2 Mid-Season Shows To Add To Your Watch List 

Long gone are the days when TV had hiatuses and we could take a deep breath and exhale. These days, there’s shows after shows after shows. Shows in between seasons. Shows in the summer. Shows for the fall break. With increased numbers, comes increased expectations of quality. Critics say we are past the golden era of TV and sometimes it feels like shows are competing to prove them wrong. Who will be the next Mad Men? Next GoT?

The thing is…not all shows have to be prestigious and super serious. Sometimes all we are looking for is mindless TV that serves as an actual distraction from the real world. That’s where these two shows come in.

9-1-1

The names on this one is enough to get you started on it already. Angela Bassett. Connie Britton. Peter Krause and if he’s your cup of tea, Ryan Murphy as producer. I was sold already based on the names alone. It follows the lives of first responders in different fields: cops, paramedics, firefighters and dispatchers.

What makes this show enjoyable are the unique situations that we get every week and how they are able to have you, the viewer at the edge of your seat. The first episode had us watching a baby trapped in the pipes. We’ve seen people thrown off roller coasters and a pet snake strangling its owner. Exciting stuff. The show also explores the personal lives of the different responders and naturally, throws in the romance.

The Resident

Quite honestly, with Grey’s Anatomy in my life, I didn’t see the need for another medical drama but I was tuning in to this solely for Matt Czuchry (Logan on Gilmore Girls and Cary Argos on The Good Wife). We got a two day premiere with this and I really wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I do.

Czuchry plays Conrad, a resident as rebellious as he is, skilled. He makes it his mission to save as many patients as it takes even if it requires him bending the rules. He is in charge of first year resident and is pseudo mentor to newbie, Devon. Through Conrad we see the good and the shady dealings that go on in the hospital, especially challenging the Chief of Surgery who seems to have a neurological issue and still insists on going into surgery – even when it leads to deaths.

Conrad has a romantic past with Nicolette (Emily Van Camp), a devoted nurse who helps clean up the messes left by Conrad. There is a talented Nigerian doctor, Dr. Okafor who covers the Chief of Surgery’s ass on more than one occasion (i have issues with this only because the actress playing this character is not Nigerian, her accent is so clearly not Nigerian and she is from Guyana. So why didn’t they just make the character from Guyana??)

If you are looking for mindless TV to watch, I’d recommend these two.