Gushing About Shows You Like (Sugar Wiki)/Live Action TV

Gush about Live Action TV here.

Individual shows

• Doctor Who

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• Skins. I can't stop trying to promote this show to my friends, because I love it so much that I want to talk about it with more people. I started it thinking it was going to be some HBO-style sex-drama, but it turned out to be so much better than that. It is thoroughly entertaining, and it's so easy to get into the characters, who are very well thought out and superbly developed over the course of the show. The first two series are absolutely great, but my guilty pleasure, which I love even more than Generation 1, is Generation 2. I absolutely love Naomi, Emily, Katie, J.J., and Cook, and I would love the show even more if it was just them. Plot-wise, the 4th series doesn't go in a great direction, but the characters are so great you empathize with them regardless of what happens. Had the writers realized how great those particular characters were without the Love Triangle or Thomas, this generation could have far surpassed its predecessors. It is a crying shame that so many people hate on Generation 2. All 4 series are awesome.
• Oz. It had its ups and downs, but was always incredibly entertaining. Adabesi and O'Reilly, to name a few, were classic characters who felt like mythic archetypes at times. Not to mentioned that it paved the way for great shows like The Sopranos and The Wire. And the theme song is one of the catchiest you'll ever hear.
  • Seconded.The sheer quality of the performances particularly from Lee Tergesen,Chris Meloni and J.K. Simmons is like nothing I've ever seen in a T.V. Show. Shows like The Sopranos really owe it a debt.
• Rutland Weekend Television. I know people say it's So Okay It's Average to [[So Bad Its Horrible, but I can't help but love the chronicle of this immensely small, immensely low-budget TV station, the nervous and apprehensive announcers (from catchphrase -spewing talkshow fellows to stuttering army men to a capella groups to the Ricochet brothers, spelt Ricochet, but pronounced rick-ot-chet), the oddball programs they show ("So let's nonetheless as soon as possible!"), the Jerkass guards or policemen who do everything -- from chasing actors away because "This is a fire lane!" before spending some time juggling in place to ignoring obvious typos for 'cancelling' a hanging with 'candelling' a hanging ("The executioner might want t'do it by candlelight!") -- I love Idle's rant against critics causing critics to love him and then his rant for critics causing his cast to hate him, I love the roof collapsing, the champagne overflowing, I love every single Neil Innes song, I love Slaves of Freedom, with its cigar-smoke and the wine and the chorus. ...I love Rutland Weekend Television, and I feel only slightly ashamed of admitting it, but this is Sugar Wiki, and so the slightly is gone.
• I hated the first season of Parks and Recreation so much. I thought it was wasting an immensely talented cast and had no identity of its own. But because I love almost everything else on Comedy Night Done Right, I stuck with it. And I'm so glad that I did. Parks has become one of the most hilarious, smartest, sweetest, most eminently watchable shows on TV. The cast is amazing. Ron, Tom, April, and Andy are four of the greatest supporting characters currently on any show, comedy or drama, network or cable. The whole show is just so funny and charming in a way that The Office hasn't been in a very long time. I can't gush enough about it. It's just that good.
  • I can't agree with this enough. I wasn't impressed with their first season, but I loved most of the cast and I thought the general idea was good, so I stuck with it. The second season exploded with awesomeness. It's become such an amazing show. I just hope they continue to be amazing and more people flock to it instead of seeing the first season and shunning it.
  • And then third season came. Which, unless the last two episodes turn out to contain an unbelievable amount of wall bangers, would have to be a strong runner for the most consistently funny, awesome and heartwarming season a live action series has ever had.
• I love Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I love Robert Goren. I love Alexandra Eames. That is all.
• Warning; sickening gushing about to begin in 3....2.....1.....24 is the best television series of this decade and one of the top 25 shows of all time. This show takes plotlines that would be patently ridiculous on another show and turns it into high-grade win. The acting is win, the special effects are win, and the music by Sean Callery is pitch-perfect win. I mean 24 has caused all of television to Take a Level In Badass. And that's no small feat.
• Twin Peaks, in all its dream-like, mysterious, gothic brilliance, IS the best live action TV show ever made. It's madness, and the quality varies hugely after the half-way point, but damn. A typical episode will mentally scar you for life, make you laugh, break your heart and leave you utterly bewildered, all within minutes. When he discovered it on Dvd 15 years after it aired, this troper was shocked to find something that seemed so tailor made for him. Get it watched!
• The muthafrakkin' The A-Team! The concept was absolute brilliance, four Badass Special Forces buddies unleashed against every crook and mobster in 1980's America. Ass-kicking and pithy one-liners abound. And people can bash the "cartoonish" all they want. Those action scenes were cooler than some of the stuff in the movies. Long live the A-Team!
• Miami Vice is over twenty years old, and it still amazes me with it's awesomeness. Am I the only one.
• Anyone else remember Vengeance Unlimited? It's up there with Brisco County, Jr. in the pantheon of tragically short-lived cool shows that finally gave a terrific character actor a break. (In this case, the redoubtable Michael Madsen.)
  • That show rocked! How did he afford his We Help the Helpless gig if everyone always paid the favor rather than the $1 million?
• Boy Meets World is so awesome I'm actually pissed with the networks for not running it anymore.
  • Agreed. Sitcoms were just better in the nineties. Step by Step was great. Sasha Mitchell will forever be known as Cody--and that's probably for the best.
  • This is seconded by most everyone I know.
  • Thirded so hard!
• The most epic event in the history of educational television would be if Bill Nye the Science Guy was a guest star on an episode of Myth Busters. I have no idea what would happen if this actually happened; possibly the universe would explode. And it would be AWESOME.
  • This Troper credits his lifelong love affair with science solely to Bill Nye the Science Guy.
  • Not quite the same thing, but he DID guest star on Stargate Atlantis. As himself. And it was awesome.
  • This troper would cry from the sheer epic win of that combination!
  • The Mythbusters guesting on CSI was pretty awesome, although they needed a bigger role.
• Sliders, Now that's an awesome show, I feel bad those bastards ruined that show, I always wanted to see a crossover between that and Star Wars.
  • The troper remembers reading a virtual Season 6 Fanfic that was great. It was a rational Fix Fic, in which Quinn and Colin are rescued, among other things. Better than season 5, in my opinion. I hope I find it again.
• Carnivale is in this troper's opinion, the perfect example of what can be achieved in television. The intricate, incredibly well planned narrative, Jeff Beal's wonderful soundtrack, the performances, the superbly realised 1930s setting and the pervasive gothic atmosphere add up to create a transcendentally brilliant piece of storytelling. It's a crime it was cancelled just a third of the way through the story.
  • Seconded SO HARD. Carnivale was just brilliant, and in this troper's opinion, holds up to repeated viewings years after cancellation. You can watch it fifty times and still discover something you'd never noticed before on every viewing. And knowing even a little of what's going on doesn't dilute the story at all - it just makes you appreciate all the foreshadowing and sly little references the writers and production team put into every episode.
• I love Veronica Mars. Sure, the quality of the mysteries did decline during seasons two and three, but that never stopped how good the writing and acting were. The very last episode almost made me cry, with "It Never Rains In Southern California" playing as Veronica walks away in the...well, rain.
  • Indeed. VM was innovative,witty and despite being set in a highschool, it was never just a highschool show.
  • This troper would gladly throw lottery winnings at Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell if it meant they could continue the show. It was the first thing that taught me that a mystery show can be a vessel for smart, sassy, entertaining allegory. The person above is absolutely correct - Veronica Mars is a high school show, but also so much more. (Side note, the last episode did succeed in making me cry. Like a little girl.) Needless to say it's been a life changing inspiration for me, even moreso than Buffy!
• Sweet Jesus, I love Pushing Daisies. It's like watching someone announce that he's going to cartwheel on a high wire: you think "this cannot possibly work", and then the guy DOES it, and for an encore goes on to tap dance on the high wire, as if he'd been set free from gravity, and it is all just terribly, terribly awesome.
  • Agreed. It's one of the best shows on nowadays, if not the best.
    • Um, I'm sorry guys...they cancelled it. I've never seen that show, but I hope you get a movie or something!
  • There aren't words for the absolute love that I have for this show. My heart overflows with it. Even its cancellation doesn't feel like a betrayal (just a little sad), because each and every episode brought me more joy than whole seasons of my other favorite shows. And there's the fact that by ending so soon, it 'll never get tired or end up with me filing great portions of it away into discontinuity.
  • Seconded for the above. Every time I rewatch an episode, I remember how much I love that show. <3 It's really the only hour-long show that I can rewatch over and over and over again. Bryan Fuller is a genius. And so is every actor on that show.
    • Shows like this are so rare. It is so happy,so upbeat and optimistic,so heartwarming. this troper's heart feels like jumping out of her heart with joy with every episode, which is so weird.
    • Not even the narrator would have words to describe my warm, fuzzy love for that show.
  • The three things I love most about it are: 1) Chuck and Ned and their ridiculously adorable skirting around the whole no touching thing (I personally like to think of it as a sort of AU Gambit/Rogue story); 2) Emerson and Olive and their weird, hilarious, touching friendship ("I'm Itty-Bitty again?"); and 3) Kristin Chenoweth, just Kristin Chenoweth.
  • It's just so quirky and neat, you can't help but like it! That's it. I'm breaking out the Christmas wish list early and adding "New Pushing Daisies epiodes".
• Knightmare was a classic of children's television and should be brought back.
  • Motion seconded, my reaction when it got cancelled, "ooh Nasty". Wish people would talk about it more.
    • I would just like it said that the reason I have rediscovered this utterly awesome show is thanks to this very Wiki. THANK YOU TV TROPES! (and does anyone else think Pickle the Elf is pretty hot?)
    • Yes.
• Can't believe that I am the first to mention it, but Breaking Bad is one of the the best shows currently on television. No wait I take that back, it's one of the best shows on television, period. The writing, the acting, the Scenery Porn, and all those many Crowning Moment of Awesome from season 3 that look like they belong on a big budget movie and not on television, such as the car exploding behind the cousins as they walked away (yeah I know it's kind of a cliche scene, but the scene was so awesome it made up for it), Hank taking out both of the cousins by himself, and Mike killing four of the Mexican cartel members with only one gun and a handy bunch of balloons.
  • And Saul, just Saul.
• I really, really love House. Not just the show but the main character. And it's all Hugh Laurie's fault. He's turned a character that should be evil and irredeemable into someone who is, of course, still a horrible person but is also so complex and brilliant and funny and sometimes so unbelievably vulnerable ("Three Stories", "Distractions", "Meaning/Cane and Able", "Frozen and The Itch" - to name but a few examples) that you just can't help but love him and hope that, by the time the series ends, the writers will let him be a tiny bit happier than when he started out.
  • It's already starting to happen, although the character seems to be rejecting the idea that he could become happy. It definitely looks like House and Cuddy are going to hook up. And, yes, I love the show, too, especially the main character. He's such a lovable misanthrope, and the way he solves those cases is amazing.
• I don't care what anyone says. I love Supernatural. I know that the Winchesters have more issues than the world's best psychologist is trained to handle, and I know that their dad's a dick, but I love the show anyway. For some reason, even though it's a Crapsack World and the cuties are broken, I'm addicted. The mythology is really interesting, and when they're not being Wangst-y, the Winchesters are hilarious. I know people like to make fun of it here, but I'm proud to call myself a fan!
  • Seconded -- Supernatural is the one and only CW show I can stand. Bobby wins at life, the car is sex on wheels, hotties all over the place (for EVERY taste), action, snark, drama, highly underrated acting... God, I love this show.
  • Thirded--I got into the show very late, but I was hooked almost immediately. It's not afraid to make fun of itself, and I frankly love how the writers actually pay attention to what the fans says and manage to tease us for our insanity while at the same time giving us what we want. And if you can manage to avoid the darker parts of fandom, you find the really cool, funny, engaging, awesome fans who just make the experience a billion times better.
  • So, so true. {{Smilingsoprano I}} just got into Supernatural and was immediately addicted. Yes, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are two of the prettiest men I've ever seen and that factors into my enjoyment. But if that were the only factor, it wouldn't be near enough. The show is smart, engaging, unapologetically dark, and snappily written, with an interesting mythos, a killer blend of tones (what other show could pull off an episode like "Mystery Spot"?), and very, very good acting. And this is coming from a troper who's spent her whole life involved in theater. I just watched "On the Head of a Pin" and it absolutely blew my mind.
  • It can do hysterical comedy and heartbreaking pain in the same episode, and not make you feel like they're screwing around with you.
  • The guys' acting is incredible (doubly so when you look at some of their interviews and hear that if Jared Padalecki is off-camera, there's a pretty good chance he's trying to crack up whoever is on.)
  • This troper would give it points for, in addition to being very entertaining, sparking some really interesting theological discussions in her family. Though that might say more about her family than about the show.
• Mork and Mindy is just awesome. Mork is the most awesome alien ever. Okay, okay, maybe not... but he certainly is the sweetest and, frankly, the cutest. His relationship with Mindy is, to me, the best relationship ever on TV. It's really a shame it's not recognized as a "classic" sitcom. If not for itself, it should at least be recognized for launching the career of one of the greatest actors of all time.
