Also I've been playing The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches DLC for Dishonored and let me tell you, it's hard to put down. I've been so immersed in this game for so long I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish it (this has also happened with Bioshock, Mass Effect, not so much Borderlands but one time I did play that one for so long that the scenery was literally seared into the backs of my eyelids). Recommendations are very, very welcome, especially if the remedy in question is free.
Anyways, my top ten TV shows. Honorable mention goes to Bob's Burgers and more specifically the "don't feed a guy a sponge" scene; I could watch that clip for hours.
10. Supernatural
Oh, Supernatural. Where do I start with you? My freshman and sophomore year of college, I was in love. I mainlined all the seasons that were out at the time in seven months, finishing the seventh season finale a couple months before season eight debuted. I was sold. I loved the Winchester brothers, Castiel, I loved everything about the show. And then season eight happened. Why, season eight? Why?
In fact, I'd soon come to realize that it wasn't necessarily a "season eight happened" situation; it was more like a "season everything-after-the-season-five-finale happened" situation. Up until the very, very end of season five, Supernatural was a fantastic show, and it's because of these five seasons that it's on this list. It had a coherent storyline that built up to the grand showdown in the season five finale, and there's a definitive moment in that episode where the show should have ended. It would have gone out on the highest of high notes.
But that was not to be. The creator and original showrunner left, leaving Supernatural in less-than-capable hands, and everything went downhill from there. Season six was abysmal, season seven was marginally better, but when a certain angel killed a certain other angel in season eight, that was when I was done. Part of me wants to pick back up on the show, but part of me is saying it's just not worth it anymore. In the meantime, I'll watch my season five box set and consider it the end.
9. Twin Peaks
I don't like David Lynch movies. I'll just be straightforward about it. With Mulholland Drive, I fell asleep and couldn't tell what was the movie and what was a dream, which was slightly disorienting and a bit frustrating. It rubbed me the wrong way, it really did, and under other circumstances I might have liked it. Eraserhead was another story. It felt like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from; I love horror movies and scary stuff, but I can safely say Eraserhead was the most unsettling thing I've ever watched. I don't think I could get through any more Lynch movies, but he does a dream-like style very, very well, I'll give him that.
That being said, I love Twin Peaks. It's taken me a while to get into it, but once I did, the show earned its spot on this list. I can't get enough of Dale Cooper and the weird people living in Twin Peaks. (It also helped that my friend Hillary pointed out that the reason it felt like a 90s soap opera is because it was a jab at 90s soap operas. Thanks, Hillary!)
I haven't been into this show for very long, but I'm definitely looking forward to the revival coming out next year.
8. American Horror Story
American Horror Story and I have a somewhat complicated relationship. I binge watched the first season just a few days before the second, Asylum, started and I liked both of them. Coven came around and I liked it, too. Then there was Freak Show.
I never liked the theme, especially since it's set in the 1950s, but it's been surprisingly good. We're two episodes out from the finale and I've more or less enjoyed this season. It's not because of the theme or because of the regular cast members or the writing. Honestly, the writing on American Horror Story has never been fabulous. It's been good, but not great, you know what I'm saying?
The part I've enjoyed this season was something I didn't think I would when it first started, but I'm totally into Dandy's storyline. He came off as a spoiled brat in the pilot and first initial episodes he was in, and I was really into this season only for Twisty the clown. Then when Dandy decided to team up with the clown and go on a murder spree, that's when he caught my attention. He's easily the most interesting part of Freak Show, much more so than the actual plot, unfortunately.
This happened in Coven, too, and I can only see the writing getting looser and sloppier as the show goes on. I've also got a problem with how dependent the series is on sex and the shock factor. That's not how you make a horror show; sex and shock don't equal scary. It's not going to change any time soon, though, so I think after this season ends I'm done. Jessica Lange is leaving, so I don't really have a reason to watch season five. Unless Finn Wittrock comes back; then I'm 100% on board. He's been fantastic this season and he's kept it from being completely boring.
7. Constantine
Disclaimer: I was already a huge Hellblazer fan before this series started. It got off to a rough start, but with the Mnemoth episode and the promise of the "Dangerous Habits" storyline in the future if we get a second season (fingers crossed!), Constantine has a lot of potential.
