I know I tend to talk more about cult favorites on this blog...Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Supernatural, etc...but I don't only like things in the science fiction or horror comedy genres, and I have found other - more "mainstream" - favorites as well.
For example, the movie Waitress. Now, yes, I first saw it because it stars Nathan Fillion, a scifi/horror comedy sweetheart, but I watch it repeatedly because it is a cute movie and Nathan does what he does best - plays adorably awkward and imperfect to a T. Keri Russell is an unhappily married woman, Jenna, who becomes pregnant when she accidentally sleeps with her husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) after he gets her drunk one night. Nathan Fillion is Jim Pomatter, the young, attractive, married doctor who is taking over Jenna's doctor's practice. The two begin an affair that they must hide from their spouses, the nurses at the practice, and Jenna's friends and coworkers at the local pie diner. With a delightfully colorful cast of characters brought to life by Andy Griffith, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelley, Eddie Jemison, Lew Temple and others, this movie illustrates one woman's struggle for independence and asks the question, What is happiness?
I'm also a big fan of the USA and TNT channels. On USA, I enjoy Covert Affairs, White Collar, "old" shows like In Plain Sight, and the new limited series Political Animals. On TNT, aside from the fact that they have a syndication block every weekday morning called "Primetime in the Daytime" where they run Angel, Charmed, Supernatural, Las Vegas and Smallville, they have shows like Leverage, Franklin & Bash (which I keep meaning to watch - they look SO good) and Perception (I'm also interested in the reboot of Dallas, but since I wasn't quite born yet for the first run, I feel a bit less attached to it than I feel like I would if I remembered the original). Covert Affairs and White Collar have been around a few years and are both pretty popular, so I'm not going to go too much into them, but I don want to make sure to mention the new shows, Political Animals and Perception.
Political Animals follows the Hammond family, who are very clearly fashioned after the Clintons (though, this is an original story and they aren't exactly the Clintons). Sigourney Weaver plays Elaine Barrish, the Secretary of State who ran against the current President in the previous Democratic primary, and who divorced Bud Hammond (Ciarán Hinds), the former President, when his philandering got to be too much. However, they are still in each other's lives both professionally and personally, because they have adult twin sons, Douglas (James Wolk) and T.J. (Sebastian Stan). Doug has ambitions to become White House Chief of Staff, and T.J. is a homosexual drug addict who just wants something to call his own, and is currently fixated on owning a night club. Also in the cast are Ellen Burstyn as Elaine's mother, Carla Gugino as the cutthroat journalist who has ingratiated herself in the Hammond inner circle, Brittany Ishibashi as Doug's finacee, Dylan Baker as Vice President Fred Collier, and Adrian Pasdar as President Paul Garcetti. Creator Greg Berlanti (Dawson's Creek, Dirty Sexy Money, Everwood, Brothers and Sisters) perfectly balances political intrigue with family drama and keeps me coming back for more.
Perception stars Eric McCormack (y'know, Will from Will & Grace?) as Dr. Daniel Pierce, a professor and expert of neuroscience - coincidentally, a sufferer of schizophrenic hallucinations - who helps his former student turned FBI Agent Kate Moretti (Rachel Leigh Cook) solve cases involving the mentally ill. For the Trekkies out there who aren't quite convinced, LeVar Burton has a recurring guest role as Dean Paul Haley. Filled with humor and true science, this is a brilliant "mainstream" show that is sure to bring in the nerds with the real facts utilized.
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