• Thirty Rock is currently, the best show on TV, and every time I watch it, it make me feel hope and faith that there is a place for quality, intelligence and originality in this business after all...
  • Seconded. You know a show is good when the network executives keep it on, despite the ratings not being high enough, because they like it.
    • A third vote for 30 Rock first show to keep me constantly laughing
• Being Human does not get NEARLY enough press. While it stumbled a bit in the middle of season two the overall show is brilliant, funny, dark, and very human. And they get their vampires just right.
• Firefly is just plain kickass.
  • Firefly is so much more than kickass. Firefly made me believe that television could be beautiful. Artistically, it was flawless - I could get technical about it, but I'll just say that the warm tones that permeated the set made me fall in love with the show before I even knew what it was about. Musically, it was complex and interesting, with a beautiful orchestral western/Chinese fusion score that was nearly as eloquent as the cast members themselves. Firefly brought back the zoom. Firefly popularized the shaky cam. Firefly is eminently quotable (example: "I'm sort of liking this poetry idea ... 'here lies my beloved Zoe, my autumn flower ... not so attractive now that she's all corpsified and gross ...'") Also, it had - yes, I'll say it - the most attractive cast ever. It was clever and interesting and funny, and I will be forever furious with the Fox network for cancelling it.
  • Firefly is pretty much 14 episodes of perfection. It started at approximately the level of Buffy's highest points, and just went up from there. Apart from that, what the troper above me said.
  • It also had the most balanced cast ever. Every character could carry an episode by themselves, but didn't need to because the scripts let everyone shine without overshadowing the other.
    • This troper finds that it has something for everyone. it's a show about family and honour and love, it has ethical dilemmas, political intrigue, adopted families and sibling loyalty, one of those that make you want to show it to everyone.
  • Oh, gosh, I recall the exact moment which buried Firefly deep into my heart. The scene in "Bushwhacked", where all the Alliance goons are tearing through the ship looking for Simon and River, and then the camera slowly pulls through the window to reveal them clutching the outside of the hull. It was the most beautiful scene, and even more so because of the fact that it had no sound; just the heartwrenching violins that always seem to come up in space scenes. River's ecstatic smile, and Simon's terrified look after he slowly and carefully turns to see what she's looking at. Perfect blend of humor and drama, which also cemented Simon and River as my favorite characters.
  • This troper firmly believes that Firefly is her generation's Star Trek.
  • When I watch this show, it feels like I'm going home.
  • This troper watched Firefly at the recommendation of a friend (not a troper himself, fearing This Very Wiki for some unknown reason) and literally sat through every episode, back-to-back. And when I finally got around to watching Serenity... I sat in my chair \m/. (O.O) .\m/ - ing for a few minutes, before creaking out a "that. was. awesome." and going back to watch Firefly again. This is quite possibly my favorite show of all time.
• I'm crazy about The Odd Couple, which I consider the most under-appreciated American sitcom ever. Witty, intelligent scripts, superb ensemble acting, including but not limited to leads Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
• The Middleman is awesome, and just kept getting better as it went on. Here's hoping for another season...
  • It was really way too good to last. It had the uncanny ability to make every episode better than the one before.it is THE show for tropers.
• The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will always be the funniest, smartest, most awesome-est hour on TV. God bless you Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert!
  • I hate you for getting here first. Oh, wait, this is Sugar Wiki, we don't hate on Sugar Wiki. Kudos for your efficiency, fellow Hero! And yes, yes, yes to everything you said. There are days when I think Jon and Stephen really are the only sane men left on the planet.
  • Usually, nothing is less funny than comedians laughing at their own jokes. But when Stephen Colbert's genuine smile and laughter (like the infamous Filliam H. Muffman segment) occasionally break through the act, there is just something indescribably wonderful about it.
• Battlestar Galactica is one of the best TV shows ever. The acting is consistently excellent, the CGI battles are brilliant and the plotting and characterization are among the best this troper has ever seen. It manages to keep a sense of hope in a Crapsack World (assuming things pick up, as they must do, after the S4 mid season finale) and have deep and moving plots while only rarely becoming anvillicious and we shouldn't let a few bad apples ruin the whole basket. It even manages a few sincere comedic moments and makes you care about the characters and believe in their plight. The first show that brought tears to this troper's eyes back in the miniseries and it has resonated every other emotion during the course of the series. Plus Baltar is awesome. Furthermore the character development is the finest on television, the interplay between every individual and group is absolute brilliant.
  • If the new Battlestar Galactica had a better sense of humour, it would be the perfect show. As the Joker said, Ron Moore, why so serious?
  • Battlestar Galactica grabbed me early and never, ever let me go. The situations were so vividly depicted and beautifully played out, and the characters were strong, gallant, deeply flawed, and amazingly human. Plus also, I would pay money to watch Edward James Olmos read the phone book.
  • Speaking as a diehard lover of Battlestar Galactica, I thoroughly enjoyed the series finale, even when so many would love to pretend it doesn't exist. I laughed and cried and enjoyed it's unexpected ending. I harbor a soft spot for it. Don't judge!
  • This troper walked in on her dad beginning an episode in season two, sat down to join him, listened to a ten-second description of what was going on, and...fell in love with the show right away. It is so morally gray and full of multi-sided political dilemmas, and yet was SO riveting and intense. Plus the dialogue was great and the character development absolutely fantastic.
• I like Torchwood. It's my big Guilty Pleasure, even if people say it's "bad Doctor Who Fanfic". Even though Jack gets Wangst-y, he's still really funny, Ianto and Tosh are/were adorable, Owen became much more likeable in the second season, and even Gwen is sort of cool. And I'm hoping and praying that some day James Marsters will come back and reprise his role as Captain Spike -- I mean, Captain John Hart. Even though his episodes had plotholes, he was still awesome in them.
• Star Trek: The Original Series. It was groundbreaking when it came out, it's still fun to watch now, and some of the episodes are truly, truly awesome. Plus, redshirts getting eaten by bad special effects never gets old. Or hammy Shatner. Or Spock. Just Spock.
  • Much of Star Trek: The Next Generation too, in particular the movie First Contact. That is how you write a Trek movie, people!
    • Seconded. "Assimilate this!"
    • "The Royale" is a completely pointless episode, but considering how funny the overall concept was, it doesn't matter.
  • Star Trek: Voyager is this troper's favorite Trek series ever. The premise is awesome and the cast is just so darned good!
    • Thank you! I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who still likes Voyager. So often, it's overshadowed by the other series-es and everyone forgets how good it was. It had not just a great cast, but a great set of characters that went through some believable and wonderful growth over the series. Not to mention the fantastic humor that didn't rely solely on guest characters (like Q) and lest we forget the kickass action sequences, with the captain herself taking point because she's The Captain, dammit, and nobody threatens her crew.
  • I may be the only person who is willing to do this, so I'm going to do it: Star Trek: Enterprise rocked. I know everybody in the universe bitched about it and hated it, but you know what? I loved it. I thought the cast came together better and faster (TNG season 1, I'm looking at you) than any of the previous shows. Yeah, it had its flaws, but what Trek show hasn't? It had some of the best characters (Trip was amazing and you know it) and was so much more relatable and human than any of the other Star Treks. It just felt much more approachable, it had some great Crowning Moments of Funny, and was cut short far too early in its life.
    • Hear, hear! Star Trek: Enterprise ended too soon!
    • Agreed, Trip made up for any inept blandness displayed by the rest of the cast. And Scott Bakula is the man.
    • It gave the world Malcolm Reed. Your anti-Enterprise argument is invalid. Also it was a fabulous show that was handled very badly, but I don't care. I love Enterprise and I always will.
  • Hello, Deep Space Nine? "The most human" of the Treks for good reason-- it wrote interpersonal relationships deftly, dealt with the consequences of its actions, had a ton of supporting cast who were all written with depth, had Cardassians every which way, actually dealt with religion and did it well, had an actual friggin war, the first same-sex kiss on Star Trek, while still managing to be damned hilarious, and wasn't above taking potshots at itself. And fuck it all, I love Vic Fontaine.
    • This! Deep Space Nine was the very best of all the Treks for all the reasons you describe, plus an awesome cast and writers whose love of Trek showed. Ron Moore cut his teeth here and on TNG years before Battlestar Galactica and you can see parallels between the two shows, with the aforementioned wonderful supporting cast and lots of moral gray areas.
    • Niners of the world, UNITE! I love the amazing, fully-developed characters on this show, including both the main characters and the outstanding ensemble cast. They all have real, believable backstories that actually go with the characters' personalities (Kira pulls off coming from a Crapsack World, being a Child Soldier in La Résistance, and learning firsthand that War Is Hell without a single drop of Wangst and plenty of Badass and becomes, in my opinion, one of the best characters on the show, and even Dr. Bashir's Insufferable Genius-ness ties in with the rest of his character) and most of them are just plain AWESOME. And as for the supporting cast's amazingness. Garak. Just... Garak.
      • Not to mention Batlithe duels, Klingon mythology, and Worf/Jadzia, a great Battle Couple. And Quark, and all his scheming and comic relief mixed with his moments of Badassery when his family is in danger. Great show!
  • I've been a Star Trek fan since I was in first grade. I love all the series equally, even the So Bad It's Good moments (especially those, actually), and the main reason is because it's the one place on television where I could be normal.
• Strangers with Candy, the best sitcom you've never heard of. In a weird way, I'm almost glad they cancelled it - it stopped it from outstaying its welcome. Three seasons and it never had a bad episode.
• It may have gotten off to a slow start, but once it got the ball rolling, Dollhouse became pure gold.
  • I want to be Adelle Dewitt when I grow up. Which is probably bad, now that I think about it.
• This troper would love to get HBO, just from the sheer volume of awesome shows it's produced: Rome, The Sopranos, John Adams...
• Dexter is awesome. 'Nough said.
  • Where to begin with Dexter? Let's start with the title sequence the extreme close-ups of a morning routine, made to look strangely gory. That was when the show had me hooked, from the first few seconds! Then hearing Dexter's thoughts, which are laced with exactly the right amount of dark humor delivered with deadpan perfection. And lets face it, it takes quite a special show to have a serial killer as it's main character, but not only that, a serial killer that the audience can like. Then there are the other characters, each one of them filled with complexities, flaws and virtues so that it feels as though each one were a real person. I think I could go on forever, detailing what I like about each and every one of them, but I'll leave it at this: Dexter could well be one of the best TV shows ever.
• The Prisoner - Took a goofy, over-the-top genre like the '60's Spy Movie and used it to make an iconic, intelligent exploration of Individuality vs. Conformity. It raised questions that are still being asked 40 years later. It also showed us just how much fun, infuriating, and thought-provoking Mind Screw endings could be.
  • Seconded. During the finale, I actually, consciously thought to myself "This is it. This is the kind of TV that I've always dreamed of but never knew actually existed." It took an already pretty surrealistic series, completely ran it off the rails, and made no apologies. Not even an attempt to explain anything we had just seen. It was a conscious attempt to burn conventional storytelling to the ground. Some people who watch it believing they're entitled to answers may feel ripped off, but I thought it was truly amazing.
  • Thrided. I love how uncompromisingly intelligent and compelling this series is, even before the finale. It's the sort of show that requires the viewer to think long and hard about it, but rewards those who do with some truly great television. I'm always impressed with the complexity of its plots, the cleverness of the dialogue, and the philosophical depth of its themes. And of course, Patrick Mc Goohan's acting and characterization of Number Six is exceptional - I really think he's one of the best protagonists in television history.
• NCIS. Full stop.
  • SECONDED SO HARD. Give me a cast of characters I actually care about. Give me neat plots. Give me adorable actors. Give me United States Marines. I am. In. Love.
  • Thirded! Quirky, original characters? Mostly realistic situations? A plot that actually makes sense and can be followed relatively easily? Well-written scripts? Believable character interactions? Fan love? All of the above, and so much more.
  • Ohh, yes. Have you seen Ziva's face when she's giving one of those smart faux-sultry replies to Tony...
    • This Troper's only, and I do mean ONLY, problem with NCIS was the royal shafting given to Sasha Alexander. Okay, Ziva-philes, let the flaming begin.......
    • I love Kate, much prefer her to Ziva, but the show didn't shaft Sasha Alexander. If anything, she kind of shafted them. She asked to leave with little warning and they wrote her off in truly memorable style.
• I can gush? I can GUSH??? oooo, okay, here goes... In addition to the above, amazing shows of Firefly, Veronica Mars and NCIS, this troper would like to throw out The Mentalist. Because it is amazing; the characters are great, the relationships they have with each other are adorable, the arc plot is chilling and suspenseful, the crimes-of-the-week are usually really good... oh and have I mentioned SIMON BAKER'S SMILE???
  • I'll second all of the above (including the smile!), and throw in Tim Kang's ARMS. Good lord. Thanks to him, I think of The Mentalist as the Thursday Night Gun Show.
  • Just Tim Kang generally, really.
• Anyone can talk back to a bad movie, but how many can make it consistently funny and entertaining for years and years? Mystery Science Theater 3000, I salute you.
