Board 8 > Mana & Maniac Rank Their Top 100 TV Shows (Double-oops Edition + Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I feel like Luster on Bushido

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Pyre GIR (9:26:57 PM): You lack a basic grasp of human nature that can only be learned through living
IamSoCool84321 (9:28:07 PM): ur dumb

My plan is to do another triple update today. We'll see how that works out.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

If anyone has watched all three of the following shows then they are awesome.

75. Robin Hood (BBC) (2006-2009)
Action, British TV
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on list

It's Robin Hood. Only Robin is actually english, he is fairly young, and is hilarious. This show is nothing all that amazing story wise (its Robin Hood, what can you expect?), but the characters really carry it. Robin is awesome, his former servant Much is a great comedic sidekick, the merry men are all excellant and aren't just generic followers, the Sherrif is a real love to hate character, new villain Guy of Gisborne is also excellant, and Maid Marion is the coolest she has ever been. If you like Robin Hood stories you definitely need to give this a try. I'm only 6 episodes in so far, but every episode has been good and I am looking forward to the rest.

A warning though, I've heard that the third season is a significant drop, and there are some spoilers that make me want to stop after season 2.


74.The Pretender (1996-2000)
Drama, Sci-fi
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on list (yet?)

This show is paired with Early Edition in my mind, cause I watched both of them with my family, usually one after another. Pretender was always my favorite. Which shouldn't be surprising. As a nine year old kid what is more exciting then a guy who can do any job and just goes from one to another? It's a very cool premise and Jared was a very cool character. This was just a very fun show, and I always enjoyed watching Jared's adventures and The Centre's attempts to catch him. Just like Early Edition this is really a show I need to rewatch sometime.


73.The Lost World (1999-2002)
Sci-fi, Adventure
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on List

This is probably one of the most obscure shows on my list. Imagine season 1 of LOST but instead of a random island, they are trapped in a land full of dinosaurs and the natives are extremely primitive. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Kate is based on Marguerite, only Marguerite is better (though that doesn't take much). Anyway, this was a great show for dinosaur lovers, with some fun and often ridiculous plots as well as some great characters. Just don't take the show seriously (it usually doesn't) and you will enjoy it.

Oh, and if you are a Farscape fan you can play "spot the Scaper" as something like a dozen or more major and recurring actors from Farscape appear briefly in this show. Yay for sharing acting pools!

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

I haven't seen any of those, holy crap.

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"But...gorillas don't have claws." - Azazel22
"Broccoli gorillas do." - McMoogle

tsk tsk tsk

You should give them a try.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

casual morning bump

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"Because they don't want to reason about what they consider a masterpiece and be hurt when they realize it was all useless." - Umineko on Lost

So for my own benefit really here is my bottom 30.

70.WWE Smackdown!
71.WWE Raw
72.WCW Nitro
73.The Lost World
74.The Pretender
75. Robin Hood (BBC)
76.The Amazing Race
77. Survivor
78.Warehouse 13
79.Star Trek TNG
80. Star Trek Voyager
81.Rizzoli & Isles
82.DragonBall
83.Make it or Break it
84.Transformers
85. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
86.The Mole
87.Batman TAS
88.Looney Toons
89.Mutant X
90.Dragons Den
91.The Early Edition
92.Spiderman TAS
93.Slings and Arrows
94.Legend of the Seeker
95.Friends
96.The OC
97.Painkiller Jane
98.Legends of the Hidden Temple
99.Around the Horn
100.Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Honorable Mentions:
Ghostwriter, Sabrina, Heroes, Jackie Chan Adventures, Sliders, Trading Spaces, The Price is Right, The Joe Schmoe Show, The Famous Jett Jackson, All That, Torchwood, Keenan and Kel, Dead Like Me, Roswell, The Jacket, Beat the Geek

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

I like to put similar shows together on my list...

72.WCW Monday Nitro (1995-2001)
Sports Entertainment
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on list

During the Monday Night War I was a WCW guy. My favorite wrestlers were DDP and Sting, I always watched Nitro instead of Raw, though I did still rent and watch old WWF pay per views. Honestly though, this show could be completely ridiculous even by pro wrestling standards, and the last years were just painful. But I still loved the prime of it, where you had a great tag division, and each week had a great cruiserweight or TV title match at the start of the show.

Interesting note: According to IMDB the people with the most episode appearances on Nitro were announcer Tony Shiavone (sp?) and wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow. That second one really surprises me.

71.WWE Raw (1993-____)
Sports Entertainment
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on list

Raw won the war, and had the objectively better shows most the time. What more can I say.

Interesting note: According to IMDB the people with the most episode appearances on Raw are announcer Jerry Lawler and wrestler John Cena. Hard to believe Cena has already past the guys who were around when Raw started.


