My Favorite Television Shows
Submitted by buddy on Wed, 06/01/2005 - 07:47
Tags:
- COMEDIES
- Seinfeld Ingenius. The backwards episode is still one of my favourites. "He schnapped me!"
- Animaniacs Definitely not just for kids. Their "Who's on Stage" skit references not only Abbott and Costello, but many 70's rock bands as well. Brilliant.
- Looney Tunes The original, and still the best. They never should have edited out the cigar smoking and gambling, though. Introduced me to classical music, leading to an eventual degree.
- Family Guy I've only seen a few episodes, but it's funny as hell. I'm fond of Stewie.
- Futurama If it hadn't been for the Simpsons, I suspect this show would be hailed much more. Funny and clever.
- The Simpsons Who doesn't like the Simpsons? My favourite is Bart, who closely follows Bugs Bunny in my grand scale of cartoon characters.
- The Drew Carey Show Ah, Buzz Beer. Stay up late and get drunk all over again.
- The Wonder Years I watched this show, but I can't really recall liking any particular episodes over any others. The nostalgic value alone is what sells it, I think. And the voiceover is so easy to parody. I've had a frightening number of people tell me I look like Winnie Cooper. Eek.
- Duckman Rough and rude, this was a perfect graduation for me from children's cartoons.
- Coupling I first saw the American version, which was marginally funny. The British one is just brilliant.
- Andy Richter Controls the Universe Why did this show not catch on? So much funnier than many of the "comedies" already on tv.
- Arrested Development I love this show, and it is only partly due to my crush on the grown-up Jason Bateman. Stellar cast.
- The Tick (Cartoon) In my opinion, this cartoon surpassed both the original comic book and the live-action tv show. Part parody, part surrealist comedy, part straight-up cartoon adventure, I took great delight in catching this show whenever it was playing on the Cartoon Network. What baffles me is why the powers that be decided it was necessary to dumb-down the live-action version.
- Nighty Night This show was more a mini-series on British television. Described as “a West Country version of Fatal Attraction”, this show is the brain-child of Julia Davis. It is so cringingly dark and cruel, it can be challenging to watch. The British excel at uncomfortable comedy.
- That 70’s Show This manages to be touching and funny without relying solely on “remember that”-style comedy. Topher Grace does a fine job of carrying the show on his scrawny shoulders. I haven’t caught anything past the first few seasons, so I can’t comment on if the show is still as good as it was.
- DRAMA / SERIOUS
- House A cranky, sarcastic, drug-addicted genius? Love it. Add in a sexy five o'clock shadow and the tiniest hint of a lisp, and I'm hooked. AND it has nerdy scientific detail. My Wednesday nights are now spoken for.
- CSI and CSI Miami I’ve always had a keen interest in forensics, and these shows are technically-focussed enough to appease the nerd in me. I would watch CSI: New York if it was on in the UK, but it’s not.
- Desperate Housewives Marcia Cross is truly a talented actress. She’s managed, in just a portion of a season, to portray a deeply complicated and not always perfect woman, doing her best to hold her life together. Just barely beneath that veneer of polished perfection is a passionate and intelligent woman, and Cross portrays her beautifully. Teri Hatcher is sorely overrated on this show, when she’s so clearly outshone by most of her colleagues. Also, because it’s done so well, I can forgive myself for taking such delight in its tawdry storyline.
- Star Trek (Various incarnations) I’m not a die-hard fan, and I couldn’t recall specific episodes, but I love these shows. Not quite so fond of the original, though I recall being into it when I was little (before Next Generation). I would date Picard any day of the week, and Sisko was pretty sexy as well. I catch the occasional Voyager and Enterprise still, and they’re pretty solid. This is the extent of my science fiction viewing, though.
Author Comments:
In general I much prefer comedies to dramas. The Sopranos is brilliant, but requires a time commitment I just can't make. At the moment the only show I make sure to watch with regularity is Desperate Housewives .
Cloned From:
Can't believe I haven't commented on this. Top list.
Thanks! IIRC you're in the UK, right? Did you ever catch a short-lived series called (something like) The Fifteenth Floor? I can't find anyone who remembers it, but I thought it was funny as hell.
Yep, I'm in the UK - don't recall that show. Any idea who was in it/when it aired?
Wow, it takes some work to find a show when you don't know its title. It was called 15 Storeys High.
I finally caught this show just last month! A great comedy.