  • It's rare that somebody can mock Hamlet and actually be really, really funny. If you ever need a summary of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy, it's hard to beat "I'm a chicken for not stabbing myself."
  • Seconded HARD. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is one of the greatest THINGS of all-time. It's funny and incredibly random (he tried to kill me with a forklift HUZZAH!) Smartass robots FTW.
  • Finding Mystery Science Theater 3000 was one of the best things that ever happened to this troper.
  • This show is the best thing to happen to the human race. Yay for it!
• Red Dwarf. At its height, it featured some of the funniest scenes ever shot on television.
  • I thought it was the best thing ever for the longest time. Up until the seventh season, you would have agreed.
• You know what's a great show? Corner Gas. With consistently hilarious and endlessly watchable episodes, as well as a diverse set of quirky characters, the show is a true Canadian relic. I'm proud to call myself Canadian when it's on. Too bad this is its last season.
• Scrubs. Full stop. No show can be so touching and so hilarious at the same time. So human. It manages to give aesops without coming off stupid or preachy and it has quite possibly the best soundtrack of all live action shows... Yes, it started to get crappy after the fifth season, but god, it is definitely the best show this troper has ever seen. It influenced my life!
  • I must be immune to Jump the Shark, because I still love it even in its seventh season. I would call it the best non-traditional (i.e. not "four cameras, three walls") sitcom ever.
  • And Season 8 is very promising. God, I love this show!
  • Yeah, Season 8 rocks. Scrubs is back, and I am so, so very happy. The music... seriously, even if you aren't familiar with Scrubs, go to YouTube and search for "scrubs music scenes" or something like that. You're welcome.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Never has a show reached such heights, while shooting itself in the foot as often as it did... but when the heights are that high, why focus on the lows?
  • I scoff at the notion that Buffy has lows. As a latecomer (first watched 2007) I watched it all in about three months and loved every minute of it. When I got involved in the online community, I was quite surprised to find out that I was supposed to hate season six and seven, because I loved both of those seasons just as much as the rest of the show. It's like a tiny slice of life and it captures everything so incredibly perfectly, with layer upon layer of pathos, humour, irony, and some of the best damn characters ever put on a television. That is how awesome Buffy is. Angel is just as good as its parent show, and for all the same reasons. Joss Whedon is a master at taking a real life situation, adding a supernatural twist, and having it come out more relatable than the original situation. Buffy and Angel both express life so much more realistically than any ten "realistic" drama or sitcom shows I can name.
    • This troper is inclined to agree with the above troper. Seasons 6 and 7 may not have been as good as the rest of the series, but they were nowhere near as bad as everyone claims. This troper peronsally finds season 4 to be his least favorite, but still none of the show's charm is lost.
    • This troper adores all of Buffy, though she could spot a few issues in season 7, it was still awesome. And -- people hate season 5? The televisual incarnate of awesome? Huh? Oh, and for the record, season 6 was the bravest televisual move I have seen in... ever, and they pulled it off with aplomb. When I'm not doing the defense thing, season 1 was far better than people give it credit for, season 2 was famously epic and showed what a deep show this was, season 3 was made with pure class, and season 4, probably the worst, still had some of the most beautiful standalones of the show, if the arc was a bit of a let down. In general: Buffy is awesome. End of discussion.
    • With exceedingly few exceptions, simply the best written show this Troper has ever seen.
    • And "Once More With Feeling". I can't say enough about that ep. Maybe seasons 6 and 7 weren't as Crazy Awesome as the previous seasons, but they were still great overall. Never forget Vamp!Willow's characterization, and how Willow actually was at the end of season 6.

"Bored now."

• • • This Troper was too young for Buffy or Angel when they were airing, and so only saw them recently. And he loves them profusely. Watching them online, I found myself absolutely needing to pause the videos on several occasions in order to allow myself to fall to the ground laughing -- yes, I was literally Rolling On the Floor Laughing. Just one of the many reasons I now honestly believe that, if you count the two as one show, Buffy / Angel is the single best television show ever. (Note -- if you don't count them as the same show, I'd say Firefly comes out on top. The two shows complete each other. Just my opinion.)
    • I too absolutely love Buffy. Every bit of it. The show, the games, Season 8, all amazing. How can you not like a show that changed TV forever? Also, without Buffy, TV Tropes would have never been made...
  • And this is what Gushing About Shows You Like is all about. A meta example...let's play a little game and look through the number of tropes and works on the site. Pick out the pages that don't reference Buffy in some way. The show is not just Trope Overdosed, it may be the Most Triumphant Example of trope kilowicked.
  • Also, Angel is even better, due in part to this troper being a bit of a psych geek and identifying the title character as a fellow INFP. There's too few of them in starring roles, you know.
    • Mainly because we come off as Wangsty to everybody else even in Real Life, but a Byronic Hero like Angel can pull it off (almost by definition) no matter how big the Deus Angst Machina or the Angst itself gets.
      • Angel is so amazing, it definitely deserves its own entry.
  • It is the only show ever to make this troper cry, aside from Torchwood: Children of Earth. And the only one that can still make this trope cry reliably ever. Considering that includes Doctor Who, Torchwood, Angel, House and Blackadder that's quite something. Even thinking about 'the Sacrifice' from 'Gift', the Season 5 finale makes me cry. And all of season six sets me off at points. Never has a show been so funny, so awesome and so heartbreaking all at once. There is a reason that New Doctor Who and Torchwood are based off Buffy and Angel respectively.
• And so I'm giving it one! I can proudly say that I have watched Angel every weekday morning for 4 years and every single time I go through the series it is just as good if not better than before. From the amazing characters from Angel to Fred to their even more amazing character development, everything is just perfect and brings out some of the best drama and humor I have ever experienced. Actually, typing that last sentence made me remember it didn't just have great heroes but villains as well. This show raised Affably Evil to an art form with Lindsey ("Stop it evil hand, stop it!"), Holland Manners' calmly awesome evilness, Lila's spectacular bitchiness, Darla's great...I can't even really articulate this one (I kind of want to say it was endearing how she always seemed to end up failing at villainy), "Cordy" running her scheme while spouting hilarious quips no one got, even Jasmine had her moments, plus the King of hilarious badass-laden psychological/physical tormenty villainy, Angelus. Actually a lot of the minor villains like Skip and Archduke Sebassis were great as well. Geez, my love for this show is so great it has reduced me to a rambly schoolgirl(technically boy but I felt girl flowed better so hey).
  • Almost forgot to highlight some of the greatest dramatic moments I have ever seen. Doyle's final episode makes me cry every time I see it as does Cordy's last.
• I worship at the altar of The West Wing.
  • So does this troper. A show that is not afraid to be smart, to be educational without being preachy and at the same, being absolutely hilarious and at other times heart-breaking. It is most intelligent show this troper's seen.
    • This troper agrees, even through the Wells seasons I found it engaging,funny and addictive and was surprised to see that everyone considered it to be so awful as to subject all of them to Fanon Discontinuity. I'm also unashamed to say I loved the relationship between Will and Kate, shame their story was never concluded.
  • There is nothing and no one that will ever abate my love for The West Wing. Josh&Donna, C.J., Sam Seaborn, Ainsley Hayes, Will Bailey, Jed Bartlet... I can't find words for the awesome that is this show. It is also the only show I have yet to get tired of while marathoning it... not even Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can claim that honor.
  • John Spencer/Leo McGarry. That Is All.
• Mad Men. The smartest, most artistic, most compelling show on TV. Why it still hasn't caught on here, or for the general public, is a criminal offense.
• The Office is the single most monumental series in the history of comedy. And no, I'm not talking about the American remake (which is actually very good in itself), but the original, 12-episodes, Christmas Special, Paper-company-in-Slough, UK "The Office". God Bless Gervais & Merchant.
• The Sarah Connor Chronicles is, without a doubt, one of the best shows I've ever seen. Its intelligent, funny, armed with a great plot and character development, and an interesting assortment of screwed-up characters, plus takes full advantage of the Terminator mythos and the myriad plot elements it offers up. Plus, it has Summer Glau.
  • agreed on all counts. TSCC is incredibly awesome. Sarah Connor is just fantastic.
• Fawlty Towers will always remain one of the most twistedly hilarious programs ever made. Even after watching it a million times, (and yes, US public TV stations probably have shown it that many times,) it still manages to be consistently funny. Kudos to John Cleese for choosing to end it before it could become stale and repetitive.
• This troper is showing her nerditude, but... Jeopardy!. Nothing like half an hour of random trivia, especially when you watch it with your dad, and between the two of you, you know all the answers. Cash Cab has the same effect.
  • Nothing wrong with nerditude. I often spout seeming non-sequiturs, and then explain to my mother in the next room, "I'm watching Wheel of Fortune!" Oh, man, and it's a shame I don't get the Game Show Network here at college, because Lingo is awesome.
  • Jeopardy is, indeed, quite awesome. This troper has wanted to be on it since she was six.
  • It also has the fourth best game show theme song of all time. The other three are Press Your Luck, Carmen Sandiego and Tic-Tac-Dough. Which are all also awesome.
• Arrested Development is awesome.
  • Yes.
    • Arrested Development is the Lost of comedy. I read an essay once that, summed up, said "The complexity of a drama is measured by the number of plot threads and how they intertwine, the complexity of a sitcom is measured by how much media you have to have experienced for maximum enjoyment," and it that regard it certainly holds up. (The argument was a bit more in detail than that, because obviously Family Guy isn't that complex.) But even so, it's complex by dramatic standards too--the narrator is there for a reason--and the characters remain consistently fresh and interesting. It took one of the dullest subjects on the face of the planet and made from it an original sitcom without a single dull moment in its entire run. The cast was the total embodiment of their roles, and there wasn't a single joke with poor delivery. This show is the golden standard of what a sitcom should be, and I salute all involved for making it perfect.
  • The thing about the show that amazes this troper the most, next to the BRILLIANT, dark humoured dialogue, is the fact that none of the characters is really likeable, yet she is intrigued with each and everyone of them. And what the troper above said.
    • Oh, and another thing--watching this series straight through for the fifth time, and I'm still noticing new little in-jokes and bits of foreshadowing. (For example, H. Maddas is Saddam H. backwards.) It's rare there's ever been a show with such great rewatch value.
• The Closer deserves soo much more love. When I first saw it, I found it dull . . . and then totally addictive! The gloriously dysfunctional and flawed main character, the strong ensemble cast, the dedication to realism . . . I just love this show!
• I just love Whose Line Is It Anyway?. No arguments between which version is better, just... Whose Line. Both versions rock, and Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson are genuinely awesome for coming up with Mock the Week afterward.
  • Seconded. I've been watching it since 1999, when I was just 12 years old. I've loved Whose Line longer than I've loved anything in my life, outside family. It's gotten me through some of my toughest times, and no matter how many hundreds of times I've seen each episode, I still laugh. It's a very good candidate for most underrated comedy show ever (though it was more popular in the UK). And I agree that both the American and British versions are awesome. I hate those arguments.
• I personally loved "Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip", when I first read the description I thought it was going to be a rip-off of 30 Rock but it was an imaginative, very clever show that you don't see a lot of these days. The series did try to wrap up everything very quickly when they realised it was going to finish.
  • I quite literally squeed when I saw the pilot and saw Aaron Sorkin's and Tommy Schlamme's name in my tv again. It was a great show, it was well done, it was funny and it had very likable characters. it was great.
• Power Rangers Wild Force is this editor's favourite series of the franchise, namely because of how the Zords were interchangeable (Zords, this editor would like to add, are this editor's favourite bit of the franchise). With the amount of Zords and amount of combinations that happened, what more could you ask from that series... more Zords!
  • The entire Power Rangers series is just awesome, especially since this troper grew up with it. The show is completely different than ANYTHING on American television. It may have its weaker moments, but Rule of Cool always pulls through. Always.
  • Power Rangers RPM got me watch the series again. Razed planet, Eddie Guzelian taking the show to a whole new level, and the best part, the rangers go through actual Character Development! Is this show awesome or what?
  • Yes, there are good Ranger series and bad ones. However, there is one series this troper likes so much...Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. Yeah, it's different with the heroes' identities being revealed, but that's only part of the reasons why it's so awesome. The other reasons include the plot (the demons plotting to take over Mariner Bay), the twists (for example, Ryan, the series' first American-made Ranger, being revealed as Captain Mitchell's son), and the impressive cast! Saying that this show Needs More Love is an understatement, even though some fans have come to respect the series in retrospect.
    • It also had Carter the Red Ranger and one of the best Power Rangers themes.
• Square One TV was the only thing that ever made this troper learn anything in math. She would be excited all week when a new Mathnet segment came up. And it also taught logical/critical thinking - she still remembers many of the debunking points in the Mathnet Bermuda Triangle episode.
• Kids' game shows in the '90s were amazing. But the most amazing of all was probably Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I'm pretty much convinced that I would have never been as good of a student in history/geography had it not been for this show. DO IT, ROCKAPELLA!
• Most Extreme Elimination Challenge is the perfect show to watch when everyone but you is asleep and you need some good laughs. The fast pace of the Gag Dub narration makes all the puns funnier, and who wouldn't want to at least try a game of Irritable Bowl Syndrome?