70.WWE Smackdown! (1999-____)
Sports Entertainment
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on list

Yes, the exclamation point really is part of the title. Smackdown! is WWE's B show. It is supposed to be the weaker show. And for the early years it was, then came the brand split. For some reason, despite almost always having a far weaker roster, it seemed to often be the more interesting show. Better storylines, better matches, fewer dumb stuff. Maybe it was because all the celebrities want to be on Raw, or the headliners that we get sick of are always over there, whatever it is this has been consistantly true for the last like 5 years.

Interesting note: According to IMDB the people with the most episode appearances on Smackdown! are announcer Michael Cole and wrestler The Undertaker. No surprise there. What might be a surprise is that the next person on the list (6 episodes fewer) is Matt Hardy.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

Thirty-nine days, sixteen people, one

#15. Survivor (2000-____)
CBS, Other
Choice Song: (lol no)
Choice Scenes (Highly Recommended Even If You've Never Watched): http://www.funny115.com/

This is another tough show to do a write-up for. In lieu of write-up, just go read the Funny 115 I linked. I guess I should at least explain why it's so high up, though (which will have a 99% chance of turning into three more posts about why I love and hate this show).

I started watching Survivor during All-Stars. I had no idea who the people were, why they were there, or why a lot of fans considered it one of the worse seasons because of how bitter and personal a lot of the players were. I enjoyed it enough, but lost forgot all about it its next season when I skipped Vanuatu. The 10th season of Survivor, Palau, is when I became a lifelong fan and avid spectator. A beautiful location, strong and memorable characters, fun and memorable moments, and a well-crafted story took me in and kept me going. Then with Guatemala, I likely experienced a lot of what All-Stars viewers felt when the returnees weren't as wonderful as they were in past seasons.

Survivor is a show that has many highs, but also has many lows. After Season 20, there was no question that it was in my top five shows of all time. After two mediocre-to-crappy seasons in a row, it drops out of the top ten. I didn't hate them any. They were just dull. And with some revelations that a good deal of excellent stories were taken out of HvV for more, "I'm the king, baby!" style confessionals, well, ****. And more Redmption Island and returning players next season, ugh.

The greatest thing about Survivor are those moments where you have no idea what's going to happen next. I've never felt so much adrenaline pumping through my veins while watching a television show as when it comes down to a game-changing tribal council. HvV had at least three of those moments. Yes, the HII is a terrible implement for the game, both for the players and the storyline (because I'd rather learn more about the players in the ten minutes every episode dedicated to searching for or discussing the American Immunity Idol), but it has made for some very exciting tribals.

Alright, Survivor. Survivor is not the first reality television show, but it was a pioneer of the reality tv boom in the new millennium. Sixteen castaways are marooned in some relatively untouched part of the earth and live there for thirty-nine days. Every three days, a person is voted out of the game. In the end, a jury made from the last seven people voted out decide on a winner between the final two players in the game. The winner is the one who outplayed, outwitted, and outlasted all the rest.

This format has been mixed up a lot. Currently, most games feature eighteen or twenty castaways, a final three, a jury of nine, returning players from past seasons, returning players from being voted out, hidden immunity idols, host bias, huge editing bias, and invisible players. Early seasons were very good at divvying up time between those that remained. Nowadays, we rarely see half the cast pre-merge and one or two select people go for an extended period of time without confessionals (and at least fourteen people without any solid character development). It's sloppy, boring, heavily manufactured, and easily predicted. A lot of it is ****.

But there's always some seeds or kernels of good stuff in giant wads of elephant dung. The community is funny and lively. There's a great audience here on Board 8 (and by 'great' I mean 'large' =P). There are characters who are extremely memorable and awesome, some despite crappy seasons with some of the worst characters ever (see: Fiji).

I don't know where I'm going with this anymore. There are many highs and many lows, but the fact of the matter is that it's unpredictable what to expect episode-to-episode. Sure, it's become rather easy to predict the winner in the first few episodes of the season or which tribe is going to dominate by all the airtime and character development they get, but you never know who the next boot is going to be or how things mix up. I dunno. I'm sore with it right now. Maybe if I watch some Heroes vs. Villains, I'd get in the mood. Too bad I got rid of the two-hour premiere =( (still have Banana Etiquette!)

Again: http://www.funny115.com/

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"Because they don't want to reason about what they consider a masterpiece and be hurt when they realize it was all useless." - Umineko on Lost

Now that Survivor's out of the top ten, I'm having a real tough time deciding what's number ten. These next five could all be that tenth spot, but definitely no higher. The Noble Nine is cemented and sealed. Only a new show or a show I've yet to see could break in. These next five are the runners-up. Deciding between them is a chore because they all have such super amazing highs, but a few drawbacks that I keep coming back to every time I think of them. Feel free to guess what they are by these clues.

