So Mikey and I were just talking about one of our favorite new shows LOST (Man , that show has more layers than a wedding cake...) and it got me to thinking about a fun little topic of discussion:
List your FIVE favorite TV shows of all time... While TV has been a bit of a wasteland over the last 25 yeears or so, there have also been some GREAT moments, wonderful shows and intersting, deep characterizations....let me hear from ya!
8 pts for the reference...and it's a clue to one of my favs as well!
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Five favourite TV shows:
I, CLAUDIUS...Best epic mini-series ever!
SOUTH PARK...Still the smartest, sharpest, most incisive satire on TV
SCTV...Always was funnier than Saturday Day Night Live with a group of brilliant performers and a great repertoire of running characters.
THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW...Gary Shandling's inspired TV show about TV. Rip Torn's performance was a consistent tour de force.
PBS' MASTERPIECE THEATRE...which was, of course, nothing but a clearing-house for anthology of British TV shows...but what shows! -- THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY THE EIGHTH; ELIZABETH R; THE BRETTS; PENNIES FROM HEAVEN; THE SINGING DETECTIVE; POLDARK; BY THE SWORD DIVIDED, etc....running Masterpiece Theatre a close second would be PBS' MYSTERY.
In no particular order:
* SEINFELD "They're real, and they're spectacular!"
* ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT "You need Bob Loblaw!"
* The KIDS IN THE HALL "One time, these kids, they taught a dog to smoke."
* THE X-FILES "He had big, buck teeth?"
* THE SIMPSONS "Can't talk. Eating."
Blast you, McElheney! The clue was to have been mine! Anyhow...
* MASH - Gotta agree on this one. Still great to watch, especially those episodes chock-full of practical jokes (nailing B.J.'s boots to the floor; "Don't you understand, man? You've struck cole slaw!")
* Miami Vice - Sure, here were the clothes, the cars, the guns and the 5:00 shadows. But, Miami Vice was a full-hour string of music videos. And, there were moments of pure magic. (John Lennon's "Imagine" played over IRA bombing footage. Edward James Olmos in full ninja mode with a katana sword. Switek shooting a TV, Elvis-style, with Phil Collins singing "Life Is a Ratrace". Willie Nelson as a Texas Ranger. G. Gordon Liddy in a recurring bad-ass role. Glenn Frey ripping a bitching slide guitar piece in the "Smuggler's Blues" 2-hour season opener.) Good stuff.
* CSI - The original Vegas one, though I do like the Miami version with Caruso. Last season's finale on CSI Vegas was a fantastic example of the acting those folks can really do, even without all the technical fun.
* The Greatest American Hero - Reaching back a little for this one. By today's "standards" it might not be all that, but I loved it. Pure 80's TV formula: Mike Post-style music (I know, X, it was Joey Scarborough). Block letter titles. Shark-jumping coup de grace. Just a very interesting twist on the usual super-hero tale. Plus, one episode featured a shot of Connie Selleca sitting cross-legged reading on a bed with nothing on but panties, reading glasses and William Kat's button-down shirt. I haven't been the same since.
* Dead Like Me - This runs (ran?) on Showtime and features Mandy Patinkin and Jasmine Guy among others. I love this. Great premise (they're all grim reaper's) and wonderful writing, especially for Patinkin's sour-ass character.
* Buffy The Vampire Slayer - I'll leave it to X to expound on this one. I shoulda listed it earlier.
* Penn and Teller's 'Bullshit' - Really nice nasty-ass exposé show, again on Showtime. P&T are Libertarians, and they skewer everybody. You'll be offended.
* Family Guy - Funniest thing since The Simpsons, hands-down. Watch it with a friend... and a doob.
I know there are more, and I'm a picky one. That's enough for now.
P.S. "Lost" isn't a show. It's a phenomenon. It's about to go all Internet on us, Blair Witch-style.
McElheney pulled his post? Then allow me to be opportunistic: "Good Times", by INXS featuring Jimmy Barnes, from the "Lost Boys" Soundtrack.
Heh-heh. Sorry, X. Give this to McElheney.
Argh! In the seconds it took me to be a smart-ass, he re-posted!
