There was a time when I was watching a lot of shows on HBO (Oz, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under), but since then it’s felt like there’s always one or two shows I’ve been interested in (most notably The Wire, but also ones like Carnivale, In Treatment, and Flight of the Conchords), but never much more than that. This April, though? I’m thinking it might finally be the return of there being three shows on HBO that I’m watching simultaneously. Phew!
The obvious one is, of course, Game of Thrones Season 2. I’ve been a fan of the book series since the very beginning (no, you may not have my original hardcover of the first volume), and it’s been a rare pitch-perfect adaptation in the shift from book to screen.
Game of Thrones Season 2 Trailer
There are two other shows that debut a little later in April, though. Veep is starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Vice President of the United States who’s quickly learning her job is not all it’s cracked up to be. I adore Louis-Dreyfus; ever since the positively weak show Day by Day (where she was the bitchy next door neighbor) I’ve realized that she’s someone who is funny even when the show gives her little to work with, and in a show where she’s given good scripts she’s dynamite.
The other is Girls, from the creator/star of the indy film Tiny Furniture. I’ll admit I have not seen Tiny Furniture, and I only heard of Girls because of Michael Penn providing the score for the show. But you know what? I like this trailer. I like the voice it’s using. I think it’s got potential. I’m in.
I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up, but after 2011 being a rather uninspired year for films, I’m down with the idea that 2012 can deliver some good quality television. Don’t prove me wrong, HBO.
If you’ve never heard of Locus, it’s probably because you are not a science-fiction or fantasy geek. It’s a publication that mixed a lot of book reviews with interviews, event coverage, and a quarterly listing of upcoming books. I used to be enraptured by that last feature; back before Amazon and such, it was the best way to find out what books by your favorite author were scheduled. I liked the other parts of Locus, too; I learned about a lot of new books and authors through Locus, and after years of reading about events and seeing the photos, it was a minor “whoa!” moment to have my own picture appear in a gallery from the 1999 Nebula Awards.
I still remember when my older sister introduced me and my other sister to Whammy!, the fourth album by the B-52’s. Songs like “Butterbean” and “Song for a Future Generation” were particular favorites (especially since we never got the “Butterbean” lyrics quite right, singing, “Pick em, scratch em, put on the steam…” In retrospect, no, you do not scratch butterbeans in order to eat them…), but we loved the whole album. Years later I bought it on CD, but due to a legal dispute with Yoko Ono, one of the tracks (“Don’t Worry”) wasn’t included. Now that Charlie has a record player, I ended up taking a little trip to eBay for my own copy of Whammy!. And holding that big ol’ record sleeve, it makes me feel ten years old all over again.