Top 7- My 7 Favourite TV Shows (August 2016)
Birthday week on the blog is a great time for me because I indulge entirely and just fangirl over stuff I love. This year, my favourite TV shows but with some special honourable mentions first because there's too many shows to leave out.
Hannibal
Murder and food have never gone so well together and never looked so good at the same time in this show cancelled far too soon.
30 Rock
Tina Fey's consistently hysterical and confusingly meta show about the creation of a sketch comedy show that definitely isn't Saturday Night Live whose spirit lives on in the wonderful Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Fargo
We've only had two seasons of this show so far but it's told beautiful, violent stories with amazing performances and superb tension that makes each separate anthology a worthwhile trip.
House of Cards
Netflix's crowing jewel, House of Cards somehow manages to present a world of politics more brutal than the post Trump/Brexit world we're trapped in, all while being totally compelling.
Dexter
Despite losing steam by the end, when Dexter was good, it was one of the best shows on TV and left a stylish, bloody fingerprint on the world.
Chuck
Chuck proves that you really can be more than the sum of your parts as it takes a series of things that should just be good but becomes actually incredible when these things come together.
Mad Men
Mad Men deserves recognition just for Jon Hamm's revolutionary performance as Don Draper but also has a superb soundtrack, compelling characters and a truly believable world.
So, now it's time to actually start ranking these shows and making them feel bad for not being my favourite.
7. The IT Crowd
Graham Lineham's first comedy to make the list, The IT Crowd is the nerd show that Big Bang theory wishes it was. It puts two IT nerds with a lack of social skills and a woman who has no idea the difference between a keyboard and a mouse into the basement of a business that does nothing particularly clear under the rule of an utterly insane boss. It leads to hijinks, fantastic parodies and references and a whole host of quotable lines. Whenever you hear someone say "Have you tried turning it off and on again?", think of Roy, Moss and Jen.
6. Rick and Morty
During Dan Harmon's yearlong absence on Community, he started work on another project. It was an animated sci-fi show with characters loosely based off characters from Back to the Future. It got universal love instantly and as something with Harmon's name on it, I was interested immediately. Season 1 was a first series stronger than most other shows will ever see and it led to Season 2, a season that cemented this show as a true sucessor to Community. It only stops from getting higher than this from it's lack of seasons so far but it shows no signs of slowing down it's rocket fast dialogue and wit.
5. Arrested Development
Some people may say putting Arrested Development here is a huge mistake, most won't get the reference. The show assembles an outstanding ensemble cast that consists of a failed magician, a qualified analrapist (joint analyst and therapist) and a boy with a crush on his cousin called George Michael who is played by the ever awkward Michael Cera. After being unceremoniously cancelled, the show got a welcome second life on Netflix and has given us four consistently hilarious and oddball seasons to watch and rewatch for new jokes and deeper appreciation of jokes you've seen before.
4. Father Ted
Graham Lineham gets his second place on the list with the surprise hit about three Catholic priests living in a house on the middle of a tiny island with their strange house keeper. Father Ted only got three seasons but each episode (including a double length Christmas special) is a treat, with storylines as diverse as going on holiday to the world's smallest caravan with Graham Norton, a recreation of the film Speed but on a milk float and trying to enter the Eurosong contest with a song about a lovely horse. Every moment with this bizarre cast of characters was special and 20 years on, it's still one of the greatest sitcoms ever made.
3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Despite being 11 seasons deep, It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia is still vastly underappreciated. There could well be reasons for this, such as it's willingness to go into unbelievably dark territories, the slow burn approach to revealing some really big things about their characters and the general despicability of the entire cast. But for those willing to look pasta little a lot of darkness, you'll be rewarded with one of TV's best character dynamics, Danny DeVito screaming the word whore a lot and 11 seasons that have somehow not dipped in quality. The show also has a naked and sweaty Danny DeVito crawling out of a sofa in the Christmas episode so I think that tells you everything.
2. Breaking Bad
No, it's not particularly original to love Breaking Bad but it doesn't matter because that's how great the show was. From that first episode that flies by at breakneck pace, many viewers are instantly grabbed. You follow Walter White, the world's coolest and most badass Chemistry teacher as he makes meth with ex-student Jesse Pinkman, the most likable drug addict since Trainspotting. There's a moment in season 2 at which I simply became addicted to this show, more so than to any other show since or before. I couldn't stop watching and as you watch these anti-heroes hurtle towards one of the most satisfying endings in recent memory, you have no choice but to watch in awe, shock and delight at every drug deal, murder and family conflict that show runner Vince Gilligan beautifully presents for us.
1. Community
Did you ever expect anything else? I've spoken at lengths about the show and how much I love it so I don't really need to say anymore but I will regardless. It has the best ensemble of characters on TV with fresh spins on the tropes of nerds, jocks and even the fat guy. Every (Dan Harmon fronted) episode crackles with energy and vitality and shows how you make references in intelligent ways. What other show would dedicate entire episodes to parodies of Goodfellas, David Fincher films and Hearts of Darkness and then build a central character's death on dehydration due to over masturbation. No other show I've ever seen deftly balances humour that will make you laugh till you cry with emotion and heart that will make you cry till it hurts. Even after watching through entirely about five times, it loses none of the spark. It seems Community really is like a fine wine: it gets better over time and if over consumed, you will cry.
