I'm more of a TV and Movie guy than sports for sure. I'm very picky about shows, so it's sometimes tough for me to find something new that I enjoy and stick with. I'll often find myself re-watching an older series that I loved for yet another passthrough. For example, can't find anything new to watch, or just finished a series, I might restart the Breaking Bad series from episode 1 again, and watch one or two episodes a night or a week or whenever, and eventually watch through the whole series, rinse and repeat. I have a collection of shows I do this with, and here they are! This blog gives you an idea of what I discuss on my podcast (Off The Top) so give it a try! Follow me on twitter and facebook and let me know what shows you love and will keep coming back to every now and then.
Breaking Bad
Probably not a surprise, this was one of the most popular shows of all time. So many viewers started off with being sympathetic to Walter White, then the show did a masterful job of making viewers second guess if they wanted to root for this guy or not. Personally, I was with him all the way, I never really liked Jesse after Jane died (even though I was devastated when she was off the show, I loved the character and she was played so brilliantly by Krysten Ritter). I forgave Walt for all the moves and mistakes he had made, and really wanted him to win out in the end one way or another. The show ruined so many other shows for me in that I expect them all to be as smart and fit their plot threads together so nice and tight. The writing is unreal, it's clever, funny, scary, and nerve-wracking all at the same time. My favorite episode is probably "Dead Freight" from season 5, where Walt's ragtag crew attempts to pull off an old fashioned train heist.
Smallville
I'm more Marvel than I am DC, but I grew up on the Superman movies of the 70's and 80's, and this series was originally hyped as fitting in with that series of Movies, so I gave it a look. At first, I took a pass, because I was expecting some big action, epic thing, but years later, for whatever reason, I decided to try again, and after I gave it a legit chance, I was hooked hard. The show is more, initially, about teen drama (see Beverly Hills 90210) with a monster-of-the-week built in. As the series got older, they went more out there with the sci-fi and comic booky elements, but it was still always fun and had that family drama and relationship drama feel as a foundation. Pretty much all of the actors and actresses are great, Kristen Kreuk who plays Lana and Erica Durance who plays Lois were both so captivating, I was torn between which character I preferred Clark to end up with, lol, which is, IMO a great testament to the writing and acting in this whole series. There are some less fun episodes as is often the case in a series that goes on for 10 seasons, but I'll watch this whole series about once every year, and seldom find myself skipping episodes, and of course there are some brilliant stand out episodes as well. I'll have to do a podcast and list of my favorites soon!
Curb Your Enthusiasm
It's a challenge to talk about Curb Your Enthusiasm without talking about Seinfeld. I actually wasn't a bit fan of Seinfeld. I've seen a few episodes, but it never really hooked me, and I really didn't care for the Kramer character. Curb on the other hand has a bit more of a 'real world' feel to it, and without the studio audience there aren't the pauses for laughter, etc. so even tho the humor is similar and even some of the same gags and situations occur, Curb is set more in my preferred style of show. Jerry Seinfeld appears throughout one of the seasons and even he's far more entertaining to me in this that the character he plays on his show. I can relate to so many of the quirks and reactions that Larry David has to many of these situations, and all the supporting characters are great too.
The Shield
Similar to Breaking Bad, I think the intent was to like and root for the "bad guys" in this (Vic Mackey and the Strike Team) but over time, we are getting nervous like we're going to get caught along side them, and in the end we're left wondering if they got what they deserved or not. So many great characters, and so many crimes to puzzle through. The interrogation scenes with Dutch and some of the other detectives are very compelling. To me the last season got a little bit far fetched and mildly hokey with some of the dialogue and decisions made by a few of the characters, but that's just me being very nit-picky. At the end of the day, it's a superb series and always fun to watch. Some of the scenes with Walton Goggins and Michael Chiklis are unbelievable. Those characters play off of each other so well, and the actors deserve high praise for what they did in that series.
Dexter
You might be sensing a pattern. I guess that a show like Sopranos broke the mold on watching the villain's POV in a series, ultimately to let the audience tag along on getting nervous about being caught. Dexter is a show that I love, but I have to do some strategic fast forwarding at times. I think the premise of the show is great, serial killer hides in plain site by working as a forensic tech with the police. I think the show couldn't decide how it wanted the character of Dexter to be remembered or maybe they got nervous about trying to make a serial killer the star of the show, so they tried to make him almost like a 'super-hero' and he only kills criminals. Some of the plots get dropped or end abruptly and a few of the characters are downright annoying or over the top (looking at you, Dokes). the series finale was a major letdown, but rumor has it the show is going to come back years later for one more season and try to 'get it right' this time. As I write this, I can tell I'm not as enthused about it as other shows, but there is something about the tit for tat and constant threat of exposure that makes this show hard to not get sucked in to. Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter are amazing actors and these are the roles that they were made for.
Extras
I love the behind the scenes nature of this show. It's very 'inside' with the humor and drama around a movie and TV extra trying to jumpstart his career and become a bigger name in the industry. Like many of Ricky Gervais' shows, there is a definite beginning, middle and end to the story of this collection of characters, and it's only 2 seasons long, with a longer reunion/finale episode to tie everything up. The show is very quick-witted and sharp, such as one scene where Gervais and Steven Merchant are having a communication breakdown about a timezone difference across the globe. This scene is brilliant as it's frustrating and entertaining at the same time. I recommend all of Gervais' shows, but this one is my favorite. Check out After Life, The Office (the ORIGINAL version, from the UK), Derek, An Idiot Abroad, Hello Ladies, and The Ricky Gervais Show (also a podcast) and if you like one, you'll like them all!