Matt Ryan is the most perfect actor for the character of John Constantine. He's got the mannerisms and attitude down; even in the lesser episodes he's still got it down. Hopefully the show will get another season so he can keep playing this role. It really suits him well and I enjoy watching him perform.
6. The Office (U.S.)
This show is such a classic; I don't even know where to start. Its humor was great, but I think where this show shone brightest is the relationships it built over its run. Of course it was funny and sharp, thanks to a combination of great writers and an even greater cast, but the moments that showed the friendships and romances between all the Dunder Mifflin employees gave it a heart that made it such a hit. These characters seemed like real people you could potentially meet, even with how weird they were.
I mean, there were flaws, too. Michael Scott was often so over-the-top in the beginning that I physically cringed, but as time went on he was either toned down a little or I got used to it. I also wasn't a fan of Jan, but I'm not really sure we were supposed to be. The seasons after Steve Carrell left were weaker, too, I'll admit that, but I still like them a whole lot.
I also really love the faux-documentary style it was filmed in, but that's just a side note. I love The Office a whole, whole lot.
5. Marble Hornets
I'm counting this as a show and you can't stop me.
This is really the show/extremely extended movie that cemented my love of the horror genre. It's an amateur production that's better than so, so many movies I've seen in the same style and genre with substantially bigger budgets. Paranormal Activity, I'm talking about Paranormal Activity. Also Grave Encounters but mostly Paranormal Activity.
The finale happened five years to the day from when the series started, and it was a long, tiring, emotional ride for everyone. The story started out so simple - the character Jay is looking for his friend Alex after finding some old tapes in his closet - but over the five years, it turned into so much more and got bigger than even the creators thought it would. It got slow and a bit boring in some places, usually towards the middle of a season, but man, if it didn't pay off.
A lot of people complained about the end and how we didn't really get any answers. I don't think we should have expected any answers in the first place. The disadvantage of a found-footage series is that your point of view is extremely limited. Jay isn't omniscient; he's actually a little on the dumb side. Of course he's not going to have all the answers - you're on equal footing with him, actually - so this complaint has always seemed really silly to me when it comes to found-footage, especially with Marble Hornets.
Overall, it's a very well-done series and I highly recommend it to anyone who's a horror fan. The less I say about the plot, the better; it's honestly best to go in completely blind.
4. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
I honestly couldn't tell you why I find this show as funny as I do. Every single character is a horrible, horrible person and they do awful things with zero regrets - and it's hilarious. It's a weird show for weird people and I recommend it to almost everyone looking for a comedy to watch.
Actually, I do think I know why I like it: it's the polar opposite of a typical sitcom. There are no lessons to be learned, no characters to identify completely with (you wouldn't be a Charlie or a Dennis like you would be a Monica or a Rachel, you understand?) and, like I said, no regrets whatsoever. If it can't be done on network TV, Sunny has probably done it (advantages of being on cable HEYYO).
My other favorite thing about the show is technical, but it has no laugh track and I couldn't be happier. There's exactly one thing consistent across the comedy shows I like and that's that they all lack laugh tracks. I don't want to be told when to laugh; I want to laugh at things that are actually funny. I could go on about this but I won't.
3. Arrested Development
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I actually got to do a presentation on this show for one of my classes my junior year of college and it was one of my favorite projects I ever did. My professor was the best, okay.
From the puns to the insane continuity to the tiniest details to the long-running jokes, there's almost nothing I don't love about Arrested Development, and what I don't love I at least like a good bit. Following the misadventures of the Bluth family was the highlight of summer 2013, season four included. I know a lot of fans didn't like the fourth season, but I think it fit fairly well. It's not my favorite, but it's very good all the same.
The attention to detail on this show is unreal. Just the foreshadowing of Buster's hand is awesome to me. I love its self-aware jokes in season three, when they knew they were being canceled and were trying their best to save the show, and the nonlinear storytelling of season four, which let fans catch up with each Bluth (or Funke) individually instead of taking the normal route and potentially ending up with a crammed plot and overfull season.
Season four's also home to one of my favorite Arrested Development jokes of all time, in G.O.B's episode with the recurring "Sound of Silence" clip playing in the background. The version with the mariachi band actually made me fall off my couch; the timing was just so perfect combined with Will Arnett's facial expression and Ron Howard's narration. This show is incredible.
