Monday, September 20, 2010

Top Ten TV Shows of All Time Blogfest

Top Ten TV Shows of All Time


This originated with Alex J Cavanaugh, so skip over there if you want to participate. Just like Amparo over at No Rest For The Lazy, I'll be going from oldish to newish (but not in exact chronological order). Man, this is going to give my age away....




10. Out of This World

Evie could freeze time, being half human/half alien. And she talked to her dad through a glowing crystal! How cool is that? I used to rush home after school to catch this show.

9. Sliders



ah, Quinn. So clueless about love even though you've mastered inter-dimensional travel...well, sort of mastered it. Except for that glitch that makes you jump ever few days whether you're ready or not. (This is one of those series that went weird after a few seasons, like Lost--convoluted plots galore.)


8. Quantum Leap (the original Sliders)

Sam, Al, and Ziggy (not pictured here), jumping through time into other people's bodies to solve their problems. Kind of a Sliders meets Being Erica. :-)


7. Star Trek the next Generation

My parents were trekkies, so I grew up madly in love with Wesley (not pictured), Beverly's son; and wishing I could look like Diana Troy, the empath with the low-cut uniform. Data is still the coolest robot on television. Sorry, Johnny 5. 

6. Heroes (the first season)
Hiro is the only hero I loved the whole way through. Even Peter went back and forth between good and bad. It was dizzying. The first season was awesome, though. Stupid spoiled character arcs!

5. House
House and Wilson. Holmes and Watson. The detective and his consultant. It was a brilliant concept with a character who was lovably bad. But this one also went bad with a character who refused to change. Character arcs, people! They're important! The theme that people just don't change? Not cool.

4. Bones
The fun-loving character. The serious and troubled character. The romantic tension. Oh, the delicious romantic tension! This one is still a great show. The way these two play off each other keeps things interesting without the writers resorting to painfully chronic character flaws (see House).

3. Fringe
I love me some sci-fi, and this show delivers. I don't frequently watch this one anymore, though, because of the  horror quality it's taken on. Too much gore. But it still makes the list for creativity and characters. (ditto to Amparo's sigh over Joshua Jackson)

2. Lie to Me

This is like psychology on steroids, with some great character arcs woven in. At first sight, Lightman seems as hopelessly hostile as House, but there's more depth to Lightman with his family loyalty and fierce protective father gig. Not to mention a subtle romance between him and Jillian. This one still has me checking hulu for new episodes. :-)

1. Scrubs
This started out as a show my husband watched and I tolerated, but it really grew on me. JD's constant daydreaming, Elliott's bang-flipping and fake-swearing, and Turk's general goofiness won me over. Plus, you gotta love a show with a happy ending and healthy relationships. *Note, I didn't say they were healthy the entire time. :-) 


Okay, that was kind of exhausting. I'm going to do some rudimentary math with the little guy while you guys take over from here. Have fun!

OMgoodness! I can't believe I almost forgot my Zero entry, as in the best show ever:

ZERO: CHARMED

Best character arcs ever. And they went on for 9 seasons.




20 comments:

  1. I'm not participating in the blog hop, but if I were ... I think Charmed would be my zero entry as well. I loved that show so much.

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  2. Charmed was incredible. I have yet to find a show to replace it as my guilty pleasure of TV. Any recommendations?

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  3. I watched Charmed on and off, simply because I'm lame. Definitely need to check it out all the way through.

    Hugs for loving Bones and Fringe!! Best shows e-vah!

    Oh, and I LOVED Sliders! My dad was obsessed with it, so I watched it with him and fell over with how good it was.

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  4. I love Sliders! I used to watch reruns everyday on the Sci-Fi Channel (back before they changed their name to SyFy . . . ugh).

    Also love Fringe and Charmed. Great choices!

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  5. Daaaahh!!! I forgot Lie to me! What a freaking awesome show! And um, that picture of House shall come with me to bed tonight.

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  6. Star Trek is awesome! I agree - Heroes was good the first season only. And I recently started watching Lie To Me - great show! Tim Roth is cool.
    Thanks for participating in my blogfest!

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  7. Great list. Love Bones, Charmed...oh and Sliders and Quantum Leap were awesome. I wanted to jump through time as well. :)

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  8. I love 7 out of 10 of your shows. A couple of them might even have made my list...

    I was just talking to someone about Out of this World the other day. She thought I was crazy!

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  9. It's been so fun to read everyone's favorite shows! I've always loved Seinfeld, but now my guilty pleasure is the Bachelor. Yes, I'm weird and love that show. I try not to watch it, but it pulls me in every season!

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  10. :D The only one I've watched is House (and perhaps 2-3 eps of Scrubs). But now I have a list of shows to watch! :)

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  11. HOUSE!!!!! I love House... it's fantastic! Great choices!

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  12. Out of this World - that takes me back! So cool that you included it on your list. That gave me flashbacks! GREAT list!!

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  13. I like all of your sci-fi pics - Charmed was such a fun show. And I can't believe I didn't even think about Quantum Leap!

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  14. solid, solid picks!!
    good to see scrubs and fringe get a bit more love! they are so underpraised! :)

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  15. I love Lie To Me... Tim Roth amuses me.

    I've never even heard of Out of This World.

    Fun picks. :)

    ~Lola

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  16. This has been fun, getting to know my blogging buddies via their TV faves. As Anne would say, you're all my bosom buddies now. ;-)

    Are you all participating in Elana J's writerly blogfest this Friday? http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-do-i-blog-about.html

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  17. I'll be participating!

    Anyway, I live in Korea so I don't get many English shows that I could reccomend. There's just CSI, CSI and more CSI.

    I do download Grey's Anatomy and True Blood (that's a good one if you're not watching). They still can't fill the void Charmed left though. They never should have canceled it. I remember talk of a Chris/ Wyatt/ Bianca (that was Chris's fiancee right?) spin-off. They should have done that. I would have watched.

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  18. if I'd remembered Quantum Leap it would have gone onto my list. I love all your choices :)
    Lyn
    W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey

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  19. Heroes, House, and Scrubs are awesome!

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  20. Lie to me is a really great show. I was hooked from Episode 1.

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