Although television is not a main of focus of this blog, I do watch a lot TV, mostly a mix of fictional, reality and educational TV. This list focuses on my Top 30 favorite fictional/scripted TV series I have ever seen. Television has several advantages and disadvantages compared to movies. TV offers much more time to develop the characters and TV shows can have long story arcs. The disadvantages are the TV shows have a limited budget and they rarely have consistently excellent writing, therefore even the best shows often have weak episodes. Unlike movies, it is much more difficult to start a TV series that everyone loves and thinks you should watch like Breaking Bad or Mad Men, especially since I do not have Netflix or HBO. Therefore there are a lot of popular TV shows that I have yet to watch because I did not start watching them at the series' inception and I almost never start a series any point other than the beginning. In addition, most of the shows that interest me usually end up being cancelled after one or two seasons, which is kind of odd, so a few out of the 30 shows on list are currently airing, albeit some of them are miniseries. In general my favorite type of shows are science fiction, comic book based, classic sitcoms, animated, and based on history, aka, anything geeky. Also, even though some may consider certain animated shows "kid's stuff," they obviously have not seen said show because they are often better than live-action.
To qualify for the list the must have originally aired on television and the list does include miniseries, however due to a miniseries' short length, those shows will, in general, rank lower than longer running series. On a side note, even though web series are not included on this list, The Guild, RWBY, and Video Game High School would definitely make the list. If there are any fans of those series reading this, please let me know. Below are two honorable mentions before I get the list started.
Honorable Mention: Star Trek
Because I have not seen much of the Star Trek series since I was a kid, it is difficult to judge where on the list they would rank, therefore I have included them here as an honorable mention. From what I remember, Next Generation was the best and I have seen the most of Voyager and Enterprise, and I am not a fan of the old Trek series. For more of my thoughts on the Star Trek franchise, Click here to read my overview.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Sure, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has only just begun, but the show is already a lot of fun. Even though the series has received a mixed response by both fans and critics alike, I love it so far and I am sure that the series will make my full list by the end of the first season. By the way, that picture is my desktop background.
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That's how it is with me. I almost never end up watching a show from the beginning. Somehow I catch it in the middle of the season or the start of the next season. That's how it was with Law and Order UK. I caught it on the pilot episode when it was a repeat
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of the Law and Order series, are they any good?
Delete-James
YAY I've been waiting for this list to start! :D Can't wait to see more!
ReplyDelete~Jamie
I hope it does not disappoint! :)
Delete-James
I watch an insane amount of TV shows, to many to be honest. I'll be curious to read your list.
ReplyDeleteJust except a lot of sci-fi and other geek shows. Thanks Daniel!
Delete-James
Definitely looking forward to the list! :D Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is good so far, and Star Trek looks like it will be a fun watch as well(I'll be starting it soon).
ReplyDeleteSame here, there are so many shows I want to watch but I don't have Netflix or Cable, so I either have to watch them on Amazon Prime or rent them.
You should enjoy Star Trek, providing you are not watching the old series. Next Generation and the old films are a good place to start.
Delete-James
(I happen to love the original series, just to offer a dissenting opinion here. Yes, the special effects look like they were done in someone's basement, because many of them were. But the writing and acting are splendid, with some of the strongest episodes in all of classic TV. If you want to have a small taste of it without spending lots of time on the Enterprise, try "The City on the Edge of Forever," which you can watch here on cbs.com for free [in the US, anyway] -- that site also has episodes of the other Trek incarnations as well. If more actiony episodes are your thing, try "Balance of Terror" here. Sure, there are some kooky episodes, and some that are just plain silly (several of which are also incredibly fun, silliness or not), but I think it's a mistake to dismiss the original just because it's old. End of soapbox speech.)
DeleteI think the only shows I've watched from their very beginning are Angel (and I was dragged into that one, little realizing it would change my life), Bones, and Agents of SHIELD.
ReplyDeleteMany of my favorite shows aired before I was even born, which is a distinct disadvantage to watching them from their beginning.
I have not seen Angel, but I have head a lot about it and that Whedon made it.
DeleteOn the plus side, you do not have to wait for new episodes to air!
-James
Angel was my introduction to the chocolatey goodness of Joss Whedon. It's a spinoff from Buffy, and my second-favorite show ever -- I love it way more than Buffy, interestingly.
DeleteI've also gotten into several shows in the middle of them, from Buffy to NCIS to Castle to Lost to Sherlock, and then bounced off the walls waiting for new episodes :-) But the advantage there, these days, is that I can get DVDs of the older seasons and catch up while waiting for new ones.