Clarifications: I'm not including either Freaks and Geeks or Arrested Development on this list, which would probably be most people's top two. Everyone who has watched even 30 seconds of Arrested Development knows that it was cancelled too soon (especially if that 30 seconds was within the episode with Gob's expensive suit) so let's all just agree it goes in the #1 spot and be done with that. And Freaks and Geeks....I never watched it when it was new on TV, but I've watched most of the first season over the last couple weeks....to be honest, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Despite Judd Apatow, Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Martin Starr, etc. etc. being involved, I give it a 6 out of 10. Maybe it was funnier in 1999?
I would also listen to arguments for Saved by the Bell: The College Years, because I never thought that show got a fair shot. But maybe I'm only saying that because I've only seen those episodes like five times each, as opposed to the 25 times each I've seen the rest of them, and that's why I remember it fondly, as they're relatively fresh, compared to the rest of that series. Anyways, the top 5:
5. Ed. Despite this being my favorite show of all time, I can't put it any higher than number 5. While I would have obviously loved for it to continue forever.....for the most part, it had a story to tell, and it told it. Ed finally bagged Carol Vescey (who continues to get hotter with every year that goes by. I used to think that she had peaked during Ed, but have you seen her in Modern Family? I mean, shit.) After that, the show lost some of its luster, and was dangerously close to jumping the shark. So it gets a token spot on the list, but that's all I can do.
4. Twin Peaks. I am a monstrous David Lynch fan. Mulholland Drive is one of my all-time favorite movies. That movie fucked my mind for weeks on end. Twin Peaks should have been his masterpiece, but of course the network got involved, and it came to a screeching halt after two seasons. While the ending was pretty cool, I guarantee Lynch could've kept the party going for a lot longer. The Red Room scene with the backwards-talking man (later parodied by The Simpsons during the Who Shot Mr. Burns? episode) is one of my favorite "What the fuck just happened?" scenes ever.
3. Love Monkey. Never in my life have I been more excited for the debut of a show than for this one. Tom Cavanagh (the title character from the aforementioned Ed) and Jason Priestley (the irreplaceable Brandon Walsh from Beverly Hills 90210) together in one show! The top two in my list all of all-time favorite TV characters!--although that list would be completely re-done if I made it today. Corey Mathews has no place in the top 5, and having Brandon over Zack Morris is inexusable, borderline sacriligious. However, Love Monkey only lasted THREE FUCKING EPISODES, CBS pulled the plug, and I never trusted TV again (hence my overreaction to Parks & Rec potentially being shut down.) In fact, that was the breaking point for me and TV. Ever since then, I'm not heartbroken if I don't watch a show live every week. I'll wait a year, buy the DVD's, and watch them like that. Too many shows get cancelled without warning, and my heart can't take it. The one silver lining: my friendship with Alfonso blossomed like a beautiful flower during the six week run of Love Monkey (VH1 later re-broadcast three more filmed-but-not-aired episodes) as we gathered with our girlfriends at the time to watch the show. So we've got that going for us....which is nice.
2. Sifl & Olly. The greatest show starring sock puppets of all time. So, so stupid....yet so, so hilarious. The scenes with Precious Roy still make me giggle to the point of tears. I have some serious-ass laughter problems. Whatever, I don't really know how to describe this show. Either you're going to love it, or you're going to think it's one of the stupidest shows of all time. I belong to the first group. For those of you who really enjoy some Precious Roy (Lane, Schne, Kos at the very least) I found this clip- seven minutes of pure Precious. Enjoy. You kids better pay for that lap dance! The people at the bank call me Marty!
1. Clone High. I watched this show fairly often when it was new in 2002, and admittedly, I was mildly unimpressed. In truth, the only thing I remembered from it through the years was this scene, which I was looking for a couple months ago on youtube. After I found it, I started watching a few other clips, one thing led to another, and I ended up re-watching the entire series on youtube over the span of a few months. And it was tremendous. Very cleverly written, and I LOL'd (laughed out loud, to the layman) at least twice every episode. I didn't remember it being that awesome at all originally, and now I'm retroactively pissed off that it got the axe so soon. But yet we're going on Season One Million of The Real World. Damn MTV communists.