• This Troper can't be the only one who still likes Heroes, can he?
  • No! You are not alone I love Heroes! It's awesomesauce story telling and characters that are actually fallible and therefore interesting are what keeps me coming back season after season!
    • This troper knows that while it has had some bumps, what keeps her coming back season after season is its Expansion universe and attempts at realism in a sci-fi setting. One of her other favorite sites, in fact, is Heroes Wiki, full of fun trivia to explore. (Look up her User Handle there, for example.) And it's great for fanfiction for the reasons previously mentioned.
    • While the later seasons may be... lacking, the first season is still the best of the whole show.
• This Troper is in love with the show Reaper for its ridiculously attractive main character, hilarious writing, adorable romance, and Satan fitting in all of that seamlessly.
• This troper loves pre-Bobby Lee Mad TV. My favorite cast members from that time are Nicole Sullivan, Debra Wilson and Phil LaMarr.
• Babylon 5. The most amazing, brilliant, beautiful sci-fi show no one has ever heard of. I like the new Battlestar Galactica, but everything Battlestar has done, B5 did first and better. Some of the funniest moments ever put to television (Ivonava. Alien sex. Take your pick of scenes or episodes.), and some of the most incredibly heartbreaking (Marcus. Sleeping In Light.) The sci-fi show that did what Star Trek could never quite manage to do, and made sci-fi human. A sprawling, complex almost-fantastical storyline that maintains the perfect tension- tightly wound but not obfuscatingly so, complicated but not head-scratchingly confusing. Characters as complex and real as any modern-day people, immensely quotable ("You can get more with a kind word and a two-by-four than you can with just a kind word"). Aliens who were more human than some humans I know. J. Michael Stracyznski is the only man I know who wrote like Whedon before Whedon. B5 is essentially Buffy in space - a speculative fiction show that is ten million times better at capturing the essence of humanity than many shows lacking sci-fi or fantasy elements.
• While I could go on and on about stuff that just bugs me in Sex and the City, there's so many reasons why I love it in the first place. It really is one of the few shows out there where women aren't punished for liking sex, and where it's famous frank talk about it is taken for granted. While it is unlikely that four women like that would be such close, lifelong friends, they all bounce off each other hilariously. Like it says on the Crowning Moment of Heartwarming page, Charlotte and Harry are pretty much made of this and they have some of the sweetest moments on the show. It's also one of the few cases of Ugly Guy, Hot Wife (though Harry is certainly cute in his own way) that you see from the woman's point of view and why she loves him so much. Steve and Miranda made such an awesome couple too.
• I consider myself a hard-hearted person, but Six Feet Under genuinely touched me. I grew attached to all of the characters. Even the least likeable characters will have you crying for them at some point. Not to mention one of the best endings to a series ever.
• QI is perfect television - intelligent, educational, astonishingly funny and beautifully hosted by Stephen Fry, a perfect culmination of the Reithian mantra and the perfect tribute to all that is wondrous and interesting in the world, upheld by the finest comic minds that the BBC can procure.
  • AND it's got Alan Davies who is the most adorable patsy for everything ever.
    • This troper recently discovered QI and found the show she'd been looking for her whole life. She now goes around life spouting even more random facts and trivia than before and is now saving up for books and games and stuff.
• Who cares that Christmas is over? Lost will be back in 18 days! Yaaaaay!
  • It has been back for a while and is better than ever. No show in recent years has devoted such lengths to Character Focus to set up so much license to get really creative. The mysteries are confounding yet irresistible, the villains mesmeric, the heroes flawed and all with a deep level of characterization. The plot is astounding in its depth and since the show set an end date the foreshadowing and general plotting ahead has been incredible. The twists are endless and fascinating, the mythology deeper than any other on television and the presentation is spectacular and unique. No show is more creative, exciting, frustrating, tearjerking, mindbogglingly awesome. Lost has one year left and is definitely one of the finest works in decades.
  • In the wake of the finale, this troper can honestly say Lost was the best show I've ever seen. Not one of the best-- the best. It even managed to save Jack and Kate, who, by the end, I had fallen just as much in love with as the rest of the cast. And on top of that, they totally sold the Jate/Sawliet final score of the Love Triangle, which hadn't even been my ships, and that's a goddamn feat. It's also the only Anyone Can Die show I've ever trusted enough to get truly attached to the characters, and it never failed me in that regard. It's so brilliant that I can even forgive it for the awful "Jack's tattoos" episode. Goodbye Lost, it's been a hell of a half-dozen years.
• This wiki led me to discover Jericho, which is now one of my favorite shows. It's just so intense and Jake and Robert and ahhhhh. Thank you, TV Tropes. Thank you.
• Jonathan Creek has to be one of the best televisions programmes ever. It's about someone who's not just a normal hero but is weird and different and is surrounded by bossy women. There's awesome mysteries and it makes you laugh and it's fascinating and freaky and sometimes so gross that it makes you scream with horror. And it's acted by Alan Bloody Davies. IT'S THE BEST THING EVER and there are no ways to explain how EVERYONE should watch it.
  • Couldn't agree more! Watched this when it was first on TV a few years back then came across the DVDs and my mind was blown AGAIN by how good it was! So well written, genuinely surprising and Alan Davies in a duffle coat - brilliant!
• Black Books! It's one of those sitcoms that makes you laugh so hard that you realise that lesser shows are only making you smile. Also I may be a little bit in love with the misanthropic alcoholic bibliophile main character (ok, a lot) and Bill Bailey is in it! And his character is adorable. And Fran! And so much infinitely quotable dialogue! "Look, now he's bending over... and he's getting back up again! I knew he'd do that..."
  • It's a shame it's so short. It's one of my favourite sitcoms. Dylan Moran is wonderful.
  • I didn't even notice it had a laugh track for the longest time as I was consistently laughing so hard.
• Stargate SG-1 is awesome. The episodes are almost always interesting, the whole cast is incredibly likeable and the writing is simply good. And let's not forget the Genre Savvy-ness and O'Neill's brilliant Deadpan Snarker humor. And goddamn, some episodes are just so incredible you can watch them 2 or 3 times and find it awesome every time. And hell, if you're a real fan you will love picking out the inconsistencies, too.
  • The entire Stargate Verse is awesome. Everything since the original movie. Not to mention the joy some fans get from trying to Hand Wave any inconsistencies away. Obviously, Hathur had used genetic engineering on her host to be able to produce new Goa'uld larva even while in a host body. That, or magnets. Magnets explains everything. And it has the greatest Theme Song ever!
  • Just O'Neill. The best thing about Stargate. Second best? A competent, smart, tough Hot Scientist Action Chick played brilliantly by Amanda Tapping.
• The Electric Company was one of the greatest children's shows of all time. It had witty humor, great songs, and a very talented cast. Not just Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno, but everyone. Them, the writers, the directors, everyone who worked on the show were people who knew what really entertained kids and adults. Not to mention the graphics were cool. Most importantly, they taught a whole generation of kids how to read and to love reading. Nothing made afterwards comes close, not even Between the Lions.
  • While I agree with you, I beg to differ that nothing after it came close. The show I'm referencing is Reading Rainbow.
• Cold Case is one of the best procedurals out there - it's intelligent and, while not totally realistic (that's asking too much of a primetime Bruckheimer cop show), it's still practical and clear-eyed. It has a sympathy for its victims and its murderers - and even its bystanders - that's almost unequalled in crime procedurals. We spend the entire episode getting to know the victim, with the result that their eventual murder can be almost unwatchable. It can break your heart and put it back together in an hour. Every episode qualifies for either a Tear Jerker or a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. The character development of the main cast is a slow but steady build-up of faults and qualities.
  • And, on a feminist note, can I just say that I love that the central role of the cool-headed, cynical, workaholic detective is that of a woman? There's not enough lead detectives who are female and also don't fall into the category of Little Old Lady Investigates (the only ones this troper can think of are Jane Tennison from Prime Suspect and Sandra Pullman from New Tricks).
  • And on a regional note, the show is in Philadelphia! As a Philly troper who is utterly sick of almost every show being set in New York or L.A. (at least it feels like that), seeing my city have a show that is as utterly fantastic (though the biggest Tear Jerker on TV for me) as Cold Case makes me very happy. Even though it has been canceled, it's still something that I smile about. Through my tears.
• May I just say that I am loving How I Met Your Mother right now? Yes, it has its lows. I was getting seriously frustrated with the fourth season. But then there was the angsty-but-excellent Barney/Robin subplot in "Benefits", and "Three Days of Snow" was everything that a filler ensemble episode should be. Plus I have a huge crush on NPH, especially in suits. It's just cliche enough to be familiar, but original enough that you can really enjoy it.
  • It's the characters! This is one of the rare shows with which you find yourself loving and caring about every main character. And the fact that it can actually pull off something that other shows (particularly sitcoms) falter over: sentimentality. See the aforementioned "Three Days of Snow" for an awesomeCrowning Moment of Heartwarming.
    • And it brought back the word 'awesome'.
      • This troper didn't use that word until after she started watching the show. and it has become addictive. A few days without the show are too much, the DVDs must come out.
  • This troper loves that Barney is the only jerk. It's nice to have a group of friends on a sitcom who actually act like friends, rather than a bunch of assholes shoved together because nobody else likes them. She also loves how good the continuity is with the ten million running gags, and all the website tie-ins, and how it lampshades or invents all these little social concepts and rules, like clubs not being awesome or the Hot/Crazy Scale for shallow guys - and they all make perfect sense. Plus, it's such a realistic sitcom - most of the situations aren't all that out of the ordinary, and the quickfire dialogue is played as dynamic that exists as a result of the long-running friendship between the main characters [and they will laugh at the jokes] instead of pretending everybody can talk like that
  • This troper would like to heartily agree with all the HIMYM love and add that she loves how unreliable a narrator Future!Ted is, starting with "And that, kids, is how I met your Aunt Robin" in the pilot. What a great narrative device. Plus, Barney is the most awesome awesome to have ever suited up in AWESOME.
  • This troper would also like to participate in the HIMYM lovin'. She was originally pissed at the way they just suddenly ended the Barney/Robin storyline, but thought they resolved it perfectly in "Of Course." And she would like to add that Of Course You're Still Single, Look at Yourself, You Dumb Slut is probably one of the funniest names for a self-help book ever.
  • I didn't bother watching the show until after I saw Dr. Horrible. I fell in love pretty quickly. The montage with Marshall's websites had me laughing so hard I nearly fell out of my chair! The Cat Funeral part had me in TEARS from laughing so hard simply because of the Mood Whiplash! Barney still takes the spot for my favorite character though. He really is a jerk with a good heart. And "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit" simultaniously hilarious and awesome.
  • This troper would just like to add that she managed to convince her classmates to name her student union party "Suits" in honour of this show. She's also convinced them to do "Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit" but adapted for a very small stage.
  • Which brings this troper to the point of the music in the show! I fell in love with the show pretty much straight away, but "Let's Go To the Mall" cemented HIMYM as my favourite sitcom ever. Great music, realistic storylines, characters that actually act like friends (and laugh at each other's jokes)...what's not to love?
• Criminal Minds. That is all.
  • Why, dear troper, you haven't done this show justice. I casually stuck on Criminal Minds as a way to pass the time until Lost was on, and was pulled in by the story of a self-loathing middle-aged UNSUB who had possibly one of the most heartrending and depressing stories I'v ever seen in television. I was blown away by the acting and writing they put into a character we would never see in another episode, and finished the episode in tears. Then I watched another episode a bit later, and holy crap, they did it again! Add onto this all the Character Development and Continuity Nods for the detectives that a more hardcaore fan told me about, and you get a great Police Procedural that averts Strictly Formula and manages to get episodic television right.
  • This troper would just like to add just what an admirable job this show has done at making almost all its characters eminently huggable without in any way being saccharine. Penelope Garcia, you are the most lovable face of Mission Control out there. Spencer Reid, in spite of your stereotypical geekiness, you are never in the least bit an annoying or shallow character. Derek Morgan, you are the picture-perfect sensitive badass. We love you all, team.
  • Thirded. Criminal Minds is never shallow or preachy, and it never takes the easy way out. The show has cojones - a victim of sexual abuse in Derek Morgan? A fun-loving techno-geek hacker who is plus-size and it's never used for laughs? And the characters - every single one gives you multiple reasons to want to take them home and feed them soup and yet admire them. Spencer Reid, would-be stereotypical geek, and yet still pretty badass. Devoted father Aaron Hotcher, who's still married to the job. Emily Prentiss, ambassador's geek daughter. Jennifer Jareau, nowhere near a Dumb Blonde. Jason Gideon and David Rossi, fearless leaders with mysterious dark pasts. And aforementioned Mission Control hacker Penelope Garcia and her favorite flirtation partner, badass Derek Morgan. You just have to adore them all.
  • Fourthed. What an utterly fascinating show! And the cases are the most depressing and disturbing cases ever, the type that stay with you even after you've long turned the TV off. This show gets criminal profiling right, and to me is the best Police Procedural out there ... and yes, I say that even with all the changes they are going through next season.
