Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s theme is:
Top Ten Favourite TV Shows
Now this is a topic very near and dear to my heart! I love binge-watching TV shows (I love TV shows in general) so this is a topic I can really get my teeth into!
1. Freaks and Geeks
I am a huge Freaks and Geeks fan – I absolutely love this series. Even though it is set in Detroit in 1980 (way before my time, ahem) I feel it perfectly encapsulates the high school experience for me. I was more of a ‘geek’ than a ‘freak’ but I can really relate to both groups.
My favourite character was Bill Haverchuck (who wouldn’t love Bill??) but I enjoyed all of the characters. I still bemoan the fact that Freaks and Geeks only got one season before it was cancelled.
2. Firefly
One of my most favourite series of all time – sadly cut-of before it could reach its prime. This was the perfect sci-fi series – combined with the usual Joss Whedon humour and pathos.
I’m not sure how many times I have watched this series (hint: a lot!) but I never get tired of Serenity and her crew. My favourite character has to be Jayne (the man they called Jayne!) but I love the whole cast.
3. Battlestar Galactica
This show really proved that reboots could be just as worthwhile as the original (I like it much better myself). This was an exciting, tense series that really knew how to deliver solid entertainment. I love sci-fi but sometimes it can come across as hokey (which I fell the original series veered into) I did not feel this way about the modern version.
My favourite characters seemed to be damaged a lot (Chief Tyrol, Gaeta and Boomer to name a few) but I still adored the series (even when it wanted to hurt my faves!)
4. Deadwood
Cowboys! Hookers! Mr Wu’s Pigs! Deadwood was really something else. I didn’t expect to love it. I really honestly didn’t expect to be wowed and love it as much as I did. However, it turned out to be one of the best series ever!
The profanity in this series reached all new levels. Apparently the word f**k is used 2980 times during the run of the series (and no, I didn’t count that myself haha!)
5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
I love Star Trek in all its incarnations. I was originally a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation but it was Deep Space Nine that became my favourite. As much as I love the other series, DS9 felt like a richer experience. It had over-arching storylines rather than the more episodic formats the other series followed. It also had the Dominion War arc (and Cardassians!)
My favourite regular characters were Quark and Odo but I also loved the various guest stars particularly Garak, Dukat, and Damar (yep, all Cardassians!)
6. Game of Thrones
What list is complete without Games of Thrones making an appearance? I doubted the TV show could match the mastery of the books – and it doesn’t – but it is pretty darned close!
The is my favourite (current) show – the one I cannot bear to miss. Even my other half, who is not really a fantasy fan, likes to watch it with me. It is just that good.
My favourite character in the series would probably have to be Tyrion but I love Jaime and Arya as well. Hell, I even love the characters that you are supposed to hate!
7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I hold up my hand – I am a huge Joss Whedon fangirl! Buffy was my favourite series when I was a teenager. I loved Angel (the series) as well (in fact, I think it is probably the better show in many ways) but Buffy has my heart and soul (heh!).
My favourite characters were Spike (I liked him better when he was bad though), Buffy, and Giles. I definitely preferred the pre-Dawn years when the characters were in high school but I remained a fan the whole way through (even through the misery that was season 6!)
8. Veronica Mars
A teen noir with a perky blond female lead? A murder mystery to be solved while still navigating the rough waters that is high school? Oh hell yes! Veronica Mars was a show that I had been desperately needing without realizing it. I loved the fact that Veronica was a tough, capable lead but also vulnerable at the same time (she’s a marshmallow!) 😉
Right away I hopped on the LoVe train – if you have watched the show, you’ll know of which I am referring to, and if not, well what are you waiting for? Get on that stat!
9. Sherlock
A more recent favourite, I actually starting watching Sherlock this year. Once I started, well, let’s just say I haven’t really stopped! Sherlock is one of the most fascinating shows I have ever seen (and not just because I fancy Benedict Cumberbatch – although, I kinda do, not sure why though!)
I love the twists and turns and the cast is pretty much fantastic. I really like Martin Freeman and Rupert Graves is a long-time favourite of mine (plus, ya know, Benedict Cumberbatch… unf!!)
10. Lost
Last, but by no means least, is Lost. This is definitely a polarizing show. Almost universally loved when it first came on, yet the meandering plots lost it a lost of viewers over the years. I even dropped off myself for a season but I did get back into it during season three.