1. An atrociously bad season
2. A few atrociously bad seasons
3. It's way too short
4. No highs and lows, just a consistently strong middle
5. Dat liberal media bias

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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man

3 better not be Firefly.
5 is probably Daily Show

My top 3 is set in stone. I'd have to look to see the next level.

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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris

3. Has less episodes than Firefly

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"And the theoretical maximum is 2880 messages, so I was only performing at 45.94% posting efficiency." - Luster Soldier

Oh good.

I actually had a show break into my Top 10 today. I'd say I have a Top5 that nothing is touching that I have seen right now. And a top 9 overall that are on their own tier.

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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris

Excellent! Look forward to seeing what it is!

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"And the theoretical maximum is 2880 messages, so I was only performing at 45.94% posting efficiency." - Luster Soldier

I'm gonna do what I wanna do and that's what I'm gonna do.

#14. Freaks & Geeks (1999-2000)
NBC, Drama
Choice Song: (Warning: Language)
Oops, wrong song:
Clue: No highs and lows, just a consistently strong middle

- Freaks & Geeks is probably the best coming-of-age period piece in both movies and television. Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) is mathlete-turned-freak and is dealing with new people and old relationships. Sam Weir (John Francis Daley) is just entering high school as a geek. I'm not really sure what to say. It's like a crazy good mash-up between My So-Called Life and The Wonder Years that not only stands on its own but far ahead of its peers. The stories and running plot threads and tightly written and evolving. The character acting is some of the best and most believable around. It's a brilliant show.

However, I don't remember much about it. Like Joan of Arcadia and the Dollhouse already, it's a great show, but it doesn't last in my mind. When I'm watching it, I'm in love with it and recognize everything going on. A few months after the last episode, I can only remember parts of the ending (Dungeons & Dragons, Jason's disco dance), Ben Foster telling Lindsay off, the Geeks shooting off a rocket with the new girl before she's captured by the cheerleaders, Busy Philipps crazy home life and that scene in the car, and something about a senator coming. The scene from the pilot I linked earlier? I have no recollection of that scene even though I've seen the first episode at least three times. Brilliant show, but it slides off like my brain is made of teflon.

Freaks & Geeks is a one-season wonder that still gets talked about all the time. Its stars have gone on to many bigger things and Judd Apatow's a box office sensation in the last half-decade. Seth Rogen with the 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, Jason Segel with How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Linda Cardellini with Scooby-Doo and ER, John Francis Daley with Bones, Busy Philipps with Cougar Town, Samm Levine with Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, Martin Starr with Party Down and Adventureland... and James Franco's in everything doing every job on the planet. He's taken over for GameFAQs spellchecker today and is helping me type this up as we speak! Freaks & Geeks was cancelled, but all the stars are enjoying success in the industry. That's just awesome.

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"But...gorillas don't have claws." - Azazel22
"Broccoli gorillas do." - McMoogle

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

#13. Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)
NBC, Drama
Choice Song:
Clue: An atrociously bad season.

- Sadly, no Season 1 intro theme available, and I'm not linking Season 5's.

Friday Night Lights is a show about a small town and the people living in it. Football's a big part of it, but in the way that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is about slaying vampires. It's more about the characters involved and how everything is woven together than just going to State. The first episode contains spoilers and a surprise I don't want to talk about without knowing every single person reading here (*cough*justManiac*cough*) has seen it first. And since it's integral and impactful to the story, it'll be tough discussing the show. It's akin to the first issue of Thunderbolts or the fourth episode of Lost, in my opinion.

Eric Taylor is the high school football coach in Dillon, Texas, a small, rather poor town where one of the biggest businesses is a car dealership and biggest love is the game of football (after church). The Dillon Panthers and their successes and defeats are the lifeblood of this place and Eric Taylor leads that team on the field every week with his coaching. And, again, football's a big part of things because it's a huge part of this town. But that's not all.

Eric and Tami Taylor are the best written married couple in television. Their chemistry is amazing. They have each other's backs. They do not bicker over every little thing (though when they do, it's either really important or hilarious and awesome like driving to the airport). They raise their kids and they're active in the community. Tami Taylor's counselor at the school and later principal so she interacts a lot with the students. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are the upper-echelon of acting, IMO, and should have won Emmys by now.

Quick rundown of the townsfolk. Jason Street is the star QB and his cheerleader girlfriend Lyla Garrity is an eternal optimist and spiritual soul. Loudmouthed Smash Williams and drunkard Tim Riggins butt heads constantly, but Smash is a hardworker who wants to provide for his family and Tim's got a hard life and has tons of bad luck. Matt Saracen probably has the worst time of anyone since his dad's in Afghanistan, his mom's dead, he's living alone taking care of his grandmother who has mild dimentia, he's not very popular, and he's the back-up QB. He does all of this without complaint. The load on his back is huge, but he carries it strongly. He's also fond of the Coach's daughter, Julie Taylor, who is a typical teenage girl. Landry Clarke is Matt's best friend who is amazing even though he doesn't play football and his band is... yeah, Lance's amazing. Tyra, Buddy Barrity, Billy Riggins, Mindy, Vince Howard, Luke Kafferty, Tinker, Jess, Becky, J.D. McCoy... there are so many people who come and go and stay forever.