Good answers, all! And Mc, you got (AND you mentioned the great and underrated JIMMY BARNES as well, thus I'm making it a 10 POINTER!!!) And no, the clue for my show wasn't ROCK STAR INXS, OR Good Times - even though Mac is right- first two seasons of that show were 'DDY-NO-MITE!!!!"
Here goes:
1) BUFFY/ANGEL- Ok, so I know some will give me flak for this , but those in the know (including just about every TV critic in the nation) recognize Joss's shows for the brilliance that they are!Some of the finest dialogue ever,brilliant acting, and here's a hint, folks - it ain't REALLY about vampires and demons! It's all about growing up and life's trials and tribulations- love, death, relationships,alienation, etc...And ANGEL is maybe one of the finest shows ever about my ole favorite theme "redemption" and how sometimes you have to do what's right NOT for the reward, but because , dammit, it's the right thing to do...ANGEL also had possibly the GREATEST finale ever for a TV show...except for ...
2) MASH- Finale was brilliant, and even though it got MIGHTY heavy handed when Alda took over most of the production reigns, it was still one of the best shows ever. It could make you laugh so hard stuff came flying out your nose one minute( "I think it's going to marini!") and break your heart to pieces the next...( Col Blake's death) AS long as I live I'll never forget that closing shot of the helicopter taking off and the GOODBYE message in the finale.
3) The MARY TYER MOORE SHOW- DING DING- there's the clue! I LOVED this show- even 30 years later, it's the model for what a sitcom should be- and a BRILLIANT ensemble (was there ever a funnier cast? Ed Asner? Betty White? TED KNIGHT, for God's sake..."Lou....LOUUUUUU") Another great finale, and anyone who's ever seen the CHUCKLES THE CLOWN funeral episode will never forget it! And dad-gummit, Mary and Rhoda were hotties!
4) HOMOCIDE: Life on the Streets-
F*&k Law and Order, NYPD BLUE, CSI, LAW AND ORDER SVU, or SUV or SUX or whatever...THIS is the finest, most realistic police drama ever. Once again- GREAT ensemble(Andre Braugher is maybe the most underrated actor in the business...why that cat doesn't work more is beyond me) It wasn't shoot-em-up,it was just gritty verisimilitude- whenever Frank and Timmy got someone "in the box" it was pure TV magic!Wonderfully developed character, and Great use of music/underscoring in the show as well.
5) GREEN ACRES- Possibly the weirdest damned show EVER- TWIN PEAKS in the boondocks...They had a telephone up on the top of a pole? Their closet had no back wall? Their farm was in 4 counties? Ebb kept calling Mr Douglas "DAD"? Their county agent was obviously on LSD?The Ziffles son was a PIG???? WTF????? But to this day, very few things make me laugh harder...
Honorable mention:
KING OF THE HILL
MIAMI VICE
ANDY GRIFFITH (the DON KNOTTS years only...)
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (new) (This WOULD be on my list, if it were a little farther along in the series...I think it's ultimately going to become the best genre show ever!)
LOST (same as BG)
X files (first three or four seasons were brilliant, then it all went to shite!)
Holy Frak! Forgot all about KRP!!! that might replace GREEN ACRES as my #5...what a great ensemble...and admit it guys, as hot as Lonnie Anderson was, it was Jan Smithers that really made our motors run...Loni was nice to lookat, but Bailey is the one we all secretly wanted to do...she was the first original STEALTH hottie (Alyson Hannigan would be the lastes, best example of this) Just wish the sho had lasted more than 3 seasons...the episode where they all had to pretend to be each other was priceless!
D$, how'd you like five across yo' lips/???
WKRP! Yes! Eyewitness weather with Less Nessmann. Phone cops. Booger! The Who stampede episode. Bailey was hot! Andy's hair. RIP, Gordon Jump.
I almost jumped back on to mention Northern Exposere. Good call D$. I got into it late, but dig it.
Regarding Blake's death on MASH, I saw in a documentary that the producers told no one about that development until they were shoopting the scene and Radar walked in to announce it. All those reactions were real. Apparently, a lot of people thought McLean Stevenson was a prick and they intentionally gave him the bum rush as he left as a way of saying "... and don't ever come back!".
