Awesome TV series and why you watch them

[Squall Leonhart]

Perplexed by the fact that I was not, in fact, the only person that watch(ed) Boston Legal, I feel inspired to open up and talk about me and television for a while.

Normally, I only turn on the TV for video games, since I'm uninterested in everything that goes on (I wrote something about that once, though it's in Spanish). This, because we don't have cable nor anything, so if I get to like a show (which is hard, since I'm not looking for anything to watch), I usually have to look for other means.

The first show I started to watch since I first started my TV boycott was The Practice, which was really "Season 0" of Boston Legal, thanks to an activity we had at university once and were required to watch an episode and make an analysis of it, where Alan is representing a childhood friend who is the prime suspect in a murder. I was attracted to the ambiguity of Alan's ethics (or lack thereof), that I started to follow the series, right to the end. I would not shut up about the guy and how awesome he is.

However, people would often say "You know, that kinda sounds like Dr. House, and I think he's a better character". This kinda pissed me off, since they didn't know the character in question, and refused to watch the series when I recommended it. Regardless, I was biased as well, since I had never devotedly watched anything other than Boston Legal.

Determined to find who was a better human being among the two characters ( Alan Shore), and because Boston Legal had been can'd, I started to watch House, which I also started to like because of House, his imperfections and his overall approach to life. I still follow the series.

But! Once, during a party, I was helping to clean up when I noticed this British guy (Tim Roth), at some wedding and was trying to figure out something about a murderer. I didn't really understand the thing at the time, but it poked my interest, which I could get back until a few days ago. This series, I later learned, is Lie to Me, the main character being Cal Lightman, a Doctor of sorts that can see through people's deceptions. It's fairly new, compared to the other two, but it's quite interesting so far.

In the end, I believe these series have greatly contributed to the person I am becoming today, and I think this is something other shows don't normally consider, but, it has helped to establish a deeper bond among the viewer (me) and the character I see displayed; identifying with certain elements about them and leaving a decision open among several topics in question (especially in Boston Legal and Alan's ethically challenged behavior).

So, among finding out if there's anybody else that find these particular three shows awesome, I guess we can also talk about what TV series you watch and why you think are awesome.

[Bells]

Supernatural: It is one of the best shows i ever saw on TV. Period. Characters are amazing, from the good guys, to the bad guys to the background cast. Story is solid, pacing is great, the show balances drama and comedy with perfection... their take on the superntural mythos is one of the best, and right now on Tv, the best.

Burn Notice: The story is a fun, solid, goofy affair. It's the best cross of James Bond and Macyver you could possible get on the XXI Century. The spy tips are great little trivia, the characters are all very likeable. The plot is a tad slow but consistently going foward, and for such an absurd premise, the entire thing is believable in it's core.

Dexter: The show has its ups and downs. But overall, Dexter is just an amazing concept with great execution. The sub plots and secondary characters slow things down a bit, but when Dexter is on the screen things flow nicely. And now the series is approaching it's ending, they gave Dexter the most well polished Nemesis possible.

The Big Bang Theory: It's a Sitcom, but i really do like it. They try to poke into a somewhat novel region with Comedy, and generally create some quirky and funny situations with well placed characters are nicely paced comedy. It replaced Scrubs for me, as a good 20 minutes goof-off on the weekdays.

[EVILNess]

I agree with Bells on Burn Notice, but I do find it kinda jarring when the characters are doing the episode's job then HEY here they are dealing with the series' ongoing story arc. But hey, Bruce Campbell. Also the show has great banter!

Speaking of great banter, NCIS and Castle. I love the interactions between DiNozzo and Mcgee on NCIS and Gibbs is a glorious bastard with a penchant for justice. Also having Abby, the best crime solving perky-goth ever, gives a great show another awesome notch.

Nathan Fillion is just down right awesome, I was a fan of his before he did Firefly and even today he has a timing and penchant for banter that few actors can pull off.

