10 Things I Love: Television

When I was in my early twenties, I was so addicted to television that I actually used to highlight all of the programs I wanted to watch in the TV Guide so I wouldn’t miss them.  I thought this was a perfectly logical thing to do, until my friend discovered it one day and mercilessly mocked me for it.

I’ve gotten much better over the years, thankfully, and only relegate my television watching to specific shows and events instead of the mindless zombie watching over my teenage years.

Several TV series have left a profound impact on me after all these years, some of which I still watch frequently, sometimes seeking to introduce a new person to a favorite show.

Here’s some of my all-time favorite TV shows, some old some still on the air.

Arrested Development

This show, by far, is one of the finest examples of comedic writing in the past 50 years.  Arrested Development was a finely crafted joke within a joke that showed many layers of emotion ranging from disgust, sadness, anger, and several different methods of doing the “Chicken dance.”

Arrested Development encompassed a very over privileged family who has to make some changes after the father George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) is sent to prison for a number of very serious business crimes, ranging from embezzlement to outright treason.  His son Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) is forced to pick up the pieces and try not to let his family drive him and his son (Michael Cera) crazy in the process.

What was so amazing about this show was the continuity itself.  Unlike several sitcoms of the past, anything characters did during the episodes would last across the rest of the series.  In the second season episode where Tobias (David Cross) decided to join the Blue Man Group (“I just blue myself”), he left blue paint smeared on the walls of the Bluth model home which could be seen in the background until the shows end.

Other jokes were subtle, seen only in the families mannerisms or speech patterns.  GOB’s (Will Arnett) repeated use of “I’ve made a huge mistake”, Buster’s (Tony Hale) “Hey Brother”, or the families distorted version of the Chicken dance.  I could go on and on about the inside jokes (Hot Cops, Carl Weathers, Cornballer, Hermano), but it’s never as good as seeing them played across the screen each week.

Lately there has been talk between the actors about a proposed Arrested Development movie, something not only myself but also the legion of AD fans out there are very excited at the idea of.  If you haven’t had a chance to watch the show, the multi-network online site Hulu.com has all of the episodes available in HD.

Dead Like Me

Another show canceled before its time is the wonderful Dead Like Me, which ran for two seasons on Showtime.  Currently the network has received a lot of attention for their original series like Weeds and Californication, but before both of those was Dead Like Me.

Dead Like Me is the story of Georgia Lass, a jaded 18 year old college dropout who barely had a reason to get out of bed in the morning.  The one morning she does (after being forced to get a tedious temp job by her frustrated mother, played despicably by Cynthia Stevenson) she spends her lunch break getting killed by a toilet seat that fell from a space station.

That is not the end to poor Georgia’s story.  Before she is killed she has a brief encounter with what turns out to be a Grim Reaper, but not the hood and skeletal hand-type.  She learns quickly that she herself has been tasked with taking souls, and learning to continue her life while leaving her family and identity behind.

With a stunning cast including Mandy Patinkin, Jasmine Guy, Ellen Muth, Callum Blue, and Christine Welles the bizarre Delores Herbig (as in “her big brown eyes), as well as supporting players Rebecca Gayheart and later Laura Harris, this show made you both clutch your stomach in laughter pains and tug at your heart strings all within a one hour period.

This show is also getting the movie treatment, with a Dead Like Me direct to DVD movie is coming out later this year.  On Ellen Muth’s MySpace page she has stated that if the DVD movie does well (as well as the broadcast on the SciFi Network), there may be a chance of the show being renewed on another network or more DVD films.

LOST

Now on to a little more current television, LOST is one of those series that was just written directly for my tastes in shows.  It combines mythology, religion, science fiction, time travel, supernatural themes, drama, and comedy all into one long cliffhanger heavy, nail biting, yelling-at-the-television hour that has a tendency to please AND piss you off at the same time.

Most everyone is familiar with the plot: a group of plane crash survivors try to live on an island with more to it than meets the eye, distraught about each passing day with no rescue.  They start discovering not only unusual, but also unexplainable events taking place on the island, as well as finding out that they are not alone.