Not really sure what to say... two things I need to address...

1) Heroes is not on this list, nor will it ever be. I have the first season of Heroes on DVD still sealed in my desk drawer. It's not sealed to be sold later on or for looks. I just don't want to watch it. The only reason I'll ever open it is because there's a bonus disc containing the first four episodes of Friday Night Lights Season 1. It's also probably why I haven't sold it on Ebay or something. Hell, I'd forget I even had it if it weren't for Friday Night Lights.

2) Season 1 is brilliant. Season 3 is strong. Season 4 has some of the best episodes. Season 5's a powerhouse. Season 2 you need to avoid at all costs. Like Heroes, Season 2 is atrociously bad and everything about it was swept under the rug for future seasons. Pretty much everything about it is completely forgotten be everyone else on the show. Which sucks even more because Landry's dad is Glenn Morshower a.k.a. Agent Aaron ****ing Pierce.

One of these days I'll get around to watching both of those shows.

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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris

As for Heroes, that first season was great and I loved it. Then it went to hell. Seriously, that show had so much potential and it was just ruined.

The the fun thing on the DVDs is you get to see a tiny bit of the why. They had a whole major arc that was filmed and had to be completely rewritten. The original "exploding man" was a middle eastern terrorist with bomb power. After 9/11 they felt they had to abandon that plan and created Ted. This obviously caused huge rewrites throughout the series. The original scenes from like the first episodes are on the disc and are much better than Parkman's actual storyline.

Still doesn't explain how they managed to ruin the next three seasons.

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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris

Season 2 could've ended up amazing if it weren't for the strike. It's highly doubtful though.

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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man

#69 Alias (2001-2006)
Action, Drama
Mega Mana's Ranking: 74

This was a really cool show for the first few seasons. Sidney and her family were interesting heroes, and the triple agent stuff was cool. And man did this show have some cool villains, Sark especially. I loved Marshall. It was just a very fun and often very exciting spy show, with a very attractive lead to boot. Then the time skip happened and everything went downhill fast. Vaughn's fiance was a horrible character with a horrible actress. The rambaldi stuff became ridiculous. The giant red ball of death was terrible. Sidney's sister was a completely unnecessary addition. It just went bad very quickly and never recovered.


#68 Pros vs Joes (2006-____)
Sports, Game Show
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on List (yet?)

This is a great show where non professionals who think they are hot stuff (often former college athletes and the like) compete against pro athletes (usually retired) and basically get their egos crushed. Officially the best performing Joe wins some money or something, but no one cares about that. The real fun of this show is watching these Joes get made to look like fools. This is the opposite of American Gladiators, you cheer for the Pros (well technically I cheered for the gladiators a lot of the time, but I don't think that is typical). How good an episode is really depends on the Pros involved. The funnier they are and the more they trash talk the better. Pros like Jerry Rice, Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Rodman, and Jenny Finch made their episodes amazing. It's also great when they compete outside of their actual sport and still beat the Joes.


#67 Win Ben Steins Money (1997-2002)
Game Show
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on List (yet?)

He's putting up $5000 of his own money, but is anyone actually smart enough to beat him? This is a normal Jeapardy like trivia show, with one twist. After round one they are competing with the monotoned master Ben Stein. Who can be absolutely hilarious, and Jimmy Kimmel worked very well with him as co-host. The final round was also great with both Ben and the final contestant sitting in a sound proof booth and taking turns doing rapid fire trivia. Ben Stein is the man.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

Bump

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"And the theoretical maximum is 2880 messages, so I was only performing at 45.94% posting efficiency." - Luster Soldier

Next show I probably need to watch again before I can write it up.

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"Because they don't want to reason about what they consider a masterpiece and be hurt when they realize it was all useless." - Umineko on Lost

After 9/11 they felt they had to abandon that plan and created Ted.

I'm kind of confused by this since didn't Heroes like... premiere in 2005?

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Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~
http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"

It's been forever since I've listened to the director's commentary on the scenes, but that was the reason. I think it might have been a network decision.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

#66 Greek (2007-2011)
Comedy, Drama
Mega Mana's Ranking: not on list (yet?)

IMDB doesn't list an end date for this show despite the series finale airing months ago. This worries me.

This is another show that gets a boost from being watched in a frat house where we were constantly comparing characters to members of the frat (doubly fun because our frat was called Kappa just like the main one in the show). Makes random Kappa scenes all the better. Anyway, this show basically takes the realities or greek and college life and doubles it. While it does focus a lot on the normal stereotypes, it stays more true to the real world than a lot of them.

