My friend Elizabeth recently posted about her top 10 TV shows and I thought, Hey, I like TV, I should do one of these too. So here we are, in chronological-ish order.
I Love Lucy
I was maybe five or so when I told my mom about a “new,” hilarious TV show I’d discovered. It was right about then when I also discovered “reruns.”
Seinfeld
Seinfeld was maybe what turned me into a funny snob. To this day, if people say they don’t like Seinfeld, I assume they have a terrible sense of humor because how do you not like Seinfeld? I watched this every Thursday night with my parents and maybe we cried a little when it was over.
Will & Grace
While most people were obsessively watching Friends during this time, I was a Will & Grace fan. This is a series that has held up, too. If I catch a rerun now, it’s still as funny and on point as when it originally aired.
Sex and the City
My parents and I watched this every Sunday, and sometimes that was very awkward, but I feel like this show set the stage for all the great TV we have now on the premium channels; this sort of no rules television where you can say fuck because normal people in that situation would say fuck, so they should be able to say fuck and we should be able to see it on our TV. My favorite episode of the series is episode two of season four, when Carrie is a model. A cameo by Kevyn Aucoin, can you ask for more?
Friday Night Lights
Chris and I binge-watched FNL when we were both on leave when LG was first born. It will always hold a special place in my heart because of that, but I do sort of wonder if it would hold up for me now. As luck would have it, this is one of those shows that is not in reruns anywhere, so I guess all I have are my mem’ries.
Mad Men
I think the single greatest first episode of a TV show ever was the first episode of Mad Men. I’ll be mourning its end next year. (Also, if you’re not reading Entertainment Weekly’s recaps on this show each week, you’re missing out. They catch all the little nuances–what’s on Don Draper’s TV or what song was playing during a particular scene, what was going on historically that week–and they break down all the details Matthew Weiner wants us to see.)
Sons of Anarchy and Homeland
I’m lumping these together because Homeland is still pretty new and I was a little late to the game on SOA, so I feel like I can’t really claim ownership of it like I can with other shows. Anyway, both these shows do big things that others are afraid to. They kill off characters when it makes sense, even if it devastates the audience. SOA is horribly violent and Homeland is a little terrifying in the sense that I’m sure a lot of it is very true to what goes on internationally right now, but both shows are very real, with real people who you can relate to, even if you’re not in the CIA or a motorcycle club. (Kurt Sutter has said he puts a ton of work into vetting the storylines/details with actual members of MCs to make sure it’s authentic.)
Breaking Bad
Okay, so we weren’t hip to this show from the start, but we binge-watched all 62 episodes earlier this year, so I think you can say we committed in the end.
How I Met Your Mother
When it was good, it was really good (the Barney Stinson/Doogie Howser throwback scene was genius.) While I was happy with the series ending, I was not happy about the last season as a whole. Win some, lose some. Regardless, this is one of the few sitcoms I’ve gotten into in recent years, which is sad because I love sitcoms and most of them suck now.
Honorable Mentions (aka: Shows I Never Finished But Still Loved)
Friends
I did love this show, although it petered out for me around the time Joey and Rachel started dating. The gang’s trip to Vegas remains some of the best episodes on television, however. “I found my hand twin!” … “Oh you’re so lucky.”
Grey’s Anatomy
I started watching this when it first premiered. I’d just moved to San Diego and here were people my age-ish, being adults that I could relate to (more my age/demographic than SATC or Friends.) I stopped watching during the writers’ strike and never got back into it (I actually can’t believe it’s still on the air), but if I see a rerun, I’ll watch it for fun and remember 2005 fondly.
The Sopranos
This was another one my parents and I watched religiously together. Then I moved out and didn’t have cable and never finished the series (although I do know how it ends.) Maybe this is one Chris and I will need to rewatch from the beginning.
I feel like I missed so many shows that I should add to this list. I may need to do a part two. Anyway, What about you? What are your top TV shows?
No West Wing?! (Also FNL is on Netflix, wherein I watch it still from time to time)
I’m also an unabashed lover of ER.
I never watched West Wing! I KNOW!
I was just literally scrolling down to say ‘Where is The West Wing? Because man, I think that show is the best thing I’ve ever seen on tv. Like Daisy, I was also a huge ER fan and might have shed a tear when it finished.
I like/watch everything on your list except Seinfeld, not because I don’t like it but because it was only ever shown at really obscure times in the UK (2am on a channel that few people watch) so it completely passed me by. I should give it a go one of these days tho’!
Oh, Kevyn Aucoin.
Do you know that one of my biggest beefs with Allure is that they NEVER wrote a memoriam for him when he passed? And he wrote a column for them! Boo, Allure. BOO.