Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Chicago Bulls shocking the Miami Heat, Manny Pacquiao fighting in Macau, or Anne Hathaway going blonde, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
In the decades that you’ve been alive, I’m sure you’ve watched thousands of hours of television. Out of all the shows you’ve enjoyed, what’s your all-time favorite? I’d love to hear about it, since it reveals something about you and your past. There’s no judging here. If RPaholic bigblak loves Cop Rock then he loves Cop Rock.
It took me a while to pare down my list. As with any form of entertainment, it’s easy to focus on newer things, while old ones often don’t get the credit that they deserve. Game of Thrones and The Newsroom have been my favorites in recent years. Monday Night Raw has been amazing, but it has also been mediocre or worse. As a writer, I love the process that goes into Saturday Night Live. Like Raw, the quality of SNL depends on the cast, writers, and both teams having a good week. In the end, the choice was clear: Friends.
When the show started, I was still in college. The characters in Friends were in their early ’20s — that magical age where you’re away from your family, but haven’t started one of your own yet. It’s a time when life is full of exciting possibilities. The writing (initially, anyway) was funny and quirky. Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow were approaching the peaks of their hotness. The show was set in New York, which of course is the most fantastic city in the world. The show just clicked for me.
Thinking about Friends and how Nightwing is my favorite superhero made me (re)realize how much I love that stage of life. You’re a fully formed adult, but still malleable. Your identity is established, but you can still change the person you’ll become. To have so much potential and uncertainty at the same time is a truly beautiful thing.
Now it’s your turn! Kindly list your favorite TV show of all time and explain your choice in the comments section.
First I’d like to apologize for not being on as much lately as I might like to be. I got promoted, and have very little free time. Anywho…favorite show? I really liked Entourage and I love Breaking Bad, but I think that I might have to go with Quantum Leap. I remember being young and waiting all week to see what kind of trouble Sam would get into, what weird situations he would have to disentangle himself from and to wait for the episode that Dr Beckett would finally return home (which never happened).
I watch the show now and is littered with plot holes and is incredibly corny, but being 10 years old and watching that show with my older brother, who i looked up to immensely, really meant a lot for me.
Congrats on the promotion! That’s fantastic. Quantum Leap was a fantastic show. It also had one of the saddest finales that I can remember.
He returned home twice i think. Once when him and Al switched then briefly in a two parter i think
Sopranos without a doubt.
Sopranos
House of Cards (love this show)
Seinfeld
(ray you sound like an old man in this story)
Yeah, totally. If it wasn’t for the “Friends” and “Nightwing” references, I would have thought this article would have been written by someone in their 50’s.
-M
I totally sound like an old man. The last few years have been difficult. Of course I realize there are many, many people that have more serious problems, but professionally and personally the last 3.5 years have been more challenging and tiring than the rest of my life. So yeah, I’m kind of missing feeling young and full of potential rather than old and washed up. Ha!
You need to go buy something expensive and dangerous. That will fix you right up.
Looks like I’ll be buying a refrigerator and paying for movers instead. Close enough? Ha!
I hope the refrigerator is haunted at least.
Or the movers could bring you some rich millionaire’s stuff instead of your own.
Favorite show?! Jeez, that’s like asking a parent which one of his children is his favorite.
-M
O.K., I’ll bite. After all, I’m sure that some parents have a favorite child (no matter how wrong that might seem).
After giving it some thought, I have to say that Star Trek; The Next Generation is my favorite show of all time. I am actually watching the entire series all over again with my wife. It’s the show that probably had the biggest impact on me. Runner up would be The Simpsons. At this point, the show is like a sibling… they’ve always been there with you as you were growing up, providing you with years of entertainment.
I think I have to stop there, because if not, I will be listing shows and reasons for their awesomeness until I run out of internet.
-M
The Internet runs out?!? That’s a frightening thought.
THAT’S how much I can write about TV shows. Speaking of which: can somebody out there confirm that “World’s Worst Tenants” is 100% fake, but made to look real?
I’m calling it the pro wrestling of realty TV.
-M
All-time… easy… Red Dwarf, hands down.
Recently, I loved Fringe. American Horror Story is incredible. Breaking Bad is awesome, Game of Thrones is quality (this season seems to be too much setup though).
I can’t leave the Simpsons out of this discussion though.
This one barely took any thought at all. Speed Racer is easily my favorite tv show of all time.
Racer X is Speed’s brother. You’re welcome.
That’s ok if I know it already, lol, it’s still a great show.
LMFAO!!! I’ve never heard of it, plus I was only 4 years old in 1990. Arrested Development has to be my all time favorite show. The best show I have ever seen has to be the Wire.