But that finale! "I left you a note..."
Dude, that was Marcia Straussman what played Kotter's wife...Jan Smithers was Bailey...both stealth 70's hotties, though...
Some worthy entrants so far. I'll try not to be too repetitive. My choices are in no particular order:
Homicide: Life on the Street -- X, your description sums it up quite nicely. Couldn't have said it better. And in that spirit, I mention...
The Wire (HBO) -- Another drama inspired by the pen of David Simon and set in his beloved Baltimore. The seasons so far have followed variations on the work of a special squad of detectives getting the goods (via wiretap, among other methods) on drug lords and organized crime. What I love most about this show is that it kicks your ass if you don't pay attention. And even when you do pay attention, sometimes you have to watch it twice to catch all the threads. Great writing, great acting, and tight plots.
Babylon 5 -- Yes, this is science fiction. But at its heart it's a political drama with a nicely crafted 5-year story arc conceived and executed by the creator and main writer, J. Michael Straczynski. You gotta love a show that leaves clues to Season 5 all the way back in Season 1.
Xena: Warrior Princess -- Don't get me wrong -- I love me some Buffy, too -- but Xena broke a whole lot of that post-feminist ground before Ms. Summers sharpened her stake (on TV, at least; I do realize the movie came out in '92). Salon.com ran a nice 10th-anniversary examination of Xena a couple of weeks ago.
Mystery! (PBS) -- I've loved these shows since high school. I got so excited when I discovered the Biography channel running mysteries all day on Sundays. Faves of that lot would be Inspector Morse and the Lord Peter Wimsey stories.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- Those who know me know I do like the Trek phenomenon in general, but I think this was the best of the bunch overall. Why do I say that? Because they took some chances, followed story arcs, and didn't hit that freakin' reset button at the end of each episode. And hey, they had Ron Moore producing, and we've seen what he's done with the new Battlestar Galatica. (Which is absolutely one of my current faves!)
I know we're supposed to be limited to 5, but here's a few more to contemplate:
*Doctor Who -- Old (1963-1989) *AND* new (2005-present). Especially the new -- Russell T. Davies retained the charm and spirit of the original while hoisting it into the world of 21st-century TV storytelling.
*WKRP -- Yes!! And I grew up watching this in a Cincinnati suburb. Didn't this show feed our love of music, too?
*X-Files -- But not past season 7. And 7's probably pushing it. But oh my, the way it was done in the early years was great -- before the weight of the "mythology" crushed it.
*Kids in the Hall -- There were some great running characters in this one, but it wasn't always laugh-out-loud funny. Its strength was drawing you into those quirky little worlds they created.
*Monty Python's Flying Circus -- I mean, really.
I don't watch much serial T.V. but I will put this out:
Beverly Hillbillies-
UNCLE JED- Jethro, didja ever find out where that music comes from?
JETHRO- No sir, Uncle Jed. Everytime I go lookin' for it somebody starts knockin' on the door.
The Apprentice-- I know. I know.
Three's Company
There was a show that lasted about 5 episodes in the late 70's called QUARK with Richard Benjamin. I think I am the only person who ever liked that show.
Andy Griffith (especially the episodes with the Darlings or Ernest T. Bass.)
Millsy, Qyuark also had the Landers twins in it...one was real and the other was supposed to be a clone. I remember that much about it...
and Nat- I love me some DS9 too! Particularly season 3 and beyond...
I'll ditto the discerning choices of the lovely Natalie, except perhaps that Mystery! stuff, the taste for which I have yet to acquire. Maybe I'm put off by Poirot's funny mustache.
To her choices, I'll add some love for the Sopranos, which still boasts some of the best writing, plotting and acting on television, even if it does take them years to crank out a few measly episodes.
For my money, Futurama has it all over the Simpsons/Family Guy/American Dad/whatever.
