TV shows

The Top Five–TV Shows (Revised)

My “Top Five” lists are never met to be set in stone, and in the six years since I first came up with a list of my five favorite TV shows, my favorites have changed a bit.

  • I Love Lucy–This has been my favorite TV show for a long time. I’ve watched every episode more times than I can count, and yet I never get sick of it. Are there elements of the show that haven’t aged well? Sure. But there are also funny jokes, moments of great physical comedy, fantastic guest stars, and outstanding fashion and interior design!
  • M*A*S*H—Scrubs used to appear on this list, but I basically swapped one medical show with another. The boys and I watch a few episodes every night before bed, and when we get to the end, we just start all over again, and we never grow tired of it. It’s a funny show, but it was also way ahead of its time in how it addressed social and political issues, and I’ve really come to appreciate that.
  • Downton Abbey–The glamour and intrigue of this show never grows old. I love watching the lives of those who live upstairs and those who live downstairs, and how those lives intersect. Plus, did I mention the glamour?
  • Rick Steves’ Europe–After planning an entire summer school around this show, I guess it should be no shock that it’s one of my favorites. I love asking “where should we go today?” and then turning on an episode. I always feel like I’m learning something when I watch, too, so it’s not just mindless TV!
  • My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic–The show is a bit of a wild card, but Bunny, Chickadee, and I are just finishing watching through the run of the show, and I find that I really love it. It’s so relatable, and each one of us has a pony whom we particularly identify with. It may be a children’s show, but it’s a lot of fun for me as an adult to watch, and I think I’ll look back and cherish this time that my youngest daughter, oldest daughter, and I had so much fun together!

I thought I’d feel bad about kicking Friends off the list, but while I do still enjoy watching it from time to time, I’m not as into it as I once was. I do feel a little guilty about removing Deep Space Nine, though…it is still my favorite Star Trek show, however!

The Top Five–TV Shows

I’m actually not too picky about TV…I’ll watch lots of different things. But, for the interest of this “Top Five” list, I’m going with the shows that I can watch over and over, and never get tired of. Shows that make me feel like I’m with friends when I watch them. Shows that I turn to when I’m sick or sad, because I know they’ll bring a smile to my face.

  • Friends–I couldn’t even guess how many times I’ve watched through the whole run of this show, and yet, I never get tired of it. As ridiculous as it sounds, they actually feel like my friends! I have sentimental attachments to certain episodes, too, like “The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding,” which aired the night before my wedding, and every Thanksgiving episode, which have become part of Ryan’s and my yearly Thanksgiving traditions. This show has also become part of Ryan’s and my speech…it’s without a doubt the most-quoted show in our house. I don’t think we can make through a day (sometimes through an hour) without one of making a Friends reference!
  • Downton Abbey–I started watching because, as an Anglophile, I had to give it a chance. I kept watching it because I had to know what was going to happen to the characters, because it has such a beautiful setting, and because the costuming is so elaborate and beautifully well done! Oh, and to see what fantastic one-liner is going to come out of Maggie Smith’s mouth next! I’m just sad that this is the last series…
  • Scrubs–I’ve always liked hospital shows, but this one is lighter than most…but not always, which makes it seem even more real. The episodes that have made me cry have made me appreciate the many episodes that make me laugh even more.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine–While The Next Generation was my first exposure to Star Trek, it’s Deep Space Nine that I want to watch over and over again. The casting for the show was perfect, and I love watching the characters interact. Plus, Jeffrey Combs appears in so many roles, and I love to hate him in them all!
  • I Love Lucy–Sure, I have my favorite episodes, but the great thing about this classic is that there are no bad episodes. No matter which disc I pop in, I’m guaranteed to laugh, and it’s also totally child-appropriate, which makes it a show we frequently watch as a family!

My Favorite Things–TV Shows

It’s been awhile, so here is the latest round of My Favorite Things!

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine–Quite possibly my favorite TV of all time, although it took me a long while to get to that point. But now I love it, especially Vic Fontaine and Klingon episodes.

