I don’t consider myself much of a TV buff at all. I have a few shows that I love and I don’t really have the patience for anything else. In fact, I think television is a flawed creative medium as it is because network scheduling, episode length, and advertisements are so constraining that most shows can’t even reach their stride. I’m quite frankly shocked that something as complicated as ‘Lost’ has survived and I think that’s attributable to the skill of its creators (and the fact that people have DVR’s now and can get caught up if they miss an episode). I hate waiting through a hiatus to have a cliffhanger resolved, sitting through episodes that were obviously written as filler, and having storylines altered because an actor leaves the show or the writers go on strike.
That being said, I was inspired by Empire Magazine’s ‘Top 50 TV Shows Ever’ to create my own list. So here it is, my “Top 25 Favorite Shows of All Time (and why I hate them)”.
(The Old School Nick-at-Nite Division)
25.) Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Why I love it: Even as kid I was fascinated by the style this show had. The theme music instantly makes me want to draw profile shots of fat men.
Why I hate it: I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid except for one episode a few months ago. That episode was so boring I couldn’t even tell you what happened. Apparently my attention span has actually decreased as I’ve gotten older.
24.) Get Smart
Why I love it: I thought the jokes were hilarious even though I wasn’t even remotely familiar with the spy genre that it was making fun of. A shoe phone? Brilliant. The Cone of Silence? Classic.
Why I hate it: Get Smart coming to a theatre near you June 20.
23.) The Dick van Dyke Show
Why I love it: Is he going to trip over the ottoman? Is he going to sidestep it? You never knew. This show kept you on your toes.
Why I hate it: The two twin beds made me think that all people who owned a queen mattress were sinners.
(The Kid’s Show Nostalgia Division)
22.) Batman: The Animated series
Why I love it: Batman is a bad ass and this show had him in all his gritty glory. It was pretty much the last of the darker edge shows for kids.
Why I hate it: Any episode featuring Robin sucked. Plus, they changed the look of Batman’s suit every season. By the time you got to ‘Batman: Beyond’ you were totally confused.
21.) The Adventures of Pete and Pete
Why I love it: Again, we have a show for kids that didn’t pander to them. It was quirky, irreverent, and had a cool theme song. If the creators of ‘Arrested Development’ had to make a show for Nickelodeon set in the early 90’s, they would make ‘The Adventures of Pete and Pete.’
Why I hate it: Its release on DVD and its timeless quality have made me consider purchasing other, less everlasting shows from my youth and I just can’t afford that.
20.) The Real Ghostbusters
Why I love it: I actually was more familiar with this show than the movies for most of my youth. It had some pretty creepy monsters while still also being a fun kid’s show.
Why I hate it: Somewhere along the line they gave up making the show creepy and just made it cartoony and campy and eventually they turned into the ‘Extreme Ghostbusters’.
19.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Why I love it: Because I had the Turtle Blimp, the Technodrome, the Krang Suit, the Turtle Van, the bedspread, the posters, the action figures……
Why I hate it: Because I had the infuriatingly hard Nintendo game.
(The Shows I Haven’t Actually Watched Division)
18.) Firefly
Why I love it: Wild West Sci-Fi? Sounds cool to me. They made a movie out of it so it can’t be that bad.
Why I hate it: Oh wait, there are a lot of crappy movies based on TV shows.
17.) Freaks and Geeks
Why I love it: I actually have seen a couple of episodes of this and it is a pretty funny and heartfelt show. I need to see a lot more, though, to move it up on this list.
Why I hate it: The Apatow crew really seems awkward in the show after watching their movies. Their delivery is what makes Knocked Up and all those other movies so funny but at times, watching ‘Freaks and Geeks’ is like watching an Apatow movie in slow motion.
16.) The Wire
Why I love it: Everybody in the world thinks this is a great show and can’t believe I haven’t seen it.
Why I hate it: Alright! Alright! I’ll watch it. Geez.
(The Show I Really Actually Just Completely Hate Division)
15.) Family Guy
Why I love hate it: I think the absurd, non sequitur-based humor is at best lazy and at worst annoying. They totally gave up on writing anything remotely coherent.
Why I really hate it: No matter how much I grit my teeth, it still makes me laugh. Damn You! Let me have my bitterness!
(The I’ve Seen Most of It and Pretty Much Liked It Division)
14.) Star Trek: The Next Generation
Why I love it: This is another show I watched more when I was younger mostly because my dad was really into sci-fi. I especially like episodes that had the crew stuck in some sort of time rift or time loop or time bubble.
Why I hate it: It had to be the easiest show to write. I’ll do one right now. Make up some sci-fi sounding problem (let’s say a cloud of Salarian gas that is making the holodeck go crazy and kill people) and then just make up some more crap that has never been established to serve as a deus ex machina (say a gamma ray burst that mimics a photon torpedo to burn up all the gas). Cut. Print. Repeat.
13.) Mr. Show
Why I love it: If all I saw of this show was the sketch where the Buddhist Camp faces off against the Fat Camp, this show would still make it on my list.
Why I hate it: It suffers the same problem that ‘Stella’ and ‘Family Guy’ face in that absurd comedy is hilarious when it hits, but torture when it misses. Mr. Show had quite a few misses mixed in.
12.) This American Life
Why I love it: I’m an American. It’s about me! Well…not exactly. Fortunately, it’s about far more interesting people and this series of mini documentaries almost never fails to be touching.
Why I hate it: I want more! With narrative based shows, I think more is often bad as extra episodes just mean extra filler, but ‘This American Life’ isn’t that kind of show. This type of journalistic program could use way more than just 6 episodes a season.
11.) Weeds
Why I love it: Mary Louise Parker playing the pot dealin’, Prius drivin’, DEA avoidin’ mom is hard to resist.
