Top 25 Favorite TV Shows

[ROBDude]

OK Undeadmonkey, I apologize for the hijacking. Luckily, I replaced the post with a note that i erased the post and is located in a new thread: Fantaverse Top 100 Worst Films Ever Made.

[ROBDude]

True Blood: It went too far into the world of camp. Too Twilight.

Agreed, I'm a pretty big fan of True Blood and considered for my list, but it's become repetitive and stale. I feel like I watch it just because I've invested 3 seasons already, why bail now? But if Season 4 continues to be soooo stupid (the vampire in the public light was a good premise for the show, but adding werewolves, were-panthers, shape-shifters, fairies, demons, and now witches?) it won't be long before I drop it altogether.

Did you watch the Screen test Teaser?

[undeadmonkey]

i actually love the campiness of it. it was campy to begin with and it's intentional. although i wouldn't consider it for my top 25.

[silversurfer19]

Glad to see you liked the clip of Monkey Dust, six, it really was a boundary breaker for me in terms of animation and tv in general, with it's indictment of modern culture, politics and New Labour in particular clearly damned in a series which used satire and dark humour to profound effect. That's not to say it's overly political, it was just an element of the narrative which the shows creators swiped at, mostly it was just a very dark series which probed often taboo subjects such as murder, suicide and paedophilia. unfortunately the show only lasted three series, as it ended after it's creator Harry Thompson died, and further damning is that only one series was ever released on DVD. Still it's a sharp and infectiously funny comedy series which wasn't afraid to poke and prod those who seemed impenetrable.

Check out other characters from the series such as Ivan Dobsky - the meat safe murder, Daisy Harris press conference, Divorced Dad, The Classically Trained Actor and The Chat Room Pervert, all are the stand out sketches from the series.

[undeadmonkey]

Show #13




undeadmonkey

Growing Pains (1985-1992, ABC)




premise: sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together.

loved this show as a child. another show that i haven't seen in a long time, but have fond memories of it and would watch them again if they would just all be released on dvd.

numbersix

Das Boot (varies, but I’ll say 1984, WDR/SDR/BBC2)



This is a controversial one, because I believe it was a film first, but the vast amount of footage filmed enabled the makers to create a serialised version that hit TV in the 80’s, as 6 50-minute episodes. I like Wolfgang Peterson’s movie, and indeed it was the movie I was familiar with first. But when the series was repeated on TV I saw how much extended scenes opened up the life of the crew.

It’s funny to see a film from the German viewpoint, enabling us to understand that these men weren’t part of some fascist philosophy, that they were just men working damn hard to put food on their families’ tables. It also brilliantly realised, making the submarine feel like the sweaty, claustrophobic nightmare that it must have been. It is for me vastly superior to the movie and brilliant drama.

I should add that there are other TV dramas that were also reduced to make movies (like Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage and Fanny and Alexander), and they just missed my list.



silversurfer


The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), CBS

The Twilight Zone was one of those programmes you always KNEW of, but hadn't actually watched. At least that was the way for me. I seem to remember growing up and it being on at some ungodly hour so I never had the opportunity to see it. However, a few years ago we picked up the original series boxset, and one boxset after another we became slightly obsessed with it's paranormal and dystopian events. Rod Serling's voice, which introduced every episode, sets the tone with an almost documentary like analysis of what stories so weird and disturbing, they could only take place in... The Twilight Zone. Highly creative, inventive and influential, The Twilight Zone was able to bring story after story of the weird and bizarre and craft an addictive show, always brought to a conclusion with some kind of message or moral lesson. I present a particular favourite of mine in its three segments, The Eye Of The Beholder:

[Buscemi]

Day 15: Police Squad! (1982, ABC)

Short-lived but a complete laugh riot. Over its six episodes, many jokes are to be found and more jokes are hidden and likely to found in future viewings. Leslie Nielsen does his first portrayal of his most famous characters and does a great job. May he rest in peace.

[W]

It doesn't get much better than Eye of the Beholder. A definite top 10 Twilight Zone Episode.

[Shrykespeare]

Whoops, seems I'm a little bit behind.