Because no one can stop me, I'll bend the rules and give a shout-out to the original "V" miniseries. That thing knocked me on my butt and showed me what sci-fi could do at its best -- tell a story *more* real than "conventional" drama by adding a layer of abstraction to it. Strangely, that extra suspension of disbelief makes the observations about the "real world" more vivid, not less. Sadly, the second miniseries was good rather than great, and the series was worthless hackery.
yeah yeah yeah Natalie...Xena was cool and all with her faux lesbo feminist shreiks and her lovable sidekick Gabrielle....but she didnt invent the wheel.....you gotta give it up to my fav...Jamie Summers the Bionic Woman.
Lindsey Wagner was who i wanted to be when i was a little girl. She was pretty, well dressed, and could kick major ass...in slow motion and with cool sound effects. I reminded Tim how unusual the premise of a 30 year old single woman on primetime tv was in the 70s.....
Anyway....
Buffy/Angel are in there for me as well. It mixed up cheesy vampires, female empowerment, friendship, the pains of coming of age.
I hate cop shows but every Friday night while Tim was in grad school we watched Homicide and i loved it. Frank Pembleton is one of the all time great characters.
HGTV- Househunters...i absolutely LOVE this show.
Quantum Leap...a sentimental favorite again.....every week Scott Bakula gets to leap into someone elses problems which never seemed quite as important as his own quest to get home.
Xfiles was great right up until the movie came out and we all realized Chris Carter didnt know what the hell was going on any more.
Others worth mentioning....
Hee HAW...The only show i ever saw my pappaw sit thru.
Nip Tuck...The most depraved , dark, ugly show on tv EVER. You watch it and want to shower after its off.
The Electric Company....a great theme song...Rita Moreno...Morgan Freeman...AND weekly Spiderman adventures.
Ah, yes. Filmed entertainment just doesn't get any better than those 90s bionic reunion movies with Steve and Jamie as a doddering married bionic couple.
I loved those shows, especially when they did multi-part crossovers with Bigfoot or robot duplicates with removable faces.
Wow. I just realized that the Venus lander in Six Million Dollar Man was really just a mute jumbo Dalek. I think I need to go lie down.
Nero, those robot duplicates with removable faces were known as "fem-bots"...Austin Powers owes a bit of a debt to Steve and Jamie as well as James Bond...
Another one I forgot...MAGNUM PI- This was a really great show. The cheesy investigating stuff was only part of the show. The real story was Magnum's struggles putting his Vietnam demon to rest. When that show was good, it was as good as dramatic TV gets. And,once again, great ensemble! PArticularly John Hillerman as Higgin..."OH...MY ...GOD, Magnum!!!!"
That's HIGGINS with a s actually...
Speaking of 80s PI shows, what about Matt Houston? That was some great stuff.
SAT analogy test:
Lee Horsley is to Tom Selleck as John Cafferty is to Bruce Springsteen.
Ah, yes, Logansmommy, feminist TV owes a debt to the Bionic Woman. And Wonder Woman for that matter! (BTW, you mentioned HGTV's Househunters -- that reminds me of another of my faves [and potential guilty pleasure], all those British home improvement shows: Changing Rooms, House Invaders, and my all-time favorite, Ground Force. Nero is kind enough to not laugh at me when I tape those shows to watch later!)
And Nero, that SAT analogy question made me laugh out loud. Nice work.
Oh yea. The Wild, Wild West.
The SAT analogy made milk squirt out my nose, Nero. My mom loved Magnum. I suspect she still does. Selleck actually did some decent movies, too. Quigley, Sacketts, Innocent Man and In & Out come to mind. Played a great gay guy! I'm sure it made my mom squirm to watch him kiss Kevin Kline... and made my dad laugh.
Crap. This was all about movies. Uh... oh yeah, about the Beverly Hillbillies: I loved how the show seldom resolved whatever conflict was going on. It just sudenly ran out of time midstream. The Simpsons pulls that stunt all the time, pursuing one storyline, then abandoning it midstream for something more interesting, then just finishing midsentence. Writers with ADHD. Nice.
I went to school with more than one moron who thought Jamie Summers had a bionic *earring*. I guess because they'd show close-ups of it when she pulled her hair back to ping in on a distant sound.
Hey, Buffy and the Bionic Woman. Both "Summers" women.
Knowing Joss, it wouldn't have surprised me if Buffy mentioned her Aunt Jamie in passing at some point...
Speaking of Joss, don't get me started on "Serenity". Go see it. Thank me later.
