- The Daily Show
- The Colbert Report
- Doctor Who
- Once Upon a Time
- Seinfeld
Peripheral Shows
- How I Met Your Mother
- Supernatural
- Community
- Seinfeld
- Castle
- Parks and Rec
- The Office
- American Restoration
- Jeopardy
- Wheel of Fortune
Guilty No-Gos
- Hannibal
- Grimm
- Mr. Selfridge
- Smash
- Arrow
- Being Human (UK)
- My Little Pony: Frienship is Magic
- Game of Thrones
- The Borgias
- DaVinci's Demons
Guilty Pleasures
- Elementary (I'm a huge Sherlock fan and feel the show is just piggybacking off Sherlock's sucess, but I was highly impressed by Jonny Lee Miller's Holmes).
- Once Upon a Time (I feel this show was aimed primary at a female audience because of the fairy tale aspect, but I love the fantasy genre and became impressed with the characterization of the fairy tale characters who previously had been one dimensional, but sometimes the scripts aren't exactly the best)
All-Time Favorites
- Doctor Who (During the 2000's I became disgusted with the glut of reality TV shows in the market, and Doctor Who came up alot on various Wikipedia articles I was browsing through. On a whim I recorded a marathon off SyFy channel. After seeing the first few episodes of Series 3, I became convinced that David Tennant was the best actor I had ever seen. I was also impressed with both the range and imagation of the show, the time travelling aspect opens a lot of story possibilites. It seemed to stand out in a sea of reality TV, that Americans have come to love).
- Sherlock (I read the original Sherlock Holmes Book in high school, but I had my doubts of reworking it to contempoary times. But after seeing the teaser my appetie was wetted. After seeing the first episode I was very impressed on how true it was to the original stories, and the epic scope of it, and the witty and impressive scripts from Mark Gatis and Steven Moffat. Also Martin Freeman best known for being in comic parts, impressed me as a very serious Dr. Watson. Of course let's not Benedict Cumberbatch's flawless performance as Sherlock Holmes. He could've played the role in traditonal adaption and he would've still nailed the role.)
- Merlin (NBC aired the first season during the summer of 2009. I have always been a fan of Arthurian legend, and fell in love with this new reimaging of the legend. Again it was also standing out from the reality shows, cop and medical dramas, and sitcoms that usually fill the prime time schedule. Ultimately it wasn't a ratings hit so it moved to the SyFy channel in 2010 where it fits in much better with the niche network.)
- Murder, She Wrote
- Law & Order
- Law & Order:UK
- Golden Girls
- Frasier
- American Pickers
- Cajun Pawn Stars
- Pawn Stars
- Top Gear (UK)
- Phineas and Ferb
- Gravity Falls
- Adventure Time
Shows I Used to Like, But Not So Much Anymore
- Downton Abbey (During the third season, some of the actors contract ran up. These actors then decided they wanted to move on to other projects. The head writer and producer Julian Fellowes decided to kill off the characters (who were much beloved by fans) in a very dramatic and unxpected fashion with little or no warning. The end results were highly unsatsifactory
- House M.D. (The constant cast changes after Season 3, become annoyning and in regards with the character of House himself, the writers toyed with giving him character development that never really stuck, and his actions went from being amusing to highly dangerous, driving his car into Dr. Cuddy's living room was when he crossed the line).
Shows I Resisted for a Long Time, But Now I’m a Fan!
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Bones
I Would Rather Eat Charcoal Than Watch These Shows
- Jershey Shore
- Vampire Diaries
- American Idol
- So You Think You Can Dance?
- Dancing With the Stars
- Ice Road Truckers
- Duck Hunters
- The X Factor
- The Voice
Odds and Ends: Childhood treasures, Online and DVD Favorites
- House of Cards (USA Remake)
- Duck Tales
- Wishbone
- Redwall
- Lambchop's Play Along
- Reading Rainbow
- Dexter's Lab
- Samurai Jack
- Muppet Babies
- Fraggle Rock
- The Muppet Show
- Firefly
- Ed, Edd,'n Eddy
- CatDog
- Hey Arnold
- Rugrats
- Doug
- Kingdom
- Powerpuff Girls
- Camp Lazlo
- Rocko's Modern Life
- Gargoyles
- Inspector Gadget
- Rocky and Bullwinkle
- Last of the Summer Wine
- Agatha Christie's Poirot
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- Rumpole of the Bailey
- The Catherine Tate Show
- A Bit of Fry and Laurie
- Blackadder
- Monarch of the Glen
Hey Michael,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Elementary and Jonny Lee Miller. I think he is one of the reasons the show is still afloat. Looking at your list of no-gos and your list of favorites I think you might enjoy Grimm and Hannibal ( I don't know much about the other shows). I find it interesting how Grimm combines some of the old bedtime stories with its own plot. Hannibal is more stereotypical like a crime show however it has its own overarching plot that makes itself known just enough so you don't forget it.
I don't know much about Dr. Who except that the title comes from the fact that we don't know the Dr's name… I want to get into it but I haven't gotten that push to get into it, I was wondering why you like it.
Unlike most sci-fi shows like Battlestar Galactic, or Star Trek which take place in the future, Doctor Who has always been contemporay although the show is about time travel. The Doctor is from a species called the Time Lord a vey arrogant society, who invented time travel. The Doctor disgusted by the decadence of his people, prefers to wonder the Universe, often in the company from a human from Earth and battling evil along the way. As opposed to the ensemble cast of the above shows, the main focus is always the Doctor and his companion. The scripts are excellent: at time witty, scary, and simply heartbreaking. A major plot point, that the Doctor is at his best with company, they serve has his moral grounding, without them it does not take much to push him over the edge.
ReplyDeleteDamn Bierhup you watch a lot of tv. I love the childhood treasures list. Brought up a lot of nostalgia. Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I've heard good things but.. I can never get into that show. It was actually one of the first shows to shoot their series cinematically and was a pivot point for television.. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Sopranos were the two shows that lead television in a new direction which has now resulted in really cinematic shows like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious. Why do you even know that My little Pony, Friendship is Magic exists.