[Sky Warrior Bob]

The Invisible Man. First season rocked & rocked hard. 2nd season was a bit watered down, and had too many network suggested elements (at least that's my assumption of what must have happened. Still, its a shame there wasn't a 3rd season.

Brimestone. Great show, and great premise. Only 1 season.

Nowhere Man. Starts off a bit clunky, but really gets involved towards the end. Only one season.

Apparently, all the shows I really like only get one season. Guess I've just got odd tastes.

SWB

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Originally Posted by Bells

Supernatural: It is one of the best shows i ever saw on TV. Period. Characters are amazing, from the good guys, to the bad guys to the background cast. Story is solid, pacing is great, the show balances drama and comedy with perfection... their take on the superntural mythos is one of the best, and right now on Tv, the best.

I watched the first season, (hell I even bought it on dvd) but then realised that it was actually extremely boring. I duno why, but for some reason the whole thing just seemed really formulaic to me. There was never any tension, or scares, or mystery or anything. The very first episode was at least interesting, and was at least partly freaky, with that ghost chick and that and I'd hoped it would continue with that idea, but it was the only time they did that. Every other time they faced ghosts after that (which seemed to be a hell of a lot of the time) I found myself yawning. But then I haven't watched it in like, 2 and half/3 seasons/whatever season they're on to now.


As for my own favourite shows, give me some Stargate any day of the week (and yes, I do know it's completely over the top and quite formulaic as well, but it has action and great dialgue, so it's awesome). Sadly that's finished now too, except for Universe, which is awhole different thing.

There's not much else on tv that's really that great right now, except maybe Sanctuary, I've gotten quite into that as of late.

[Solid Snake]

If you're not counting the likes of Stephen Colbert's program, I watch four television shows that are currently running with some degree of regularity:

LOST: While calling it the 'smartest show on television' would be an immense disservice to the vastly superior first 2.5 seasons or so of Battlestar Galactica, I still have a huge soft spot for LOST, which I started watching from the Pilot episode. "Walkabout" hooked me permanently, and I've stuck with LOST through thick and thin ever since. Michael Emerson as Ben and Terry O'Quinn as Locke are both amazing, and Henry Ian Cusick also does a phenomenal job as Desmond. The show's mythology is sometimes clever, sometimes borderline insulting to its fan, but what really elevates LOST are its actors and their performances, who are almost uniformly superb. The emphasis on characters (through flashbacks and just great storytelling all around) over plot really helps LOST stay grounded -- Heroes and other shows could learn a lot from how LOST handles its plotlines. After its last season ends, I will dearly miss this show.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: I consider IASiP the spiritual successor to Arrested Development. It can't quite compare to AD -- AD is, after all, the greatest television show ever made -- but it comes pretty damn close. Always Sunny is about a bunch of misanthropic, thoroughly unlikable idiots who you find yourself rooting for, against all odds. The characters are delightfully quirky even though they're all utterly irredeemable. The standout is Charlie Day as Charlie, but all the regulars do a damn fine job with their roles.

Glee: This is pretty much my guilty pleasure show, insofar as there's no logical justification for liking it beyond...just...liking it? I mean from an objective standpoint the characters are ludicrously stereotypical, the plotlines are predictable and trite, the comedy sequences aren't consistently funny, and not all of the actors bring their A games. Unlike on shows like LOST, the characters here seem resistant to evolving (how many times is Mercedes going to play the 'I'm a spurned diva with hidden talents' routine before everyone finally acknowledges her talent and moves on?) There are moments I actually intensely dislike Glee -- most notably when the show finds new and unique ways to unrealistically screw around with poor Finn -- but those few moments are overridden by the intense joy in their musical numbers and the sheer nostalgia I feel as someone who was involved in musical theater performances in my high school days. Also, Sue Sylvester is perhaps one of the greatest villains on television. I adore her one-liners and wish the show merely comprised of her relentlessly mocking every other character.