What I love most about this show is the interconnectedness of all of the characters.  From family relations to miracle healing, to people having brush encounters with other survivors long before they boarded the fateful Oceanic Flight 815.  Each show builds upon things discovered in previous episodes, and the viewer must keep a keen eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

For a while fans were getting a little impatient with the show and how many questions had been asked but never answered.  The last season (including the previous season finale) not only wrapped up many of the long standing questions, but brought a whole new dynamic to the show in the form of flash-forwards. 

Many concluded that it was the firm end-date of the show that the producers had announced that stepped up the writing, but my faith in the show never wavered much.  I knew that everything would eventually wrap up nicely, but I’m also pleased to see the rate some things have been progressing in the last season. 

You can currently watch LOST in HD on ABC.com with limited commercials.  I recently re-watched the entire series with my girlfriend to get her caught up before the show returned from the writer’s strike, and it was fun to watch all those old shocking moments knowing what was to come next.

 

Twin Peaks

Mastermind/lunatic David Lynch crafted this weird show about a strange mountain town that gets some attention from the FBI when the grisly murder of hometown sweetheart Laura Palmer is discovered.

I was only about twelve when this show came out, but it was my first real heavy dramatic series I had paid attention to.  It was something of a ritual to watch Twin Peaks with my mom every Sunday night, then discuss what we saw afterwards. 

The series was a jumping off point for a lot of actors, like Kyle Machlachlan as donut and coffee loving FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, Lara Flynn Boyle as Laura’s best friend who becomes obsessed with finding her killer, and Sheryl Lee as her look-a-like cousin.  It also established that people will watch a show with no considerable understandable plotline every week, even to find out it was all about some kind of weird alien possession.

The show also set the stage for several current cliffhanger-esque shows like the above mentioned LOST, as well as Heroes and many others of its kind.  The show even inspired a prequel film, although it only derailed the plotline of the show even further.

Much like other current and classic popular shows, you can watch Twin Peaks on CBS.com here.

Seinfeld

Of course, I would be a fool to not include the greatest sitcom ever made.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think or utter some nonsensical Seinfeldism, and it’s still usually where my TV goes to if its on any station, anytime.

My friends and I obsessed about this show to the state of fanaticism when it was on the air, and still to this day we discuss jokes or reference episodes in some way each time we speak.  The most recent was the discovery of this t-shirt by a friend on my WoW guild forums:

To which my response was: “And you want to be my latex salesman..”

If you get that joke, then you already understand how much I love Seinfeld.  My favorite episode overall is “The Contest”, probably followed by the Festivus episode.  Its easy to forget what crazy event took place in what episodes, and sometimes so many happened it was hard to think it was more than just one.

Our obsession with the show extends outside the boundaries of the TV.  For the past five years my friends have held a holiday Festivus for friends and family, complete with Seinfeld contests, themed food (like eating Snickers with a knife and fork, an Enteman’s cake), and the “Airing of the Grievances”; a slightly different version of the same that Frank Costanza did on the episode.

You can currently watch Seinfeld on TBS.com, but you have to install some BS plug-in for your browser.  I’d rather just recommend turning on the TV at any time in the day and looking for it, or go rent the DVD’s on your favorite rental place.

Rising Stars:

Special mention goes to the following shows who are quickly making themselves a place on my list:

Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Take Seinfeld and make them even more self centered and evil, then make put them in extremely awkward situations.  Bonus Danny Devito in the latest two seasons.

30 Rock – What many are calling the successor to Arrested Development as far as excellent comedic writing, this Tiny Fey and Alec Baldwin train of masterfulness continues to reach new heights of ridiculousness, and I am a sucker for it all.  I love it so much I want to take it behind the Junior High and get it pregnant.

The Office – I loved the BBC series, but the US version holds an even closer place in my heart just because I’ve had many more years to get to know the starring players.  Steve Carrel is a great comedic actor, but I’m starting to doubt his skills in the movies.

Heroes – I’m a sucker for superhero stories, so of course I was immediately drawn to this excellent series about a more realistic take on superheroes.  Last season was only okay compared to the excellence of the first action packed story, but half of that had to do with the impending writer’s strike.  The next season, entitled “Villains” looks to be a lot more promising on delivery.

I hope that I’ve not only introduced some excellent new stories to everyone, but also reminded you on some of the best parts of the shows you were already familiar with.