seen. Even if I think I'm going to stop watching for a little while, the theme music pulls me back in. That 'Handbags and Gladrags' selection was sheer genius, like the rest of the show.

I don't find the swearing on Lucky Louie gratuitous. The show isn't meant to be literal reality, but its much closer to reality than most shows. What Lucky Louie does well is to depict life's unpleasant side. People curse, people have debts, people live in shitty apartments, kids aren't always cute and well-behaved. All the crap that people put up with is compressed into Lucky Louie. Any parent will tell you that at some point they thought their kid was an asshole. Its just something that people don't like to admit, like it makes them bad parents for not enjoying their children all the time. That embarrassment is hinted at when Louie asks the neighbor couple how they disciplined their child and the wife says they've never had a problem, after which the husband takes Louie aside and tells him to put his daughter in time out. The wife wants to give the impression that their daughter is perfect!

Since I came late to the scene, I had to go back and watch the first three seasons of "24" on DVD. It'll suck a lot out of your week, but it's worth it to watch the show in (close to) real-time.

Of course, if you've watched the show since its inception, this might not be as cool as my experience.

I accept them for what they are; shows that depends on gratuitous sex and crude language simply because they can. That speaks of sheer laziness and that's why I've stopped wasting my time on either show.

Certainly, serial episodes such as Six Feet Under and Deadwood are the best shows to watch on DVD. Shows such as Seinfeld, Will and Grace and Friends can be watched in any arbitrary order and the effect is the same. Once the basic traits of the characters have become familiar, the comedy becomes organic, the viewer doesn't have to work to understand why Jack said this or George did that.

Those shows are much like a routine breakfast. You know, that onion bagel with cream cheese you have every day, you don't really look forward to it, don't think about it -- but you enjoy it, and you miss it if it's not there. As well, it's completely satifying, once the bagel, like the TV episode, is over -- the desire is satiated.

The great serial shows are different, though. When Brenda goes on her sexual escapades, what are the consequences? The DVD has the answer, the DVD knows everything, the play button is all you need to reveal the secret.

The experience is similar to that of a good dinner party, conversation may lead to any topic -- the food itself may even challenge the guest. The hosts challenge themselves as well, having clipped a recipe or 2 from Gourmet magazine, bought some strange leg-of-something which they aren't quite sure how long it will take to cook, or whether it will be properly seasoned or too tough. The outcome is always in doubt, right up until consumed.

The great DVD does something similar with its' narrative. Each episode relies and builds on the last -- and it is precisely because of this narrative that we become hooked. We become gluttons, each episode only serves to increase our appetite for the next -- like that perfectly cooked and seasoned leg of lamb served with those odd veggies that came from the ethnic grocery store, each bite only serves to increase our desire for the next -- there is no satisfaction until all is consumed.

I finally caved and bought the first season of House on DVD. I've been holed up in my apartment all weekend, totally cracked out on House. And now I'm setting my Tivo to find all the season 2 reruns so I can be caught up before the third season starts.

It is a beautiful thing.

My husband and I will sit and watch an entire disc of The Shield in one sitting, as well as Curb Your Enthusiasm. I personally used to watch entire seasons of Sex and the City in one sitting. The Wire is good for that too.

Yes!

I liked last season better, actually. It was a little more raw and vicious, with Charlie eating cheerios in a Nazi uniform that he found among his grandfather's posessions, Dennis going to an abortion rally to pick up chicks (and Mac telling his anti-abortion girlfriend that she needs to get an abortion when she says she's pregnant), Sweet Dee refusing to see her grandfather because old people make her gag, the tranny episode...

The addition of Danny DeVito seems a little schtick-y, but having him be equally despicable seems promising. We'll see how it all shakes out.

By which I mean it is very easy to miss the really sweet, humorous, traditional sitcom vibe that runs deep through the show outside of its excessive cursing.

A lot of comics feel that, swearing, when they are allowed to, is an obligation. Think the Aristocrats, and so, as soon as they are allowed to, go a little over board.

This was brought home in the last episode, when the wife used the word "Cum Bucket" and then the husband referred to his wife, lovingly so, as a "Cum Bucket". Although I might imagine a situation in which a woman might use the phrase "Cum Bucket", I can not fathom a situation where in a husband might refer to his wife as such, and not have an entire subplot grow out of that fact.

The use was gratuitous, but is that a damnable offense? All nudity in the "Sopranos" is gratuitous. Every time you see a nipple at the Bada Bing, that was placed there simply to titillate you and not to tell a story. "But he works in a strip bar, of course there is nudity" you say, to wit I would like to point out that there are no Strip bars in New Jersey. While there are Go Go Bars where bikini clad women dance and alcohol is served, alcohol and naked women are strictly verboten in New Jersey. Next time you're in Lodi, pop by Satan Dolls, you will see nary a nipple in the entire joint. The addition of this nudity was added because, it could be. Without it, the story is actually more believable, and having it adds nothing. There for, like the swearing in Lucky Louie, it is gratuitous, but having it there doesn't make the show any less of a great show, it simply means you have to not allow yourself to be bothered by the gratuitousness, and accept the show for what it is. A family drama in the case of the Sopranos, or a family comedy in the case of Lucky Louie.

Thanks,