It’s not a TV shoe but did anyone watch Harry Potter Weekend on abc family?
Nope, I was working all weekend. But I didn’t miss out, they have Harry Potter weekends all the time.
They showed years 1-5. Wonder when there do year 6.
I saw a great show called ‘What Would You Do?’ on the graveyard shift. It’s basically a combination of ‘candid camera’ and social experiments which pose moral and ethical dilemmas to unsuspecting bystanders, and challenges them to stand up for victims of injustice or ‘do the right thing’.
The episode I watched had a paid actor and actress pretend to be a couple at a bar. The actress walks away, leaving her drink, while the actor openly spikes it in plain view of the bystander. The bystander doesn’t know he/she’s being filmed, and it is up to him/her to do the right thing and inform the ‘girl’ that her ‘boyfriend’ was trying to take advantage of her.
In the first round, she dresses nicely and acts naively. The unwitting participants felt obliged to protect her because they sympatise with her innocence. But on the second round, when she dressed more casually (in a colourful short dress), the participants (both male) didn’t stop the man when he spiked her drink, and didn’t even react when the actress pretended to feel sick. The best thing they did was they alerted a couple of other diners at the other end of the bar, but that wasn’t enough.
In the final round, the actress again dressed casually. But this time the participants were an old couple, and the lady stood up for the actress, even after the actor confronted them and walked out of the venue. It was very touching to see the old lady’s reaction when they revealed she was being filmed (she cried) and surprisingly, the actress herself revealed she was a victim of drink spiking (but thankfully, she was also saved by a ‘guardian angel’).
Others are not so clear-cut. Another series of experiments were conducted at a supermarket checkout counter.
Old woman approaches you at an express lane and asks you if she could go ahead. You let her go ahead, and then her young adult son arrives with a trolley filled with items.
Now replace that with a pregnant woman. Young adult son tries the ‘bait and switch’ tactic again.
What if you let a man ahead of you, and he wins a $500 cash prize for being the zillionth customer? How about if it’s an old lady? Would you react differently?
It is a fascinating insight into the human psyche of morality, ethics, greed, altruism… the greatest thing is that the experiments in themselves are not entertaining, but rather the bystanders’ reactions to the dilemma.
That is one of my favorite shows! I’ve watched all the videos on youtube they have. It’s a real eye opener of how people in society opperate.
Anyone ever seen Man vs Food?
I have. I’m not a fan of it, and it kinda grossed me out.
EJE: I actually stayed up until 4 yesterday just watching clips of it! I love the scenarios; WWYD if you encountered a teen boy abusing his girlfriend at the park, an interracial couple being harassed by racists, a store manager and security guard searching a customer based on racial profiling, a conman tricking Samaritans by pretending to be blind.
The most shocking scenarios were the girlfriend abusing her boyfriend at the park (Practically no one intervened, because they assumed that they were just having a tiff or that the man was capable of defending himself), and the Muslim woman being refused service at a convenience store (it was conducted in Texas, and the first few people even condoned the act and insulted the show host!).
But then you see wonderful people like the lady who pulled a battered woman from her abusive boyfriend at the restaurant, the man who told the teen boy to stop harrassing his girlfriend (“Of course it’s my business! I have a daughter that is her age!”), the young woman who bravely stood in front of the car of someone who stole another person’s gas at a station, and the old man who spoke up for the Muslim woman (“I have a son who served in Iraq, and we are not against her”).
It is very life-affirming and inspiring to see ordinary folks summon the courage to stand up against injustice and fight for the weak. I almost cried watching some of the clips, so touching! 
TSS and Pixarfan91: I’ve watched a few episodes. It’s kinda fun, but it feels a bit hedonistic to me when there’s people starving in third-world countries.
There’s also an online series called ‘Epic Meal Time’ which my brother loves, but which I have a disdain. I guess it shows our differences; he’s a gourmand and I’m a gourmet, which is kinda strange seeing as how he cooks more often than I do.
Indulgent shows like these simply encourage overeating and wasteful food consumption. If they placed a disclaimer that they finish all the food (which I seriously doubt) or that they donate uneaten portions to an NPO like OzHarvest, then maybe I’ll feel better. They are the modern-day equivalent of the Romans who have over-the-top feasts and regurgitate their food just so they can stuff themselves more.
Simply whipping up a huge-ss meal filled with artificial flavours or saturated fat, and then shoveling it down in front of the camera just for the hll of it now only shows a lack of concern for sustainable practices, but utter disrespect for food and its nourishing function.
It’s people like that that keep my faith of man kind! If you like What Would You Do, you might like the Tyra Bank show as well. There are a lot of interesting episodes that interview people with very different lifestyles. (Such as a woman who is not hetrosexual or homosexual. Instead, she finds objects and buildings sexually appealing. She even married the Eiffel Tower!)
My mom has been watching Glee a lot lately while she works. 
I’m amused because I expected her to detest it, but apparently, she finds it amusing.
As I’ve mentioned on another thread, starting this Memorial Day, the History Channel will be hosting ‘Civil War Week’. I’m a giant history nerd, especially with American History. So I have my DVR set to record a bunch of new documenteries such as ‘April 1865’ and ‘Lee and Grant’, and ‘Gettysburg’.
I’ve been busy watching the Star Trek Animated Series this weekend. Which I’ve watched before but for some reason I’ve really been wanting to watch it. I dunno why. Just a phase I’m in I guess.
My dad like’s Civil War stories so he will watch it.
I watched the first season of Futurama this weekend. Really funny so far, definitely right up my alley.
Have you never watched it before?
No, which is pretty surprising considering The Simpsons is one of my all-time favorite shows.
Bryko: Glad you like Futurama! I enjoy that show as well.
I’m watching a show called Standoff with my brother (this is one of the few live-action shows we both are interested in, usually the ones that overlap are animated series like McFarlane or Groening sitcoms).
It’s based on the real-life Crisis Negotiation Unit for the FBI, which are called to resolve high-risk standoffs and barricade hostage situations.
Unfortunately, like many of my favourite shows (Chase, Trauma, Life, Lie to Me), it has already been cancelled- way back in 2006 (the year of Cars’ release). I discovered it when I first arrived in Australia, and I’m trying to pick up the first and only season from the beginning.
Needless to say, if you love police procedurals with ‘heart’ like Flashpoint, NCIS or Hawaii-Five-O, then you’ll love this one. It also supports my stance on non-lethal policing and peaceful resolution through negotiation. I may do a more detailed review if I have the time, but I’m enjoying what I’ve seen so far and if you ever find this at your video store, give it a rent!
I watched a show about recent disaster’s yesterday. One was about the recent tornadoes and the other one was about the Japan earthquake, did was amazing how much destruction both of them caused.
I have a facination with disasters, and I wanted to watch that tornado one you’re talking about. But I forgot to record it!