Ok so this
afternoon I decided that I definitely wanted to write... something, upon
opening my word processor I realised that merely wanting to write something is
a jolly good idea but a great idea when you actually have something to write
about. So I racked my brain, what did
I want to write about? I had a vague idea about doing some low fantasy (Fantasy
with a looser construct than Lord of the Rings and it’s ilk), or perhaps some
horror but really nothing was coming to me.
Then it hit
me, On my often twitter rambles (@Stueymon)I
like to talk about my favourite television series, occasional witty insights or
just genuine moments of promotion for a television series I enjoy. So that is
what I plan to do, what follows from here on is a descending order of
television series I genuinely enjoy. While
making this list I decided that I would only include television series that are
either broadcasting now or awaiting a new series. Nothing from the past of
cancelled will make it into this top ten, because the section proclaiming my
love of firef... my love of a certain
space-western series would turn into a university essay and limiting my choice
of series to the current makes these shows relatively easy to find.
10 Dexter (2006)
Dexter features Michael C. Hall as the titular Dexter, the Miami Dade police blood splatter expert who helps his colleagues find murderers. Of course it sounds like a standard procedural cop show so what makes this one different? Dexter himself is a serial killer who chooses his targets using the police database to find criminals who have escaped capture, knowing how the police find and track killers has helped him keep out of the law but also puts him on a knife edge of being caught himself. I actually read the books after seeing the first series because I was so engrossed with what was happening that I felt I needed to know what was going to happen next but I’m not sure I did the right thing. The television series is almost better than the books and events that shock you have a more startling effect on screen than they do in the book. If you feel you can resist spoiling the Tv series for yourself I’d recommend sticking to that but I won’t begrudge you for reading the books out of that need to know.
The premise
does at first and last look sound ridiculous but it’s played with splashing of
dark humour, good script writing and tense situations that make it wonderfully
enjoyable. The series suffered a dip in the second and third seasons but really
picked up since and is definitely worth watching if you enjoy dark humour in a
cop show that turns the premise on it’s head. The 7th season of
Dexter starts in September 2012
9 Futurama (1999)
If you haven’t
heard of Futurama by know then shame on you for missing one of the funniest
cartoons available to mankind. I’m assuming everyone has heard of Futurama so I’ll
only provide a brief summary. Futurama is mainly the story of Fry, a pizza
delivery boy who is trapped on New Year’s Eve in a cryogenic box to the year
3000. The premise is not really what makes the series great but it’s use of
comedy. Futurama is the creation of Matt Groening who also penned The Simpsons,
yet unlike it’s present-day predecessor Futurama is completely unconcerned with
the moral tale that was arbitrarily added to The Simpsons to provide family
values. Futurama is a show that has to be keenly watched to get all the jokes,
including sight gags and puns used on signs, to vague cultural commentary
placed an eon into the future, neatly avoiding controversy.
8 Burn Notice (2007)
Burn Notice
for me is what I affectionately call a “Fluff” program. It’s a light
action-drama featuring espionage, spies and general nefarious goings on, but is
never going to leave you with too much of an emotional impact.
Michael
Weston is a spy who is believed to have been acting illegally and is therefore “burned”,
a term used for when a spy is left in a country with no identity, money or
assets. Fortunately for Michael he is left in Miami where he meets up with an
ex-girlfriend, a former colleague and his mother. They work to help people who
are in tough situations using their spy-skills to save the day. I admit it’s
formulaic but it’s also a lot of fun, like a modern take on the A-team that’s
much cooler. If that’s not enough to sell you on it, it also features the
iconic Bruce Campell from the Evil dead films, and he’s always cool.
7 Falling Skies (2011)
Falling Skies is sci-fi series produced by Steven Spielburg
concerning the fight for survival after an intense alien invasion decimates the
Earth’s population and enslaves the majority of the children. I’ll admit I’m
somewhat biased towards this series because I’m easily sold on alien invasions
and pitched battles concerning aliens but I’m also the first to admit it’s had
it’s ups and downs. Some episodes of the first series are dull but it’s definitely
worth staying through because.... well, aliens!
This science fiction epic is truly the first of it’s kind to
be attempted in well over a decade since the original series of V from the 80s
and the visual effects used paint a bleak picture of humanity on the edge of
extinction but fighting for their freedom.
6 The Walking Dead (2010)
The Walking Dead is true first for the horror genre in
television and while now it seems remarkably stupid that no one had done it
before, The Walking Dead is the first television show about an ongoing zombie
apocalypse. For the sadly uninitiated, The Walking Dead was originally a comic
written by Robert Kirkman, turned into a Tv series by acclaimed director Frank
Darabont and predominantly stars Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, a man who wakes
up from a coma to find his world has been destroyed by a zombie apocalypse. The
first series is well produced, acted and filmed so the quality is top-notch,
but this is not for the squeamish, blood, guts and other bits of bodies often
find themselves being reduced to lunch for the hungry masses. The second series
suffers from an unsure direction but soon heats up to a startling finale.
