Why "Girls" Is Compelling, Yet Frustrating, Yet I Still Watch

So I finally gave in and watched the first season of “Girls” over the last two weeks. Now I’m watching Season 2. Maybe it’s part of me wanting to start seeing things before writing them off. I did that with “The Help” last year and came away justified in some of my criticism but surprised in other things.

When I first saw the ads for “Girls”, I was turned off by a few factors.

1) Figured it wouldn’t appeal to me as a guy,

2) I heard reports this was another New York based show with very limited diversity a la “Friends” or “Sex in the City”.

3) It felt privileged considering series’ creator Lena Dunham’s three costars were all daughters of famous fathers and Dunham got lucky that Judd Apatow is behind her.

Now what do I think? It’s a decent show about coming of age in your mid-20’s. The rub for me, though, is that it’s a comedy in ways they probably didn’t imagine. It reminds me of girls I went to college with and how I’d roll my eyes at the immature things they’d do.

I can relate to trying to figure out your life. As much as their world is far removed from mine, there are similarities in finding your place and adjusting to relationships. At the same time, I want the show to take me higher like Treme, Newsroom, The Following (my new favorite show) or something else with more depth.

The Newsroom (Why I Love How It Dares To Dream)

"The Newsroom is a romantic, idealistic and swashbuckling look at a fictional cable news show." - series creator Aaron Sorkin

The minute I saw the trailer for Aaron Sorkin’s latest gem, I was hooked. Heck, the minute I heard Sorkin’s name, I was hooked. The genius of The Social Network and The West Wing was taking his talents to cable TV to write a show about the inner workings of a cable news show.

Then I watched the opening minutes and opening monologue from Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels). It was ballsy, in your face and spoke to a lot of truth about how America has fallen from grace.

Three episodes in, I’m seeing why I was hooked from the jump. "The Newsroom" is smart and ambitious. It shines a light on the media and aims to raise the standard of journalism. You feel like you’re watching an actual cable network instead of a show about one.