"Teh best Six Millon Dollar man episode is when Steve Austen has to fight his best friend who has just become the seven million dollar man he was a nascar racer or some such nonsense and he uses his bionics for evil."
My personal fave (aside from the aforementioned Venus Probe, which to my little boy brain was the coolest thing EVER), was the one with William Shatner as an astronaut driven insane by cosmic rays or something like that. Lee Majors and Shatner sharing the screen was simply breathtaking. (Plus, Bill had an especially bad rug for this one.)
Buffy Summers...Jamie Summers...duh...i never ever thought of that before. IM thinking if Tim and I ever have a girl we should name her...summer.
and yeah Serenity was solid.
I had all kinds of great 6MDM swag. I had the Steve Austin doll with the creepy roll-up skin on his arm that revealed a removable plastic bionic computer module. COOL! You could also look through his head to see his bionic vision, which was really fuzzy.
I also remember having the robot figure with the different plastic faces you could snap on. There was a Steve face, an Oscar face, and some other "evil guy" face. Or you could just leave the face off and see all the high-tech robot guts.
Finally, there was this thing that doubled as a rocketship and an operating table (for Steve's tune-ups).
I never had a Venus Probe, though.
Rick, I'm in TOTAL agreement on PTI and SPORTS REPORTERS, but I gotta say, I'm so used to John Saunders, that I almost forgot Shapp hosted it first...
I , too, had the 6million dollar man with the eye and creepy roll up skin..he used to do battle with my JOE and my ...get ready for it...EVIL KENEVIL doll, with crank up motorcycle!!!These kids today have nO IDEA what fun was!!!!
And btw $...Steve Austin's best friend (7 Million dollar man) was played by , none other than, the great JOHN SAXON!!!! (he of ENTER THE DRAGON FAME) Out geek THAT people!!!!
Hey, Scott, I'm glad you mentioned The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart!! How could I forget those? Loved both of 'em. And you're right -- the series finale of Newhart was just priceless. The Carol Burnett Show was quite hilarious as well -- who can forget the drapery dress? (FWIW, I neglected to mention before that I also adored MASH -- but there's already been a lot of love for that show from others. And Scott and Nero, I'm also with you on Futurama -- underappreciated is right.)
I had a traumatic experience when I found my Six-million dollar man doll with the roll-up arm skin and eye thingy a few days before my birthday..............I can't talk about this anymore.
You fellas sure played with a lot of dolls. Hehe.
Buffy, Season 5 finale... good music (wink-wink, X-man).
Yeah, but Eveil Knievel beat the dude who wrote his "unauthorized" biography with a friggin' baseball bat! That is hardcore, yo. Take that 6 Mil Man!! Home run to the dome piece!!
$, I bow to your geek-nees! You have usurped me!
From a slightly older perspective,
THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARSON was consistently funny, often brilliant, and a nightly ritual for millions of people. You can watch highlight DVD's even now, and fall off the couch laughing.
And on another Boomer note, I'd have to mention 30-SOMETHING. Great characters, thoughtful writing, and no stupid clffhangers.
Oh, and BARNEY MILLER!
Oops! That last note was from me.
I didn't mean to be anonymous.
Fish was awesome...as was Ron Glass...who just kicked ass in the new film SERENITY...Joss Whedon RULES!!!!!
I want an Abe Vigoda-as-Fish action figure.
Didn't Fish have his own spin-off that lasted about two episodes?
Yeah...he did...was that before or after he fronted MARILLION???
Ye gods. Now I'm picturing Abe Vigoda in a kilt and face paint.
Damn. I don't check this site for a week and one entry has over 60 comments, which of course I have to read through.
TV Shows....
1. Lost - my favorite
2. Seinfeld - sorry, it was great
3. Golden Girls - I'm embarrassed to say
4. CSI - the original one
5. Looney Tunes - going to have to agree to this one; and yes, the old ones, not the generic new ones. My favorite ones were "What's Opera, Doc" and "The Rabbit of Seville." I also liked the vampire one where Bugs is singing "Abra-ca-pocus." Love them, love them.
6. The Simpsons and Family Guy I do enjoy, also.
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