Geek TV On The Rise

There's a few shows floating around that cater to the nerd inclined. And I don't mean genre fare like The Walking Dead, but more reality style programming featuring personalities and subject matter that tickle that dork fancy. Click after the jump for more on the new Geek TV lineup...




Geek Love 





TLC recently premiered this reality style show chronicling a few lonely hearted nerds looking for love at the New York Comic Con. The romantically challenged are profiled from their homes, through a speed dating session at the Con and finally to an actual date (if a match was found). I had concerns when I first heard about the show that it would just be a huge mockfest and portray the subjects in a negative light but it was surprisingly genuine. While there are certainly self deprecating moments (nobody has a better sense of humor about geeks than geeks) and some sympathetic cases (oh man...that one guy) it pretty much plays the whole ordeal pretty straightforward. There are only two episodes so far, serving as a pilot, currently making the rounds on TLC. So go support the show and hopefully we'll see some more costumed canoodling.


Comic Book Men





Kevin Smith fittingly brings us this new AMC show set in his famous "Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash" comic book store in Red Bank N.J. Not a ton is known about exactly what the show is about. What I can gather from the initial casting call, the brief clips and the other info that has come out, it seems to be about a few grown men, hanging around a comic book store and just shooting the shit. Sounds good to me. We can expect plenty of appearances by Smith himself as well as regular Askewniverse members, Bryan "Steve-Dave" Johnson and Walt Flanagan(dog status unknown). Look for the first of six one hour episodes to premiere February 12th on AMC after The Walking Dead.


Face Off - Season 2





I was gleefully addicted to Season 1 of this straight up reality competition. In general I'm more partial to the skill based competition shows. They can still be garbage of course, but at least the contestants need to possess actual ability and can't just make their way on TV by being a young good looking wannabe actor. Face Off has an incredible amount of skill on display. The contestants manage to create absolutely amazing, living pieces of art under extremely limited conditions. Anyone who has ever been impressed or interested in the make-up process really needs to check this out. You can see a few of the first season episodes on Syfy's site. Season 2 starts January 11th.


Oddities





And finally, while not exactly a "Geek" show per se, it definitely runs on the fringe. This show has been around for a little while but I just discovered it and if you haven't checked it, you need to. It follows the same format somewhat as the 'pawn shop' shows that are currently plentiful, but differs quite a bit. The items themselves are more unique, and the employees aren't trying to rape the customers out of every penny. Taking place in 'Obscura' a curiosity shop in NYC, the show follows the operators and customers buying and selling all manner of batshit crazy stuff. The only thing weirder than the items themselves are the fantastic total weirdos that come wandering in off the street.

Edgar is my personal favorite...





The best thing about these shows (save for maybe one or two of the contestants on Face Off) is that all the people involved are genuinely nice people. They are respectful, intelligent, well adjusted people that don't seem like giant phoney agenda driven assfaces. These archetypes are so few and far between in modern television. It's so refreshing to see.

Go watch these shows.....NOW!