Being that we’re in a new era of television with the invention of TiVo or DVR, it’s really easy to judge my love for a TV show based on if I can wait to watch it without commercials. With recording technology at your fingertips, who wants to watch a show and get cut off by advertisements all the time. Just when you think the moment you’ve been waiting for all season is about to happen and the guy is finally going to kiss the girl…CUT! A new commercial for Tums with a corn dog slapping a guy in the face. Just when the bad ass cop is about to take down the criminal they’ve been chasing for the last 50 minutes…CUT! A new advertisement for a show that isn’t going to air for another six months. Who cares! I want to see my show. Hence, you wait until the episode is about a half hour in and then you start watching so you can fast forward through all the ads.
BUT…if you are so madly in love with a TV show and you can barely contain yourself all week waiting for a new episode, DVR isn’t going to cut it. I mean, you dream about this show. You wake up in the middle of the night going over scenarios you wish would happen, but you know won’t because the writers won’t make it that easy. You get on Twitter just so you can see what everyone is saying about the show. You wait for new promos to pop up and analyze them to predict what might happen next. If this sounds like you, then you know how I feel.
For shows like this, you can’t wait until it’s recorded and watch it later. You don’t care about commercials. In fact, you use commercial time to Live Tweet with all the other fans of the show.
Right now, there is only one show on my radar I’m willing to sit through commercials for. For me, this insanity inducing TV drama is Against The Wall. It airs Sundays at 10 PM PST on the Lifetime Channel. The show’s about a Chicago police family (all but mom are cops), specifically the daughter/sister Abby Kowalski. Abby joined the family business and made waves when she took a position in the Internal Affairs department, which makes it stand out from many other crime shows out there.
For all the Kowalas (ATW fans), another thing that stands out is the nice view. Three super cute brothers (Richie, Steve, and Donnie), a stunning love interest (Brody), and an adorable spoiler (Danny) makes for some awesome late night viewing.
#TeamBrody or #TeamDanny is a debate you might run into on Facebook and Twitter. Abby is a girl who’s looking to have some fun, have some companionship without all the complications of a real relationship. When Brody (who is also her brother’s partner) steps up to “win her heart”, she finally decides to let herself be wooed. Their non-relationship comes with rules though. And in the next episode, Abby comes really close to breaking those rules with Danny (which is why I have nicknamed him the “spoiler”). I found myself figuratively banging my head against the wall (no pun intended) because I just can’t imagine any women ruining what Brody has to offer. He bought her a dress. He wore the tux. Played her favorite music. Went to her mom for advice. He wants to kiss her in public. Aww…so cute! Right? Danny…he just makes her nervous. Big deal. LOL. Did she not see Andrew Walker’s Lifetime Movie Abducted: Fugitive for Love? Did she not see the scene in the cabin? Haha. Can you tell what team I’m on? So Team Brody it is for me. I’m so Team Brody that while revising my latest manuscript, one of my characters morphed into looking a lot like John Brody. And I’m just one of many on the Team Brody side of this love triangle. Do a search on Twitter or Facebook and you’ll find us.
For the gentlemen viewers, the women on the show are pretty easy on the eyes too. Abby is beautiful. Lina is gorgeous. And is Mackie not the cutest friend ever?
If the cast and story isn’t enough to sell anyone on watching the show, the ATW writers have been a lot of fun on Twitter. I can’t remember the last time I’ve tweeted writers from another show, and they actually responded. Nope. Can’t remember. Maybe because it’s never happened. However, @ATW_Writers reply. I love it. While our voices make no difference to what happens this season (or maybe any other season for that matter), there’s this awesome interactive feeling that fans are somehow involved in the making of the show. I suppose we are because we’re watching. But the ATW writers make it that much more fun to watch and enjoy by replying to our comments with real answers showing they’ve really read what we have to say. They laugh, they make their case when we don’t always agree with what Abby is doing (::cough…Danny…cough::). Thank you @ATW_Writers. You guys are the best!!! You da bomb!
So with only one episode left this season (after tonight), and not knowing if Lifetime has picked up this show, I have to say emphatically Against The Wall is AMAZING! I watch it live, with commercials for crying out loud. I don’t do this with any other show I watch. Not Grey’s, not Blue Bloods, not Modern Family, none. While I’m Team Brody all the way, I’m 1000% Team Against The Wall, and I can’t wait to see what the wonderful ATW writers have up their sleeves for seasons to come.
That being said, I have 4 minutes until I start trolling Twitter for spoilers about tonight’s episode. It’s nights like these that I hate living on the west coast.