2. Gravity Falls
I'm really trying not to sound like an over-obsessed fan on this blog, but I'm afraid it's already happened or it's going to happen eventually. This would probably be my downfall if I ever got a job reviewing things; I just love these things too much and can find the good in almost everything.
Anyways, Gravity Falls.
I'm not one of those people who says things like "oh, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel and Cartoon Network are all garbage now, bring back the 90s shows;" I recognize that these networks are for children and contain content aimed at children. (So-called 90s kids bother me a whole lot, actually, but that's a rant for another day.) But Gravity Falls is different.
It's a weird show for a kids' network. Alex Hirsch and his gang definitely get away with a lot, especially considering it's on the Disney Channel, which has kind of become known for playing it safe lately. I remember a lot of the cartoons that I grew up with didn't have continuing storylines; I know of a few that do now (Adventure Time, sort of, and the Avatar series, to name a couple) but I generally get the feeling that many don't. Obviously I don't know for sure, because I'm 21, so this is more of a guess than anything. Gravity Falls does, though, and it's got an intense one to boot.
There's more attention to detail in this show than I've seen even in the Avatar series. Codes in the credits, backwards messages (my favorite of which comes to us courtesy of Li'l Gideon close to the end of season one) and the journals Mabel and Dipper find and try to decode all contribute. In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a very detail-oriented person, and it makes me really happy when shows pay close attention to details.
Gravity Falls also has some material I'm kind of surprised made it past Disney's censors (for lack of a better word). For example, Bill Cipher. Just Bill Cipher in general. Some of Stan's comments, too, and some of the imagery as well. It kind of catches you off-guard if you go in just expecting a typical cartoon.
I like to call Gravity Falls my "desert island" show, as in "if you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring one TV show with you what would it be?" Mine would most likely be Gravity Falls, and if it wasn't the only reason would be because there's not enough of it. I can't tell you how much I love this show, but I can tell you that it's so much that I painted Bill Cipher and a quote from the show on my graduation cap.
1. Hannibal
This would come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but since no one reading this knows me yet, I love anything related to Hannibal Lecter. Movies, books, the TV show, everything. When I get my derby name, it's going to be a Hannibal Lecter pun. Everything Hannibal-related, I automatically love on principle (another disclaimer: I have not yet read Hannibal Rising on a warning from my former roommate, who loves Dr. Lecter almost as much as I do and told me to stay far away, but I think I have a moral obligation to do so at this point).
My love for Hannibal - the series - is kind of a funny story, actually. It was premiering around the same time as Bates Motel was, and I planned on watching both with the roommate I mentioned above. We're both big fans of Psycho, too, and based on the casting and what we'd seen of the series from trailers, we thought Bates Motel was going to be incredible and Hannibal was going to be a train wreck. I even remember the night Hannibal premiered I walked out to the TV in our dorm's lobby and thought "well, this isn't going to be impressive, but it's worth at least a watch of the pilot."
The minute the opening scene started, I knew I was wrong.
Hannibal's cinematography is beautiful, no doubt about it, and before anything else that's what sold me on the series. The cast, crew and writers sealed the deal, both with the show and with their awesome, awesome interaction with fans on social media. The writing is consistently incredible and it's layered with references to classical works and art as well as Thomas Harris' books.
Right now, the show's gearing up for season three, which will be the last one set before the events of the first Hannibal book, Red Dragon. We've already met the Verger family in season two, who will be so very important when we get to the plot from the last book, and this year we'll finally see Francis Dolarhyde, better known as the Tooth Fairy, the killer in Red Dragon. I cannot, cannot wait to finally see him. I'm planning on taking a similar strategy to the one I took when they announced the actor who would play Mason Verger: I didn't look up any pictures of Michael Pitt either in or out of character as Mason because I wanted to be completely surprised, and it was worth the wait.
(Side note: I'm very sad Michael Pitt isn't coming back this year because he absolutely killed it, but I believe Joe Anderson can do just as well. Besides, if they had to replace any character, it would be Mason, and if it had to happen, it's best it happens now, considering that face-off he had with Hannibal last season.)
Long story short, Hannibal is easily one of the best if not the best show on TV right now. Its short seasons lend themselves to better, tighter storytelling than a full 22-episode season would, and I think a lot of shows could take notes from it (looking at you, American Horror Story). If you're not into horror or if you're squeamish, I totally understand, though. This show isn't for everyone, but you can't deny that it's good at least.
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