Our Second Online Live TV Drinking Game

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Come one, come all and bring your filled glasses, your impeccable sense of humor, and your regular Burn Notice-watching crew.

Tonight for the season finale of Burn Notice, we'll be watching right along with you, so why not drink together? We'll be playing TheTalkingBox's very own Burn Notice drinking game and want you to join in. All you have to do is fire up your preferred Twitter client and follow @AndDrink. We'll tweet out when you should drink and what for. If you disagree or we miss one, let us so we don't fall behind. At the end we'll run the drink stats so you can see how many times you were supposed to drink, and what you actually gulped down during these two hours of 'spy'-flying antics.

For the original Burn Notice Drinking Game post, look here. Otherwise, the rules are reproduced below:

Take a Drink:
- Whenever we hear the word "burned" or the words "burn notice"
- Whenever there is text on the screen (not like the credits)
- Whenever Michael uses a fake name
- Whenever we see a girl in a bikini
- Whenever Fiona uses a gun or blows something up
- Whenever someone eats yogurt
- Whenever anyone says "Michael" (two drinks if it's his mom)
- Whenever a character is drinking
- Whenever we have a split-screen to show multiple views at once
- Whenever Michael wins a bluff

See you tonight, and don't forget to bring a drink.

Disclaimer: There are moments of TV Zen that simply must be honored. Should one of these occur during the show, the drinking game rules may be stretched to include these moments, so should you drink more than expected from blindly consuming liquid when reading the word 'drink' from a ton of tweets, it ain't our fault...

Drinking to Seinfeld

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This is the final installment in the Drinking Game series. With the holiday season already on top of us, I'm planning to return Wednesdays to updates of holiday episodes and specials, like I did last year. So, feel free to suggest new "lists" and other ideas for new Wednesday series starting in January! I may put up a poll after I get a couple of ideas, so if you don't regularly visit the actual site, I'll let you know when that goes up so you can head over. :)

Seinfeld is a pretty funny show, but it definitely had a time and place, which I don't think would work as well if it was in first-run now. In the days of cell phones, many of their storylines about misunderstandings, answering machines, and not knowing who called would be moot. Still it's funny, it runs often, and makes for an excellent drinking game. I did mention some of my favorite episodes a while back, but these suggestions work for the whole series.

Take a drink whenever:
- all four main characters are together
- Kramer busts into Jerry's room
- the phone rings
- we hear the theme song or part of it
- Jerry is doing stand-up
- George's baldness is mentioned or alluded to
- Elaine is wearing glasses
- Kramer has a new money scheme
- someone tells a lie or doesn't reveal the whole truth
- someone gets injured (even mildly) or just goes to the doctor/dentist/etc.

Take two drinks whenever:
- Kramer's friend, Mickey
- we see parents
- we see Newman
- someone runs into someone they know accidentally

Drinking to 3rd Rock from the Sun

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

3rd Rock from the Sun is downright funny. When you're having a drink while watching the show, it's downright hilarious. There's just something about the ongoing gags of misunderstanding and confusion that create a fabulous comic moment. Every time. The everlasting "first time experiencing ____" is just funny. Now, I'm a big fan of John Lithgow and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in particular, but Jane Curtin is fabulous in this show as well. As we have done with several other shows, my husband and I are working our way through the series, and finished season 3 about a month ago (we're on hiatus from extra-tv at the moment). So, we are about half-way through the series. It'll be a while before we get back to it (like Thanksgiving), so I wanted to go ahead and feature the drinking game that we've created for this show. It's short, but generally power-punching.