Gripping and gruesome stuff.5 Episodes (2011)
Beverly and Sean Lincoln are successful British writers who
produced a typically British comedy (Think History Boys) that becomes a huge
success. Of course this leads to American television companies hearing about it
and bringing the Lincolns over to America to make an American adaptation. Of
course this doesn’t go as predicted and they are both left writing for a gaudy
American sitcom which is almost completely unrelated to their original comedy
and stars Matt Le Blanc.
This
is a typical fish-out-of-water and culture clash comedy but it’s expertly
written and Matt LeBlanc plays a narcissistic dickhead version of himself while
Stephan Mangan and Tamsin Greig play the British couple adapting to Hollywood
lifestyle and all are played brilliantly. Forget all nightmarish memories of ”Joey”
and watch this, LeBlanc has found his footing here and it’s mocking himself
mercilessly.
4 Fringe (2008)
Fringe is
the second JJ Abrams television project in this list and consists of rogue
science and the FBI. If you’re thinking this sounds similar to The X-files,
then you’re not far off but Fringe stays firmly rooted in the vaguely plausible
science room and never touches the supernatural or the mystical with a barge
pole. Each episode involves the FBI’s Fringe division tracking down
miscarriages of science that are usually gruesome and they work with an
ex-institutionalised scientist and his son who work together to stop or
counteract the “mad science” goings on involved.
Again,
top-notch production values and the series has always remained interesting,
with a meta-arch storyline involving inter-dimensional war that becomes more
complex as the story progresses. Sadly this show is on the cancellation line so
it’s looking like this will be the last series of Fringe we get to see, I recommend
it, if you enjoy procedural shows this may tickle of fancy as it plays similar
to that but the crimes themselves veer into the very strange and obviously
tickles my fancy.
3 Supernatural (2005)
Supernatural
features the progressing story of two brothers who are “Hunters”, people who
find and kill supernatural beings to save humanity. There is a typical “Monster
of the Week” story for each episode, finding and killing the thingies that live
in the dark. Initially I didn’t like this series but it really grew on me after
a short while, and what sold me was the relationship between the two brothers,
played respectively by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki who have a wonderful
on screen chemistry and really do act like relations, constantly bickering and
insulting each other at one moment and loving each other the next.
The series
recently finished it’s 7 series and has been renewed for an 8th so
the back story to deal with now is quite heavy but if you’ve got nothing else
to watch at the present moment (and if you look at television most of the time,
that’s always) then it’s worth putting in the time to watch the older series.
As a bonus, almost each episode has a classic rock track in it somewhere!
2 Person of Interest (2011)
Person of
Interest is one of my new favourite television shows and the second on this
list created by JJ Abrams. Jim Caviezel (Last Temptation of Christ) and Michael
Emerson (Lost) play John Reese and Harold Finch respectively. Reese is an ex spy
who has special training and Finch is a billionaire who has access to a Machine
that can predict violent events and deaths but the only notice they receive is
a social security number.
This means the person could be perpetrating the crime
or the victim of it, this leads to an episodic case of the week where they have
to deal with working out what is going to happen and who it is going to happen
too. This series feels like a cross between 24 and the film Enemy of the State
because you are constantly aware that everyone is being monitored by this
Machine. There are shady mob dealings, criminal low lifes and even shadier
government dealings, giving the series an overall feeling of paranoia and
conspiracy that is wonderfully blended with Caviezel dealing out the action
like Chuck Norris in a particularly snappy suit
I use a
capital when referencing the Machine because it really does feel like a
character, you never seen it communicating directly but it can always be seen
identifying characters and extras, making judgements and even deciding if it
needs to defend itself. This is where the series takes a tentative step into
science fiction, with a daunting question hanging over the Machine itself, is
it just a clever program, or is it actually intelligent?
1 Game of Thrones (2011)
If you know
me, or follow my twitter or facebook account, you should have seen this coming.
I think Game of Thrones is simply the best thing on television since John Logie
Baird invented it. If you don’t know what Game of Thrones is about, which rock
have you been living under? Oh well, it’s about the Kingdom of Westeros and the
constant struggle to rule it. There are too many characters to name here,
literally the cast is astonishing but you’ll won’t forget who anyone is because
each character is well rounded and stands out. There are full blown battles
going on in suits of armour, mythical creatures, magic and ice zombies, ice
zombies.
The series
was originally written by George R.R. Martin and is on it’s 6th book
now, with more to come so it looks like the HBO series has a long way to go before
it’ll be finished and you’ll never want it to finish.
If you’re
not watching Game of Thrones you’re missing out on some of the best television
drama ever, If I had to sum it up in a sentence, I would say fuck off, you
simplistic prick, but if at gun point, I would say Game of Thrones is what you
would get if you mixed The Wire with Lord of the Rings.
Honourable
Mentions
Breaking Bad
and True Blood
These two
dramas didn’t make it into my top ten and while they may even be technically
better than some of the other series in my top ten, I don’t feel I enjoy them
as much personally and while both are excellent, I felt they both consisted
almost entirely of reprehensible characters who had not charm or wit to redeem
them
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