Favorite Live Action TV Shows

[Spark Of Spirit]

Batman's out this November!

It's about time!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Holy Smokes, Batman!?! 

[Foggle]

Batman's out this November!

It's about time!

FUCK YES

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Batman's out this November!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Here are my favorites so far:

1. Breaking Bad
2. Game of Thrones
3. Monk
4. Firefly
5. Boy Meets World
6. Malcolm in the Middle
7. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
8. Angel

I still have a lot more shows to watch, including continuing on with The Wire and Sherlock. I also have to watch Mad Men, and there are plenty of other HBO shows that I'm eager to dig into.

I was also thinking of ranking Dexter, but the series kind of goes downhill after a while, which is why I refrained from it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I could easily list my favorite animated shows (like KOTH, are you watching that, Ensatsu-ken?) but for some reason its always been harder for me and live action.

Monk would easily be up there, though.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Cool list, E-K. Right now, I'd say my favorites would be:

10. Nathan for You (I just started watching this recently, and it only just started it's second season, but I think it's hilarious)
9. Parks and Recreation
8. Louie
7. 30 Rock
6. Community
5. Orange is the New Black
4. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
3. The Wire (I feel a bit hesitant to put it this high, since I've only seen the first season, but I already love it a lot)
2. Game of Thrones
1. Breaking Bad

There's still a lot of stuff I need to check out, like The Sopranos, or revisit, like Boy Meets World, of course, but these are the shows I love the most right now.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh shit, I forgot about Louie. Consider that between Buffy and Malcolm on my list. I'm too lazy to edit.

Louis CK is hands down my favorite stand-up comedian, BTW.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

AND I just remembered that I forgot the Twilight Zone as well. What is wrong with me?

[Avaitor]

I was going to make a list, but then it hit me, I like a LOT of TV shows. I can't even make a solid 20 or 25 without leaving some shows that I really love out.

Yikes.

[talonmalon333]

I'm somewhere between Avaitor and Ensatsu-ken. There is still much I want to see, but at the same time, I also feel like I like a lot and can't come up with an adequate list. However, to me, the top tier consists of Lost and The Twilight Zone.

Me calling Lost my favorite show shouldn't be a surprise. And I recognize that it's not perfect. It has numerous flaws, but I judge it as a whole and feel that the sheer amount of good in the show, and the amount of genuine heart in it, makes it stick with me and makes the flaws look so small. Also, and not to sound pretentious or like a fanboy, but I honestly believe that many of the reasons some people hate the show are misinterpretations or exaggerations. For example, people complained that the final episode of Lost was terrible because it didn't provide answers to every question in the series. First of all, I don't understand how anyone could have expected it to. Second of all, a lot of the answers people wanted would have honestly weakened the mythology of the show. Third, many people don't understand that Lost is not a mystery-based show. It is, at its heart, a character driven show, and those stranger elements just served to enrich that experience. Also, another thing is that many people interpreted the ending of the show into something they didn't like, and somehow this interpretation became the widely accepted answer for so many watchers, when in reality this interpretation is objectively wrong, and honestly, it's kind of mind boggling because in the last five minutes of the finale, the show flat out debunks that interpretation. I think one of the reasons for all this is that Lost started off as a big, cinematic, relatively mainstream show about people surviving on a dangerous island, so it attracted many casual television watchers. But in the second season onward, it started to become more niche in its ideas, but many of those casual television watchers kept up with it, and for them it seemed to be a show about mysteries when it should be viewed as a show about the characters. That viewpoint of mine might seem very condescending, as I am essentially using my most hated comeback: people just don't get it. But I feel this is one of the few instances where it's true. Just the same, I wouldn't be wrong or overly condescending by arguing against a casual movie watcher disliking 2001: A Space Odyssey and calling it boring nonsense. There are indeed reasons to dislike Lost, trust me I have my own personal issues with it. But many of the common complaints just don't seem right to me.

The Twilight Zone, no need to talk for that one, is there? It's widely regarded as one of the greatest shows in the history of television, and it always will be viewed as so. I'd argue that it might also be the least flawed show I know of.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The Twilight Zone, no need to talk for that one, is there? It's widely regarded as one of the greatest shows in the history of television, and it always will be viewed as so. I'd argue that it might also be the least flawed show I know of.

I just noticed this, but as much as I love The Twilight Zone, I definitely wouldn't call it the least flawed show. The final season was, IMO, a huge step down from what came before it. If I recall, the network pushed for the episodes to be an hour long instead of a half-hour, and what resulted were episodes that felt dragged out, rather than tightly paced like the half-hour ones. Also, Rod Serling was just getting tired of doing the show at this point, and it showed with how overly-preachy some episodes were, and how they became far more safe, predictable, and uninspired. Having said that, even with the final season dragging it down, it's still one of my favorite shows ever.

As for what I've seen, though, which is admittedly limited, I think Breaking Bad may be the least-flawed show that I've seen. I mean, the flaws are definitely there, but it manages to maintain a remarkably consistent quality throughout its run (if anything, it actually gets better with each season).

Also, if you haven't seen either of them yet, I definitely recommend Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones (or the ASOIAF books in its place). I can't say how well they hold up to Lost, which I have never actually seen (I'll get around to it eventually), but I think that most people on this board would agree that those 2 shows are certainly great.

I'd recommend The Wire, as well, but I still have to see more of it, myself.

[Avaitor]

It's the fourth season with hourlong episodes, not the fifth. The show was actually pretty much canceled after the third, but CBS needed a mid-season replacement and talked Serling into coming back and doing 17 hourlong episodes, then okayed another season with traditional half-hour episodes.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, right, I always get those mixed up. Come to think of it, I hardly remember season 5. I need to re-watch the series someday, but I'm waiting to collect the sets, which I think have been out of print for a while, but I'm sure that I can find them online easily enough.

[Avaitor]

Well correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the whole series currently on Netflix?