Average Jane’s Summer Entertainment

Now that the regular TV season is over, I no longer have quite so much trouble keeping up with the TiVo’s offerings.  I’ve also discovered how convenient it is to take advantage of summer reruns and catch shows that didn’t quite make the cut when they were originally pitted against other shows I like.

Case in point, Veronica Mars.  I recently watched last season’s pilot and it was just as good as I’d heard:  well written, smart and intriguing.  My husband got sucked in, too, so we’ll definitely get caught up by the end of the summer.  If we’re lucky, it’ll stay on Wednesdays and not compete with anything else next season.

All our other TV show faves this summer are on cable.  We’re greatly enjoying the second season of The 4400 on the SciFi Channel.  We also watched the premiere episode of Morgan Spurlock’s new series 30 Days on FX last week and thought it was a great premise.  I’m looking forward to seeing the other installments played out by different people.

We finally saw the final Star Wars movie last night.  Great special effects, predictably tragic storyline.  I couldn’t help but agree with reviewers who have pointed out that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke’s aunt and uncle seemed to have aged way more between Episode III and Episode IV than one might reasonably expect in 16 years.  As for the critique that Obi-Wan should have recognized R2D2 when he saw him in Episode IV, my thought is that he’s more of an appliance than a character, quirky whistles notwithstanding.

My husband and I both had an impulse to watch the original trilogy now that we’ve seen the prequels.  If only we weren’t on the bad list at Blockbuster…

I haven’t even touched on my summer reading.  I just faked my way (not too convincingly, I imagine) through a book club discussion  about a book that I haven’t read in about five years and didn’t get around to revisiting.  I did a lot of cooking and baking this weekend, which gave me the chance to alternate articles from Archaeology Magazine and Entertainment Weekly while I waited for the timer to ring.  Leaping from Chumash canoes to brownie recipes to entertainment reviews is not for the faint of heart!

Tomorrow:  a book review.  Have a great Monday!