Looking for something to pass the idle or rainy days of summer? Join TUiW in our Summer TV Club! We’ve picked five highly regarded TV shows that we’ll be reviewing over the next few weeks, so borrow, rent, or Netflix some DVDs and join us for this fun, retroactive look at five great shows! Three of the seasons we’re reviewing are available for free (legally!) online, and links for those are provided below. We’ll be kicking off everything this Tuesday, with a normal Monday-Friday schedule beginning the next week, after the holiday weekend. So without further ado, here are the shows and our schedule!
Monday: Twin Peaks Season One
Jonah kicks off the week with David Lynch’s weird and mysterious Twin Peaks. The show follows an FBI agent investigating the mysterious murder of a homecoming queen in the town of Twin Peaks, which seems to have an endless supply of oddities. Our Twin Peaks reviews will start a week after the rest, due to it’s fewer number of episodes and the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. CBS has all of the first season (except the feature length pilot) for free on their website here.
Tuesday: Homicide: Life on the Street Seasons One and Two
Before there was The Wire, there as Homicide, based off of David Simon’s book of the same name. With a pilot directed by Barry Levinson, Homicide ushered in a new era of gritty cop shows. Michael will be taking on both Seasons One and Two of the show, both included in the same DVD set. Homicide is not available for free (legal) streaming online, but Seasons 1 & 2 are available on Amazon for as low as $9.99 here.
Wednesday: Veronica Mars Season One
Kristen Bell got her big break by playing the title role of Veronica Mars for three years, and Jonah will be taking a look at the show’s first (and best) season. Veronica Mars is film noir mystery set in the middle of a wealthy suburban high school, and was easily one of the most underrated shows of the mid-2000′s. Jonah will be reviewing two episodes a week to stay in pace with our four other shows. The first season of Veronica Mars is available for free streaming online at The WB Website (Warner Bros. TV, not the network) and can be watched here.
Thursday: Dead Like Me Season One
Bryan Fuller made a name for himself with Pushing Daisies and for his work on the first season of Heroes, but he created Dead Like Me, a dark comedy about a girl that dies and becomes part of a gang of Reapers, bringing people from life to death. Michael will review the first season, which can be found on Hulu here or on Netflix Instant Streaming!
Friday: Deadwood Season One
We’ll close out the week with dueling reviews of the first season of Deadwood, the acclaimed western drama from NYPD Blue‘s David Milch. The HBO show garnered 8 Emmys in 28 nominations, and was one of the more critically acclaimed shows of the 2000s. Deadwood is not available for free (legally) online, but is available on Amazon or iTunes.