Why I hate it: Occasionally it tries to be preachy or have a moment of seriousness and these usually feel out of place. Plus, I think the writers get lazy with the way they write the characters out of problems (they got rid of a young, fit, rival drug dealer by having him drop dead from heart problems). Though can I really blame the writers of a show called ‘Weeds’ for being lazy?
10.) Chappelle’s Show
Why I love it: When it was on it was the funniest, most quotable show on TV.
Why I hate it: It was the most quoted show on TV. YEEEAAAHHH!
(The Now We’re Getting to the Good Stuff Division)
9.) Friday Night Lights
Why I love it: Can I have a show at number 9 that I’ve only watched one season of? When I’m talking about ‘Friday Night Lights’ the answer is yes. The first season was nearly perfect and literally every episode was better than the one before it. I’m really glad it got picked up for another season…
Why I hate it: …even though I didn’t watch season 2. After watching the first episode and realizing there was going to be some murder cover up plot, I got some bad soap opera vibes and stopped watching. I didn’t want to tarnish season one’s memory. I hear it’s still a good show, but I don’t think I’ll be catching up anytime soon.
8.) South Park
Why I love it: South Park seems to get better with age. The first seasons were all about seeing what crude humor they could get past the censors to their teen demographic. As it went on, however, it developed a more sophisticated sense of humor dealing with serious topics such as Oprah’s vagina and Imaginationland.
Why I hate it: After some brilliant episodes and spawning Team America, my expectations might be too high. Hopefully they can live up to it.
7.) Futurama
Why I love it: It was marketed as ‘The Simpsons’ in space and while that’s a little too simplistic, it’s mostly true. Matt Groening’s other show was nearly as good as his first featuring the same mix of satire mixed with the occasional heartfelt moment. Bender is one of the best characters on any show, animated or not.
Why I hate it: Actually, I don’t hate hardly anything about this show. Way to ruin my whole gimmick. I guess they still have a chance to screw it up with these final few episodes they are releasing.
(The Please Don’t Screw Me and My Devotion with a Crap Finale Division)
-tie- 5.) Lost
Why I love it: Normally I wish shows weren’t so pandering and respected their audiences’ intelligence a little more. ‘Lost’ is just the opposite and I sometimes wish the writers didn’t give me so much credit. The volley of plot twists and philosophical references launched at me every episode is quite a challenge to keep up with. I’m usually up to the task, though, and my hours of web study have almost earned me a Ph. D.
Why I hate it: Occasionally I’m left wondering why I care so much. There was a time I would’ve given my left arm to know what was in the hatch or to know what the button did. Now, I could care less. I haven’t thought about that damn hatch since it blew up and now I’m wondering what current mysteries will be made irrelevant in the final two seasons.
-tie- 5.) Battlestar Galactica (reimagined)
Why I love it: It’s sci-fi that takes itself seriously. It has an interesting and involved plot that’s not just about space battles and Trek-style catastrophes-of-the-week. There’s also moral ambiguity all over the place. Are the Cylons really all evil? Are the humans worth saving? All this combined with some truly likable characters make this one of the few shows I make a point to keep up with.
Why I hate it: I could almost forgive some lackluster episodes last season. I could almost forgive the few filler episodes that seem to crop up from time to time. I can even forgive all the hammy Lee Adama overacting. But I do have my limits. After waiting 13 months between seasons three and four, I get 10 episodes and then….another hiatus! Until 2009! Why the hell do I bother keeping up with shows as they air? It’s much more enjoyable to wait it out and do it all at once on DVD. Battlestar has been so good in the past but if these last episodes aren’t worth the wait, I’m going to airlock Ron Moore and everybody else at the Sci-Fi Channel.
(The Classics)
4.) The Office (UK)
Why I love it: It may be a flawless show. It was funny as hell, relatable, and didn’t stay past its prime. It sucks that I’d rather see less of a show than risk seeing it get stale with too many episodes, but isn’t it better to burn out than fade away?
Why I hate it: The American version came out and now I’ve got to put a little (UK) next to the show so people know I’m talking about the original (and superior) version. Now, go and get the guitar…
3.) Arrested Development
Why I love it: The laugh to time ratio of this show is off the charts. Every scene of every episode has at least one memorable gag. And the best part is that it’s so rewatchable. You’ll notice jokes in the first season that you won’t be able to fully comprehend until you’ve seen the whole series. That’s how well planned and put together this show is. Plus, it’s got Teen Wolf Too in it.
Why I hate it: I’m glad it was pulled off the air before it got stale, but Fox jerked around with the show so much while it was on that some episodes were obviously rushed. The finale could’ve been (and probably was) written as three separate episodes.
2.) Six Feet Under
Why I love it: A dark comedy about death that evolved into one of the most profound pieces of popular art I’ve ever seen. HBO has done some seriously good work, and admittedly I’m not an expert on most of it, but I don’t think many shows on any network can stand up to ‘Six Feet Under.’ The last five minutes of the show left me huddled over in the fetal position in a pool of my own tears (“Taste the sadness”…oh wait, wrong show.)
Why I hate it: Contemplating your own mortality is some seriously exhausting business. What happened to shows about shoe phones and mutant turtles? Those were a little easier to cope with.
1.) The Simpsons
Why I love it: I can’t say anything about this show that isn’t already well documented. Everybody’s seen it. Most people like it. A lot of people love it. I grew up with it and watching old episodes of the show is like looking at a photo album of my youth. A classic show in every sense of the word.
Why I hate it: They’re still making it! Seasons 3 through 9 roughly make up the Golden Age of the show and that ended a decade ago. Longevity is impressive and the show isn’t terrible today, but it ain’t what it used to be. I’m interested to see how they end it and the gigantic buzz that will surround the finale.
