Features-The Jerk's 5 favorite Netflix shows 2/17/14

5. Family Guy- I tend to go on Family Guy kicks.  When I start watching, and get into a good streak of episodes or seasons, I can't stop watching.  Unfortunately Family Guy has been an extremely inconsistent show, though it is on what may be its final upswing right now.  My problem with Family Guy has always been that Seth MacFarlane puts entirely too much of himself into this particular show.  He uses Brian as his political and spiritual mouthpiece, which unfortunately leads to an insufferable, pretentious mutt.  There is a time and place to voice your opinion, Seth.  An animated network show where you live and die by fart jokes and chicken-battle cutaways is neither the time nor the place.  

4. Breaking Bad- I've never done a write-up of this show.  That is coming in the future, but more than likely will have to be a series of write-ups.  It is every bit the masterpiece you may have already discovered, or at the very least heard of.  I caught onto Breaking Bad probably around the airing of the third season and became one of the die-hards.  I can't say whether it is the "best show ever made" or not like some others have boldly claimed.  It certainly is in contention with a few other (The Shield, The Sopranos, The Wire, and now True Detective) but it is certainly a unique animal.  I've started slowly re-watching it from episode 1.  What strikes me most is how different in pacing and tone season one is from its successors.  Vince Gilligan really started with a family man we could all get behind before tearing him to the ground.  Maybe I'll be ready to write more after I finish it the second time around.

3. Orange is the New Black- Netflix has done a really nice job with their original programming.  Starting with the spiritual sequel to The Sopranos, Lilyhammer, and continuing almost daily, they have really created a new type of viewing experience.  Orange is the New Black is, to me, the greatest of their many accomplishments to date.  There is certainly a strong argument to be made for House of Cards, and to a lesser extent the fourth season of Arrested Development, but as of now this one reigns supreme.  We've seen a similar story out of the show's creator, Jenji Kohan in Weeds, but Orange is the New Black feels like a more mature, calculated approach to the "middle class white woman is thrust into a world that is anything but" story.  Season 2 is dropping this summer.  Don't miss the boat.  Catch up now.

2. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- Because, duh.

1. Lost- My Lost obsession has gone from abnormal to unhealthy.  Dinner time?  Nope, sorry that is Lost time.  Should I take a shower?  Not until I can afford a TV in my shower for Lost.  I imagine that many a reader has had this experience before, but with the introduction of Ben Linus and The Others into the mix, I am in full-on bodily neglect mode.  I may have some trouble explaining what that mason jar full of pale yellow liquid is, but it's totally worth it.

That is what I have been watching this week.  In the limited time I've been able to yank myself away from Jack, Kate and Locke, I've squeezed in some good, hearty laughs and a little bit of time for "The One Who Knocks".  What are you watching?  Am I missing some great series?  Let me know and I'll try to fit them in.  After a few episodes of Lost, that is.