Well, I decided since a year has passed, it’s time for a refresh posting of Gamer TV, a poll I did for my gaming group as to what TV shows they’re watching.
In my last Gamer TV poll, there was a lot of unity around a number of shows. However, now, not as much. A lot of good shows many of us watch are on hiatus (or cancelled, who can ever tell) – Walking Dead, V, Stargate: Universe, Psych, Warehouse 13, Sons of Anarchy, Burn Notice, Metalocalypse… And what’s left isn’t that compelling, especially in the SF/fantasy/horror/geekitude arena. Here’s the poll results, sorted by number of votes and rough level of enthusiasm (some respondents provided categories of enjoyment).
Gamer Approved TV
- 30 Rock x3
- Supernatural x3
- Tosh.0 x3
- Being Human (US) x3
- Being Human (British) x2
- Castle x2
- Daily Show x2
- Chuck x2
- Sons of Guns x2
- How I Met Your Mother x2
- S#*t My Dad Says x2
- Doctor Who x2
- Archer x2
- Big Bang Theory x2
- Fringe x2
- House x2
Random Might-Be-Interesting TV
- Southland
- Gold Rush Alaska
- Lights Out
- Modern Family
- Traffic Light
- Community
- Perfect Couples
- Modern Family
- Covert Affairs
- White Collar
- Glee
- Kitchen Nightmares
- No Ordinary Family
- Simpsons
- Mythbusters
- Eagleheart
- Justified
- The Middle
- Raising Hope
- Better with You
- Fringe
- Avengers
- Young Justice
- Family Guy
- Rules of Engagement
- Shameless (British)
- Detroit 187
- Mr Sunshine
- Outsourced
- Onion
- Primeval
- Bob’s Burgers
- Robot Chicken
- The Cape
- Kitchen Impossible
- Renovation Realities
- Kill It Cook It Eat It
- House
- Bizarre Foods
- Bitchin Kitchen
- The Colony
- Top Chef Allstars
- Chopped Allstars
- Kathy Griffin Life on the D List
The thing that struck me about this was the wide variety. Some of the picks (like the cooking shows) are from our groupies, not the gamers per se. Yes, it’s odd, our gaming group has groupies. But there’s a lot of diversity even taking those out of the lineup. Six respondents, only 3 votes for any single show. Last time, nearly everyone watched Dollhouse, for instance.
Volume varied a lot, too. One guy only watches three shows. One submitted thirty-three! (I only watch seven, not counting all the ones on hiatus.)
The biggest change is that Big Bang Theory used to be quite popular but has dropped way down the list. I know I used to watch it and don’t any more, it got boring.
Being Human, Doctor Who, Fringe, and Supernatural are the only “genre” shows making the cut for us right now. Note to the networks, we don’t love SF or whatever so much we’ll watch the shit you shovel out. In fact, all the Fringe watchers say that it is on its way down hard and they only watch it out of habit now (Heroes/Lost syndrome).
What about you? Anything we missed, that you think has wide gamer appeal?
Geek Related 
I completely disagree on Fringe. It’s still awesome, it’s just gotten more complex with the parallel universe storylines.
I don’t watch it myself, but here’s some quotes from the others:
“Fringe. Ugh. It’s as though The X-files and LOST had a one-night stand that resulted in a two-headed abomination. I liked the cast and the original concept, but it went to a Bad Place fast.”
“Yeah, I want to like Fringe, but it’s gotten harder and harder to watch. I usually pick up the DS when it’s on and only half-pay attention.”
But you count too! We have one group member on the fence about whether he should try it out and I’ll tell him there’s a hardcore goth girl who tells him he should. He’s known for a malleable will so that should work.
I’m watching Doctor Who, and probably always will. I only joined in with Being Human with the second series, and it does have its share of boring episodes, but the good ones make up for it; I haven’t seen the Canadian version, which I’m told is a bit rubbish.
Hustle is always good value, although I wouldn’t say it’s must-see-TV. The reason there isn’t an American version of this yet is because Leverage has already ripped it off mercilessly, so there’d be little point.
I’ve been watching Fringe, even though I know it’s not very good. I’m not sure what keeps me watching it.
Oh, and there’s Misfits, which is a brilliant superpowers show, but that’s between series right now.
Last year the BBC put out a brilliant programme called Wonders of the Solar System, introduced by the very charismatic pop-star-turned-astronomer Brian Cox. The sequel, Wonders of the Universe starts next week over here.
Oh, and Screen Wipe, which is a vicious and hilarious satire of modern TV, but probably wouldn’t work at all outside Britain.
TV? What is this strange thing you speak of?
I haven’t had TV in the last 4 years or so. I listen to the radio when I want to get news or there’s this handy internet-thingy that all the kids talk about.
+1
Hippies