Every time I sit down to write something on my blog, I have really good intentions of writing something of substance, but I almost always end up writing something, published or not, about music or television. I'm not sure I've ever actually posted about television, save for a year-end list once, but something I saw this morning made me want to devote some space to television. That link will come at the end.

I like episodic television. More than movies even. It's a writer's medium - unlike a movie where great directors can cover up a lousy script and the best actors can make a bad script worth watching, the shows that are remembered are generally well-written and written with devotion and passion (great casting and direction certainly can push a show into that all-time category). I love following characters through well-developed arcs and watching them grow and mature (or not mature). I love the mythology that some shows develop over time. And I love the cliffhangers, the game-changing reveals, and just everything that's unique to a story lovingly told over many years. The reason I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was younger - the moment it went from fun-little-kid dream to maybe-i-actually-want-to-do-this dream - was entirely due to a television series. And when I was writing scripts in high school and college, I was predominantly writing for television - following one set of characters over 20-80 hours or so.

For me the best shows all share two broad qualities, regardless of genre. First, you're compelled to watch every time there's a new episode - maybe because you are so excited to see what happens next, or because the laughs are so consistent. Second, you can watch the best shows over and over again - often catching something new, or just paying closer attention to the jokes now that you're not concerned about what happens next (The Office benefits from re-watching more than any other current show).

Now that we're in the NetFlix/Blockbuster Online era, it's somewhat more realistic to recommend television shows. So many of the best shows are at their best when you watch from the beginning, and that's more doable now (unfortunately, a bunch of the best shows have been on HBO and feel a need to be different than network shows - and most do it in, um, not-so creative ways). There are a host of shows that I've been borderline-addicted to over the years, but if I had to choose a top five favorites, it'd have to be a top six, and it would have to include:


6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Now that it's widely acclaimed as one of the most important shows of the modern era of television, I feel better about sharing this on my blog: I went out of my way every week to see this show. The story of a teenage girl just wanting to be a teenage girl but instead being drafted into this strange world where she is responsible for constantly saving the world, and her friends, as much for a sense of belonging as for devotion to their friend, come along for the ride. Season one is fun, but it really found its voice in season two. There are plenty of good stand-alone episodes, but the reason it was required viewing was the season-long story arcs, the development of the three main characters, and especially the way it was juxtaposing vampires and all things vampire-hunting with high school. A show about a vampire slayer shouldn't be one of the most important commentaries on growing up in America, but that's exactly what it ended up being.


5. The Sopranos - There were blips along the way (the entire fourth season and the 'first half' of the sixth season were mostly forgettable), but this show sustained an incredibly deep level of storytelling for almost a decade. The main characters demanded your sympathies and like all the good mafia movies, their world was glamorized, but the show's creator, David Chase, never let you forget how evil and warped their world truly was, and he regularly dismantled the characters and made you rethink your loyalties. It was beautifully orchestrated with a collection of maybe the finest acting ever to grace the small screen. This was a morality tale, and a complicated one at that. And if you were watching so you could see who got killed next, you were watching for the wrong reasons. Now that it's on A&E, you can watch it sans most of the vulgarity and debauchery, although, be warned, it's still a show about a violent and entitled mafia boss and his family.


4. My So-Called Life - The aforementioned show that made me want to be a screenwriter. When this show was first on, I taped them all and would play them until the tape wore out. It spoke to me. The characters were flawed. The ones we rooted for would make bad choices (and the occasional good ones). It was tragic, poignant, charming, and the characters were so real and complex, that when they canceled it after one season, there was a real sense of loss from the fans, because this show was helping people make sense of chaos. It was years ahead of its time, even though nothing has nailed high school as well as MSCL. Even if the exact circumstances looked nothing like your high school experience, surely you will recognize the emotions, which were never exploited, but instead were resonant and redeeming.


