TLC - My Top 15 Favorite TV Shows!

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From now on, only original material on this blog!~

My second Top List Countdown, this one is about my favorite TV Shows!
First of all, lemme remind you, this is my own list of personal favorites.
We all have our own classics and opinions!

I'll gladly discuss about your own favorite shows, just write them down in the comments below!

Edit2013/02/15: I updated this review finally.
I replaced that old huge jpg picture with normal text like all of my current reviews.

TLC #02: My Top 15 Favorite TV Shows!
 
You wanted it, here's my top 15 favorites TV shows!

First of, let me say it one more time, this is my very own list, done according to my own tastes!
Now, I'm not a big fan of more serious law-oriented TV shows and specially not "reality teevee".
I like entertaining plots with interesting characters, stuff that makes me think or dream.
I'm specially not interested in teen dramas, love/angst centric shows...
I prefer to watch fun stories were you have a good time!
I don't wanna see realistic situations or see characters "we can all relate to" - live your own life for that!
Anyway, there's plenty of favorites I didn't end up putting her, so...

Honorable mentions to great shows that didn't made the cut:
(In no particular order)
My Name Is Earl, very fun show with great characters. Ended up way too soon.
Fringe, a great personal favorite of mine, started kinda like a mix-up of "X-files" meet "Lost" mysteries.
Scrubs, fantastic 8 season run with a forced 9 season.
The Office (both the original UK and the US version) great concept, never gets old. I'm particularly fond of Ricky Gervais' original.
Parks & Recreation, similar to the above.
30 Rock, a perfect show, perfect cast. Love it.
Boston Common, 2 season only of a fun sitcom with awesome characters in it.
Community. A very self-aware smart modern comedy series.
Highlanders, the TV spin-off of the classic movies, which turned out better than the movies. Pretty cool.
The Pretender, very entertaining spy/thriller show, early Alias/24 kinda vibe with 2 great TV movies but unsolved storyline
Martial Law, inspired by the movie "Rush hour", great tv serie with Jackie Chan's long time friend Sammo Hung.
Relic Hunter, Indiana Jones-ysh serie with a Lara Croft sort of heroine, with some pre-National Treasure elements thrown in as well.
Firefly, great short lived scifi show with an old west original aspect. Followed by a movie and comics but not followed by many people when it aired actually :(
Twin Peaks, a classic.
Better Off Ted, a very fun Ferris Bueller at work-sort of comedy series.
The Munsters - remember that old Universal Monsters-slash-sitcom attempt? Yeah as fun as the Addams Family but kinda forgotten these days...
And finally MASTERS OF Scifi/Horror, fantastic modern tales which reminded me of good ol' tv serials. Made like short movies, had classic directors and writers attached and are a must for scifi or horror fans!

Here's the list now:

#15 Family Matters (1989-1998) genre: Sitcom

First, let me tell you, I've never really been a fan of traditional familial sitcoms!
I do not even really like Friends! (sitcoms are overrated!)
Family Matters on the other hand started as a spin off an old 80s classic sitcom around Harriette Winslow's family but after the now cult character Steve Urkel was introduced, it slowly became funnier and funnier, less family-centric and around its mid-run this show was a full on sci-fi ride about Urkel and his zanny experiments!
Suddenly you had stuff like clones, time travel, mutation, teleportation, size reduction, space, Elvis, Bruce Lee and more on a regular basis... Steve has done it all!
I really like the character and how crazy this simple sitcom evolved into!

#14 Der Clown (1998-2001) genre: Thriller

This one's more obscure for Americans. It's a German TV show that got exported all over Europe in the 90s.
It ran around where I live, dubbed in French. It's pretty similar to "The Punisher" comics!
Max Zander, a special agent, was meant to die in a car explosion. But since he survived that moment he decided to chase down criminals and terrorists as "the clown" using all his resources and wearing a simple clown mask.
Very entertaining and pretty well crafted!
A (rare) "must see" from Germany!

#13 Spin City (1996-2002) and NewsRadio (1995-1999) genre: Sitcoms

Well I know I wrote above I'm not a big fan of sitcoms, but for those two I had to make an exception :P
"Spin City" and "NewsRadio" were both fast paced situation comedies, different from what was made at the time. They weren't family-oriented, they weren't only about romance, they were work-centric, with workaholics characters!
The humour was all about the timing and despite the "laugh tracks" didn't rely just on random cheap laughs every second "to help" the audience.
Also, both shows lost some important characters but survived and I didn't lose my interest for them to the end.