  • Ahem, OP, what is wrong with you? No, "that is all" cannot explain Criminal Minds. Thankfully, some other people beat me to it. But, where can I start? Criminal Minds can make you sickened by humanity and gushingly happy in the same episode. The BAU members grow on you. The victims grow on you. Hell, even some of the Unsubs can grow on you. Watching an abducted adult or kid reunite with their loved ones is so heartfelt. Watching a loved one find out that one of their own was murdered can glue you to the TV. And even through all the atrocities, the BAU can still act as a family. A very dysfunctional, gun-toting family, but a family nevertheless. Plus, it has some educational value. Reid's Motor Mouth tangent that occurs Once Per Episode has taught me a lot. And I've been starting to profile people in real life. In short, Criminal Minds is TV Tropes Made of Win Archive! Oh, and fifthed.
  • Sixthed. Who knew there were so many ways to kill someone? I love the variety of episodes. Like someone else said, it's not formulatic. We've got rapists, murderers, kidnappers, pedos, arsonists, bombers, and just plain creepers. My favorite part about this show is that no matter how many times I watch an episode, I still shout at the TV. I love cussing out the complete monsters everytime. Every character is very complex and dynamic.
• Okay, so it wasn't faithful to the book or the movie -- or history, for that matter -- but M* A* S* H is an awesome series. Funny, dramatic, touching, an endearing cast of characters and some very interesting episodes. Sure it got caught up in itself and was sometimes preachy, but overall it was season after season of entertaining dramedy.
  • I've always loved M* A* S* H but the middle seasons - BJ's arrival to Radar's departure - are my favourite for a reason. The characters were brilliant (even Frank Burns got his very best episode when Margaret got engaged), it switched seamlessly from funny to depressing and Hawkeye and BJ had such awesome chemistry, whether you saw the Ho Yay or not.
  • As I've said elsewhere on this very wiki, Hawkeye's conversation on the phone with his father in "The Late Doctor Pierce" is the best piece of television. Ever.
  • This troper's addiction to the series took her slightly by surprise. But her mother had so loved it as a kid, she got her into and- and then this troper ended up paying nearly $100 for the comlete DVD set. There was just... so much great stuff goin' on with that series. Honestly.
  • A word of loving advice: don't watch the Grand Finale in one go. The heartwarming and the heartbreak will destroy your soul. But it's still the best Grand Finale ever, Y/Y?
• The Wire is pretty much made of awesome.
  • Oh, indeed. Lester Freamon is The Man. Omar is The Man. Jimmy is The Man. Stringer, Bunk, Bubbles, Mouzone, Daniels, Avon, the Greek, are all The Man. Several of the women are The Man. The City of Baltimore is The Man. David Simon is The Man, and he knows it. Sheeeeeeit...
  • The Wire is the best television show ever. I decided to finally give it a go after reading so many reviews by critics expressing their utter love for it, talking about how complex, realistic and intricate the plot is, about how great the acting is, about how strong the messages are and about how it's miles better than any other show in existence. I thought it was just massive hyperbole, and I was really expecting to suffer from Hype Backlash. But they were right. It is that good.
  • In fact, whoever is reading this right now, stop, and go watch The Wire. Buy a boxset, rent it on Netflix, download it off of fucking BitTorrent if you have to (though it'd be preferable if you didn't). This was a series that was made to be viewed on DVD, and even if you're not the type to usually watch TV, please, at least watch this. You owe it to yourself, and you won't regret it. P.S., it is fairly complicated, just so you know, so pay attention.
• This Troper just loves Psych... it's so damn funny.
  • Seconded pretty damn hard. Maybe it's the constant lampshades, the genre savviness in some instances, or because it never takes itself that seriously, but Psych never fails to amuse :'D
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
• The X-Files is the greatest show that ever has been and ever will be on television. Completely adorable UFO-chasing geeky FBI agent with that one special look that says, "You are the only person on the planet right now, in my opinion?" Smoking hot cynical FBI agent with a medical degree and a body to kill for? A sophisticated Myth Arc? Lots of Fan Service? Plotlines requiring an actual intellect? It doesn't get better than that!
  • This troper grew up with The X Files - that gives it a very special place. TXF is in a category of its own, it doesn't even compare to everything else; after all, you never forget your first.
  • This troper also grew up with The X-Files, and definitely, it's always going to be special. She can remember racing inside every Friday/Sunday night at 9 pm to catch the latest episode, and trading quotes ("He said he's found your bleeping dead alien") with her father.
  • The X Files is everything a show should be. It's smart, hilarious, touching, terrifying - it can give you nightmares for the rest of your life, or make you cry tears of joy. The characters and dialogue are all so well written that it feels like you've known them for years...and maybe you have, if you grew up with the show. This Troper was too young to watch it when it first aired, so first came across the show without the nostalgia goggles. It should have been dated. It wasn't. The X Files makes the world seem like a huge, mysterious, amazing, bizarre place where anything can, and will, happen. It is, quite simply, the best show that has ever been made. Hey, you said I was allowed to gush, right?
• In a network overrun with cliché teen girl sitcoms, this troper is glad to find a single spot of hope in Phil of the Future. Male protagonist? Check. Ongoing storyline? Check. Recurring love interest? Check. Naturally, it was Screwed by the Network, but still...
  • This. As well as the lack of Laugh Track (one of my biggest pet peeves), it also had engaging characters that were genuinely likable, and the actors were pretty good for Disney Channel. And it was honestly funny - my dad used to laugh at most of the jokes and his brand of humor usually runs more toward Monty Python-esque randomness.
• I got the first season DVDs of Burn Notice at my brother's recommendation and upon watching them, I instantly became 50% cooler. He and I are the only ones in our family that seem to like the show. I tried showing it to my other siblings to no avail. Their loss. I even tried showing it to my dad, a big 24 fan, and my mom, who's in love with NCIS. I would think they would have at least tried to watch more than one episode, but... The third season is about to start, so get in on it before it's too late.
  • The snarky commentary in Burn Notice is hilarious, Jeffrey Donovan is a really excellent actor, especially with changing his accents and being able to play a character playing another character, and finally, the action sequences are amazing. Not to mention Fiona is hoooot.
  • This troper didn't catch on until Season Two, but really, all anyone should have mentioned is "Kyle from The Pretender is a secret agent, his ex-girlfriend is an IRA terrorist who blows shit up, and Bruce motherfucking Campbell is a Navy SEAL". And it's just awesome. The humor, the MacGuyvered gadgets, the bond between Michael, Sam, and Fiona, the Client of the Week, Madeline in general . . . I could go on forever.
• Screw the fact that she's only ever seen one lone music video on YouTube of it, made of only the last three episodes... the obscure Australian show Correlli is pure, pure awesome. It's awesome enough that after three and a half minutes' worth of clips, this troper decided to not only buy the DVD, all the way from Australia, but to also invest in a region-free DVD player to watch said DVDs. And not only that, but while watching this show (only ten episodes!! Waaah!), the viewer is also watching Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness fall in love, creating one of Hollywood's greatest real-life romances. Oh. Fuck. Yes.
• Bones. Just...Bones. The characters are incredibly complex and well-developed. The entire cast has amazing chemistry. Booth and Brennan have a brilliantly written relationship- there's enough will-they-or-won't-they to keep the romantic tension up, but the friendship that they share is comfortable enough that even if they never hook up romantically, viewers can still be satisfied. It never makes me feel like screaming at the writers "oh, for God's sake, just frakking hook them up already!", which 90% of the time those kind of relationships can do. (Woody and Jordan in Crossing Jordan, Mulder and Scully, etc.) The supporting characters are also all really well-written and intriguing in their own right. The interpersonal relationships in the lab manage to be realistic, and though they sometimes verge into the soap-opera-ish, they make the show fascinating and relatable. The science might not be sound, but the writing definitely is.
  • This Troper, a huge fan of Kathy Reichs' books, tuned into the pilot episode and was initially turned off by what seemed like a ripoff of CSI with an insufferable TV Genius and a crime-recreating magic holodeck. Fast-forward a couple of seasons, when the troper in question got roped into watching an episode at a friend's house. WOW. This Troper is kicking himself for not sticking with Bones and leting it grow the beard.
• I grew up loving Full House, and then re-discovered it in re-runs last year. I enjoyed it for the nostalgic So Bad It's Good cheesiness, but honestly? I think I enjoy it for non-ironic reasons too. Sure it's saccharine but it is - dare I say? - progressive. Think about it, a wholly positive portrayal of an alternative family structure? And hell, as an ensemble show it just holds up a lot better than I remembered.
  • You said the H-word. How rude.
    • Ya know, they DID have a surprising amount of crap they slipped past the radar...
• Chuck. A gun-fight at a wedding while two geeks perform "Mr. Roboto" would be mocked on any other show. On Chuck it's undiluted WIN! So much so, that NBC just had to renew it. That's right, Chuck me, baby
  • Seconded ad infinitum! Anyone who has ever slaved in the bowels of Retail Hell while dreaming of something more should LOVE this freakin' show! Just one piece of awsomeness: Chuck saving the day by playing Missile Command set to background music of TOM SAWYER!!!!!! This thing is made of win!!
  • Oh, sweet crystal baby Jeebus, Thirded to the ultimate degree!!!! This troper, one of the few who still held out hope for Heroes all the way until the end, still has to admit praying to the gods of show renewal that if NBC had to dump something on Monday night, it would be Heroes, not Chuck. Extra points for being the show that makes excellent characters out of other shows' Scrappys (looking at YOU, Kristin Kruek). I mean, the show has it all, a cool premise, incredible guest stars, such as Bakula, Chase, Assante, Boxleitner, Hamilton, next week, Dalton, oh, and coming up SUMMER frakking GLAU!!!!! My HSQ meter is hard pressed to go that high.
  • While most shows in Chuck's position would be cancelled in no time flat, the show has defied the odds and stayed on for five seasons, fitting of the underdog status that our man Chuck Bartowski has. There's just a smile on my face that kicks in once Chuck tells us everything we need to know and never leaves until the episode finishes.
• Quantum Leap
  • That's it? You're not going to mention the sheer range of Scott Bakula's roles (today Sam Beckett's... a test pilot! A laboratory chimp! A black woman in the Deep South! Dr. Ruth!)? The fact that you could always sit down to it and be sure to be entertained? The arc plot with the evil leaper? Even Al, who was the very definition of Lovable Sex Maniac? The episode where they switched places and Sam finally got revenge for all Al's holographic tricks? All those serious, schmaltzy, funny moments? You're leaving out all that? Well, don't expect me to write your Gushing for you. Wiki Magic has its limits.
  • Quantum Leap deserves extra mention for how astonishingly well it has aged since its original run. Sure, the time travel plot allows for each episode to bounce to a new period setting, but it only works because the periods are so immersive. And then there's Scott Bakula's ridiculously broad array of skills.
• Legends of the Hidden Temple. Best game show ever. Even if the show's been cancelled for years, I still dream of one day facing Olmec's temple. That Silver Monkey is going DOWN.
  • Temple Runs are still one of the greatest forms of entertainment known to mankind.
  • This troper found the temple guards to be the best part and always jumped when they came out of the trees.
• Just...Rome. A show that refused to shy away from both Fan Service and Squick with its portrayals of the ancient civilization's practices. With main characters who verge on Heroic Sociopathy not out of choice but simply because that is how their society works, and with a season one Crowning Moment of Awesome / Tear Jerker that simply blew you away.
  • Yes, with great writing and some great actors (Kevin McKidd and Ciaran Hinds), this show is one the best, if not the best, prtrayals of ancient Rome.
• Gilmore Girls. I'm a twenty-five year old straight male geek. My DVD shelf is covered with stuff like Joss Whedon shows, Chuck, Burn Notice, pretty much everything that fits into the fantasy/sci-fi genres, with the occasional sitcom that appeal to similarly geeky tastes. And then there's this show. Cute, quirky, amazing characters, great dialogue, incredible acting. The entire run sits proudly on my shelf, sticking out like a sore thumb, because it's just that good. It doesn't matter that I'm about as far from its demographic as I can get, I love this show.
  • I began watching when I was about the same as Rory cause my older sister liked it and completely fell for it. Characters like Rory or Lorelai are rare on tv and I loved their relationship,the slight craziness of the town, the discussion of pop culture and books... I am still waiting for my own Jess.
  • It initially failed to pique my interest because I thought "Ahh another chick drama" (and I'm a chick myself), but one night my roommate was watching and I overheard a scene where Kirk was saying something like "I'm not the first guy to name a restaurant after myself! What about Mr. Denny or Mr. E. Cheese?" and I fell over laughing, and I knew I needed to watch this show. And oh good God is it great, hilarious writing and Viewers Are Geniuses references that you just do NOT find on the average show outside of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Paris is one of the greatest tightly-wound neurotics in TV history, and Lorelei will always be who I want to be when I "grow up" because, well, it shows you can still be an adult and retain your Lorelei-ness.
  • I think I'm in love with Rory (it certainly helps that Alexis Bledel is beautiful) and I constantly find myself comparing real life situations and people to those in the show. Heck, my sister had a friend that fit Paris so perfectly that I even found myself thinking of her as Paris.
