Tv Shows
Okay..I went back fairly far and I couldn't find a thread like this, so I decided to make one.
Generally, I'm curious what everyone's favorite past tv show is (as in a show that has since ended), what their favorite current, running TV show is, and what tv shows they are looking forward to (that have been announced). You can also write reviews on some of them if you desire.
Me first I suppose.
Past TV shows: Very many.
X-Files:
Gotta love the show that in my opinion defined the 90's. I recently purchased the entire series and was finally able to watch them all. Took me a long time (202 episodes), but was totally worth it. The mystery, humor, and action was amazing. Do I really even need to give more detail than that?
The 4400:
4400 people who went missing without a trace over the past 60 years suddenly turn up in ball of light at a beach in the Seattle area, and none of them have aged a day. Some have developed remarkable abilities such as telekinesis, healing, and precognition. The show centered around a group of these so called "returnees" and the two main federal agents assigned to figure out what happened to them and why they're back. A very underrated show, in my opinion. Very few people seem to have heard of the show, and those that have and haven't watched it think that it rips off Heroes. In fact, the show came two years before Heroes, and featured a lower budget, but higher quality mystery and sci-fi show. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Heroes (mostly), but it could never compare to The 4400. In addition, Heroes "borrowed" many plots from the 4400. I am still bitter at USA for cancelling this amazing series after only 4 short seasons (44 episodes, amusingly enough, depending on how you look at it), the cliffhanger it left us with and the greater success of Heroes, until its own cancellation.
Roswell:
Yet another underrated show. Produced by the WB for 2 seasons and moved to UPN for its final season, this show appeals to many. Before you ask, yes, it is about aliens. But there is much more than that. Fifty two years after the crash in Roswell, three supposedly normal sixteen year olds are revealed to actually be alien-human hybrids, who were "born" at the age of six from pods brought down and left in a chamber for over 40 years by other aliens. These hybrids are special in that, though they appear human, they have various powers. Their purpose for being on Earth is unknown, even to them. The first season surrounds their interaction with three humans who learn their secret, as well as a Romeo and Juliet-ish relationship between the main hybrid (Max) and the main human (Liz). As the first season develops we are introduced to characters who know the purpose of the hybrids, but more information cannot be revealed due to spoilers. The show evolves from a love story with a somewhat minor sci-fi plot in the first season to completely reversing in the second, concentrating on multiple episode story arcs and a more sci-fi centered plot, with the relationships of the various characters pushed into the background. The third and final season returns the show to a more balanced story, with the show giving equal time to both aspects that had defined the show, but ending without truly resolving the show to the degree it needed to. The show may sound somewhat like an alien version of Twilight, but it appeals to both sexes as well as people of various ages rather than pre-teens, horny teenagers, and desperate forty year old women. I definitely would recommend it.
The Dead Zone:
This show was one that I regret not getting into until near the end. Based upon a book by Stephen King, it stars Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny Smith, who after a car accident and six year long coma, awakes to the touch of a nurse. That same nurse touches him not long later attempting to wash his face, which brings him a vision of the nurse's daughter caught in a house fire. Doctors later attribute the visions to activity in a previously unused "dead zone" of his brain that is attempting to compensate for the impaired function of the portions injured in the accident. From there, he discovers his former fiancee married to another man, the local sheriff, and that they both care for Johnny's young son, whom was in the womb when Johnny was comatose, and believes the sheriff is his real father. With the help of his physiotherapist, Johnny regains his strength as well as develops his abilities, realizing fully that a single touch of a person or object can reveal what has happened in the past, what is happening in the present, or what will happen in the future. With his abilities, he helps the sheriff and others solve various mysteries, with the show changing focus from visions to the present depending on what is occurring. He grows close to the family he could have had, as well as the sheriff, eventually becoming friends. Although he doesn't remember it, he once experienced a fragmented vision as a child when he meets another kid, but no more is known until he shakes hands with a man running for Congress, a vision that fully shows a future apocalypse as well as the man responsible; the future congressman, who is the kid he met many years before.. The series deals with various mysteries as well the main plot of the coming apocalypse at the hands of the congressman.
This series was produced by USA Network, and showed great promise. The camera work, directing, suspense, and acting all made for an entertaining show. However, by the time I started watching late in the 5th season, the show was slipping, in my opinion as a result of mismanagement by USA. The series was cancelled at the end of the sixth season, another casualty of the infamous Writer's Strike, without much being completely resolved, but not with a cliffhanger like The 4400. I recently remembered the show, and wanting to watch it from the beginning, purchased the entire series for about $70.
Monk, 24, Everybody Loves Raymond, Will and Grace, Heroes, The Sopranos, and Friday Night Lights:
I would go into detail on these, but they are fairly recent enough that I am sure plenty of people have heard enough about them. I would definitely recommend them, however. While I did slam Heroes a bit, I enjoyed the first season greatly, but my interest in the show lessened with each passing season.
Current shows:
Sadly, there are few shows that are still running I currently enjoy watching. On USA I can count on Burn Notice (which helped me get over the loss of The 4400), Psych, and to some degree, White Collar. I can hope that they will last at least a few more seasons. Law and Order Criminal Intent is also something I finally got into watching, but that is currently in its last season. NBC is currently in the dumps as far as I’m concerned. Law and Order SVU is clearly heading out the door, as it can’t stand the loss of one of its main characters, as well as the ever lessening role of another. I suspect that it will only last one more season, and that will be the end (as far as I can tell) of the Law and Order franchise.
House M.D. would be on this list if it wasn’t heading in a direction I do not enjoy, concentrating more on the personal lives of the doctors rather than the patients and the antics of House. The show is clearly on its way out as well, with the loss of Dr. Cuddy (the actress is leaving) and possibly a lessening role of Dr. Wilson. I am saddened that so many quality shows are ending while there is a clear rise in the amount of reality tv shows that aren’t reality. I hope that people will eventually realize this and return to viewing shows that are in desperate need of viewership to keep going.
Future Shows:
Falling Skies: Can’t say much for it cause I don’t know much about it other than it involves aliens. I look forward to at least seeing where it goes.
As I think of more I'll add some.
(If this thread has been made before or violates some rule, I'm sorry)
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Originally Posted by Incesticide
out before it got played to the bone. too often producers of TV shows keep making new episodes way past the point of relevancy. It happened to The Office, it happened to the Simpsons.
