10. Full House
This was my absolute favorite TV show when I was thirteen. Nick at Nite and later ABC Family aired the entire run of the show in syndication, which was great, because it gave me something to do other than washing the dinner dishes, and they often played two episodes a night. Critics often complain that Full House is sentimental and cheesy. It totally is. I loved it anyway. The jokes were funny, DJ and later Stephanie were close to my age, Michelle and the Katsopolis twins were really cute, and it usually didn't take itself too seriously. The only horrendously bad episodes were when the Tanners went on vacation (Hawaii, Disney World, etc.); the rest were sometimes schmaltzy, but almost always entertaining. Even now if I'm channel-surfing and I come across an old episode, I laugh at the corny jokes and aww at the all the father-daughter talks in spite of myself. Full House is on this list mainly for nostalgia purposes, but that's not altogether a bad thing.
9. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
I debated whether or not to include these shows on my list, not because I don't love them, but because they're commentary rather than shows with distinct plotlines and characters (although I suppose you could make a case that there is plenty of character-acting in the form of the correspondents and of course Stephen Colbert himself). The problem is that I ran out of TV shows that I genuinely love (Veronica Mars and Firefly are honorable mentions, but I haven't seen all of the former and I didn't outright adore the latter), and throughout most of high school, I watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report almost religiously. The quality is consistently great, Stewart and Colbert are hilarious, and even old episodes are surprisingly relevant years later. I even went to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear last fall, which was an experience I will never forget. I consider them two halves of the same show, which is why they take up one spot on my list. If I had to choose just one, it would probably be The Colbert Report, but only because I think Colbert's humor is more good-natured than Stewart's is. I love them both dearly, however, and will continue to watch them for as long as they remain on the air.
8. Akage no Anne
Which is technically spelt Akage no An, but it seems a betrayal of Anne Shirley's stance on her name to spell it any other way. Anyway, if you want to know why I love this show, just go back to the entries at the end of July, where I wax poetically about how amazing it is. All Anne fans should watch this show.
7. Phineas and Ferb
Ostensibly this is a children's show, but I often wonder if the creators are writing more for the kids or for their parents and older siblings. Phineas and Ferb is laugh-out-loud hilarious, with creative storylines about the inventions concocted by brilliant stepbrothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, their sister Candace's constant attempts to "bust" them, and a self-aware and irreverent subplot starring the boys' pet platypus, Perry, as a secret agent. The dialogue is top-notch, the geeky references abound, and overall it's just a great way to spend a half-hour or twenty. Certainly my favorite thing currently airing on the Disney Channel.
6. Kim Possible
I starting watching Kim Possible the day it premiered, when I was in fifth grade. It had everything an eleven-year-old girl could want: an awesome, can-do, girl power protagonist, her funny and caring sidekick, a really cute naked mole rat, and wonderfully original and entertaining stories. I loved it even more in high school, when the show-runners granted one of my long-standing wishes and got Kim and Ron together, and the writing style improved overall. Unfortunately it no longer airs on the Disney Channel (at least not at times normal human beings are conscious), but it can be found easily enough on YouTube. It is still amazing and will always be one of my favorite shows.
5. Parks and Recreation
Rather like with The Office (see below), this show got off to a shaky start and really found its voice in the second season. As a government major, I find this show especially entertaining. Leslie Knope is certainly a caricature and an exaggeration, but there is something so honest and wonderful about her that really strikes a chord with me. The rest of the characters are hilarious, the writing is top-notch, and the humor, while sometimes uncomfortable, is consistently great. I'm very excited for the next season, and I'm so glad my friends encouraged me to watch this.
4. The Office
While its best years are definitely behind it, The Office continues to be one of the funniest shows on television. In the early years, I loved its satire, its heart, and of course the Jim/Pam romance. Over its seven seasons, I grew to like Michael Scott (something I would have never thought possible in the first season), love Andy, and be greatly entertained by everyone else. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the show now that Michael has left. The Office has a great ensemble cast, and they were able to carry the last few episodes of the season quite nicely on their own. We'll see if they can do the same when season eight rolls around in September!