  • Yes, yes, a thousand times, YES! This show is enchanting. The characters are wonderful, the dialogue pitch-perfect, and the references hilarious as they are numerous. To this day I have "What Would Rory Gilmore Do?" lodged in my head, that is how big an impact this show has left on me
• Say whatever you want. I, a 19-year-old male, fully enjoy Golden Girls.
  • I, a 19-year-old female, fully enjoy it as well, and I've only seen a few episodes. I love all of the characters' chemistry, their personality, and all of the wonderful sarcasm. They just don't make television like that anymore.
  • And so do I, a 20-year-old female. The best part about Golden Girls is that, aside from the characters, they made so many great episodes. They had a great deal of very special episodes (the Christmas episode where the girls help out at a soup kitchen, for example), but they never came off as Anvilicious unlike, say, pretty much all of even the kids' shows nowadays. That's how good it is. And I fully agree that they don't make shows like this anymore, and pretty much all of the prime-time shows do not come close to this one.
• I am really loving Primeval. Yes, it's cheesy and scientifically innacurate but I can't bring myself to care. It's fun and dramatic and the characters are great. I love a show where I truly like and enjoy all the people in it, especially if said show has a hot geek like Connor.
  • Dude, hell yeah! This American troper was lamenting the lack of any good stuff on Sci-Fi channel, when he discovered Primeval. Not bashing the new Doctor Who but for those of us who prefer our science fiction with slightly more realism, less slapstick, and a little more emotional weight, Primeval is a GOD-send.
  • This series is AMAZING. Amazing characters, good plots, well-written dialogue, and awesome CGI that actually makes the creatures look pretty creepy.
• This Troper didn't hold out much hope for Castle and only watched for Nathan Fillion but the show has turned out to be very entertaining and with complex characters with interesting backstories and intense relationships, not to mention there's a lot of chemistry and UST all around.
  • And you stick around for the Throw It Ins like seeing Castle as Mal.
  • As far as I'm concerned, this makes up for not getting Mal/Inara resolution. It's Mal, but he's an adorable dad/good with the ladies! It's (kind of) Inara, but she's got a gun! And they solve murders!
  • I'm going to get killed for saying this, but I honestly like Castle more than Firefly.
    • YANA. At least on Castle characters we love aren't getting killed left and right, and the writing is just as good, if not better. And I like Beckett way more than Inara. And Firefly didn't have Alexis!
  • This troper is of the opinion that Castle is the only show that has ever gotten Will They or Won't They? right. It's for once not achingly frustrating, it's fun!
    • Second that!
• I just finished watching Dead Like Me. Um . . . wow. I really have no other words to describe how great that was.
  • This Troper honsestly believes that he will know when he's met his soulmate when he finds a woman who, upon being asked what her favorite television show is, responds that she's trying to make up her mind between Firefly and Dead Like Me.
• I am in constant surprise of just how just good The Big Bang Theory is. Sheldon is just genius in all his awkward, Jerkass glory, Leonard is very funny and often adorable, the other two geeks are awesome and let's be honest here: Anything that can redeem Maggot Neck for me deserves to be praised to the highest heavens and beyond.
  • Seconded. Despite my occasional qualms with it (* cough* Leonard/Penny* cough* ) I really do love the entire cast and watching their wacky adventures every week just makes me so happy. May it go on to live far longer than my other beloved dead shows.
  • Thirded. This troper tunes in for more of the Sheldon than the Leonard
  • Fourthed. This troper fell in love with the series about half way through it's first season after a friend had recomended it. It's probably the best sitcom on TV. The characters are fairly relatable, the geeky refferences make it's (mostly) nerdy fans smile, and it's hilarious! Season 3's ending is gunna make the wait almost as hard as the wait between seasons 2 and 3! I recently got Season 1 on DVD. Best $25 I've ever spent. I even screamed with joy when Jim Parsons got the Emmy he rightfully diserved!
• The 1980s BBC adaptation of The Box of Delights. One of the most charming and magical children's series they've done, and the Christmas atmosphere is fantastic.
• Good News Week, brilliant Dead Baby Comedy Aussie satire. Paul McDermott in particular has awesome comedic timing.
• Thank God You're Here, brilliant Dead Baby Comedy Aussie comedy. One day, Frank Woodley, Julia Zimero, Angus Sampson and Hamish Blake will all be on the show at the same time. That will be the most beautiful day for comedy.
• Blackadder. The pinnacle of British comedy, in this troper's eyes.
  • Yes. It's always hilarious. Also one of the only comedies that could pull of a Tear Jerker finale and make it work so well.
• Xena: Warrior Princess.
  • Xena is a lot of fun if you take the blatant lesbian subtext and just run with it. And even aside from that, the writing really improved after the first two or so seasons, and a lot of the episodes were just hilarious beyond hilarious. I still get songs from the two Musical Episodes stuck in my head from time to time.
• Life is one of the best, if not the best crime shows ever created. The plot is fantastic, the characters are hilarious, and it's just so awesome.
  • I agree 100%. I'll say unhesitantly that the series finale of that show was one of the best on television ever. I am counting the days until the second season comes out so I can watch it to my heart's content.
• I'll never understand why CBS cancelled The Unit just as it was reaching awesome levels.
• Cops. The first, the best, and -- to this day -- the only real reality television series.
• This Troper has a great enjoyment for So Bad It's Good horror, and thinks the intentionally terrible medical horror show Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is the funniest thing she's ever seen. They paid such careful attention to detail in making the production values bad, came up with so many great ideas for Narm, and parodied the hell out of Mary Sue Author Avatars. I would honestly have to pause it and take a break at least once an episode because I was laughing so hard it was hurting quite a lot.
  • Seconded. I've only seen one episode, but it is very, very good at being hilariously bad.
• Merlin. It's the best thing to come out of British television since the newest season of Doctor Who for this troper. Best re-imagining of the Arthurian legend in ages. Also, it's one of the very few shows that I've managed to get the rest of my family hooked on, to the extent that we really anticipate every Sunday night.
  • I second the appalling lack of love for Merlin. Sweet without tasting like Diabetes, occasionally dark without reaching Wangst, and some of the best examples of complex, interesting, relatable characters that are still likable. Not to mention the hilarious behind-the-scenes antics you can find on Youtube.
• Boston Legal. Even in it's most anvilcillious episodes, it was amazing. Never kept characters on too long, developed almost all of them appreciably, played Last-Minute Hookup for all it's worth. I'm nowhere near the supposed demographic of this show (double my age and I'd be close), but it should never have been cancelled.
  • Seconded. I thought I was getting into a show about two gay lawyers (no, really) and what I found instead was a raunchy dramedy that pushed its fourth wall for everything it was worth and managed to make even the most over-the-top cases not only make sense, but inspire sympathy (or rage, depending on what was going down) for the clients and their badass CPS lawyers. I genuinely believe that everyone who hated it just didn't get it or never actually watched a full episode.
    • I'm late to Boston Legal, but if I'm not careful it will be my new obsession.
• Life On Mars. LOM took a twisty turny Mind Screw-y premise that could have been the most ridiculous thing to hit television in decades, and turned it into a show about possibilities and roads not taken. It gave us five brilliant and nuanced main characters that should have been walking tropes and made your heart ache for them multiple times an episode. It introduced its OWN Epileptic Trees, and reveled in teasing us with possibilities. It made us analyze David Bowie songs. And it gave us DCI Gene Hunt, the Manc Lion, a dinosaur of a cop, but ultimately the one you want at your side when the shit hits the fan.
  • Not to mention its worthy successor Ashes to Ashes. Higher stakes, new Myth Arc theories, and more of the Gene Hunt we love so much.
  • Call it heresy if you will, but after seeing how masterfully Ashes to Ashes ended, this troper thinks it's the better show by a mile. She loved LOM, but the fact that A2A could take a character like Ray Carling and build him up to where you didn't just love to hate him, you plain out loved him is just amazing. They cared for all of their characters and never once sacrificed quality for the easy shock value or ratings stunts. It was amazingly well-written, well-shot, and well-acted, and the ending was just perfect.
• Murphy Brown. This troper picked it up for nostalgia purposes and ended up falling head over heels in love with it. A Jerk with a Heart of Gold leading lady who regularly gets into fistfights with elected officials? And who actually has no sexual tension with her male best friend? A Chick who gradually evolves from The Ditz into a smart and capable human being? A Short Guy With Glasses who you could knock down ten times and who would get up eleven? Not to mention that The Heart is, of all things, a scruffy painter who won't go away (but why would anyone want him to?) Forget about Dan Quayle and the dated political references for a minute and remember that this show is loaded with Crowning Moments of Heartwarming, Friendship Moments, and normal, respectable feminism that actually went out of its way to mock Straw Feminism. It was also smart and wasn't afraid to pull out the Tear Jerkers. Say what you want about it, but this troper will always gleefully pledge allegiance at the flag of Murph.
• Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe. Cynical, sweary, sharp, savage, quick-fire, sarcastic, occasionally puerile, occasionally high-brow, occasionally heart-warming. Charlie Brooker, this troper salutes you, your sharp wit and your strangely cute nose.
  • Charlie Brooker is the Only Sane Man in television today.
  • Charlie Brooker is right about everything!
• This troper, despite being 19 and male, loves Desperate Housewives. In spite of what people say, it's nothing like those boring and pointless things called soap operas - no, this is the show that wonderfully blends laugh-out-loud suburban humour and lovably quirky character traits with dark, edgy, deadly serious storylines. Every event has a purpose, every episode consistently doles out generous chunks of entertainment, every character has something to make us love (or perhaps love to hate) him or her, every story arc grips you hard - and, of course, every episode begins and ends with a beautifully written philosophical yarn, each one more unique than the last and blending with awe-inspiring seamlessness into the content of the episode.
• In this troper's humble opinion, The Addams Family was one of the best shows of all time. So hilarious, so witty, so... Addams.
  • Yes! Some of my favorite characters (from any show) are Morticia and Gomez. And Lurch.
• I'd like to bring a little love for Nip Tuck. It never seems to get the acclaim it deserves, despite being hilarious, heartbreaking, and absolutely insane! Amazing performances from Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh as the genuinely complex and interesting lead characters, a plot arc with The Carver, a string of bizarre and awesome guest stars, plus a brilliantly retro colour palette and a soundtrack to die for.
• New Tricks doesn't seem to get much love, so let me announce my love for it here. It manages to perfectly balance comedy and drama, it has consistently excellent performances and engaging mysteries, and it's one of the few programs on these days which features a cast of primarily older actors in starring roles. And Amanda Redman, Alun Armstrong, James Bolam and Dennis Waterman form probably one of the best central casts of a television show ever.
• Thouroughly British sitcom AsTimeGoesBy. Utterly adorable, full to the brim with clever Britishy witticisms (see Lionel), it's made even more awesome knowing that it ran for over 11 years... and starred friggin' Judy Dench!! What more can ya ask for?
• Top Gear is absurdedly popular. So where the heck is it on here? This troper's mother's a petrol head, so her daughter only begrudgingly watched Top Gear with her at first.... But then, as the episodes became more and more random (and it is frequently lampshaded as doing this by the hosts), she started to enjoy it more than she ever thought she would a car show.
  • Seconded. This American troper found it out from her Aussie friend, and she could not stop watching it. Don't think she have ever laughed so hard at a car show before watching Top Gear!
  • Thirded. {{Smilingsoprano This troper}} is both American and completely not into cars, which should put her firmly outside the intended audience, but adores it. The hosts are engaging (especially Richard Hammond, in this troper's opinion), the format well-balanced, and the humor absolutely hysterical. Not to mention that if you have any sympathy at all for the hosts, many of the tests, challenges, and crazy stunts are terrifying and exhilarating. Plus, the Stig is an in-universe Memetic Badass. How awesome is that?
    • Some say he would be incredulous at the suggestion that he's merely an in universe Memetic Badass. And that you're asking for trouble by suggesting such nonsense. All we know is: He's called The Stig. (on which point, this troper would like to point out that he found the discovery of Baby Stig in a manger in Bethlehem, for comedic effect on a christmas special specifically set up for it, to be a Crowning Moment of Funny)
• Am I allowed to put Fraggle Rock in here? It may be a children's show, but almost nothing has touched me as deeply. I laughed, I cried... The Muppets in general make me believe in humanity, but Fraggle Rock is special. May Mr. Henson rest in peace, and may the upcoming movie not make him spin in his grave!
• At the risk of mockery, this 29 year old Troper enjoys watching Hannah Montana. Sure, it's cheesy as heck, the acting starts at hammy and goes downhill from there and the over-acting is extreme, even for a disney show, but it's snarky, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and I luuuuuurve a Ham and Cheese show.
• Glee! I turned in after all the buzz it was getting, and let me tell you, is it ever justified! The show is mostly cretefiably insane, but can also be heartbreakingly touching when it's called for. The characters are colorful, the gags are hilarious, and of course, the songs, the songs!! Most of the covers are nearly as good as the original, if not even better!