SHRYKESPEARE'S #14

Star Trek (NBC, 1966-1969)

The oldest series on my list, and the one that spawned my love of Sci-Fi. Even though it was in reruns for years before I developed a liking for it, once I got into it, I was a Trekkie for life. Even though this 23rd-century starship operated without so much as an LED screen, I didn't care. The ideas of warp speed, transporters, replicators, universal translators, you name it, it just stirred my inner adventurer. There was no better character to lead the way than James T. Kirk, and his cast of supporting players are all just as ensconced in immortality as he is.

Here's a scene from the end of "Amok Time", which remains one of my favorite TV episodes of ANY show to this day:





SHRYKESPEARE'S #13

Night Court (NBC, 1984-1992)

Once I hit my teen years, there weren't many sitcoms that I watched on a regular basis, but I just adored the characters on this quirky little show about a group of people who dispense justice in New York in the P.M. hours. Starting with the inexperienced jokester judge Harry Stone to the loveable dimwit bailiff Bull, and especially including sleazy prosecutor Dan Fielding (played with such verve by John Larroquette, to the tune of two Emmy awards). Whether the mood was serious or light (usually light), for nine season this show tickled my funny bone nearly every time.

[W]

#13 Scrubs (2001-2010, NBC, Comedy) - Let's forget the awful last season that was really just an attempt to transition the show to a new cast. The main duo, JD and Turk, are interns that have been best friends since college. JD daydreams when most things happen to him and Turk is a proud black man that can be vulnerable sometimes. A sassy Latina head of nurses, a wacky janitor, a blond overachieving rich intern that has low self esteem, the evil head of the hospital, and JD's mentor that berates him practically every episode round out the rest of the main cast.

Thought it's mainly a comedy that relies on cutaway daydreams at times as well as situational comedy, it can take on very serious subjects like death (regularly) and finding your place. It's a really great show that you should give a try sometime.


Intern Space Invaders:

[W]

I'm going to mention one that would've made my list in the 20's somewhere but I forgot about it. It's the World Series of Pop Culture which, I believe, is the only decent show to be on VH1 since Pop Up Video and some of the Behind the Musics in the '90's. It ran two years in 2006 and 2007 and consisted of teams of 3 where each team would have a member play after they heard the category. There were six questions on the subject then a tiebreaker in each round. If you lost the round, that player is out. It was pretty much the ultimate bar trivia and all the teams were named after pop culture.

[NSpan]

Show #15
NSpan

Mr. Show (1995 - 1998, HBO)



Sketch-comedy with a small twist. Each segment segued into the next. The footage combined "live" and pre-recorded tapes. No matter the medium, each episode managed to maintain some semblance of a storyline. Their presentation was somewhat more in-line with Kids in the Hall than SNL.

I love Bob Odenkirk, but I have met David Cross in-person a few times and his real-world attitude and demeanor leads me to believe he is a bit overpraised amongst comedy aficionados. I think Bob really held the show together--and they had a stellar supporting cast and featured comedians: Jay Johnston, Paul F. Thompkins, Brian Posehn, Dino Stamatopolous, Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Jack Black, and Bill Odenkirk.

The series spawned a spinoff show called "Tenacious D"... one of my all-time favorite mini-series.

[ROBDude]

14. Animaniacs




13. The Office

[englishozzy]

No.14

How i Met Your Mother (2005-Present)

An American sitcom that stories Ted Mosby's life leading up to meeting the future mother of his children. The episodes are shown in flashbacks as such as he his re-telling his stories to his kids.

The show had a really good concept and great supporting cast in Josh Radnor, Alysson Hannigan and Jason Segal, but of course the standout is Neil Patrick Harris' character Barney.

[englishozzy]

No.13

Noel's House Party (1991-1999)

A BBC entertainment show played in the 90's hosted by Noel Edmonds and features the famed Mr. Blobby.

Another show that i used to love watching as a kid on the weekend. Mindless fun with slime and a giant pink....whatever he was, what more can a kid ask for??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgY_U3mKTjk&feature

[englishozzy]

Hayley's No.14

Will and Grace (1998-2008)

Will and Grace is an American sitcom that takes place in New York City and focuses on Will Truman, a gay lawyer and his best friend Grace Adler who runs her own interior design firm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_tSzd7P ... re=related