The ending left a lot to be desired but I still have a lot of fondness for this series. Favourite character? Probably a controversial choice but I really liked Charlie. Sawyer too – who could resist his good ‘ole southern boy charm? Also Ben – creepy little man he was!
Benedict approves!!
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I’ve got DS9, Sherlock and Freaks and Geeks on my list too! I think Garak is a great character- underlying darkness that gets revealed further as the seasons go on! That episode where he has to torture Odo- “The Die is Cast”- hard going stuff but so emotional and well played.
Yay!! DS9 is my comfort show – I always watch it if I am feeling a bit down (odd choice I know but I just love it!) Garak is such an intriguing character – “The Die is Cast” is one of my favourite episodes (along with “The Wire”). I also love the episode where he teams up with Worf “In Purgatory’s Shadow” – so much understated humour!! I also have a real soft spot for S7 Damar (which I never thought I would considering what he did in S6!!)
I just checked out your list – great choices! I am really intrigued by Neverwhere. I have read the book and also watched the miniseries that came out in the mid-90’s – this adaptation looks very interesting. 🙂
The audio play is really great! In my opinion it is perfectly cast!
I will definitely check it out! It is such a good story – I think it would work really well as an audio play. 🙂
Sherlock is AWESOME. My friend got me into it and I can’t thank her enough. I’m addicted to it but the time between seasons is going to kill me! D:
Sherlock is amazing – your friend really did you a massive favour by getting you into it!!
I know what you mean – it will be a loooong wait for the next series. I was lucky to get into it later so I could binge-watch the entire run so far! 😉
Veronica Mars is on my list too. Oh, Logan. I never rooted for the bad boy so hard.
My TTT
I loved Veronica Mars (the movie was great too!) Logan was my favourite (well, aside from Veronica that is!)
I was rooting for LOVE from probably about the 4th of 5th episode but was completely floored when they actually went there! LOL 😉
I like your choices. Once Upon a Time just missed my top ten but I really love the show. The Princess Bride is one of my favourite movies too (I also loved Westley). 😀
I’ve watched all of LOST and Buffy but still need to catch up on many of these! I want to try Deadwood and Freaks & Geeks.
You really should try Deadwood and Freaks and Geeks – they are both fantastic!! Deadwood initially put me off with all the swearing (and there is a *lot* of swearing) but you tune it out after awhile. It is probably one of the most impressive shows I have ever seen. 🙂
I love your TTT – My Mad Fat Diary is one of my top shows too!!
This list is awesome and as always, gorgeous!!! I’ve actually been binge watching Deadwood for the past week or so, such a fantastic show!
Thanks!!
That’s the best way to watch Deadwood! It was my other half who was originally a fan of the show (I never watched it when it was on TV) and he encouraged me to watch the whole series when he got it on DVD. I ended up becoming the bigger fanatic funnily enough! LOL 😉
I didn’t know what to expect when I first picked up Game of Thrones just to test-watch to “see what the hype was about”. Yeah, no. One day later I was in the middle of season two. Rest is history. It’s pretty difficult to talk to people who’ve only read the books though…there’s a definite broken telephone feel when I try to talk to them about my feels without getting myself or them spoiled because I think certain arcs are ahead of each other respectively haha.
Cheers,
joey via. thoughts and afterthoughts
LOL – it is very addictive viewing! I have binge-watched it a few times.
I have read the books but I read the last one “A Dance with Dragons” when it came out in 2011 and I hadn’t read the others for a few years before that so my memory is quite hazy (the books are very dense!) and I don’t always remember every little thing. I think that makes me appreciate the series more though because I don’t nitpick as much!! A girl I work with started reading them after getting into the series and she would ask me all these questions and I really couldn’t remember things all that clearly – she found it hard not to compare the two once she had read the books. 😉
I agree – I think it can be difficult for bookwalkers and non-bookwalkers to talk about the show vs the books – the show is ahead with some things and some it hasn’t even touched on (yet). Plus the show is starting to veer off a little which I actually like quite a bit because it means there will still be surprises in store! 😀
Great list. A few of these are on my list too! And Deep Space Nine is one we are currently watching on Netflix 🙂
My TTT
Thanks! Deep Space Nine is amazing – hope you enjoy it!!
Love your list too – I had a really hard time narrowing mine down and had to leave off Gilmore Girls, the Walking Dead and Once Upon a Time. 😉