I honestly might recommend this for people wondering what an extreme view of life in college is. And it is just a fun and well made show.


#65 Highlander (1992-1998)
Action, Fantasy
Mega Mana's Ranking: not on list (yet?)

Based on the movies of the same name. Immortals, "there can be only one", sword fights, flashbacks. That pretty much sums up what this show is about. It has some great characters, especially some of the minor characters (Methos is amazing, Amanda and Joe are great). The plots are often stereotypical and sometimes outright boring. But the reason I watch this show is for the fight season, and you are guarenteed at least one sword fight in every episode. Oh and it created the fun running gag with my sister that whenever Peter Wingfield (Methos) appears in something we declare that character to simply be Methos in disguise.

And the DVDs have some awesome blooper reals as a bonus.

#64 Wheel of Fortune (1983-____)
Game Show
Mega Mana's Ranking: not on list (yet?)

A truly classic game show that really needs no explanation. And it is a lot of fun to watch with family or friends and try and be the first to solve the puzzle (I am very good and usually win).

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

Wheel of Fortune, so good. Just missed my list. Never watched Greek and only seen a few episodes of Highlander at 2AM last year.

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"Oh my God MWIS. I just really want to ask, if this is a SMALL CYOA.... what in the name of holy blue christ is a big one?!" - ExTha

Hrmmm...

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"Because they don't want to reason about what they consider a masterpiece and be hurt when they realize it was all useless." - Umineko on Lost

Also, hell yes to the use of "Devil Town" in last night's FNL.

#12. Band of Brothers (2001)
HBO, Drama
Choice Song:
Clue 3: Shorter than Firefly

- Band of Brothers is the acclaimed 2001 miniseries by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg about Easy Company in WWII. It's ten episodes of perfect storytelling, acting, scoring, writing, and historical depiction on film. It's just so damn incredible to watch. I first watched it around this time last year, or perhaps in the fall, and was just blown away. I'd always wanted to see it, but I just couldn't believe how amazing and incredible it was. The only reason it's not higher on my list is because it's too recent in my mind (nostalgia and commitment play a huge factor in the top levels), I've only seen it the once, and it's a miniseries. Plus, I have no idea how to talk about it without telling anyone who hasn't to go see it right now! Go! Spike's probably got a marathon as we speak! Maybe not, but they do it a lot! HBO too!

P.S. Couldn't get into The Pacific.


#11. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (1996/1999-____)
COM, Comedy
Choice Clip: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-20-2001/september-11--2001

- I can't think of a better clip as to why The Daily Show is what it is. The Daily Show seems to be a hot-button issue these days, but it's always been a show that treats its viewers like adults. We're smart enough not to be talked down to and we're given more exposure and time to certain news items of the day without it being overplayed or overanalyzed. It's the Talk Soup of news, really, where we get what's big in media and politics and get some humor out of it. It's not a real news show, it can't be. It's half an hour four days a week (with some holiday and vacation breaks) and they're reporting what's already been reported. It's also not a parody show because what they're presenting is almost always real (often in absurdist fashion) or extremely (and obviously) sarcastic. It's like with The Soup where you can't really understand why some of the clips are funny without knowing the context behind what's being presented in the reality shows and gossip columns (Tosh.0 needs no context, and will probably be on my next list). I also like parentheses (I haven't had a writing class in years).

The Daily Show is hilarious. It's not just skewering FOX News and making fun of the political absurdity that goes on every day. It's just damn funny. They've got some of the best comedians int he business under their belt and plenty have gone on to bigger things. Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Ed Halms, Rob Corddry, Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Rob Riggle, Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver, Wyatt Cenac... then you've got Back in Black with Lewis Black and You're Welcome with John Hodgman, and all the itnerviews. Some of the best interviews I think. They're either hilarious or informative and they're always candid. It's just excellence.

Antoher clip for some humor: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-august-3-2010/will-ferrell

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Pyre GIR (9:26:57 PM): You lack a basic grasp of human nature that can only be learned through living
IamSoCool84321 (9:28:07 PM): ur dumb

Also, I can't believe I've been watching The Daily Show for over 10 years. That's insane to me. I still feel like Comedy Central's one of those new stations I just found even though I remember watching old SNL reruns, first airings of Chappelle's Show, British Whose Line, and Battlebots.

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Pyre GIR (9:26:57 PM): You lack a basic grasp of human nature that can only be learned through living
IamSoCool84321 (9:28:07 PM): ur dumb

Whoa, hey, top ten already?

