Looking through the TV shows sub-board and in general just talking to friends and people at work about stuff, I'm starting to realize how lucky we've been over the past few years with how good some of the stuff on TV has been (there is also some pure shit, but that's not the point here). It got me thinking, though, that if I had to pick my #1 show, what would it be? Of course in that case, most good TV should be separated between the 30 minute sitcoms and the hour long dramas. And so... Focus: What is your #1 all time 30 minute sitcom, and your #1 all time drama TV show? None of that "Well I can't really decide, so here are my top 3..." bullshit. Make up your fucking mind, and let us know. Feel free though to add a little rundown of your runner ups and why you made that choice.
My Picks: Sitcom: Seinfeld Drama: Lost It's pretty damn hard to come up with just one, especially in the sitcoms where there is such a divide in my mind between the old stuff like Seinfeld, Cheers, Full House, Fresh Prince, etc and the new(er) stuff like Archer, The Community, Futurama, Always Sunny, Arrested Development and so on. I have just always loved Seinfeld so much that it had to go in the number one spot for me. Always Sunny and Archer were pretty damn close though, especially if I wanted to go more for the newer shows. There may be some rose-colored nostalgia glasses coming into play here, but whatever, I made my choice. With Lost, all I had to think about was how involved I got in the show. It wasn't just a case of watching each week and thinking "yeah, that was good" like I do most other shows. Every week I was glued to the screen to watch, and then spent way too much time between episodes reading the Lost thread here, going over fan theories on Lostpedia, constantly talking about it with friends and all that kind of stuff. No other show has had that effect on me. Also, I don't remember actually crying while watching any other show either. I am missing out on a few things, like Breaking Bad, but I don't see any of that likely changing my mind. The two closest shows that really made me think were Game of Thrones (which I really just want to wait until the series ends to make any kind of real decision on it) and Battlestar Galactica.
Does animation count? If so, South Park for 30 minute comedy. If not, Seinfeld for 30 minute sitcom. Drama: The Wire.
Comedy: Seinfeld Drama: The Sopranos. Though after watching Deadwood four complete times I'll have to rewatch The Sopranos all the way through and see if the quality of the entirety of the show equals that of Deadwood. I haven't seen The Wire and every sucks its cock, Im willing to give it a try but if it is as heavy handed in politics like Treme it ain't getting top of the line marks.
Comedy: Scrubs. The show was built around a lot of these wonderful insights that really came down to people being human and making the big decision in the end about life. Also hilarious that Zach Braff played this super soft guy, but in reality is a raging asshole. Drama: I don't want to default to The Wire, so I'm going to go with Friday Night Lights. The actors had leeway with their lines and made them the characters. Had the best depiction of a marriage I have seen on any show, Aimee Teagarden is cute as all fuck, football, football, football, Tim Riggins and of course the show always made you feel better about life.
That's another one that is pretty damn high on my list. I read somewhere that out of all medical related shows that have been on TV, scrubs is the most accurate out of all of them both in the straight medical content and also in the way that people working in a hospital together interact with one another.
#1 30 minute sit-com: Community. Most of the shows that NBC has played on Thursday nights have been shows I enjoy, but there is something about Community that sticks out as my favorite. #1 Drama: Does Doctor Who count as a drama. If so, that's my favorite. It's my favorite show on television right now. The only shows that I've ever liked more than Doctor Who is Pee-Wee's Playhouse when I was 2.
30 Minute Sitcom - South Park I've literally watched every episode the day and time it came out, it's the only sitcom I can say that about, so it wins. I still think the funniest thing they ever did was pulling the April Fools prank where they showed Terrance & Phillip's "Not Without My Anus" instead of the second part of the "Who's Cartman's father?" storyline. 60 Minute Drama - LOST Not even a contest, I couldn't begin to count the number of words I've typed reviewing, theorizing and discussing every single episode with you fine folk and elsewhere. If I had "Fuck You" money at the time, I'd have bought every single piece of the LOST auction that took place after the show ended and I'd have gotten piss drunk off Dharma beer and drove the VW van like a maniac listening to Geronimo Jackson.
