What Wood is Watching

When you are watching a show and a character makes a sexual, racist, anti-religious, too-soon, or other normally frowned upon kind of joke in society, is that bothersome to you or funny? This is a big debate with shows in households and on the internet in general where both sides clash about what should be done and what's pushing it too far. For example, do audiences want to see blurred nudity throughout the episode often or is that too much? Is it okay for a cartoon baby to be killing people and creating gadgets that he wants to use to kill his mother with? Family Guy was heavily criticized and even cancelled by FOX a while back and Seth MacFarlane even did an episode after Family Guy came back on the air that was live action of him just interviewing various ordinary viewers of Family Guy  and the results were mixed. People either hated or loved it because  of how crass and irreverent it was. "It reminds me of South Park " one viewer said and that's a whole other bea...

As I have gotten older my idea of what's dramatic, adventurous, thrilling, scary and too over the top have evolved. One thing remains constant though and that is how comedies are able to tell a story that can make you laugh really hard, feel really sad and in the end extremely happy when all is said and done. From foul-mouthed kids and adults, to something as simple and mundane as a "documentary" about an ordinary paper company, comedies are probably my favorite shows on television today. They roll everything into one and are able to be light hearted and fun throughout but also really serious and make me care about the characters just as much as I did in Fullmetal Alchemist, Fringe, Game of Thrones and more serious shows. So in no particular order, as I love all these shows equally and have watched them all multiple times, my favorite comedies on this week's What Wood Is Watching. New Girl: At first, I thought this was going to be primarily directed at ...

Fullmetal Alchemist is a show unlike any other to me personally as an eldest brother. This show really emphasizes the bond brothers have for one another and what we won't do for our siblings whether we are Edward the eldest, or Alphonse the younger brother. Through perseverance, good friends and never doubting each other any goal can be accomplished as long as you are prepared to sacrifice. The show is heartfelt, action-packed, emotional and witty as every character brings something to the table. It is not as sad as the other animes I talked about earlier but it has a dark premise that could be scary for younger kids so I wouldn't encourage showing them this. If you like twists, this show has it. If you like fantasy, this is the show for you. Please, please, please, give this show a chance as it will not disappoint.

Alright, this is the newest genre in types of shows I watch. Since high school, I had friends through mutual interests who watched anime shows while I was watching The Office, Community and other comedy sitcom series. I was in the mindset partially of "It's cartoons just for adults. That could be terrible and more immature than Family Guy  and just be terrible." But guys....I was so very wrong. While some anime, like shows that get cancelled on NBC often, can be terrible and irredeemable but when it's done well, it is the biggest binge worthy genre around. Now what do you get in anime? Remember, most anime is produced, written and intended for Japanese audiences so the culture and some of the characters are very different than characters you would find in typical American shows you might enjoy currently. Anime is also much more violent. The best comparison I have to the level of violence is Game of Thrones and it's also much darker overall. The beauty of it thou...

THIS IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS ON HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON 4. DO NOT LISTEN/READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE YOU WATCH THIS GREAT SHOW. Well season 4 has come and gone for me and many people asked me throughout the day do you regret watching it all in a period of a day? My answer to that is hell no. It's a treat to be able to watch it all at once via Netflix like a big movie with a brief intermission for dinner and drinks with some friends downtown. Now was it the best season yet? Not entirely but it was much better than season 3. I want to use this small entry under the video to highlight Meechum and Freddie because of events in  season 4 that stuck out to me. Meechum's character development was a strange path overall since season 1. He is tossed around from worthless to valuable to sexual conquest (still weird), to irrelevant to mvp and it's all very abrupt. Meechum however was vastly underutilized with potential filler pieces to the story line that went to ...

THIS IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS ON HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON 3. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE YOU WATCH THIS GREAT SHOW. Apologies for getting this up late, some personal business came up and so this was the best I could do :( before the premiere. This recap is going to be different. I don't think I need to episode by episode for this one so instead I am going to tell you the main gist character by character. Frank Underwood Frank is finally president and he wants to create a legacy to be remembered by. However, 2016 is fast approaching and his Democrat cohorts do not want him to run for re-election and instead have someone like Jackie run. Frank sees this as a betrayal and resorts to the us vs. them mentality even more. He can't count on Doug who is alive but recovering after what Rachel did to him at the end of last season so Grayson steps up to the plate to take over Doug's duties. Meanwhile, Frank has to deal with a P...

THIS IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS ON HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON 2. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE YOU WATCH THIS GREAT SHOW. Season 2 picks up right where we left off, Claire and Frank are running at night as Zoe and company are getting ready to go public with their findings of Peter... Note: all videos owned by Netflix and found on YouTube. Episode 1: Francis Underwood is preparing to be the Vice President and he needs to take care of the loose ends before he is sworn in. He needs to find someone to replace him as Majority Whip and finds that person to be war hero Jackie Sharp. A third term congresswoman, Jackie eagerly accepts Frank's offer to back her running to be the new Whip. Jackie dives right in to work, and eventually says she wants to be Whip.  Claire is still battling Gillian who is still trying to get her to go to court and sue her for wrongful termination. Gillian is pregnant and needs certain medications to survive so Claire termina...

THIS IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS ON HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON 1. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE YOU WATCH THIS GREAT SHOW. Welcome to House of Cards week and man am I excited for this week. House of Cards returns Friday March 4, on Netflix and then I can wait all over again. For those that don't know, House of Cards is an adaptation of a British mini-series that goes by the same name. It is a drama with a political backdrop in current day Washington D.C in which Kevin Spacey plays Frank Underwood, a Democrat from South Carolina's 5th District who is the House Majority Whip. After throwing his support for a presidential candidate that wins the presidency and campaigning for him, Underwood expects/was promised to get Secretary of State in President Walker's new cabinet. When he is told he has to stay as Majority Whip, Frank begins to plot his revenge on the Walker administration that betrayed him.  Now before I spoil everything about ...