#11. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
#12. Band of Brothers
#13. Friday Night Lights
#14. Freaks & Geeks
#15. Survivor
#16. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
#17. Arrested Development
#18. Justice League / Unlimited
#19. ER
#20. Saturday Night Live
#21. Chuck
#22. Dragonball / Z / GT
#23. Boston Legal
#24. 24
#25. Digimon
#26. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
#27. Veronica Mars
#28. Cheers
#29. Oz
#30. Conan (& Late Night & Tonight)
#31. Mythbusters
#32. All That
#33. Powerpuff Girls
#34. Battlebots
#35. Futurama
#36. NCIS
#37. The Drew Carey Show
#38. Castle
#39. Recess
#40. Super Samurai Shinkenger
#41. The West Wing
#42. How I Met Your Mother
#43. Iron Chef
#44. House
#45. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
#46. Psych
#47. Spectacular Spider-Man
#48. Monty Python's Flying Circus
#49. Batman: the Animated Series
#50. NewsRadio

GENRE:
Comedy: 30
Drama: 18
Nostalgia: 30
Other: 12

CHANNEL:
Big Three (CBS, ABC, NBC): 35
Other Broadcast (FOX, WB, CW, PBS): 17
Kiddy Cable (Nick, Disney, CN, The N): 17
Cable (COM, FOX-R, DSC, TNT, Lifetime, USA, Food): 12
Premium (HBO, Showtime): 4
Foreign (Japan, BBC): 5

SPAN / FIRSTS
Baby (87-91): 6
Youngster (92-96): 18
Middle Years (97-00): 13
High School (01-05): 18
Post-High School (06-09): 21
Current (10-__): 14

<3 <3 <3
Kristen Bell (LLSwCF)
Kim Powers (Survivor)
Hawkgirl (JLU)
Maeby Funke (Arrested Development)
Kim Kelly (F&G)
Julie Taylor (FNL)
Abby Elliott (SNL)
Carol Hathaway (ER)
Renee Lemaire (BoB)
Samantha Bee (TDS)

TOP <3 <3 <3 TEN
#1) Kimberly Hart
#2) Kristen Bell / Veronica Mars
#3) Dr. Sara Tancredi
#4) Ellie Nash
#5) Courtney Thorne-Smith
#6) Sarah Walker
#7) Ashley Banks
#8) Kate Beckett
#9) Number 3
#10) Sydney Bristow

NOTABLE MENTIONS

WATCHED
The Amazing Race (CBS, O - Survivor): First season was 4, absolutely loved Season 5 with Chip & Kim, Colin & Christie, and the broken ox, then Jonathan & Victoria and that bowl of soup killed most of my interest. I still watched on occasion, but I think the family edition ended my viewership.
Happy Days (ABC, C - Arrested Development): Loved watching it on Nick at Nite, but not a huge fan now.
Kids in the Hall (COM, C - SNL) - Didn't make it, but deserves a mention. Amazing show.
Mad Men (AMC, D - Freaks and Geeks) - At least the first two seasons. A period piece I could not get into. Very meh.
Grey's Anatomy (ABC, D - ER) - First seasons were pretty good, last few seasons have been top-tier, a guilty pleasure even though the middle seasons with race relations and everything Izzie sucked worse than FNL Season 2 (only because AARON ****ING PIERCE!)
S Club 7 (FAM, C - ???) - I have no idea why, but I watched S Club 7 Miami so many times one year. FOX Family had so many shows that were crap but I loved like Angela anaconda, The Kids From Room 412, Big Wolf on Campus, but S Club was my thing. Rachel and Hannah would definitely be on my <3 list.
The Red Green Show (PBS, C - ???) - Hilarious.


UNWATCHED
Breaking Bad (AMC, D - Band of Brothers) - A show of excellence I haven't gotten around to.
Historical Epics (Band of Brothers) - Camelot, The Borgias, Pillars of the Earth, The Tudors, The Pacific, etc. Just don't care. Though I am just starting to get into Game of Thrones.
Sons of Anarchy (FX, D - ???) - Never watched.

Bump bump bump you up

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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man

Wow, I put off reading this topic too extensively until now and I'm pretty pleased. I'm quite focused on what sorts of television I enjoy -- precious few sitcoms have ever mattered to me, I don't watch sports, I can't stand reality TV... so I basically just zoom in on sci-fi and/or dramas. I am pleased!

The Pretender was great. It's a shame it trickled off into some less-than-stellar made-for-TV movies and I'm pretty sure it ended on a weird cliffhanger.

Oh, and if you are a Farscape fan you can play "spot the Scaper" as something like a dozen or more major and recurring actors from Farscape appear briefly in this show. Yay for sharing acting pools!

Oh god, that is so true. XD

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Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~
http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"

I have never seen the Pretender TV movies. I probably never will.

And Jeff Zero, based on what you said about your tastes Mega Mana and I are probably good TV company for you.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

I feel like I should point out that Mega Mana was at like his Top40 when I started posting my list. It isn't just that I am horribly slow.

