It is no secret that a large chunk of the population are unemployed, in between filling out CVs and staring at the phone praying for a call-back a void has grown in our lives between 9-5 and we need something to fill it with. We are however not the only ones in that boat, housewives, brilliant moms having done the housework and got the kids off to school or students too hung-over/lazy/tired/not interested in lectures are all sat idle at home trying to figure out what to do with their day…well… fret no more because we’ve got your answer!
TELEVISION!
Now some of you may have already come to this conclusion but are you watching the right stuff? If you’re sat with a mug off tea and that self-righteous mong Jeremy Kyle is spouting crap at gullible people with real problems on a tatty stage then chances are you’re watching all the wrong stuff!
So here is what you do, check out the top five programmes guaranteed to stave off the boredom and help pass some time… trust us…we’ve a Masters in Day Time Television/Media Studies!
Don’t expect to find cartoons in this article though, that we’re saving for another time!
Last of the Summer Wine
Ok, so this is probably something you might not expect to find on the @rcade but we’ve actually fallen in love with this show. Tumbling downstairs rifling through mail it’s usually on in the background and until we sat down one day we just assumed it was a programme for old people!
Turns out it’s a programme ABOUT old people! Summer Wine follows the escapades of the senior members of a sleepy town in West Yorkshire. Having grown up, worked and married, they are now mostly retired and are experiencing a second childhood, almost entirely free of responsibility. With some memorable characters including, Howard, the Casanova afraid of his wife, Nora Batty the stern iron faced woman upstairs and Compo, the cheeky larger than life rascal with a thing for Nora, you are never spared a moment of rest with this lot.
Last of the Summer Wine is the longest running comedy programme in Britain and the longest running sitcom in the world, airing first in 1973 it finally wrapped up last year. So if something ran that long it had to be good…right?
Last of the Summer is broadcast on GOLD weekdays from 12pm
Old people are so funny!
Waiting for God
We’ve only recently come across this little gem of a programme and continuing on from Last of the Summer Wine it’s also about old people being unruly but this time they are living in a retirement community. It features one of our official favourite characters in TV ever, Diana Trent (Stephanie Cole) a former photojournalist intent to live out her retirement however she sees fit and unwilling to compromise or bend on her desires she regularly comes into conflict with the management of the community.
When we grow up we want to be just like her!
Episodes revolve around her interactions with other members of the community, in particular Tom, her neighbour and a man she seems to have despite her outward aggression toward him a bit of a soft spot for. It isn’t so much the show itself rather the character of Diana that merits you check it out if even only for one episode. The sour faced battleaxe frequently rambles on about the state of the world and the people in it and her rants are the stuff television dialogue should be made of!
Waiting for God airs weekdays from 2pm on GOLD
Judge Judy
<3 her!
If God was a courtroom judge, God would be Judge Judy! (Too blasphemous?)
Anyway everyone LOVES Judge Judy and if they don’t it’s probably because Judy didn’t rule in their favour. The daytime TV Judge joined the world of television way back in 1996 and has since gone to become the most popular reality courtroom television series ever and has been nominated for 13 Day Time Emmy Awards and Judith Sheindlin (Judy to you and us!) even has her own Hollywood Walk of Fame star!
If you don’t know what the show is clearly you’ve been living under a rock or don’t have good television reception (which is pretty much the same thing!), Judge Judy is a private arbitration court where small claims cases are handled by the Judge. Unafraid to tell people, be they defendant or plaintiff – she is sharp, clever and quick and is essential to all daytime TV schedules!
Judge Judy is broadcast on TV3 & CBS Reality
Will & Grace
Gays and their gals…Gals and their gays! Forget Friends, we’ve seen it like a million times! The real sitcom about friends to watch these days is Will & Grace! Bitchy comments, cute boys and cute girls, booze and New York… it’s got everything we dream of and more!
Instead of ranting about one of our favourite shows here are just some funny clips from it…
Medium
This isn’t here because it makes for amazing viewing in fact we can’t really stand programmes like Medium, Ghost Whisperer or Charmed, why? They all sound amazing and like they are going to make for amazing television but what you quickly come to realise is that it’s not about these women and their amazing abilities …oh no! It’s all about relationships and how hard it is for them to manage their lives as mothers, sisters, girlfriends etc on top of having supernatural powers!
I’m a mom AND I see ghosts!
We put Medium here because as we write it we’re watching an episode all about Valentine’s Day and how hard it is for Alison’s husband because his wife is possessed by the ghost of a dead woman…
SPOILER – do not read the next part unless you want us to ruin this “AMAZING” episode!
…whose husband killed her for the money but instead of divorcing her and battling it out in the courts he had his mistress go through months of plastic surgery to look like his former wife so they can pretend she isn’t dead…
Seriously! Medium is worth checking out only for the laugh and airs on Sky Living.