3. Gilmore Girls
I love this show. It's dialogue-heavy, full of heart, and has such great characters. The portrayal of small-town New England life is consistently entertaining, complete with town meetings, the hilarious rivalry between Taylor and Luke, and the ever newly-employed Kirk. Mostly I loved watching the Lorelais progress through life. Lorelai is the coolest mom other than my own, although thankfully my mom doesn't have Lorelai's maturity problems or fear of commitment. Rory is every nerdy girl who dreamed of getting into a great college. Although she is not as vivacious as her mother, it was easy for me to relate to Rory. I watched this show on and off in high school and am now making the effort to watch every episode in my spare time in college. Seeing Rory go through the ins and outs of college applications and high school was slightly nostalgic, and now I get to see her navigate college as I do the same. I have heard that the best Gilmore Girls seasons are the earliest, so perhaps I have already seen the best of the show, but I think it is amazing nonetheless.
2. Avatar: The Last Airbender
For a long time I avoided watching this show. I am not a fan of anime or anime-esque art, although I did love Teen Titans very, very much back in junior high. It seemed silly. My brother convinced me to watch one episode with him, and I still didn't see the appeal (for the record, it was season two, which is so tightly-plotted it's hard to just come in and understand what's going on right off the bat). Then, as with most things I love, I ended up being drawn into it indirectly through Harry Potter. In my forays with HP fandom, I would often see references to Avatar. There was a lot of cross-appeal. I was familiar with the terms Kataang and Zutara long before I started seriously watching the show. Then, the HP podcast PotterCast devoted half an episode to discussing Avatar, which all the hosts had seen and thoroughly enjoyed. I was sufficiently intrigued by this. I bought the first season off iTunes and watched it casually as I went through the latter part of my first semester of college. I didn't really get hooked until episode twelve, "The Storm," which completely blew me out of the water. Then finals happened and I didn't get to watch much more Avatar until Christmas break, when I shared a room with my brothers at my grandparents' house for a week. We watched the end of book one together, and if there's something this show does especially well, it's season finales.
I watched book two before it was on Instant Watch, so I had to wait between DVDs - and, you know, have a college life. I ended up finishing the season when I got home in May, and was able to watch book three almost without interruption (it was finally on Instant Watch at this point). It was so good I couldn't even wait for Richie to get home from school the day I watched the finale, even though he had wanted to watch it with me. Over the past year, upon rewatching the series in its entirety and then following its progress on Mark Watches, it has become one of my all-time favorites. The storytelling is so sophisticated, the character progression is fantastic (ZukoZukoZukoZukoZuko), the animation is beautiful, the music is great, and it's incredibly funny, something which the movie of which we shall not speak failed spectacularly to pick up on. I have very, very small complaints (namely, a Deus Ex Machina used to great effect in the finale, and my personal displeasure with the way most of the romantic plotlines ended up), but mostly I'm just in awe of how good this show is. I also can't wait for its sequel series, The Legend of Korra, which is set to premiere sometime next year on Nickelodeon. Please do yourself a favor and watch Avatar immediately. You won't regret it.
1. The West Wing
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
I also got into this show through Harry Potter. Two big-name fans, Melissa Anelli of The Leaky Cauldron (and PotterCast), and Emerson Spartz of MuggleNet, were invited by J. K. Rowling herself to come and interview her following the release of Half-Blood Prince. Alongside the interview transcript, Melissa and Emerson wrote personal reports about the experience. Both of them mentioned that before the interview began, they somehow got to talking about The West Wing, which they both loved. So, it turns out, did Jo. As anyone who knows me is aware, I am mildly obsessed with Harry Potter and Jo Rowling is my personal hero. If she loved The West Wing, I had to give it a try.
My parents gave me the first two seasons for my fifteenth birthday. It took me a few episodes, but by "The Crackpots and These Women," I was absolutely hooked. This show is government major heaven. It's smart, has great dialogue, wonderful characters, and compelling storylines. Especially in the first four seasons, the writing is consistently fantastic, the acting is amazing, and almost everything about it is emotionally gripping. I cannot say enough good things about this show. It 100% deserves every ounce of critical acclaim it has received. During its run, the show won four straight Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, two Peabody Awards, and many acting accolades. While it follows a Democratic administration, Democrats and Republicans alike love the show. It can be self-righteous, it can be preachy, it can be didactic, it can be patronizing, but it is also incredible television. My all-time favorite, bar none.