#63 Doug (1991-1994)
Cartoon, Nostalgia
Mega Mana's Ranking: 78

I cannot believe this show only lasted 4 years. It seems like I was watching it for years (which is probably true thanks to reruns). Anyway, this show was a classic and a true highlight of my childhood. Things like Quailman and Silver Skeeter and "Banging on a Trash Can" still pop into my head sometimes. Not to mention that anytime I see beets or billboards for bad tourist traps all I can think about is this show. It was and still is great. Good character, solid plots, fun moments, it was just an all around entertaining show. Having an older sister who was a thespian only made this show all the better.

I'll just leave this here.



#62 Stump the Schwab (2004-2006)
Sports, Game Shows
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not Ranked

This was one of my favorite shows on ESPN. It was basically Ben Stein's money except all about sports, and the Schwab was also amazing and it was fun watching him beat the contestants. I cannot believe that guys level of sports trivia knowledge, it is simply insane. The set up of rounds was great. Start with some questions with a lot of answers and go one answer at a time through the contestants until they all mess up, can't think of another answer, or get them all. One point for each answer you get. It was always fun to think of how many I knew. Then you get some regular questions. And finally its a category battle one on one with the Schwab where you get 3 strikes and can choose to give a tough question to your opponent (for double points). Some of the categories were just crazy as well. But really, Scwabi was the best part of this show.


#61 X-men The Animated Series (1992-1997)
Cartoon, Nostalgia
Mega Mana's Ranking: 88

This is the show that really got me into comics and made me an X-men lover. The voice acting was cheesy and often down right bad, but these voices are still what I usually hear in my for the characters. The animation was hit or miss. But the characters and stories (whether they be straight from the comics or something new) were great and really got me excited for the show. The action was good, the dialogue was enjoyable though often cheesy, but most importantly they were true to the characters and their personalities even when they were screwing around with the plots. Plus, it gave us Mikey/Morph, who is a hilarious character. I will forever love this show, even if I have to admit to the often not great quality, and now that it is on Netflix Watch Instantly and I am excitedly planning my rewatch. Oh and of course this write-up would not be complete without mentioning that it still has one of the best openings ever. I will never get tired of it.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

double today. Mostly because I need to do a couple sometime to stop at 51, and the next two (after today's) should really go together.

#60 Iron Chef America (2005-____)
Competitive Reality (I guess), Food
Mega Mana's Ranking: 43, though technically that was the original.

I don't cook and I wouldn't eat 90% of what they make, but this show is fun to watch. I love watching a good competition and the different personalities and styles of the Iron Chefs are fun to see. They really do live up to their reputation most of the time as well. I really like all of the Iron Chefs except Kat Kora, anymore I just change the channel if its her. I truly believe the main reason why Kat gets chosen so often is because people know she is their best chance at winning. Flay is actually in the most, but that's probably just that he is the most well known so beating him would be a bigger deal. Anyway, Morimoto is the king and his presentation is amazing, Batali and Flay are also great and the next two on my list. I wasn't expecting much when they added new people, but I really enjoy Michael Symon as well.

A lot of credit should also go to Alton Brown and Kevin Brauch for being an excellant commentary team. And this is coming from someone who often has no clue what they are talking about.

My favorite episode is still the ice sculpting one. Morimoto and his team really outdid themselves on that one.


#59 House M.D. (2004-____
Medical Drama
Mega Mana's Ranking: 44

I'm not usually one for medical shows, mainly because I'm not a big fan of blood and those often have way to much and its way to realistic. But House really hooked me in season 1. Hugh Laurie completely carries the show and is amazing. House is just such a crazy and interesting character. I loved the episodes with his ex-wife around. And the original cottages were all fun to watch and each one really brought something different to the show. Chase has always been my favorite. This show also introduced me to Jennifer Morrison who is gorgeous (though she needs to go back to dark hair imo). The was just never the same after it fired them.

Which brings us to why this show is way down at 59. After three seasons this show would have been in my Top 20. Early on in Season 4 there were still some great episodes, and I still really enjoyed it, though I missed the old cast. I loved the ep where Wilson had House thinking he was going insane because he was seeing Chase and Cameron around. I was also among the people that expected the whole interviewing thing to end with him firing everyone and rehiring his old team. I was not happy when that wasn't the case, especially because I just didn't like the new people as much (especially Taub and 13). And then when they brought the old team member back that had to fill new roles and the whole dynamic that was so great in the first seasons was gone.

The show sometimes goes to far with its favorite themes as well. I'm pretty sick of "everybody lies", "House vs God", and "They don't really love each other that much" at this point.

I've completely given up on watching the show at this anyway, and I didn't see any of last season. I just don't enjoy it anymore. But those first three seasons are great.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

THE TOP TEN!!!

I can't do this on my own, no I know... I'm no Superman.

