Friday Fun: your desert island TV shows

[Monique vdB]

Today’s question is: if you can only watch five TV shows for the rest of your life, what would they be?

They can be shows on or off the air, miniseries or sports events count. Do you go for longevity? Quality? Rewatchability?

I put waaaay too much thought into this and here are my picks:

Saturday Night Live

This is the easiest pick for me, because it’s now 45 years worth of comedy and counting, with so many legendary performers and great casts.

Great British Bake-Off

I love reality competition shows, and pondered others (RuPaul’s Drag Race or Top Chef for example) but GBBO is so soothing, gentle, and enjoyable that I have to go with that one. The perfect background comfort TV.

Fleabag

Because I chose two with lots of seasons, I am treating myself to this two-season gem, Fleabag, one of the most perfect shows ever made. Brilliant performances and an amazing ending.  Can’t live without Hot Priest in my life!

The Olympics

I typed that stuff above about sports and then realized that there is a sport thing that I love to watch, and that’s the Olympics! I particularly enjoy gymnastics, diving, figure skating, and that kind of downhill skiing where they go around flags. (Slalom I think?) 

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Because of the music! The humor! The heart! And that I was actually very briefly an extra on it. But mostly all those other things.

What about you?

[Bridget]

• The Office - Could rewatch only this show for the rest of my life 
• Alone - Like Survivor with less producing and more hunting 
• Watchmen - This show is so topical and creative
• The Olympics - copying Mo
• The Bachelor - I'm ashamed of this pick

[Bridget]

Oh ALSO Fleabag, copying Mo again 

[Miles B.]

+1 to Fleabag, so great. 

[Monique vdB]

@Bridget you can only pick five BRIDGET THOSE ARE THE RULES.

[Thomas Schlegel]

I think I’ll have to watch Fleabag next. Sounds interesting 

[LarryBrock]

Oooh good topic @Monique vdB !

I'll go with:

• Mash
• Cheers
• Sopranos
• Leverage
• Elementary

I could be convinced to substitute the Olympics as it's got a nice variety of sports that I do occasionally watch though I'd rather be doing the thing instead of watching someone else do it (except running which I'm totally fine with letting someone else do =^)  ). 

[nina_schmidt]

Elementary is my number 6 

[Miles B.]

I heard they're bringing back Leverage!

[Monique vdB]

The Office is my number 6!

[LarryBrock]

Yes @Miles B. - I've heard that too and can't wait!

[Esther Strom]

Leverage is one of mine too! It is being rebooted as IMDbTV's first original series.

Info here; trigger warning for screamingly bright and busy background graphics.

[Miles B.]

Okay this is way too hard and if you ask me tomorrow the list is likely different, BUT:

Avatar: the Last Airbender
Hipster moment: I remember watching the finale as it aired the first time on Nickelodeon, and having my friends making fun of me for watching a "bad anime ripoff." It's been validating to see the resurgence of popularity now that it's on Netflix!

Firefly
Not very strategic given that it's only 1 season... that was cancelled early. But it holds a special place in my heart. Shiny. 

Sopranos
Great show, and plenty of seasons. Hits a sweet spot for drama, comedy, action/violence, and pretty incredible character development work across the entire cast. 

Cowboy Bebop
Okay maybe I just like space westerns given that there are two of them on this list... but the soundtrack, the art style, voice acting, all top notch.

The West Wing
Another special place in my heart. There's something comforting about this show, the stakes, and how they navigate a clearly dysfunctional system, lol. 🙃

[Daniel Eads]

Derp. Of course Firefly. Why was that not on my list.

“Captain, I think you have a problem with your brain being missing.”

[nina_schmidt]

Avatar was quite cool 

[Monique vdB]

@Miles B. I got to walk through the Serenity before the show even started airing! It was a really cool set. #humblebrag 

[Bridget]

@Miles B. your whole life is a hipster moment 🙃

[Daniel Eads]

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Optimistic, episodic, sometimes campy but always nerd-able. I don't know how many times I've rewatched the series now (skip most of season 1 though, and a few clunkers in season 2... for everyone's sake) and still catch new things or find interesting trivia on IMDB or Memory Alpha.

Parks and Recreation

Also rewatched this ... many times. The writers are a bit overly accurate in their predictions of the future (in 2014, they jump ahead to 2017 and nail pretty much everything). It's super funny and really rewards long-term fans, as a lot of the gaffs and one-liners from earlier seasons are referenced in later seasons. The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show (a show inside the show) comes with its own fake commercials.

How I Met Your Mother

Clever writing, jokes that will (hopefully) continue aging well because of how the show is presented, and decently rewarding for long-term fans. I like to just toss it on in the background. For a while it has a strong gif game because of some great quotes, although Schitt's Creek has somewhat up-ended HIMYM in gif-ability.