#12 Journeyman (2007) genre: SciFi

One of the few very good modern scifi shows I had the chance to see!
It's a real shame the network canceled it with only one season under its belt...
It was very interesting, not far from "Quantum Leap"! (it's like almost its spiritual ancestor)
The plot and acting were top notch, the characters great and if only they could have told us more about Dan Vasser with another set of episodes... a shame! Try to look it up!

#11 Sliders (1995-1999) genre: SciFi

Moar Scifi!!
More science! More fiction!!
Sliders is one of my all time favorite TV shows. I really dig the show's original premise "What if you could find brand new worlds right here on Earth, where anything is possible: same planet, different dimension?"
I can't put this one under my top 10 favorites below, because the executive producer David Peckinpah tried to screw things up over the show's creator Tracy Tormé, which resulted in bad decisions on season 3.
Season 4 tried to make up for it but in the last fifth season things broke apart and it ended in a cliffhanger like so many shows I like.... I sense a recurring pattern here...
I recommend to have a look at season one at least!

#10 Spaced (1999-2001) genre: UK Sitcom

I like modern British shows!
Primeval is great, Doctor Who is a classic. But sometimes the simpler, the better!
Spaced was a sitcom (another one) but not really like American ones. It was surreal, fun and imaginative! Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright became who they are today thanks to the things they've learned here.
It's a classic, there's not a lot of episodes...
This show is really one of a kind!

#9 The Addams Family (1964-66) genre: Comedy

We're under my ten favorites!
Now comes my all time favs!
I will never get bored of the classic black and white Addams Family! As much as I love the 90s movies, I gotta say I prefer this version!
It was great, the show was very funny and I love how the entire cast here!
Who didn't enjoy the crazy Gomez, the spooky Lurch, the lovely Morticia, the terrible Pugsley, the cute Wednesday or the loyal "Thing". everybody should know about the original Addams family- be it the comic strips or this TV serie! You can pick up any episode and just as easily enter their world!
"They're creepy and they're kooky, Mysterious and spooky, They're all together ooky, The Addams Family."

#8 Reaper (2007-2009) genre: Supernatural comedy

Reaper was a nice twist on the "Ghost Rider's" comics concept.
Someone made a deal with the devil, years later the hero discovers he has to become the devil's bounty hunter on Earth!
Great TV series, fresh and unique. It started strongly with a pilot directed by Kevin Smith himself but was stopped before it reached its intended last storyline...
Anyway the two seasons are very intense with a monster-of-the-week formula, the jokes are great, our heroes epic... I still wish a new season would be made someday...
Also - Best. Satan. On screen, ever!

#7 Carpoolers (2007-2008) genre: Comedy

"United they drive, divided they stall!"
There's only 13 episodes of what is probably one of the best shows I've ever seen!
I'm a big fan of Jerry O'Connell, even if a lot of people seem to hate the guy's gutt for no reason!
This show was about 4 guys who worked at the same company and had to share the car for work. They started as co-workers only but ended up friends. The dynamic between all these opposite characters was pretty fun!
Also this show has one of the weirdest more interesting character I've ever seen, played by comedian TJ Miller with this adult-child character named Marmaduke...
Plus they sang at least one classic song in their car per episode!

#6 Mr. Bean (1990-1995) genre: Comedy

Bean... Bean... Bean... MISTER Bean!
One of my all time favorites, a show I will always remember fondly, watching it as a kid!
Rowan Atkinson really made Bean an universally loved character!
Bean is selfish, hates everybody, wants everything, lives in his own "universe" and despises everyone... but we, the audience, ended up loving the guy! He shares his life with his loyal Teddy bear. His misadventures made it into theaters as an American family friendly movie in 1997 which became a classic for me, until the more recent 2005 English movie which brought back Bean to his simpler more surreal European roots.
There's also a pretty decent cartoon series based on our lovable buffoon!....

#5 Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990-1993) genre: Comedy

My 90s classic!
Somewhat inspired by the cult classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", this show follows Parker Lewis, our narrator-main character who often breaks up the fourth wall.
Joined by his best bud rockin' Mikey and super nerd genius Jerry during their school-years.
All 3 seasons were pretty different in tone, it started pretty much surreal, went into a more straightforward romantic show and became more realistic by the end.
It features classic 90s culture such as the music, celebrities, movies and even games at the time! (classic Game Gear appearance!)
It always remembers me of the good time before our 2000s emo/angsty/serious era nowadays...
One word: coolness.