  • THANK YOU! Where are all the other Gleeks on here, REALLY??? This show has such amazing writing, being able to tie together absolutely over-the-top things with totally understandable situations and relationships. And I can't begin to describe how big a grin creeps on my face whenever I hear any versions of their songs! (Jane Lynch is goooooooooood at Madonna!!!!!!!! Oh, and that's another thing: SUE SYLVESTER IS THE MOST AWESOME BITCH ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET. Seriously now, more Gleeks???
    • I absolutely love, love, love this show! It's the only reason I even get up in the morning! Now that I have it on DVD, its all I ever watch! If anything, anything happened to this show, I don't know what I would do! P.S. Brittany is the sweetest Dumb Blonde ever!
  • Agreed. So much. The plot is brilliantly written and both the acting and singing are fantastic! I've actually gone out and bought all 4 of the albums and I'll probably buy the Complete First Season DVD when it comes out this summer. Hell, I've even bought the "I'm a Gleek" shirt they sold at Hot Topic to show off my love for the show.
  • Oh hells yes to this! Some of the best characters to come along in ages, great music, enough twists to keep you guessing, a version of Dream On in this troper's vocal range, the list is endless with this one. And the second version of "Don't Stop Believin'" from the Season One finale? Nothing short of incredible. (Check out the long form of the song on the CD, AWESOME does not begin to cover it.
  • There's really nothing left to add, but really, Glee is just... incredible. And I feel compelled to mention The Kiss and all the boundaries it decimated. The cast can act, sing, and dance, and are absolutely delightful to watch. Not to mention the fact that, most of the time, the writers actually listen to the fans.
• Carl Sagan's Cosmos is still completely awesome, any updates and improved effects just make it BETTER.
• Chef is the single funniest thing I have ever seen, especially the episode "England Expects", aka "The One Where Two Chefs Traipse Around France Looking For English Wine". It is quotable to The Princess Bride levels and gets humor out of customers asking for salt and the hunt for unpasteurized cheese. Lenny Henry is brilliant and his supporting cast takes the air out of him with gusto. Why it isn't more famous is beyond me.
• Myth Busters. Those guys break down urban legends and blow stuff up on a regular basis!
  • Mythbusters is pure awesome.
• Also, this troper has a fondness for shows like Jackass, Viva La Bam, America's Funniest Home Videos, World's Dumbest... basically, anything pertaining to celebrities/people doing stupid things.
• Samurai Sentai Shinkenger: An example of how to get this troper to love Power Rangers and Super Sentai again after many, many years, in only three easy steps: 1) Add samurai. 2) Make sure the theme music uses the classic riff from MMPR. 3) The Samurai Haoh. Good God, the Samurai Haoh! Congratulations on a kick-ass season, Toei. Goseiger has a hell of a lot to live up to.
• Dollhouse. Even before it got epic, it had potential.
  • They had me at "man reactions". And this is going to sound shallow, but speaking as half-Chinese girl, it's very nice indeed to see a mainstream show with Asians on it. It's like Joss Whedon read my mind is now saying, "Sorry for not putting any on Firefly...here, have lots of them!"
• Jeeves and Wooster! It's such a lovely little show, with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry (two of this troper's personal favorites), adapting the Wodehouse stories as close to perfect as they could get. It's just lovely.
  • Absolutely perfect. This Troper and her girlfriend are both avid Wodehouse fans, and agree wholeheartedly that no-one else in the world could play Jeeves and Wooster like Fry and Laurie. They are TV Tropes Made of Win Archive anyway, and perfect perfect perfect as these characters; the blend of silliness and sweetness, the musical turns, the Heterosexual Life Partners dynamic...best British television ever.
• CSI: NY is my favourite show on TV. Why? For one, it's in New York City (most of the time, it's Fake NYC but it's still NYC). Secondly, the actors are all great. Three, Mac and Stella....That's all I'm going to say.
• For a long while, this troper refused to get the box sets of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, one of his favourite shows from childhood, in the belief that watching it as an adult would show it to be cheesy, campy, pure Cliché Storm and rubbish. After finaly giving into temptation, I found it even cheesier and campier than I expected... and a thousand times more awesome than I remember! Best theme song ever, as well!
• Misfits! Dear god, that show is brilliant. I'm not even sure where to start. It takes on the superhero genre in a way I don't recall ever seeing in Live Action TV before, the writing and characterization are genius, and Nathan. Is frickin. Hilarious. The absolute worst aspect of the show is, of course, the British Brevity of it. Only six episodes for the first season? And if to judge british shows' track records, a hiatus of about a year? I WANT MOAR.
• The Tudors is this troper's guilty pleasure. It is just so sexy.
  • Forget it being sexy - though, yeah, even the guys who don't take off their clothes are eye candy sometimes (fights off Max Brown daydreams). I'm a fan of the actual history, and even though the liberties taken with the true story can get a bit much, the actors MORE than make up for it. I don't care if Jonathan Rhys Meyers fits Henry's real looks or not, he's got the character down to a 'T'. Each of the wives is the best version I've ever seen, with distinction for Maria Doyle Kennedy and Natalie Dormer (Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, respectively). Those two women convey a furious, to-the-death rivalry - and except for one confrontation, this is done with nothing but the way they watch each other. That's right, only one sequence of dialogue in an entire season, and you can feel the tension. Joely Richardson's Katherine Parr was also wonderful, and since I am a Parr fangirl, that's high praise from me. The second Jane Seymour, Annabelle Wallis, actually made her Queen Mary-Sue an interesting character, Joss Stone's Anne of Cleves wasn't just a stupid German, and Tamzin Merchant's Kitty Howard managed to have a certain innocence even when she was playing a total slut. Henry Cavill's Charles Brandon shows the most Character Development of any character, going from playboy fool to jaded aging man who gets one final chance at love and just wants to live the rest of his life quietly. Cromwell is finally so much more than a cut-and-dried villain, Thomas More's centuries of being whitewashed (OK, the man is a saint, that means nothing - look at Augustine!) are over (James Frain, Jeremy Northam, take bows!), and even secondary characters like Anne Stanhope (Emma Hamilton) are played by wonderful actors who make you want more of the people they play. The only real downside - the show ends with Henry's death, and doesn't include the reigns of his three children. Why, Michael Hirst, why?
• The Office - The American version. I can't help but love it. I love Jim and Pam Halpert. They're awesome. I can't wait for their baby to be born. This show is amazing. The past two episodes of season six have been so great. I hope this show continues for awhile. I can't wait to find out what happens next!
• Yes, Minister. One of the funniest shows I've ever watched, it pokes fun at Britain, politics, British politics, politicians, British politicians, the system, the British system... You get the drill. It was Margaret Thatcher's favourite show. That says something.
• Love, love, love Malcolm in the Middle! It shows that you can have a Dysfunctional Family and still have genuine Crowning Moments of Heartwarming occur just as frequently as the Crowning Moments of Funny. And boy howdy is it funny! There is no character who hasn't made me laugh out loud at least once, though I have a particular affinity for Dewey. I also love it for starting the wave of sitcoms breaking the three-camera-and-a-laugh-track format, there's so much they did that a traditional sitcom couldn't!
  • Bless you! I read all the above entries and was getting really disappointed that Malcolm wasn't among them, and here it is, right at the end! Best show ever!
• Leverage might just be the best show currently airing on TV. I've always been entertained by stories of...creative...justice, and this show combines it with some of the best writing AND acting I've ever seen. AND one of the writers has a blog with behind-the-scenes info! Oh, and at least three people from Next Gen have been involved with the show at some point. It just makes me smile.
  • Seconding this so hard. Leverage is indubitably the most underrated show on television right now. Funny, witty, and absolutely brilliant with plot and characters, I really cannot get enough.
• I, Claudius. That show is a classic, and for good reason. As a classics student, I reccommend it to everyone. Just make sure you keep a copy of the family tree around for reference...
  • YANA. Patrick Stewart! Derek Jacobi! John Hurt!! Brian Blessed!!! And of course, LIVIA, the most Magnificent Bitch to ever grace British Television.
• White Collar, Community, and Psych are the best shows ever. And two of them are recent ones, too. There is hope, people. There is hope.
• Monty Python's Flying Circus. Seriously, how has this not been listed earlier? Is there anyone on this site who needs me to explain why?
  • No you don't. This Troper will watch a sketch from this show whenever she has a bad day and will be instantly cheered up. Storytime is a personal favorite.
• I don't care what anyone says, Law and Order Trial By Jury was taken from us too soon. Tracey Kibre is a gorgeous, fiery, brilliant lead character, Kelly Gaffney is walking cute with a side of Badass, and there is something so fascinating about seeing the legal side of the system in the L&Overse. Also, Les Yay. Piles and piles and piles of Les Yay. And let's not forget all those clingy tops Bebe Neuwirth walks around wearing and Amy Carlson's fuzzy sweaters...
  • Absolutely, completely, totally and utterly seconded. I was fond of Special Victims Unit, liked the lawyers from The Mother Ship, but loved Trial By Jury unreservedly. It was made of pure awesome. It had all the Les Yay you got from Alex and Olivia, the insane Courtroom Antics of The Mother Ship, Shirley Schmidt was a judge, Lilith was The Determinator, Lennie Briscoe was still ambling around being affable and it had my favorite DA ever, magnificent Good Ol' Boy Arthur Branch. It was friggin' TV Tropes Made of Win Archive, and it still got cancelled. NBC are morons.
• I honestly believe that ICarly can save children's television. The show is genius. Never have I seen so much Parental Bonus and Getting Crap Past the Radar in one show. I don't care if some of the comedy is lame, it's one of my favorite shows on television right now.
• This troper loves Friends. This troper loves this show so much she bought the entire series and has enjoyed watching every minute of it.
  • Amen. It makes you feel better about the universe. Why wouldn't you want to watch that?
    • This troper agrees too, best Sitcom of all time, thank god for E4.
• Seinfeld and even more so Curb Your Enthusiasm. They both practically never fail to entertain me in a lot of ways.
  • Seconded for Seinfeld. Plenty of shows have tried to copy the brand of humour but nothing can ever be quite so funny as the original. Every character has perfect delivery and comedic timing that can leave you in stitches even if you've seen the episode a hundred times.
• I love True Blood in all its campy glory. The show is consistently entertaining and fun to watch, especially with company. It takes a while to set up the plot at the beginning of each season, but when it hits a high, it really hits a high. It's pretty much like crack. Once I started watching I honestly couldn't stop. And it sometimes crosses into ridiculous territory, but I always manage to be completely immersed in whatever the current storyline is. Except for Maryann's.
• The Adventures of Pete and Pete is childhood Up to Eleven. It captures the wonder and mystery of that age beautify, and uses its over-the-topness to delve into the emotions and contradictions and mixed feelings we all get about growing up and being a kid. It gets that kids are awkward and confused and are constantly looking for their place in the world, and that there's nothing wrong with that, because it also shows that kids can be insightful and and work through their issues. And it's not saccharine and touchy-feely; the shows heartwarming moments all feel natural and in-place, no doubt due to the writers and actors being on the same page and knowing exactly what they were doing. And yes, it was one of the funniest and most surreal shows ever to grace Nickelodeon with its presence. And yes, it serves as a testament to the fact that there was not just awesome but beautiful music in the 1990s. But more over, this show has something you rarely see today--two best friends taking on the world together. There's something wonderful about that. Cue Polaris's "Everywhere".
• I'll admit it's been a while and the show was cancelled after only a few episodes, but Wonderfalls is one of the best shows I've ever seen. The characters, the setting, the fact that the Jaye's special power of talking to inanimate objects in the form of animals really only led to tiny good deeds for the people around her...it was just so perfect! The full series DVD occupies a very special spot in my DVD collection.
• White Collar is an incredible show not only because the characters are great and the writing is witty, but because the writers refuse to take the easy, cliche way out and yet never feel like they're subverting tropes just for shock value. Neal and Peter's Heterosexual Life Partner relationship is never milked for cheap Mistaken for Gay laughs-- they're allowed to be two men who care about each other without having to prove their masculinity. Peter and El's marriage is possibly the strongest on television, with the writers actually treating a married couple like they might be interesting in their own way rather than having the relationship drama that bogs down 90% of other shows. Neal's charisma and intelligence isn't a get out of jail free card, literal or figurative. Diana is a black lesbian who isn't a Token Minority, and whose lesbianism isn't played for titillation but is just presented as fact. The arc is weaved deftly through the season, instead of having a lot of Monster of the Week episodes and then a few Wham Episodes with arc plots. And finally, it has the hallmark of every truly great procedural show-- the Cases Of The Week are often just as interesting as the arc stuff and character drama.
• Kitchen Confidential. It was totally screwed by Fox (what's new?), and it has its weak moments, but it's consistently incredibly funny, absurd without going out of its element, and even though Jack, Stephen, Mimi and Seth have unlikeable qualities, you can't help but love them anyway. Oh, and it had more than its fair share of Fanservice.
• Rizzoli and Isles. My God. To start with, look at the cast - Abbie Carmichael and Kate Todd as the leads? TV Tropes Made of Win Archive. Then you actually watch the show, and it's even more TV Tropes Made of Win Archive because they love each other so much. It doesn't matter whether you think they're Heterosexual Life Partners or Les Yay-tastic closeted Lipstick Lesbians; the fact that they are so loyal to each other makes for the most heartwarming show. The regualar procedural nonsense is done well enough for the show to hold together, Jane's family are fabulously dysfunctional, and Maura is so sweetly backward, socially, but the main appeal - two people who love each other - is so good and so simple that you can't help but love it. Brilliant.
