The Beefcake likes it

The Beefcake (my boyfriend for the uninitiated) doesn't watch very many shows with plots. He prefers Discovery Channel type stuff like Man Vs Wild and Human Wrecking Balls and Destroyed in Seconds so I spend a lot of nights learning about destruction and survival. We like to see what kind of sweater Ron Pitts will wear today on Destroyed in Seconds and we also like to predict which kind of destruction it will be in each episode. It's always some combination of race car crash, boat race crash, some kind of natural disaster, and an industrial explosion.

But I'm not satisfied with standalone explosions. I like my explosions to be plot related. So I've spent a goodly amount of time trying to figure out what The Beefcake will and will not tolerate watching.

His main beef (haha I said beef) with plot dramas is that they take themselves too seriously. He cannot sit still for 24 because Jack is always so damned intense. He's got a point - when's the last time anybody on 24 made a joke? There is no Chandler Bing at CTU. And don't get that man started on the ridiculousness of Prison Break.

He tried valiantly to watch Battlestar Galactica, but after listening patiently to my explanation of the storyline for quite some time he finally told me to just watch while he played with the cat. We had a similar experience with Lost, although he's willing to put in a little more effort on that one because he used to like Alias. But Lost is confusing even for those of us who've been there for every episode.

"Stop explaining," he said to me last night. "Every time you explain I get more confused."

Beefcake doesn't like sitcoms much either because they're fake. They go the opposite direction in that they don't take themselves seriously enough.

This is why he loves Leverage. Leverage has a sense of humor and is easy to follow, but has deep character development and theme. Plus, explosions. Seriously though, is that not the best show on TV right now? I think I have fallen in love with Aldis Hodge.

I've been trying to think up other shows he might enjoy. I need to introduce him to Burn Notice, I think. I tried Psych and he doesn't hate it, but the campiness is a bit overwhelming. He'll tolerate Life on Mars but he feels like Life is too procedural. He doesn't mind Supernatural, probably because we both agree that Jensen Ackles is cooler than squeezy cheese.

I'm grateful that The Beefcake is patient enough to watch the shows at least once, and I'm even more grateful that he doesn't like football. Still, there's only so many car race crashes I can watch before I want a backstory, so I'll keep looking for good shows he won't mind watching.