five tv shows I love

Life

Holy crap, why are you not watching this show?! It's about a cop who was in jail for a murder he didn't commit. He was found innocent after seven years in jail where he took up meditation and Zen ideals to get through being in jail as a cop. He got a bunch of money and reinstated as a detective. The cases are crazy, the characters are fantastic and deep, and Charlie is quirky and smart and trying to figure out who framed him on the side. For reals, start watching this show immediately if not sooner.

Grey's Anatomy

It had me from the very first episode. I would think there's only so much you can do with a show that takes place mostly in a hospital, but every episode makes me tear up at least once. Working in a hospital myself means that I realize McDreamy is really only a figment of the writers' imagination but I still am entertained by the show. Then there's a blog that gets posted by the main writer of the episode the day after which offers all kinds of cool insight and has only made me a bigger fan.

The Office

Hysterical. Stomach pain inducing laughter occurs almost every single episode. And, they only get funnier the more times you watch the same episode! If you start watching from the very beginning, you have to give yourself a few episodes to get into it. It's unlike any other show on American television (at least as far as I've been exposed to). But it is hysterical. Steve Carrell is fantastic at being earnestly idiotic and the whole Jim and Pam thing is heart-warming even when it's heart breaking. Watch and you'll know what I mean.

House

I kind of like watching this show on dvd or in some sort of other marathon format. It's another hospital show which I suppose begs the question of whether or not working in a hospital makes me predisposed to enjoying medically influenced television. Every episode is kind of the same in that there's a medical mystery, the first diagnosis is wrong, and then something weird happens that makes House or someone else realize what is really going on. But the characters are really deep and the interactions are unpredictable in some ways and I can't help but be completely sucked into the whole thing. Also, it is a fantastic juxtaposition of the world view that was common in the 50s with the world view of today. The 50s were much more black and white and science based (which is represented by Dr. House) and today we live in many more gray areas and focus on feelings and reactions more than facts and if/than kinds of situations. I just nerded it up real good for ya, didn't I.

Family Guy

Okay, years ago when it had been canceled and the only way you could watch it was on dvd, someone lent it to me and swore it was the funniest show EVER. I couldn't get into it. I love The Simpsons. But in the past couple of years, Family Guy has definitely grown on me. Probably because you can watch it every night on a variety of channels. I love the interactions between Stewie and Brian the most. I think it would kind of be funnier if the family didn't really understand Stewie, but then it would be hard to make the conversations between Stewie and Brian happen and that's definitely the best part of any episode. Somewhat offensive and ridiculous, and sometimes over the top, but I still am entertained by the show. I pretty much just watch it on Cartoon Network though so I'm not all up to date on the latest episodes. Incidently, I LOVE Adult Swim. The Oblongs and Mission Hill could make it onto my favorites list if there were more episodes available for viewing.