#4 Lost (2004-2010) genre: Thriller/SciFi/Drama

Some may hate it, others like it.
I really love it! Lost was misunderstood as a realistic-survival show then as a drama while it has always been about a mysterious island where a smoke monster lives with some more character-driven stories about destiny thrown around...
Just re-watch the very first episode of the show!
Lost is a very well known and often criticized modern TV show.
But, hey! Without it we wouldn't have these mystery/drama shows now!
Why do i put it into my 5 favorite shows? It is written has a  mystery drama story on an island with
an on-going involving plot always ending in suspenseful cliffhangers every episodes.
All of them are character centric.
Lost is somewhat pretty close to old mystery shows or audio dramas. It is like reading a mystery/scifi book, it always end up bringing on more questions and not much answering anything.
Like good Stephen King books.
It's pretty close to reading comics like "Y:the last man" or "Ex Machina". You know you won't understand everything and it will throw at you more confusion but somehow you want to know
the truth and you will not miss an episode, at least that's how I feel about it...
There were some bad filler episodes in season one or three but most of the times, you finish the episodes imagining your own theories and going back to earlier details, reading about it until next episode!

#3 Jack of All Trades (2000) genre: Bruce Campbell

What is that, a Bruce Campbell centric show???
That's right!
There were two shows like that, Brisco County Jr, a more serious weird west series and Jack
of all trades, a comedic action/adventure taking place in the 19th century.
Bruce campbell at his best since Army of Darkness!
It was funny, epic, filled with fantastic one liners and no episode ever gets old, I could probably re-watch those a thousand times!
A must watch, you won't be disappointed.
(or you're dead inside!!)

#2 The Twilight Zone 1st serie (1959-1964) 2nd serie (1985-1989) 3rd serie (2002-2003) genre: SciFi/Horror

I like all three incarnations of The Twilight Zone series!
It's a really good mirror of our times. The original long running classic was very alien-oriented. Mysterious stories about invasions, alien worlds, alternate lives...
Fear of the unknown. Many great horror stories and well done with its humble budget.
It's an Anthology series - something I particularly enjoy - stories by Rod Serling who acted as narrator as well. Bizarre twists and surreal endings!
The colored 80s revival was more drama-oriented. It was great on the tension and suspense!
There was some remakes of older episodes but the overall feeling was different!
The only sad part was the omission of the much needed narrator. I always felt the voiceover created a distinction from our real world when it overlapsed this feared "twilight zone" people crossed over in the show.
The 2000s new series was also interesting despite what some "angry fanboys" on internet will tell ya!
It reflected our modern concerns, the fear of others, terrorism, our selfish modern world all rolled into
a new dynamic show with great visuals! Also it featured the return of a host thanks to Forest Whitaker!
Sadly, it also showed how people today don't like Anthology series anymore (this explain failures from other similar shows such as Masters of horror or Masters of scifi).
People don't like these easy to pick, unrelated episode anymore and that makes me kinda sad :(
All three entire Twilight Zone shows are on DVD nowadays!
Try to pick up any of those collected boxsets!

#1 Quantum Leap (1989-1993) genre: SciFi

My favorite show EVER.
Period!
Sam Beckett is my favorite TV character!
The story of an experiment gone wrong, our Doc's trapped in the time stream of his own life, jumping from one body to another one, correcting wrongs in the past!
It's a great timeless story!
TV science fiction at its finest.
Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell were always fun to follow.
I'm only sad it kinda ended on a strange darker note (the show was supposed to go on actually!) but at least, the ending works as a whole!

Anyways, that's my Top 15!

You can agree or choose to disagree, but those are the ones I liked the most and always will.
I'm a big fan of science fiction as you can see and specially anthology series.
I'm kinda sad this format almost disappeard nowadays for the more "season-arcs-long" dramas we have now.
Fringe or Lost have kind of that anthology feel while being long running plot centric shows.
As for me, I still prefer episodes you can watch independently anytime!
That's it for now!
Check my previous top list and until the next one, see ya!

You can find some of these and other stuff in my reviews.

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