3. Arrested Development - It's been five years and we still quote this show several times each week. It just keeps getting better every time I watch it too. This is the type of show where they set up jokes early in season one that they would pay off late in season two, and it would make every episode in between take on a whole new life once they did. Every scene was so jam-packed with little gags, that after watching each episode at least a half-dozen times, I was still catching things for the first time. It was so skillfully crafted, the writing and acting was so brilliant, that I don't think any comedy will ever best it. I really don't know how to talk about this show without going into 'Chris Farley Show' territory where I say a quote and then collapse into hyperbole about how great said quote was. The price keeps going down at Amazon and Target, so there are less and less reasons for you to avoid it.


2. Lost - Prior to May, I wouldn't have been ready to put this on my all-time list. There was too much potential that they didn't know where they were going, or that they'd stretch it out for years and years. Then they announced that they're doing 48 more episodes over three seasons of 16 episodes and that's it. Now they get to cut the fat and tell the story they want to tell. When the show returned after a meandering first six episodes of season three, it became clear that they knew where they were going from day one. The show got this swagger that it wore well. After all of the moaning and complaining about the running in place, we were finally going somewhere. And then the season finale of season three happened and it changed everything and we were all utterly convinced that this is going to be worth devoting Wednesday nights to for the next several years. No show has rewarded the time you spend with it more than Lost. Clues are everywhere, and they all add up to something. There are probably a hundred reasonable theories on what will happen next. I'm emotionally invested in almost every character, and the shows two greatest strengths (Benjamin Linus & John Locke) appear to be on the verge of 48 mind-blowing episodes. Unfortunately the writer's strike might mean we only get eight episodes of Lost in 2008. That may drive me (and millions more) crazy. This is the show I'm most compelled to watch out of anything that I've ever seen. Wednesday evenings are an event.


1. The Wire - After the umpteenth "Greatest Show Ever" review, I hijacked a trial NetFlix membership and wailed on these DVDs. It's the unbelievable tale of the Baltimore crime scene - the police and the criminals and the politicians. It spends equal time with all three, creating this complex world where the good guys become bad guys and the bad guys occasionally become good guys. It's a show that always remains real, and never goes for the easy hook. And it's told (masterfully) like a novel. Often times an hour will go by and you'll wonder if anything just happened (not that you weren't enthralled at every turn, just that this is a different type of television show). The first ten episodes often exist for the final two or three (and going back to rewatch them is all the better because of it). In season four, it went to an even higher level when it went into the schools and followed four boys over the course of the year, and showed you exactly how the cycle keeps repeating.

This isn't a show where you wait in hope of a happy ending. The writers are former members of the press, the police force and the schools in Baltimore. They're telling a story that is based on the actual reality they experienced and are experiencing. They threw out the book of television clichés (which all of my other top six were guilty of at one point or another). I'm convinced that season four was the best twelve hours of television ever crafted, putting it right up there with the best movies and books and plays and every other work of fiction. Which creates high expectations for the fifth and final season - ten episodes starting in January. Which brings me back to the beginning - today they posted three shorts on Amazon.com that aren't precursors to season five, but do provide some background on some of the shows main characters - Prop Joe, McNulty & Bunk, and the greatest character the show has created, Omar. As a warning, it's an HBO show, and so there's some swearing in the shorts.

There was a teaser promo for season five they released a few months ago that, for all of the devotees of The Wire, had us at the edge of our seats constantly recounting how much time we had to wait for the premiere. That this simple and somewhat gloomy promo inspired me to verbally express my excitement while home alone in our living room should give you an idea of how great this show is. Amazon recently had a crazy-big Monday-after-Thanksgiving sale on every season so thanks to some birthday money, I'd be glad to host a viewing party for anyone who is interested. (If anyone has HBO and is a fan - we don't, so seeing the episodes will be tricky. Hence, I'm looking for a friend to watch them with - I'll buy the snacks).

So there you have it, hundreds of hours of entertainment recommended by yours truly.

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