Take a Drink...
- whenever the main four are on the roof
- whenever the main four are in the car (gets less common as the series goes on)
- whenever Dick says "Mary"
- whenever Mary and Nina gossip
- whenever someone talks about getting laid
- whenever they reference that they're not human
- whenever Dick has a breakthrough
- whenever someone says "high commander"
- whenever Sally does something lady-like for the first time
- whenever we see Mrs. Dubcek, the landlord
- whenever Tommy gets denied
- whenever Harry says something stupid (however, in certain episodes this is overkill)
- whenever they misunderstand something earthly (like jello or snow)

Take 2 Drinks...
- whenever Nina's NOT wearing a short skirt
- whenever they have no idea how to answer a question
- whenever Don's not in uniform
- whenever they get a message from the Big Giant Head

Drinking to Arrested Development

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Now here's a funny one. My husband and I never really knew anything about Arrested Development. And I mean nothing. Not sure what years it ran, what network, who was in it, what it was about, even if it was a comedy or a drama (or heck, it might have been a reality show for all we knew). But, shortly after we moved back to Florida (for a whopping two weeks, but that's a separate story), one of our friends told us all about it, as he had recently gotten into it (and was working his way through the series).

So, after watching the first season and most of the second so far, I can report that it's most definitely a comedy. It's absolutely hilarious. It's very atypical. There are a lot of flashbacks, a lot of (absolutely necessary) narration, and a lot of unresolved stories. In case you also know nothing about the show, it's basically about a family who has gone from riches to rags. Granddad has gone to jail for embezzlement, and most of the family is ignorant of the fact that the money is actually gone. Grandma still lives in a lush apartment with her youngest adult child (a perpetual graduate student), while the rest of the family (the other three kids, one of their spouses, and two grandkids) resides in a model home that the family owned. Storylines revolve around dealing with granddad in jail and the middle son trying to run the company (and the family), the granddaughter rebelling, the grandson having a crush on the granddaughter, and everyone else being unsuccessful at actually working for a living.

Okay, it's bizarre, I know. But, it's a real knee-slapper. And, the drinking game for this show started before I had ever saw an episode - two of our friends had to make suggestions about what would be included. We've altered them somewhat since then, and what we currently use is reproduced below.

Take ONE drink:
- whenever they're at the banana stand
- whenever there's a flashback
- whenever someone is visiting the jail
- whenever Tobias is wearing cut-offs
- whenever Lindsay flirts
- whenever Michael refers to Ann by anything other than her name (like egg, "her," Annhog, etc)
- whenever George Michael alludes to having a crush on Maeby
- whenever Maeby says "marry me"
- whenever Lucille pokes at Lindsay's appearance
- whenever Oscar tries to point out that he's Buster's father
- whenever Gob attempts to do a magic trick
- whenever Buster talks about or is drinking juice
- whenever we see the staircar or the segway
- whenever we see a newspaper clipping

Taken TWO Drinks:
- whenever someone says "I've made a HUGE mistake"
- whenever someone says "No Touching!"
- whenever we hear an air horn
- whenever the house is falling apart
- whenever we hear the name, "Steve Holt!"

First Ever Online International Live TV Show Drinking Game ...maybe

by Jonathan Bredemeyer

Come one, come all and bring your filled glasses, your impeccable sense of humor, and your regular Burn Notice-watching crew.

Tonight for the SUMMER finale of Burn Notice (there will be more in the fall...), and we'll be watching right along with you, so why not drink together? We'll be playing TheTalkingBox's very own Burn Notice drinking game and want you to join in. All you have to do is fire up your preferred Twitter client and follow @AndDrink. We'll tweet out when you should drink and what for. If you disagree or we miss one, let us so we don't fall behind. At the end we'll run the drink stats so you can see how many times you were supposed to drink, and what you actually gulped down during the 42 minutes of 'spy'-flying antics.

The @AndDrink account won't be active until just before showtime, so keep up with @TheTalkingBox in the meantime for updates. See you tonight, and don't forget to bring a drink.

Disclaimer: There are moments of TV Zen that simply must be honored. Should one of these occur during the show, the drinking game rules may be stretched to include these moments, so should you get more drunk than expected from blindly consuming alcohol when reading the word 'drink' from a ton of tweets, it ain't our fault...

