hey, I'm wondering what kind of television and film you watch.

Personally, aside from keeping in touch with news and politics, I like to watch comedy. Things like Good News Week and the Hollowmen. But I don't think any of those shows come close to being broadcast outside of Australia. I also religiously keep in touch with doctor House.

As for film, I suppose the last couple of films I've seen were Wall-E and In Bruges. I really enjoyed both. Great films. I'm thrilled that I can actually enter the cinema with my brother using his staff discounts.

So how much film and TV do you guys watch? What have you seen recently and do you have all-time favourites?

I deliberately avoid TV, qua the thing my housemates keep in our living room. It's too easy to find yourself watching something you've persuaded yourself you enjoy only because it's the path of least resistance. Over the years I've accumulated a backlist of shows that I liked and will occasionally go out of my way to watch more of (Scrubs, Black Books, Northern Exposure, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Angel, Monty Python, Ed, Star Trek: TNG, Veronica Mars, various animes, various kids cartoons, the BBC's Walking With... series), or that I'll sometimes watch again (Firefly, Space: Above and Beyond, Buffy, Red Dwarf, Blackadder, Ultraviolet) and a couple that I've heard convincing enough reviews of that I'll actually seek out if I ever have the time (Wonderfalls, Twin Peaks, maybe Heroes).

But I'm wary of getting into new things, since I'm generally driven more by a sense of unfinished business than genuine pleasure, until I've seen all the episodes of a show once. And I look forward to one day being free of that psychological trap, and only rewatching old shows for pure enjoyment while eschewing unwatched shows altogether.

The films I watch are usually unsophisticated popcorn movies - an excuse to get together with friends, rather than something I'm keen to see. I do generally like black comedies a la Heathers and Grosse Pointe Blank, though, and screen adaptations of things I read when I was young (ie. superhero movies ).

I watch the following shows online from time to time, other than Peep Show, which I watch religiously on YouTube when it comes out:
Peep Show
South Park
American Dad
Family Guy
Futurama
I also like the Simpsons, but less so since about 2000 - the series has gone downhill. The other three main shows I've enjoyed hugely have been Cheers, Frasier, and Malcolm in the Middle - I still don't understand why I like Cheers so much; I think I became attached to the characters.

Peep Show is almost certainly the best brilliant show currently being produced. Fact.

I don't have any special films, but I will say that I thought Cypher was massively under-rated - nobody's heard of it, but it's one of the best films I've ever seen. Comes close to parity with the Matrix.

Peep show? hmm, it sounds interesting:

Wikipedia saysPeep Show follows the often sexually-frustrated lives of two men in their late twenties, Mark (Mitchell) and Jeremy (Webb). Having met while at the fictional Dartmouth University together (they occasionally refer to themselves as 'The El Dude Brothers' in reference to their student days), they now share a flat in Apollo House, London Road in Croydon, south London.

Actually, I've revised my favourite shows on TV.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (by Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld)
and Extras (by Ricky Gervais, of the Office fame)

On the internet, I watch PurePwnage, which I admit can be somewhat juvenile, but it has its finger on the pulse of teen gamer culture and it is very sharp with its comedy.

It seems I watch more TV than I thought I did. Joe, how do you rate the idea of pirating your favourite TV shows on the internet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLf2HLmF ... re=related if you want to watch Peep Show.

From a strictly util viewpoint, I think I undoubtedly gain more happiness from the money than the employees of the DVD producing company, retail outlet, etc would from the money I would pay them. But utilitarianism doesn't justify all my actions; I certainly refrain from actions I believe would increase the net utility in the world [donating all my savings to a homeless charity] for my own personal selfishness, and I refrain from arrogating other actions to myself.
I guess there're a set of principles I find it hard to define, but nonetheless try to live up to. For example, I download almost all of my music illegally because I wouldn't pay if there existed no free option [I'm going to ask you to trust me on this] yet I paid full whack for Civilisation III rather than dl it.
For TV shows, it's slightly more nuanced. I do actually pay for the Cheers boxsets, but that's partly because the episodes aren't all online, and in any case I bought most of the ones I currently have on eBay, which doesn't benefit anyone other than the seller...
South Park and other shows are available online from and bring advertising revenue to their creators, so I feel no guilt about watching these online.
I feel that I probably 'should' pay for Peep Show, and yet the shows are freely available on UK TV - is it my fault that I prefer not to watch television, and to watch YouTube videos instead? From a util POV, I gain much more happiness from watching online than I would from being forced to sit down at a specific time and date to watch the shows.
In short - I don't have a good answer.

Dead Like Me is really good, although I saw it on DVD. The occaisonal ABC or SBS documentary, (Although can someone please explain to me the multicultural broadcasters obsession with Hitler documentaries?), Dr. Who, Iron Chef and that's about it. Newstopia is pretty awesome, it's definitely worth chasing up on youtube. I didn't mind watching the UK version of Life on Mars, and My Name is Earl.