It's really hard to narrow down a sit-com for me but I'll go with Night Court. Particularly once it matured a bit, the stories they told could get really character driven while still being hilarious and Bull Shannon was the best dude in the world. Close runner ups: Head of the Class, Seinfeld My favorite "Drama" would be Babylon 5, hands down. A show planned from beginning to end, structured like a novel, in which the creator knew the history and backstory and future story to the nth degree. Stuff in season four was hinted at in season one, time travel that was internally cohesive, amazing character focus and growth, groundbreaking CGI for the mid-90s, and an awesome ending(s) that did not disappoint. I can talk about why this show is amazing for hours on end. The best show ever done on TV. Close runner ups: West Wing, Oz,
Sitcom: Arrested Development (Seinfeld is close though) 1-hour Drama: Tie between LOST and Breaking Bad
30 Minute Sitcom: The Office. It took me a while to get into but I love the characters and the acting in The Office. I can definitely see how some people wouldn't like it. This is the only sitcom that I've ever planned an evening around and did so for the my senior year of high school and throughout college. 60 Minute Drama: The Wire. Cliche I know but holy fuck. If you haven't seen the Wire you're missing out on the best social commentary ever filmed. There's a reason why entire classes are taught on the show at some of the elite universities of the United States. It's fucking incredible.
30 minute sitcom: I'll have to choose The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I just can't get tired of Will's cheese ball pick up lines, Geoffrey's sarcasm or Jazz getting thrown out of the house. Hilary was pretty hot too. So many great episodes. 60 minute drama: Oz is number 1 for me. There were a lot of strong characters with Vern Shilinger being one of the most evil villians I have seen. I actually bought all of the DVD's for this show, it'll always be a favourite of mine.
30 Minute Sitcom: How I Met Your Mother 60 Minute Drama: Justified. It's still a new show but it just really stands out to me.
30 minute Sitcom: I have to go with Scrubs as well. I've been marathoning it, and even though the likability for JD goes down as the series moves on, the other characters (especially Turk and Dr. Cox) make the show worth watching. They have a great core cast, excellent secondary characters (Ted is an awesome character), and also great throw-away small characters that make for good, small one-note jokes (i.e. Dr. Beardface, Snoop-Dog Resident/Attending). It is almost a live-action Simpsons feel in that way, in that they did with Sacred Heart Hospital what the Simpsons did with Springfield: populated it and made it feel real and lived in. Honorable Mentions: Futurama - I feel like there aren't a lot of cartoons that can do what Futurama does. It is off-the-wall crazy at times, and other times it can make you cry (If you didn't cry at the end of Jurassic Bark, you have no heart), but somehow you find yourself really caring about these characters. The voice acting is absolutely awesome, as well. Plus, I mean, my avatar. Seinfeld - Honestly, I love this show, but it feels kind of dated as I watch it recently. 60 minute Drama: Breaking Bad. I just love this show and everything about it, and it has me completely hooked. Honorable Mentions: Rescue Me - I really, really dug this show. The scenes in the firehouse between the guys could be absolutely hilarious, and then it can turn around and be a complete gut punch when they go into a fire. Watching how those guys deal with running into fires and risking their lives is really great (and they were sticklers for realism, and consistently had real life fire fighters on set as extras and consultants). It is also that interesting juxtaposition of having characters that are so together at work, and so absolutely fucked up in their personal lives. They can handle risking their lives in a fire, but can't handle something like monogamy. The Wire - Do I have to explain it? Many, many people think this is the greatest drama ever, and while I think it is amazing, I just enjoy Breaking Bad more. Just a personal preference thing.
30 Minute Sitcom: This one is a no-brainer: The Simpsons. I know that there have only been maybe 10-20 good episodes since season 8 (1996-1997), but nothing beats seasons 3-8 of The Simpsons. I can watch most of the episodes from those seasons (there were a few not so good episodes in seasons 7 and 8) over and over again without getting tired of them. There is no other television show that I can say that about. My top five favorite episodes off the top of my head are "'Round Springfield," "Lisa's First Word," "Lisa's Date with Density," "Burns, Baby Burns" and "Homer's Enemy." Honorable Mentions: It is borderline by genre, but The Wonder Years would probably be my second choice. I like the older episodes of South Park, but I think that the show went downhill around the time of the whole Scientology debacle. King of the Hill is high on my list as well, but as much as I like the show the episodes don't have that good of replay value to me. That '70s Show was also great for 6 seasons. 60 Minute Drama: This is another easy pick for me: Walker, Texas Ranger. When I was in middle school I always looked forward to watching Early Edition, Martial Law, and Walker, Texas Ranger on CBS every Saturday night. I have every season on DVD and the show still holds up well for me. It was a very unrealistic portrayal of police work, and most of the story lines were predictable, laughable, or even unrealistic, but there is nothing like watching Walker and Trivette kicking ass. I don't know how the show lasted for 8 seasons but I am glad that it did. Honorable Mention: The only other one that I have to mention is 24. Season 1-5 were a lot of fun to watch; the action was nonstop and kept you at the edge of your seat. I am still pissed though that the last 3 seasons of the show sucked so badly.