Drinking to Gilmore Girls

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This one, I must admit, was not my idea. I was sitting around at work talking about drinking to television shows and a co-worker mentioned that her friend had a great one for Gilmore Girls. I've looked over it, and I must agree - it's pretty awesome! I have not personally tested it, but it has some great reviews, so let's take a look! Original with credits here, it doesn't fit on this page correctly. I cut it into two pieces so you can see it here directly, although many of the photos are cut.I think my favorites are:
- when someone drinks coffee
- take two drinks if there's a reference to something that you don't get
- when Luke isn't wearing flannel (or plaid, really)
- when someone is listening to a message on an answering machine or voicemail
- there's a town meeting
- Richard knows the name of a maid

I actually had to sit there and think... has it ever rained in Stars Hollow? Do we ever see Mr. Kim? LoL. Try it and and enjoy, let me know what else you think should be on here! :)

Drinking to Burn Notice

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This is really the only game in this series that may not work forever. And this is because the show is still running new episodes, so major characters might change, tics might come and go, and who knows what else. Still, the show is predictable enough to warrant a fair list of drinkables below, PLUS it's on Thursday nights, which is a primetime drinking opportunity, really.

I also want to take this opportunity to mention that The Talking Box is expanding. We've got a second writer starting this weekend, who will be mainly covering television reviews of shows I don't really watch, like Burn Notice and Lie To Me, that are still pretty popular. He was the main contributor to this post as well, although I was able to assist since I've seen bits and pieces of about 20 episodes.

And now, without further ado, the rules to the Burn Notice drinking game (short and sweet; just ten rules):

Take a Drink:
- Whenever we hear the word "burned" or the words "burn notice"
- Whenever there is text on the screen (not like the credits)
- Whenever Michael uses a fake name
- Whenever we see a girl in a bikini
- Whenever Fiona uses a gun or blows something up
- Whenever someone eats yogurt
- Whenever anyone says "Michael" (two drinks if it's his mom)
- Whenever a character is drinking
- Whenever we have a split-screen to show multiple views at once
- Whenever Michael wins a bluff

Drinking to How I Met Your Mother

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

So this one really took some trial and error. Three of us worked on it, and our original ideas ended up being hit-or-miss, given the fact that there are a lot of only-appears-for-a-season ideas, and even more that are character-specific, and we wanted a somewhat well-rounded list (so for those who hate Lily, there weren't too many for her, etc.). Here's what we came up with in the end, after testing them out for a bit. I should warn you, you may want to only play some of these rules if you don't feel like really drinking. We decided that, since MacLaren's is a major setting, the gang would drink a lot if they were playing, LoL.

- whenever Barney says “legen-dairy” or some variant
- whenever we hear “suit up” or something similar
- whenever Barney gets laid
- whenever Barney mentions his blog
- whenever Barney calls himself Ted's best friend
- whenever Barney dresses up or concocts a scheme to get laid
- whenever Barney says “awesome” - whenever Ted messes with his hair
- whenever Ted talks about marriage or “the one” or says "mother"
- whenever there's a voiceover (aka Bob Saget is talking)
- whenever Robin does a newscast
- whenever there’s a mention of Canada or something Canadian
- whenever Robin says “literally”
- whenever Lily talks about little kids / her class
- whenever Lily says “son of a bitch”
- whenever Lily tells a secret - whenever Lily is meddling (two drinks if it’s for evil)
- whenever Lily or Marshall use a pet name for the other person
- whenever Marshall is exceptionally nice to a stranger
- whenever we see Ranjeet
- whenever there’s a high-five or fist bump
- whenever they flashback within an episode
- whenever there’s a rule, law, or principle
- whenever we hear about a long-standing tradition
- whenever someone is singing (two drinks if it's NOT Marshall)
- whenever there’s a telepathic conversation (two drinks if there's a misunderstanding)
- whenever a challenge is extended or accepted
- whenever we hear a pick-up line (two drinks if it starts "have you met...")
- whenever we see the pineapple or the goat
- whenever we get a real clue about the mother (like the yellow umbrella)
- and, of course, you can utilize the drinking-game-within-the-show of whenever Robin says "but, um"

happy drinking!