Psych

Also survived several rewatches at my house and still funny. I don't get all the 80's pop culture references, but they're still presented in a funny way and it's fun to try and guess the mystery. I like trying to solve it and the chase, but find most procedurals are too grimdark. Psych strikes the right balance.

Community

For starters, we're on Community. So there's that. But also the writing is quite clever and I'm sure new jokes will be cropping up on the eventual rewatches. The characters are believable without being too caricatured. It's a self-aware show that isn't afraid to make good use of pop culture references or upend television tropes.

[Miles B.]

Love Community - It's so hard to communicate just how great that show is from the outside.

[nina_schmidt]

Psych is still awesome

[Monique vdB]

@Daniel Eads these are great picks. I haven't watched Psych but loved all the others. 

Important thoughts:

• HIMYM had the worst ending and thus I can never watch it again
• Bye bye Lil' Sebastian....
• Riker's beard. That's it, that's the thought. 
• Community was never the same without Troy. Troy and Abed in the moooorning!

[Bridget]

I also love Community. Never seen the show, though 😉

[Daniel Eads]

@Monique vdB HIMYM alternate ending! It's a thing, I mean, it's the real one right...

And I feel like Psych is up your alley! But you haven't watched it huh?

Should I mail you my DVDs? 😂

[Esther Strom]

Psych is really fun! There were a couple of seasons that were iffy, but for the most part it's very watchable. Lassie is one of my favorite characters (and actors.)

[nina_schmidt]

Nice one @Monique vdB 

In no specific order: 

- Lucifer - the different accents for learning English, the story line and of course Tom Ellis 

- Night Manager --> Tom Hiddleston ☺️

- Graham Norton Show - awesome guests and I really like his humour

- The late late show with James Cordon - just good mood stuff, famous guests and the different topics like the "crosswalk musical" 

- Das Boot - a German series that is thematically based on the cult movie and it is situated at a very dark time in German history that must not be forgotten (1933-1945). Especially with all that racism and fascism in the world right now it is important to be aware that those things must never happen again! 

[Monique vdB]

@nina_schmidt didn't even think of a late-night show, that's a good choice! We love Crosswalk the Musical in our house. 

[Esther Strom]

Yes to Lucifer! Season 5 is finally starting on Netflix next Friday!

[nina_schmidt]

@Esther Strom I know 😊 can hardly wait 😊

https://images.app.goo.gl/uBKBWrEweuvtmZN88 

[A.]

@nina_schmidt your reasons for Night Manager are totally valid. 😏

[Erica Moss]

I think we all knew where this was going to end up.

• Schitt's Creek
• Friends
• Great British Baking Show
• Rupaul's Drag Race
• The Office (I reserve the right to update this one)

[nina_schmidt]

Binge Watching ;-)

I have to admit I started Game of Thrones today... never seen more than the last season :-)

[Monique vdB]

@Erica Moss I had Friends, The Office, and The Golden Girls all in contention for my final spot. Schitt's Creek I think I disqualified because of Chris Elliott, I just hate him so much I wouldn't want to be stuck with him forever. 

[Jimmy Seddon]

@Erica Moss if you enjoy Schitt's Creek, you should check out the first two seasons of the Great Canadian Baking show, which is co-hosted by Dan Levy.

[Thomas Schlegel]

@Erica Moss - Schitt´s Creek just started on Amazon Prime here in Germany, I watched the first episode and I think I like it 😀

[Erica Moss]

@Thomas Schlegel YAY! You must keep going — it just gets better and better. 😄

[Earl McCutcheon]

The IT crowd..... I would watch it to the end then turn it off and back on again :)

[Esther Strom]

This is a popular topic; I don't know if any of mine are original.

• Leverage. This is my comfort show. I've watched it so many times I can recite the dialog, but it's still super-clever.
• Firefly. Gone too soon. Just the right amount of dark and snark.
• Chuck. I never watched this when it was actually on, but just finished bingeing it on Amazon and will always go back to it. Silly, heartfelt, and just plain fun. Plus some amazing supporting actors.
• Great Performances. PBS has 47 seasons' worth of amazing live performances of plays and musicals, as well as behind the scenes and making-of documentaries. Satisfies my theater geek heart.
• NOVA. More PBS, again with 47 seasons. There's always something interesting, since it covers such a broad range of topics. 

Honorable mention: Galavant. It's not quite one of my top 5, but it would be #6 if that were allowed. 

[Monique vdB]

@Esther Strom Great Performances is a great one! 

