Top 25 Favorite TV Shows

[BanksIsDaFuture]

No. 25

The Adventures of Winnie The Pooh - I'm sure I must have watched this being very little, but I don't remember it much.

Scrubs - I've seen a handful here and there and it seems ok, but I've never been dying to see them all.

The Man Show - I watched it from time to time but never loved it or looked forward to it.

Sons of Anarchy - Seen the first season, it's a very good show, and I'll start the second season later today. They're both on Netflix streaming if anyone cares.

The Twilight Zone - Strangely enough, I've never seen an episode outside of the "20,000 Feet" one.

Never heard of Countdown or The Crystal Maze (probably because they've never been remade for American audiences like everything else), and I've never seen anything from The Avengers or Northern Exposure.

[Shrykespeare]

#25

Knight Rider (NBC, 1982-86)

Yes, believe it or not, there WAS a time when David Hasselhoff was cool. Of course, when you're 13 years old, you watch a show like this for one reason only (well, two, if you count the smokin' hot Patricia McPherson)... the car. KITT, the 1982 Pontiac Trans AM with the AI chip installed (complete with British accent), was the coolest car of all time up to that point. From the time this show hit the air, preteen boys were running around playgrounds in leather jackets shouting frantically into their watches "KITT, pick me up!" (Myself included.) The theme music was pretty cool, too.

[undeadmonkey]

Sons of Anarchy - i've always wanted to see, but haven't gotten around to it.

Twilight Zone - I love it. I don't actually watch much tv on the tube anymore, but when i used to and every time this came on i would end up watching it and also it's lesser cousin The Outer Limits.


Crystal Maze - never heard or seen it, but it does remind me of legends of the hidden temple which i used to watch all the time on Nickelodeon, it got pretty intense sometimes. (well for an 8 year old)


Knight Rider - never seen it and judging from the clips it doesn't look like it's aged too well.

[numbersix]

Yeah... I dunno.... I don't think I could ever sit down and watch KnightRider as an adult

[silversurfer19]

Scrubs: Oh dear, Surfer, will this be the list that we won't match?

Quite possibly, though I'm sure there are at least half which I would say you'd enjoy from my list. Guess we'll have to wait and see...

And great to see the likes of The Twilight Zone and Crystal Maze making some lists, both were great shows. Wasn't Fort Boyard remade as a UK show and shown on Channel 5 in the late 90s also? I'm sure it was the one which had Dirty Den from Eastenders as the host, and that game was never as good as The Crystal Maze. In fact, I'll state right now, there has never been a better game show than that one. Just so much entertainment. Twilight Zone is a classic, as is that episode in particular.

Knight Rider. Hmm. I loved it when I was a kid, and I was a good decade younger than you, Shryke so obviously it had longevity, but I recently rewatched an episode when it was on tv. Didn't have quite the same impact. Kind of reminded me of how I felt about Airwolf and The A Team when I rewatched those years later.

[Shrykespeare]

Like I said at some point, some of my top TV shows are purely for nostalgic reasons. Airwolf and The A-Team were also among my favorites as a child, and I would probably not as enthusiastically watch them today. But the "loved it as a kid" factor has to count for something. Hell, I even considered "Sesame Street"!

[silversurfer19]

Considered? What do you mean, I still watch the old episodes on DVD today! (I'm not kidding, we have the DVDs).

Nostalgia plays a part in one or two of my picks, but mostly they are ones I still watch to this day, whether they are still being broadcast or the series ended 15 years ago.

[numbersix]

The only reason I put Countdown ahead of The Crystal Maze is that CM is essentially a passive experience (although a very tense one), whereas Countdown begs you to participate and ultimately better yourself. Or tear your hair out because you can only get a 4-letter word!

[Shrykespeare]

As a Scrabble enthusiast who has trained his brain to look for anagrams and such, I would totally kick ass at that show.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Shryke, did you check out that Knight Rider remake NBC had a few years ago?

[Shrykespeare]

Yes. I turned it off within 15 minutes. Some things should not be remade, rebooted or updated.

[Leestu]

The original Twilight Zone is great, even the theme music has become iconic. One day I would like to get around to watching every episode (but not on youtube - I'd rather watch from the comfort of my couch). I've got the first two seasons of the reboot and they just don't compare to the original.

Never seen Crystal Maze but it does look like fun.

I too watched Knight Rider as a kid. I remember that it was one of the first shows I looked forward to watching when I first heard the premise and watched from the very first episode, but like every tv show I used to love as a kid when I rewatch an episode years later as an adult nostalgia just doesn't cut it. I realise now that unlike music I had shit taste in tv shows as a kid. Only two shows that I used to watch when I was young have made my list and both of those I still like watching as an adult because they are damn good shows with or without any nostalgia factor.

[Buscemi]

My second one.

Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High (1987-1992, CBC/PBS)

The series that began the Degrassi franchise in Canada (technically, there was The Kids of Degrassi Street before it but that was for a different audience). The lives of students in an Ontario suburb is among some of the most real and raw depictions of teen life ever depicted on television. Sure some of the episodes (mostly in the first season) are cheesy (Eggbert in particular) but it has some excellent story arcs and plenty of great characters to go around. The later seasons are the best of the series but the early seasons are required viewing to understand everything that is going on.

As for the later (and more known) Degrassi: The Next Generation, I have only seen the first season. It carries on the storytelling skills of the original series and having many of the original cast members (Spike became really good-looking inbetween the two series and I never expected Joey to go bald) was a nice touch. I've read the more recent seasons (which Nickelodeon got a large amount of creative control) aren't so good and that it lost its touch around Season 7.

[Geezer]

GEEZER'S NUMBER 24

Pardon the Interruption (ESPN, 2001-Present)

This show runs 5 days a week on ESPN and stars Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser as the primary hosts, and others sometimes fill in (Dan LeBatard, Bob Ryan, Bill Simmons, etc...). Stat Boy Tony Reali hosts a few segments for the boys and always "tells them where they messed up" at the end of each show. The premise is simple, on the right side of the screen is a list of sports topics (sometimes intermitent with news or pop culture items) and they have a certain time period to talk about each toic before a bell rings and they move on to the next one. They have segments like 5 good minutes (an interview segment), oddsmakers, over/under and role play (in which they pretend to be an athlete or other figure while holding up a head on a stick). What makes the show exceptional is the chemistry between the hosts. They have known each other for decades and are hilarious together. Most ESPN original programming isn't all that good, but PTI continues to be strong day after day, year after year. Its a strong format to get your daily sports stories from fun and insightful hosts. I've watched hundreds upon hundreds of episodes of this show. that's why it comes in at number 24 for me.

Here's an old clip, but its a good example of the back and forth between the hosts, it cuts around, but its perfect for our purposes here. It won't embed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQRnuCkK8uA&

And this one has Tony dressed up like a Pilgrim.

[undeadmonkey]

Show #24




undeadmonkey

The Munsters (1964–1966, CBS)



An average 1950s family sitcom of an average american family, except that they were all monsters. It's a genius little spoof twist. While the Addams Family aired at the same time and was more popular at the time, i prefer the munsters over them. They were homely and down to earth. The production design was fantastic from the big victorian house to all the gothic little details. I used to love watching this on nick@nite, along with the other classic shows. great stuff


numbersix

24. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003, WB/UPN)


I could start with all the cultural reasons why this show was great, but first and foremost I watched this show because of my raging crush on Buffy. Fortunately, Sarah Michelle Geller’s subsequent career killed that impossible dream. But the show was a surprisingly daring one. Rather than ending up as the same old tired, episodic excuse for the occasional fight and teen romance, Buffy capitalized on Gen X with its witty and sarcastic dialogue, with self-conscious characters taking on the undead, yet while still paying attention to the pangs of adolescence.

At times it was fun, but I appreciate Joss Whedon’s ability to toy with the format and take risks. For example one episode had Buffy’ mother die, and it was devoid of any soundtrack or action, focusing entirely on character and performance. Another was a parody of musicals. Or who could forget the self-consciously ironic addition of Buffy’s sister, who was never once mentioned in previous series, only to reveal that the sister was actually a mystical object and the characters were under a spell and thus satirizing the obligatory of adding new character to make the show feel “fresh”. And of course, the show had some great characters, including the initially antagonistic punk British vampire Spike who eventually became Buffy’s lover and reluctant hero.





silverersurfer

24. Red Dwarf (1988-93), BBC Two.


Red Dwarf was one of those series, it was seriously bizarre and would probably struggle to get made nowadays due to it's alternative slant on comedy, but it was comedic genius. The premise chronicles the adventures of a collection of the most absurd shipmates on a Spacebug three million years into the future. The cast included Lister, the last human being alive, Rimmer, a hologram and Lister's annoying bunkmate, Kryten, a clean freak cyborg, and finally the Kat (and he is called "the" Kat), a fashion conscious evolution of Lister's pet cat. Most of it's early seasons were made on a very tight budget, and while it's low cost look is charming, it was also quite an achievement as well. The series also showcased smart sci-fi concepts and mixed it up with some lowbrow humour (think Hitchhiker's Guide) to hilarious effect, and while the series took a slight nosedive as the series progressed due to a falling out between the two creators, when the show was at it's peak, it was so much fun. The episode I have included is Marooned, one of my own personal favourites. The Lister/Rimmer dynamic has always been the heart of Red Dwarf, and never has it been explored better than in this episode where the two become stranded on an ice planet. With seemingly no hope of rescue, they must do the unthinkable: communicate!