Drinking to Mad About You

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Okay, we're in week 2 of looking at some suggestions for drinking games for television shows. This is the most recent one that my husband and I have written, since we're working our way through the series (we have about 2 episodes left in season 6, then all of season 7). That being said, I can't promise they work for season 7, but our original list was much longer... sadly the major themes and characters change so much a lot of them became invalid.

Take 1 Drink:
- Whenever Paul or Jamie is on the phone
- Whenever we see British neighbor Maggie
- Whenever they go to the local hangout Riff’s Restaurant (or we see Ursula elsewhere)
- Whenever Paul is paranoid or neurotic
- Whenever Paul says “that’s what I’m saying” or some variant thereof (2 drinks if someone else says it)
- When they can’t get out of the house on time
- Whenever Jamie talks about work
- When we know Paul or Jamie is lying to the other
- Whenever we recognize a guest star as another television show star (Lisa Kudrow doesn't count here)
- Whenever they go A, B, or 1, 2 or some combination of those

Take 2 Drinks:
- Whenever Jamie rummages through the kitchen cabinets.
- Whenever the dog does something awesome (subjective, I know)
- Whenever Mark talks about being a doctor
- Whenever the parents meddle in their lives
- Whenever Murray chases the mouse
- Whenever Sylvia disagrees with Jamie or gives her a hard time
- Whenever we see Mr. Wicker, the Super
- Whenever they get stuck doing someone else’s job
- Whenever they mention the slanted floor


Thoughts? Additions?

How to Drink to Friends

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Okay, so back before I had my special interruptions the past couple Wednesdays, I started talking about how I was going to post some drinking games for television shows. I had about four shows in mind, and I have received one request so far (not too late to add one if you have an idea!), so this'll go for a little bit.

For the first show in this series of posts, I chose Friends because a) it's on pretty often. especially near dinner time and late at night, b) all ten seasons go on sale pretty regularly at Target and Amazon, so they're not a bad investment, c) the characters are pretty consistent so the "rules" aren't really that specific to certain seasons, and d)

Okay, so this is what I generally play by when drinking to Friends. Any other suggestions?

Take a drink when...

- Chandler makes a joke
- a "break" is mentioned
- we see Ursala
- Rachel goes on a date
- Joey is auditioning or practicing lines
- Ross mentions dinosaurs
- Monica is OCD-ish or cleaning
- Gunther obviously likes Rachel
- they drink coffee
- someone says "Oh my God" (two drinks if it's Janice)
- Joey says "how you doin'"
- Phoebe is playing music
- they talk about Ross's divorces or ex-wives
- Ross says something another Friend thinks is stupid
- Joey eats a sandwich
- Joey "doesn't get" something
- Ross and Rachel argue
- when Chandler does something generally stereotyped as metrosexual/homosexual

naturally, you could drink much more heavily if you used triggers such as "when all six are together" or something, but I'm going for casual here, folks. :)

I'll Drink to That!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Okay, so it's been a really, really long time since I've specifically asked for input from readers. I always welcome it, don't get me wrong. But comments have been scarce lately, so I'm thinking maybe there's just not been a lot of interest in some recent topics.

Ever get really bored on a Saturday night (or any other time of the week for that matter)? You have friends over and there's not much to do, so you put on some show that re-runs all the time (or that you have on DVD) and come up with a drinking game for it? This has happened to my group and we solved the boredom with drinking games for Friends and Seinfeld. My husband and I have also come up with similar games for Frasier and Mad About You. I'm really convinced that this works for most shows, you just have to really think about what the triggers will be.

So, I'm asking you guys... would you be interested in me publishing any of our drinking games to these shows? Or do you have a show that you wish you could come up with one for? I'm willing to brainstorm some on a different show. Let me know what you think, and either I'll do them on some upcoming Wednesdays or I'll come up with new things to make lists for.