Friday the 13th TV Thank Yous

Yes, Fridays are still a wasteland when it comes to ratings, but to viewers, especially viewers like me, some of the best programming can be found on Friday nights.

• FRINGE
• SUPERNATURAL
• GRIMM
• IN PLAIN SIGHT
• MAGIC CITY
• NIKITA

Those are just a few shows you can enjoy on Fridays. So the ratings aren't the best. Does that really mean that advertisers don't get the most bang for their buck? I don't think so. Of course, I don't like ratings, or statistics in general, so sue me.

I'd love to see 100 new Nielsen households added to the fray who are pre-chosen Fringe viewers, for instance. You'd have to assume they like smart television. I wonder if, just for shits and giggles, you did that and compared the numbers with those 100 new households added. What kind of difference would it make? Any? None? I wish they would do it just to prove a point, just to make people like me, who are so befuddled and disgusted at what is considered an average household some extra evidence to show I'm just a lunatic.

But, that was just a rant. Not my point at all. My point is that there are great shows on Fridays, even though they are not watched by many people. And last night I so enjoyed some of them, even though many were on hiatus, that I wanted to say thanks. So here goes.

Thank you to Grimm, for finally giving me a reason to use carpet muncher in it's proper context. Who would have thought that would happen?

Thank you to Fringe for bringing back Alt-Broyles, if even for the briefest of moments before he once again gave his life in tragedy. Lance Reddick gets so few moments of lightness as Broyles on the show, that to see him smile brings joy to my heart.

Thank you to Magic City for making a bad guy so incredibly bad that I will never be able to watch him in anything ever again without wanting to rip his heart out. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ike Morgan is the light, trying so very hard to keep a business on the up and up while his partner, darker than pitch Ben Diamond, played by Danny Huston, earned nothing but disgust from his first vision on screen. Last night he shot a dog. It took everything I had to turn my rage to the character and not turn off the show.

Thank you to In Plain Sight for making me miss Mary Shannon even before she is gone. Three more episodes of her vulnerable snark and I don't know that she'll find her happy ending, although introducing Josh Hopkins as Kenny gives me hope. I'm sorry, USA Network, no amount of commercials for Necessary Roughness or Common Law will ever make me forget the strength of Marshals Mary and Marshall. They will be sorely missed.

And, finally, thanks to IFC Network for showing one of the long forgotten horror movies from the 70s, They Came from Within (although you ran it under it's alternate title, Shivers). There is not enough cheese on this planet and always room to air more. Thank you!

There you have it. Just some random thoughts from my television viewing on Friday the 13th.        


Photo courtesy of NBC Grimm Screenshot "Love Sick"