#10. Scrubs (2001-2009, 2009-2010 for Scrubs Med)
NBC/ABC, Comedy
Choice Clips: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/58921251
- Scrubs is a show where I can watch reruns of it all day and I cannot say that about most other comedies. I enjoy comedies, but I could not do twenty-four hours of Friends, The Drew Carey Show, or Golden Girls without going crazy (Cheers would work though). There's just such a variety of situations and character stories and levels of comedy/drama every episode that it entertains on all levels. The cast of characters is brilliant and one of the most recognizable and diverse in all of television this past decade. Most comedies, there's a the vanilla straight man, the wacky sidekick, the hot girl, the cool guy, etc. but Scrubs is just so far beyond that. Everyone has massive character flaws, but they're also what makes them good people and good doctors and can easily be their strengths just as often (if not moreso) than their hang-ups. The comedy is outrageously funny and the dramatic episodes are easily some of the most heartwrenching in television. The show has tons of great music, guest actors, and an ensemble of recurring characters that are hilarious and iconic. Or maybe just Hooch.

Really, I can't tell you why Scrubs is so amazing better than that topic I linked. Go there while there's still 91 posts left.

ugh

I just cannot get into Scrubs. There are some amusing moments and many of the characters are decent, but I spend half the episode wondering why I am still watching it.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

Choice Clips: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/58921251

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"Oh my God MWIS. I just really want to ask, if this is a SMALL CYOA.... what in the name of holy blue christ is a big one?!" - ExTha

I've seen many of them.

Like I said, it has some good moments, but the overall episodes aren't at that level.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

maniaaaaaac i'm watching you!

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ph33r teh masta~!

Hey Poka, you should go read post #64

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

is CG one of them???

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ph33r teh masta~!

shush, no spoilers for my list.

(in other words, answer is in the other topic)

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

#58 Reaper (2007-2009)
Comedy, Fantasy
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on list

Oh his 21st birthday Sam finds out that before he was born his parents made a deal with the devil, and now he has to work for him. His job is to find and capture souls that have escaped from hell. The show has a goofy sense of humor which I often wouldn't like but this show really does it right. It's just good lighthearted fun every episode. The ways Sam has to catch the runaway demons are often very creative and can lead to some really funny scenes. The characters are entertaining and have great chemistry together. Missy Peregrym is hot. The main character is especially likeable. Some of the minor characters are great; especially Gladys, the demon who they drop the souls off to and who works at the DMV, and the homosexual turncoat demons who often help Sam and co. out. But the best part of the show is Ray Wise as The Devil. He is brilliant, hilarious, and just plays the role perfectly. It could not be cast better. Of course the negative side effect of this is that every time I see him now I think of him as The Devil.


#57 Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
Action, Fantasy
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on List

Where's Nio when I need her.

The spinoff of Hercules, this is about a female warrior with insane chakra throwing and battle crying skills set in the world of Greek Mythology. Xena started off as a villain on Hercules and now seeks redemption in her own show. Xena herself is a great and very interesting character and the dynamic between her and her sidekick Gabriel is very well done (even when it gets especially slash). Xena is a warrior and general, with a kill count longer than she cares to keep track of. Gabby is an innocent girl from a small town who loves telling stories and succeeds by out talking and out thinking her opponent. The relationship and development of these two characters is the core of the show. Though it also has great battle scenes and some cool villains and side characters.

Also of note is that this was one of if not the first show to do a musical episode. And it was a very good one, mostly thanks to the fact that the two leads could really sing.

This was a very entertaining show, but it hasn't aged real well and can be hard to watch now (I tried to do a rewatch recently).

And of course, I can't do this write up without mentioning that this show has one of the worst finale's in the history of TV. You think people were upset about LOST's finale? 90% of Xena fans pretend this shows finale never existed, and the 10% that don't wish they could forget it.


#56 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999)
Action, Fantasy
Mega Mana's Ranking: Not on List

Mythological hero and demigod Hercules wanders around being a do gooder and fighting off the evil gods. Herc is cool and Kevin Sorbo does a great job playing him. Iolaus is hilarious and one of my favorite sidekicks (way better than Gabby btw). The Gods make excellent villains, as do the various other mythological beasts that Herc fights (Xena tends to focus more on human enemies). Fun and exciting show that has terrible effects which can make it tough (or at least laughable) to watch on occasion. I still enjoy it more than Xena though.

A fun thing I hadn't realized the first time watching through (or at least didn't remember before my rewatch) is the often humorous messages at the end of the credits of Herc and Xena. Stuff like ""No vicious beasts intent on taking over the world were harmed on the production of this film" where the Humane Society disclaimer would normally appear.


Oh, and the rewatch mentioned in the Herc and Xena writeups is part of the reason our B8BL team is the Olympic Demigods btw.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

**** yeah xena and hercules

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ph33r teh masta~!

Woot

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Pyre GIR (9:26:57 PM): You lack a basic grasp of human nature that can only be learned through living
IamSoCool84321 (9:28:07 PM): ur dumb

Tag

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Oh, I am one yet many.

yay, new reader!

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

^_^

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Oh, I am one yet many.