Friends–My favorite comedy. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve watched through that show. We have the whole series on DVD, complete with collectible case, and I can just watch them over and over again. To some extent, it really feels like Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe *are* my friends (don’t worry, I know they’re fictional!).

Babylon 5–Although I don’t enjoy this show as much as I used to, I think it’s one of the best told stories on TV, especially the first four seasons.

Firefly–Is is a western? Is it sci-fi? Does it even matter? I’m just sad that it didn’t even make a full season; it was such a good show.

Mad About You–I loved watching Paul and Jamie, especially in the early seasons. To be honest, I started watching it because I knew my older cousins did, and I wanted to be cool like them, but I soon discovered I liked it on it’s own merit. It would be nice if Warner Brothers (I think that’s right) would decide to put more of the seasons out on DVD.

I Love Lucy–Right up there with Friends as far as best comedy shows, and it has the added bonus of being appropriate viewing for my children. I can’t believe a show that’s been around for as long as I Love Lucy has can still be so relevant and so funny, and yet it is.  Groundbreaking, too, so it also gets historical bonus points. And the recent release of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour as the last seasons of I Love Lucy almost deserves it’s own spot on the list–who can *not* like Lucy hunting uranium with Fred MacMurray, hanging around Sun Valley with Fernando Lamas, and getting into a snowball fight with Danny Thomas?

The Cosby Show–I haven’t watched it regularly for quite awhile, but it’s another show I can watch with my children, and appreciate both it’s funny and serious moments (occasionally at the same time–remember when they buried Rudy’s goldfish?).

Scrubs–Another great comedy; I love watching the doctors and nurses of Sacred Heart at work. Although I’m a little disappointed that we watched the “finale” this year, only to have it renewed last minute for the fall, I am curious to see where the new direction takes them, and I will be cautiously watching.

E.R.–An obvious love of medical shows, here–sometimes, you don’t want the comedic perspective, and E.R. is great for those times.

Gilmore Girls–I will be the first to say that I hated how the show ended, and I found more to dislike about the characters in the last few seasons, but I still think it was a good, solid show that managed to *not* glamorize teen pregnancy, and showed a strong mother/daughter relationship.

What About Brian–Even though it was only on for a year, I really got hooked. I found the characters to be likable and real, and like Firefly, I wish it had gotten more of a chance to develop itself.

24–Anytime I want to sweat profusely and have heart palpitations, I just have to see what kind of (bad) day Jack Bauer is having.

This Old House–I loved watching Bob Vila as a kid, and I love the new format now.

Back when we had cable, I loved watching…

What Not to Wear–In my top three favorite shows, without a doubt. I loved watching Stacy and Clinton perform makeovers. Yes, the 360 mirror was grueling, and yes, they could be harsh, but the end results were always fantastic. I learned so much about fashion from watching (not that I do a lot with that knowledge being at home with the children all day), and I loved looking at the pretty clothes!

How Do I Look–Another fashion show similar to What Not to Wear, this became a favorite of mine when recovering in the hospital following the births of my third and fourth children.

Christmas Castles–It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen this show, but it used to be on HGTV every year at Christmastime.  It showcased famous mansions all over the country, from the Biltmore estate to the Pabst mansion, decked out in their Christmas finery.  So beautiful!

House Hunters–I always loved this one on HGTV, and I took special interest in it when we were first considering buying a home.  You can learn a lot just by watching other people walk through houses.

My guilty pleasure TV show…

The Golden Girls–I watched the re-runs of this show in college all the time, and I even caught a run-through of the spin-off, Golden Palace, a few years ago.  I don’t care how much older than me those ladies were, they were funny!

And, speaking of guilty pleasures, my favorite soap opera…

One Life to Live–I know I shouldn’t watch soap operas, and I usually don’t, but when I do feel the need to be completely mindless, One Life to Live is always the show I turn to. I started watching it on and off right after Turkey was born, and while I have gone for almost two years at a time without watching, eventually, I always come back to see what is happening in Llanview.

And, the jury is still out on…

Castle–I really liked what I saw of it last season, and I’m hoping it really picks up steam in the fall. It has the potential to be great in a Murder She Wrote/Matlock (yes, I like both of those, too) kind of way.