30 minute sitcom: Cheers. I literally grew up watching Cheers, from the time I was about seven or eight years old. And even though I do not really watch it much these days, I still tune in occasionally and vividly remember every episode. The writing was fantastic, and every actor seemed to nail their role on every episode. The show was not only funny and witty, but it also dealt with serious issues like death (Coach dying), separation (Diane moving away from Boston and leaving Sam), and failing relationships (Frasier and Lillith, Woody and Kelly). The show was flat out brilliant. 60 minute drama: 24. While definitely not the BEST drama, 24 at its peak was a gripping show that had me on the edge of my seat on a weekly basis. It dealt with the very topical issue of terrorism in a realistic manner (this is earlier on in the show, before nuclear bombs started blowing up in downtown L.A.), along with the ethical issues that come with getting information at any cost. Plus Elisha Cuthbert was in it for a while. Bonus. More recently though, I will second the earlier post naming Justified. Season three just wrapped up and the show continued to blow me away. FX really does carry some amazing shows.
30 min: How I Met Your Mother. Funny stuff usually, but it's dragging on now as we close in on the end. Arrested Development is a close second. Hour: Used to be 24 back in the day; now, I have no idea...Spartacus maybe?
For sitcoms, I guess it would have to be a late-comer: It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia. It doesn't have that disasterous wrap-up every single episode (ever) that Seinfeld had, but the fact that it's mondo more tasteless, heartless and all-around more hilarious rings it true. To have a show about five of the most repellant, selfish fucksticks imaginable and still manage to make them utterly magnetic is quite a feat. Mac is my favourite, with his forced machismo straight out of Dalton in Road House makes for the perfect amount of asshole. For drama, it's a tie between Deadwood and The Wire. They stand alone. If Deadwood had continued past season three(fuck you in your gouged-out eyeball whoever terminated it) it would be on it's own in this post with it's utter unpredictability and incredible, incomparible dialogue. The Wire is in a class on its own as well, channelling a dizzying array of characters from very different walks of life that are ALL three-dimensional, and all get their moment to shine for the viewer. The two best shows EVER made. Spartacus BARELY doesn't make the cut here. Barely.
60 Minute Drama- Easily Mad Men. While I haven't watched The Wire yet, (or Deadwood, for that matter) Mad Men is head and shoulders above every other dramatic series I have seen. (And don't even get me started on the mediocre crappola that is The Sopranos) The dialogue and story lines are exceptional, doing a great job of minding even the smallest of details. The characters are all realistic, interesting, and behave in an organic manner, all made even better by the fantastic acting. Jon Hamm in particular is one of the best actors I have seen in any medium, and the character of Don Draper is one of the most iconic and powerful ever. 30 Minute Sitcom- This is a hard one. I love Britcoms the most, and things like Black Adder and Mr. Bean are awesome, too. On the American side, Married with Children has always been one of my favorites. Futurama, the Simpsons, and the criminally overlooked The Goode Family, if they counted, are also excellent. However, I ultimately went with Keeping Up Appearances. The idea is simple; an elderly retired British woman, Hyacinth Bucket, terrorizes her neighborhood with constant nit-picking, complaining, arrogance, airs, and demands. While just a member of the middle-class, she believes herself to be allied with the aristocracy, and is constantly trying to enhance her social status. The whole time, she carries herself with the deportment of the Queen herself. The other part of the show follows the life of her sisters Daisy and Rose, who are low-class, living in a dirty, small apartment with a car that barely runs with Daisy's lazy husband Onslow, all while caring for Hyacinth's father, a senile old pervert who occasionally escapes and is usually found naked or pinching old lady's bottoms by the police. (Sometimes both) The show is absolutely hysterical, and while I love the character of Onslow, it is Patricia Routledge in the title role who absolutely carries the show. Honestly, I think hers is the finest comedic performance I have ever seen in any television series. Maybe even including movies.
Sitcom: Modern Family. Always consistently brings the funny, particularly Phil (Ty Burrell) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Honourable Mentions: The Big Bang Theory (Sheldon carries that show), South Park Drama: I'll break with convention here and say Dexter. Michael C. Hall is really fantastic in his role as the serial killer who only kills killers - he makes you feel empathy and understanding for someone who ordinarily should have none. There's some good characters in it - I laugh at almost everything that comes out of Masuka's mouth, since it's invariably perverted and/or fucked up, and Debra has some great lines too, like this: Debra is the finest example of creative swearing that I've heard on TV. I didn't get to see Deadwood, though. Honourable Mentions: The Wire, Game Of Thrones