• Freaks and Geeks is the most painfully hilarious show shows to watch. Nuff Said
• The Greatest American Hero. How in God's name has this page gone on for so long without tributes to this fantastic show? The character interactions are fantastic, the morals are relevant, and the writing more than makes up for the dated effects. Every time this troper watches this show, he get a good feeling inside. He can't explain it.
  • YANA Loved, loved, loved this show. How in the hell would ANY of us react if we got handed a silly lookin' Super Suit? Connie Selleca looking major hot, the late, great Robert Culp chewing no small amount of scenery, Michael Pare' and Faye Grant in early roles? What the heck's not to love?
• Monty Python's Flying Circus.
• Modern Family is one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen. The cast is perfect. You also get the feeling that these people are actually family members, and really love each other. Why the face?
• The greatest show ever aired - bar none - is The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. The partnership between Lynley and Havers is exquisite, the lead characters are human, the mysteries are actually mysteries... I could go on for days. And it gave the world cranky, foul-mouthed, fiercely independent, heartbreakingly vulnerable, sweetly romantic Barbara Havers, the best character ever created in the history of everything, ever. Are we getting the picture yet?
• Marblehead Manor - This show lasted only one season, but it was one of the funniest shows on TV at the time. Each episode took a standard, overused, worn-out sitcom plot and then cranked it up to 11. For example: One episode had the male lead's mother-in-law and new pet llama both arrive on the same day. Because his mother-in-law is so persnickety, he had a list made up to remind himself what she liked. Of course, the llama came with a care list also, and the lists got swapped. Better than it sounds, trust me. Had a pre-Kramer Michael Richards in a minor role.
• Green Acres is the best comedy show ever, hands down. What else can you say about a show where the Only Sane Man, Oliver Douglas, is actually a certifiable nutcase (he grew cornstalks in flowerpots in his New York apartment) who only appears sane by comparison to the rest of the townspeople (who are all Cloud Cuckoolanders).
• Kamen Rider. Showa, Heisei, movie reboots, whatever! It's an incredible series that perfectly ally strong storytelling with the merchandise, having healthy doses of humor while taking itself remarkably seriously. What can I say? It's dark, but not too much; it's toyetic, but that isn't a problem. It's Tokusatsu at its finest!
  • Seconded. There is something just plain cathartic about watching anthropomorphic bug men kick monsters in the face until they explode.
• No Ordinary Family: Sure, it hasn't even finished its first season, but I'm already in love with this show. It takes a new and, dare I say, realistic perspective on the Superhero genre, subverting some of the most fundamental tropes of the genre (Instant Expert, Triple Shifter, Required Secondary Powers, etc.). In addition, it also takes the concept of the Dysfunctional Family and turns it on its head; the bickering and teenage rebellion seen in the first episodes is not portrayed as normal. Family is portrayed as something worth fighting for, and Jim and Stephanie's love for each other is given similar treatment. All the actors do a stunning job, and it has been astounding to see the Character Development the characters have gone through in just a few episodes. The episodes' plots can be a bit generic sometimes, but adding superpowers to the mix makes them feel fresh and new. The writers have done a great job of not bogging the story down with unnecessary drama and have not taken the easy way out with regards to story. Finally, to top it off, the Hidden Agenda Villains keep me in suspense and wanting to come back for more.
• I find it strange that anyone can hate Community, which is the most engaging, brave and interesting comedy on TV right now! Greendale is such a wonderfully absurd place!
  • Hey there guys, this is Abed. I just want to be sarcastic for a moment. Can I get anything for the executive who temporarily canceled our show? Best friend meddle? Anything? No? Alright, sarcasm over. Cool cool cool.
  • Seconded (Thirded?) SO hard. This show completely changed the boundaries of what a sitcom could do and be. It's just so awesome and outstandingly funny. Whole plot references to disaster films, cult hits, spaghetti westerns, Star Wars, claymation Rudolph films, zombie and horror films, law and order parody pastiche, multiple timelines, parody clip show episodes, D&D episodes, a gamer episode, the conspiracy parody episode, I could go on and on and ON, all from a 30 minute sitcom. Plus: "Come on, I'm Dean, and my hands are so clean, in this moment, I am stap-a-ling."
• The original run of The Twilight Zone is still the most entertaining show this troper has ever seen. Sure, it was a little Anvilicious, but hey, Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped.
• Mahou Sentai Magiranger is the best Super Sentai series I have seen to date; lovable characters with great chemistry with an almost insane devotion to Character Development that matters in each and every episode. Heartwarming, positive, and uplifting themes that are impeccably expressed throughout the whole series without becoming overbearing. A rich, detailed backstory that informs the current story without overshadowing it. Superb mech designs, including a a magic train that turns into a giant robot which absorbs the enemy giant monsters into its furnace to use as fuel. A carefully paced and well plotted main story that continuously builds higher and higher while making sure that every important plot point is foreshadowed well in advance. Hell, it even deconstructs the Worf Effect! What's not to love about that? Nothing, that's what.
• Blakes Seven is the greatest TV show I have ever seen. And I watch a LOT of TV. Avon is an awesome Deadpan Snarker and Heroic Sociopath, Orac is strangely loveable (especially when he goes all Crazy Awesome on us), and Vila is the most adorable criminal ever. EVER. Oh yes, and watching Gambit was the funniest hour of my life.
• Kamen Rider Double. That is all.
• I cannot tell a lie. I have a long-standing addiction to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and its spin-off Young Hercules. I'm almost 25 now, and have loved the latter in particular since I was 12. And I do not care who knows it.
• I'm going to go right ahead with The Vampire Diaries. Awesome because it's what all these vampire shows and books and whatever out at the moment could be, if only they had a good plot, great writing and awesome characters. It subverts expectations, always surprises, and you can't not love all the subtle take thats at Twilight in Elena's character. Also, it brought us Damon. You can't not love Damon.
• Uh oh guys, WE'VE GOT MOVIE SIGN! Mystery Science Theater 3000 is one of the funniest shows this troper has ever seen. I have never had so much fun making fun of bad 1950s science fiction B-movies. And you gotta love Crow!
• This troper absolutely LOVES Spaced. After watching Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's other works, she KNEW she had to watch Spaced next. She immediately fell in love. Every single episode is genius. Nearly every joke is funny and well-thought-out, the references are done in a funny and smart manner, every character is loveable, the directing style is epic, and overall, the show is just downright awesome. I don't have any complaints about it at all. (Well, then again, I do have one complaint, and it's the fart scenes in Episode 12. I don't like scenes in which chicks fart, but that's just me.)
• This troper fell in LOVE with Who Wants to Be a Superhero?. It was so cheesy yet fantastic and she practically squees when reruns come on (better yet, a two-season marathon). Real-life people living out their dreams to become superheroes? YES~! But she was crushed when she found out that there wouldn't be a season three.
• Hogan's Heroes. You can watch every episode a dozen times and it will still be funny. Even if you know a line by heart, it's still funny every time you hear it.
• Just Shoot Me and Becker deserve some love. They get overshadowed a lot but they're just as good as (or better than) any other 90's sitcom.
• Big Time Rush is easily becoming one of my favorites. It can be nutty and over the top at times, while still managing to take itself seriously at others. It's far from a Sadist Show, it has no Laugh Track, and the goal of the show doesn't seem to be to see just how much crap and Ho Yay it can get into a kid's show, unlike some other Nick shows that seem to be more popular. (Though it gets plenty of both) The characters are interesting, the relationships sweet (Katie and Kendall, anyone? Not your normal TV brother and sister), the jokes hilarious, and despite being a Boy Band, the music is actually pretty good.
• "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is, hands down, one of the funniest shows on television ever. There should be no dispute about this fact. It has a wonderfully sociopathic cast of characters, surreal plots that manage to stay within the threshold of reality, an excellent use of Refuge in Audacity, Black Comedy and Crosses the Line Twice, that manages not to rely on just being offensive. The show is very well written, and is an absolute laugh riot. Just an amazing show.
• My So-Called Life is probably one of the most brilliant shows ever written! Such a well-balanced ensemble of fascinating characters, and you feel so strongly for all of them, you really want all of them to be happy!
• Everything by Joss Whedon is great! Fascinating premises, fascinating characters, interesting Arcs...
• Sherlock is one of the most brilliant television shows to come out of Britain in decades. Not only is it a successful re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes himself, it is so true and respectful to the original stories. It has two brilliant (and unrepentantly geeky!) showrunners in Steven Moffat (yes, THAT Steven Moffat) and Mark Gatiss (yes, THAT Mark Gatiss), who pepper their writing with references to the original ACD stories. It has two amazing stars: Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, both of whom embody their characters completely. You may not be able to take your eyes off Benedict and the "exotic animal" his Sherlock is (complete with gorgeous wardrobe and full-bore snark), but Martin's John is perfectly, wonderfully normal in the face of Sherlock's crazy. The rest of the cast is similarly wonderful, with extra special kudos to Mr. Gatiss pulling double-duty and providing a brilliant Mycroft Holmes, and to Rupert Graves's dryly paternal take on Inspector Lestrade. It's action-y, it's dramatic, and it's hilarious, and that ending cliffhanger will cause you to shriek at your television.
  • The above poster seems to have covered most of it here, but this troper would like to add that it's the only show she's seen recently that's made her laugh, cry and throw things at the television, all within the space of half an hour.
• Switched at Birth may be only in its first season, but for this troper who usually doesn't like this kind of show, it touches something most rarely do. It exercised a cliched concept and made it good, has entertaining and charming characters(I see you, Emmett!), and manages to make me tear up every time. Its depiction of deaf characters and the usage of their language only makes it so I want to learn it more! Its just so disarming and melts my heart every week!
• That 70s Show. Before the eighth season of course, but even then there were some bright spots. I used to watch the show as a kid coming home from school, and the Network played it in order from Season 1, and SKIPPED SEASON 8! I fell in love with every character, watched their love triangles and law troubles as if I were a housewife watching a soap opera, laughed at every remotely funny moment, and then rushed out and bought the DVDs. Season 8 sucked though. Seriously, don't watch it. Decide in your head who Jackie picked, and then just walk away. Don't subject yourself to the uselessness that is Randy.
• The Sopranos. The only show where every episode feels like a short movie. Even when the show has its supposed "bad moments", it's still incredible.
• I just love Victorious and was surprised it isn't on this page. Seriously hot chicks left and right, great humor, and its writen by Dan Schnider. What's not to like.
• I'm just gonna say it: four episode in, and I LOVE Once Upon a Time. The original story line with twists on fairy tale characters. The amazing hammy-ness of Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen. Prince Charming. I could go on for awhile...
  • ... Where I can take over. I guess for starters, I like how there's this resurgence in the interest of folklore and fairytale, and it's not all done in the tweeny sort of way either. And Rumpelstiltskin is just fucking awesome. But I guess there's a page for me to gush about him...
• Zen rivals Sherlock Holmes when it comes to Magnificent Bastard investigators for their leading men. While Sherlock is brilliant but aloof, Zen plays everyone and comes off better for it while still saving the day. Who cares if all the Italians don't even bother being Italian, it's just such a joy to watch.
• Would I Lie to You is one of the most consistently entertaining shows I have ever seen. The concept is simple: a panelist reads out a statement and the opposing team must determine whether the claim is true or not. Some of the claims are funny because they're ridiculous ("I once put out a fire using my neighbor's milk." "I once lost a game of swingball to a chimpanzee.") while others can turn out to be funny even if they might seem a bit innocuous at the start ("I once accidently bought a horse.") through the way events unfold. The interplay between Mack and Mitchell and all of the guests makes this show a rare joy to watch with nearly every episode containing a Crowning Moment of Funny.
• Grimm, Once Upon a Time's dueling competitor. Mind you, I LOVE both shows, and I watch them back to back on On-Demand all the fucking time. In fact, these two shows actually brought me back to watching new shows on network television again, something I stopped doing ever since they took Futurama off of FOX. ... But I gotta say, I love Grimm a teensy bit more, just because it falls into my love of dark and urban fantasies. I've heard that viewership is falling a bit... but I'll be rooting for this show! Woot!
• Deadliest Warrior. Say what you want about Dan Browned facts and such, but it managed to get people interested in history, from the well-known pirates and ninjas, to the lesser-known (outside their home countries) Maori and Rajput. And Zombies vs Vampires... Brutality, monsters, and vampires taken back to their roots mythological roots, unrelenting predators that haunt the nightmares of their prey. No romantics, no angst, and most importantly no SPARKLING!
• Friday Night Lights! How is there no gush for this? ARGGGGGH!!! The dialogue, the emoting, the amazing music by Explosions in the Sky, a Christian speed-metal band with Jesse Plemons as frontman, Taylor Kitsch frequently shirtless and showing off the saddest puppy eyes ever filmed, oh and there's a bull named named Kit Kat.