House: It's been on a decline over the past couple seasons and it's no longer the bastion it was around, say, Season Two. Really, the problem with House right now is there are only two characters I really like (House and Wilson), and everyone else is unimportant unless they're interacting with (or their actions are indirectly impacting) House or Wilson. Cuddy's become an annoying two-dimensional cliche (seriously, I'd root for House and Wilson getting together before I'd support House settling for her) and Cameron, my one other favorite character, was recently axed from the show entirely without any justification. Taub has his moments -- I find him the least dislikable of the 'newbies', which I suppose is a pseudo-compliment -- but I hate Foreman and Thirteen and their bullshit melodrama, and since he murdered a dictator and subsequently acted like a lost, submissive shell of a man instead of sticking up for himself and defending his marriage, I've grown sick of Chase, too. Really what needs to happen is, House and Wilson need to transfer to another hospital, and we need an entirely new cast of likable characters. The perfect solution? Have House and Wilson transfer to Scrubs, and have Elliott, Turk, JD and (most importantly) Dr. Cox join the team. Delightful. (Seriously if there's one crossover I'd die to see, it'd simply be a scene in which House and Dr. Cox interacted, over absolutely any subject.)

Oh, and I used to watch The Office. I still do watch The Office occasionally, but I no longer consider myself a regular viewer. I fear House will someday finish sliding down the slippery slope that claimed The Office. That would be a sad day.

[Magus]

Have to second Dexter, the season finale this year was phenomenal, and John Lithgow just made such a good villain this season (I thought he was a lot more interesting than Jimmy Smits' character last year).

I don't watch a lot of tv series. I watch Legend of the Seeker but it's pretty difficult for me to describe it as "awesome".

I watch a lot of the History Channel. Ancient Discoveries is awesome. Never get enough of that show.

[Bells]

Well, i do enjoy House. But it's a second tier series for me right now. Mostly for what was already said... House and Wilson rule all.

And somewhere, somehow, someone is making a Cox / House crossover ... in a much more awesome unniverse than ours such things happen.

But outside your commo Tv series, of course i'm still a huge Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs fan. If there is a episode on, i'll watch it.

Sadly it's hard to keep up with all those shows, so sometimes i have to catch up with them online. And Discovery series are a bitch to catch on the web

EDIT:

John Lithgow just made such a good villain this season

Funny thing, every time i see him on screen i still go "Hey! Dick Solomon!..."

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Supernatural: Cause Castiel sets demon bitches on fire.

Dexter: Great charactes and interesting plots.

I'm a fan of Always Sunny and Glee, but I'm looking forward to True Blood's return. Does Death Note count cause I started this week and just got to the confrontation with Higuchi the third Kira.

[BloodyMage]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

LOST: While calling it the 'smartest show on television' would be an immense disservice to the vastly superior first 2.5 seasons or so of Battlestar Galactica, I still have a huge soft spot for LOST, which I started watching from the Pilot episode. "Walkabout" hooked me permanently, and I've stuck with LOST through thick and thin ever since. Michael Emerson as Ben and Terry O'Quinn as Locke are both amazing, and Henry Ian Cusick also does a phenomenal job as Desmond. The show's mythology is sometimes clever, sometimes borderline insulting to its fan, but what really elevates LOST are its actors and their performances, who are almost uniformly superb. The emphasis on characters (through flashbacks and just great storytelling all around) over plot really helps LOST stay grounded -- Heroes and other shows could learn a lot from how LOST handles its plotlines. After its last season ends, I will dearly miss this show. .

I agree with this so much. I probably would call it the smartest show on television but that's only because I've never seen Battlestar Galactica.

I continue to watch Supernatural, House as well as a bunch of comedies. From the comedies Big Bang Theory sticks out. I find it really funny, and the characters are very likeable. It's very well written too, and it definitely deserves all the hype it's getting. I'm also watching How I met your mother, Two and a half men and Scrubs but none of those really compare.

Better off Ted is one show I'd like to bring attention to though. It's doing abysmally in ratings, but I really like it. Ted is a nice character, and I find myself emphasising with him being stuck between doing what the company asks and what he knows is right. Lem and Phil are funny characters, and none of the characters are really one dimension. Also, it's funny. Too bad this is probably gonna be the last season.