[Thomas Schlegel]

Here‘s my list:

Lost - I still hope, I‘ll understand everything the next time I watch this show

Twin Peaks - I love  the classic seasons and was fascinated by the last one a decade later.  Although or maybe because I don’t understand what‘s going on there.

Game of Thrones - great story, I love this „Song of Ice and Fire“ containing a lot of great characters and stories

The complete seasons of the Peanuts by Charles M Schulz. I can watch that over and over again. Love Lucy van Pelt and Peppermint Patty the most.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine - I love the stories on that space station and can see them over and over again.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

• Doctor Who (there's almost 800 surviving episodes...)
• Star Trek
• Firefly
• Blake's 7
• Black Books

SciFi nerd?  Nooo, not me, honest.

[Tamanna Godara]

Is there anyone who cannot re-watch anything? Also because I haven't watched 95% of the shows mentioned above. So I need to finish those first and then pick my favorite.  :LOL:

[Esther Strom]

I sometimes feel guilty for re-watching things, because between Prime and Netflix my to-be-watched lists are long enough that I'd need to live to be 300 to finish them :) But there are times, and these last few months are one of those times, when I just don't have the emotional energy to commit to something that might make me sad or upset*, so I just keep going back to things I already know I enjoy.

*In an unpredictable way. There are things, like West Side Story, that I know are going to make me sad, but I watch anyways because they're beautiful. But I already know what's coming with that, so I'm prepared for it. 

[Monique vdB]

@Esther Strom I dealt with one hard time in my life by binge watching Friends. Sometimes you need TV comfort food! 

[Jimmy Seddon]

Ok This one required some thought for me.  In no particular order:

• The Simpsons - It's been on the air almost as long as I have been alive.
• Big Bang Theory - This show while not always accurate is still a lot of fun.
• Star Trek Voyager - I'm probably going to make some enemies by naming this version specifically but, this is the version I grew up with and I really enjoyed the EMH (Robert Picardo)
• Fairy Tail - I enjoy anime as well and this is a long running action-based one with a lot of comedy mixed in.
• Letterkenny - This is a Canadian made show that makes fun of stereotypes in a small Canadian town near where I grew up and I could and do re-watch this forever!

[Sven Cipido]

Elementary - I like his way of thinking
The office - I just love the humor
Knight Rider - Oh yes I'm an old one :-)
The Simpsons - Just so simple and it contains a lot fo true things or even predictions.
Lost - I still don't understand so hopefully I will when I have to watch it over and over again

[Esther Strom]

@Sven Cipido Knight Rider was my brother's favorite show when we were kids, so I guess that makes me an old one too! We took a family vacation to Universal Studios in Los Angeles in 1984 or 1985, and they had a replica of Kitt that you could have your picture taken in. I think he still has that picture.

[Sven Cipido]

@Esther Strom That's great having a picture sitting inside KITT. 
A pitty it's a little far away for me, especially these times.

I didn't like the new Knight rider, which luckily was only a few episodes. 

[Angélica Luz]

This is really hard (that's what she said) because I already watched a lot of series, but I believe I could watch again and again:

• The Office
• Friends
• Anne with an E
• Fleabag 
• The IT Crowd

[William Naughton]

• Friends
• Seinfeld
• The Masters (Golf)
• Downton Abbey
• Wall St. Week

[A.]

As always, late to the party but here are my choices.

• Friends - I think there is no explanation needed.
• Big Bang Theory - I consider it the modern and nerdy version of Friends.
• Black Sails - I restarted it from the beginning right after finishing it for the first time. History and pirates are exactly my thing!
• Parks and Recreation - this show is well written, funny, entertaining and makes me laugh.
• Murder She Wrote - all the best childhood memories. Cozy mysteries are the best!

[Darline Auguste]

Tardy for the party but I'd go with:

• The Office -I already watch this almost daily
• The Fresh Prince - still makes me laugh out loud
• Rupaul's Drag Race - oh she really came that way?
• Blackish - love the balance of laughs & more serious topics
• The Wire - iconic

[Liam Green]

I think it would have to be:

• Game of Thrones - I know the last series is a bit questionable but I love the others
• Great British Bake Off - Cake!!!!
• The Thick Of It - Introduced me to the word omnishambles!
• Killing Eve - Simply because it is amazing
• Come Dine With Me - everyone needs some 'take your brain out' telly!

[Maximiliano Giorgio]

Scrubs: the most underrated tv show ever!

Eeeeeagleeeeeeeeee :-) 

[Soumyadeep Mandal - SaM]

Here is the list of Tv shows:

• Friends
• Lost
• Marvel Legends
• Big Bang Theory
• Mr. Bean
• Fairy Tail
• Dragon Ball Super

There are more..

Regards,

Soumyadeep