Hannibal
Murder and food have never gone so well together and never looked so good at the same time in this show cancelled far too soon.
30 Rock
Tina Fey's consistently hysterical and confusingly meta show about the creation of a sketch comedy show that definitely isn't Saturday Night Live whose spirit lives on in the wonderful Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Fargo
We've only had two seasons of this show so far but it's told beautiful, violent stories with amazing performances and superb tension that makes each separate anthology a worthwhile trip.
House of Cards
Netflix's crowing jewel, House of Cards somehow manages to present a world of politics more brutal than the post Trump/Brexit world we're trapped in, all while being totally compelling.
Dexter
Despite losing steam by the end, when Dexter was good, it was one of the best shows on TV and left a stylish, bloody fingerprint on the world.
Chuck
Chuck proves that you really can be more than the sum of your parts as it takes a series of things that should just be good but becomes actually incredible when these things come together.
Mad Men
Mad Men deserves recognition just for Jon Hamm's revolutionary performance as Don Draper but also has a superb soundtrack, compelling characters and a truly believable world.
So, now it's time to actually start ranking these shows and making them feel bad for not being my favourite.
7. The IT Crowd
Graham Lineham's first comedy to make the list, The IT Crowd is the nerd show that Big Bang theory wishes it was. It puts two IT nerds with a lack of social skills and a woman who has no idea the difference between a keyboard and a mouse into the basement of a business that does nothing particularly clear under the rule of an utterly insane boss. It leads to hijinks, fantastic parodies and references and a whole host of quotable lines. Whenever you hear someone say "Have you tried turning it off and on again?", think of Roy, Moss and Jen.
6. Rick and Morty
During Dan Harmon's yearlong absence on Community, he started work on another project. It was an animated sci-fi show with characters loosely based off characters from Back to the Future. It got universal love instantly and as something with Harmon's name on it, I was interested immediately. Season 1 was a first series stronger than most other shows will ever see and it led to Season 2, a season that cemented this show as a true sucessor to Community. It only stops from getting higher than this from it's lack of seasons so far but it shows no signs of slowing down it's rocket fast dialogue and wit.
5. Arrested Development
Some people may say putting Arrested Development here is a huge mistake, most won't get the reference. The show assembles an outstanding ensemble cast that consists of a failed magician, a qualified analrapist (joint analyst and therapist) and a boy with a crush on his cousin called George Michael who is played by the ever awkward Michael Cera. After being unceremoniously cancelled, the show got a welcome second life on Netflix and has given us four consistently hilarious and oddball seasons to watch and rewatch for new jokes and deeper appreciation of jokes you've seen before.
4. Father Ted
Graham Lineham gets his second place on the list with the surprise hit about three Catholic priests living in a house on the middle of a tiny island with their strange house keeper. Father Ted only got three seasons but each episode (including a double length Christmas special) is a treat, with storylines as diverse as going on holiday to the world's smallest caravan with Graham Norton, a recreation of the film Speed but on a milk float and trying to enter the Eurosong contest with a song about a lovely horse. Every moment with this bizarre cast of characters was special and 20 years on, it's still one of the greatest sitcoms ever made.
3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Despite being 11 seasons deep, It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia is still vastly underappreciated. There could well be reasons for this, such as it's willingness to go into unbelievably dark territories, the slow burn approach to revealing some really big things about their characters and the general despicability of the entire cast. But for those willing to look past
2. Breaking Bad
No, it's not particularly original to love Breaking Bad but it doesn't matter because that's how great the show was. From that first episode that flies by at breakneck pace, many viewers are instantly grabbed. You follow Walter White, the world's coolest and most badass Chemistry teacher as he makes meth with ex-student Jesse Pinkman, the most likable drug addict since Trainspotting. There's a moment in season 2 at which I simply became addicted to this show, more so than to any other show since or before. I couldn't stop watching and as you watch these anti-heroes hurtle towards one of the most satisfying endings in recent memory, you have no choice but to watch in awe, shock and delight at every drug deal, murder and family conflict that show runner Vince Gilligan beautifully presents for us.
1. Community
Did you ever expect anything else? I've spoken at lengths about the show and how much I love it so I don't really need to say anymore but I will regardless. It has the best ensemble of characters on TV with fresh spins on the tropes of nerds, jocks and even the fat guy. Every (Dan Harmon fronted) episode crackles with energy and vitality and shows how you make references in intelligent ways. What other show would dedicate entire episodes to parodies of Goodfellas, David Fincher films and Hearts of Darkness and then build a central character's death on dehydration due to over masturbation. No other show I've ever seen deftly balances humour that will make you laugh till you cry with emotion and heart that will make you cry till it hurts. Even after watching through entirely about five times, it loses none of the spark. It seems Community really is like a fine wine: it gets better over time and if over consumed, you will cry.
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