So here's the thing, I'm a huge television fan. I just absolutely love it. A lot of people say watching TV is a waste of time or doesn't help you grow intellectually or will lead to the end of the world or whatever. However, I strongly disagree. I don't have much to say about reality TV because I've almost never seen it, not because I think it's bad, just because I really love fiction.
It's sort of hard to express the significant role certain TV series have played in my life in the last few years. I tend to get pretty emotionally involved in the lives of fictional characters. Anyway, these are some of my very favorites.
Parenthood is a show I discovered less than a year ago, and then I watched all of it that was available sort of in one go. That's not something that particularly unusual for me to do. The things I love about this show are:
- the hyperrealism of the characters and their relationships to one another
- the way it focuses on successful and happy married relationships instead of constantly changing and failing high school relationships like a lot of other popular shows (some of which I also love)
- the chemistry of the actors
- the way it evokes empathy so much (so I cry during every episode I watch, without fail)
Parks and Recreation is so hilarious I don't even know what to say. I highly recommend it to almost everyone. This is one of the only shows that's still on the air that I'm caught up with. I look forward to watching it on Hulu every Friday when I get back from art history class. Here's what I like so much about it:
- I laugh (obviously) and also cry during basically every episode
- the characters are ridiculous caricatures of real people, except then at some point you realize that it's actual real people who are ridiculous caricatures of real people and the characters in this show are sort of like that
- there are no characters that I don't like a ton like in some other shows that I watch (even Jerry)
Lauren was the one who made me start watching Nikita during our senior year of high school. This show is less realistic but it is so exciting with one of those government conspiracy types of plots. The protagonist is totally awesome and the whole thing is a fun combination of action and emotional drama that (I bet you could have guessed) often makes me cry. I think I am starting to sound awfully silly.
I can't tell you how much I like Bones. It's quite possibly my favorite of all of these favorites. I love the way the characters are really varied in personalities and character traits to appeal to a larger audience possibly although I don't actually know very many people who watch this show. Then again, I don't actually know very many people. The chemistry between the characters is very successful and it is extremely comforting to have a protagonist who is socially awkward and rational to a fault. Usually, TV shows have exclusively charismatic main characters, and how many of us can relate to those??
Doctor Who is a show that I think is a little weird to have as just part of a list of my favorite shows, because usually when I hear people talk about how they really like Doctor Who, they REALLY like Doctor Who. I think it's great, although I haven't seen any of the old movies/series/I don't really know how it works. I've seen most of the most recent seasons, and what I like most is the way the Doctor is sort of awkward and not particularly charismatic, similar to Bones. Also, he is a lonely sort of non-person, and we all know those are the best ones.
Friday Night Lights reminds me a lot of Parenthood with the realism that it features in its characters. This show made me think football is extremely exciting, which is something I never thought about before I started watching it. I love the soundtrack and most of all I love the parents in the above photo who I think are just the best representation of good parenting that I've ever seen on any TV show. It makes me cry. A lot. Big surprise.
I have seen every episode of Gilmore Girls probably more times than I've seen all of the episodes of all these other shows combined. I started watching it when I was 13 I think and now I'm 19, so that's 6 years of almost constant Gilmore. OK, I'm joking, I haven't literally been watching it for six years straight, but I do know probably all the words to every episode. I'm not quite sure why I latched onto this one to such a severe extent. I think I was drawn to the witty, fast-paced dialogue and the quirky setting and also the comforting mother-daughter relationship. Because it was such a big part of my life during my early teens, now, watching Gilmore Girls feels like going home, and that's why I like it more than anything else.
And finally, Grey's Anatomy, a bandwagon which I jumped upon fairly recently and then proceeded to watch 7 full seasons in maybe 3 days. I don't think that's physically possible, but I think I made it happen. This show is far less realistic than some of my other favorites, but it has some really beautiful moments, and introduces a lot of greater human truths about life and death and the things in between. Also, the relationship between Meredith and Cristina always reminds me of Lauren and me. But we're not nearly as annoying or stubborn. (Right??) Also, I don't think we'd be as inclined to hold a human heart (but only in a literal sense, obviously). We're figurative heart-holding romantics.
In conclusion, you should watch these. Television is key in the growth and intellectual development of the human race. Oh my goodness I'm joking, don't freak out. But I do think it's really great and can teach just as much as reading a book or performing open-heart surgery (enough with the heart jokes, Spencer, they're over-dramatic and confusing).
Have a nice year/all the rest of the years,
SRF
What I'm listening to right now: Leave Before the Lights Come On by Arctic Monkeys
1 comment:
"discovered" Parenthood. Pssh. We're gonna have a fight.
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