This is an idea that I got from watching an episode of Trash Taste. In particular, it was their 3×3 episode regarding the hosts favorite tv shows. It was the kind of episode that made me think about what my own live action tv series are. A seemingly easy question to answer at first, but one that is very revealing about the person who makes it. So why not? This sounds like a fun thing to just talk about.
The thing about my tastes is that they always seem kind of off from the most popular shows. At least it seems that way? Especially in recent years where I refuse to have Disney+ on principal and have no real reason to have HBOmax. There is such a huge thing for when a show becomes popular around people I know, then I probably won’t like it. Shows with a lot of mass market appeal don’t work for me at all.
That’s about all I wanted to say for this.
Orphan Black
This is such a surprising series that I am glad got some kind of attention even if it didn’t get mainstream. This story about clones and/or sisters of each other is a really telling and thoughtful sci fi story that goes on so many levels and shows how a change of perspective can change people who are the exact same person from DNA. It is such an enthralling work that is full of hilarious moments around with dramatic ones. Plus, Tatiana Maslany plays every single clone with such distinctive personalities. She’s an incredible actress.
Hannibal
I don’t know what it is, but this such an addiction for me. I don’t usually like anything resolving around serial killers or murderers or even crime procedure shows, but Hannibal had such a distinctive directional style led by Bryan Fuller that I couldn’t help but enjoy this crazy murder fest of a show as some people lose their sanity completely. Especially since the cast of the show are just full of incredible people who acted their hearts out. This is a product of so much passion.
Continuum
It’s not even for me to enjoy time travel shows because most of them are full of details and plots that I don’t like. Continuum is amazing though. Yes, it is a crime procedural show but the crew is after terrorist from the future who want to change the world from becoming being owned by corporations. So very biting sort of commentary on our current world as the main protagonist Kiera discovers that the terrorists aren’t exactly wrong for what they are doing. Plus, it really does explore the implications of the future being changed for better or worse. Its kind of astonishing.
Top Chef
This is possibly the best cooking show that exists in my opinion. (Ok, Tournament of Champions is pretty great, but it’s such a different experience compared to this one.) This is the biggest cooking show where the money that other food competition shows are competing for can be earned in one single round. This is a show that explores different cities every season with a distinctive cast of chefs being made to cook outside of their element yet are forced to perform. It is some real tension because the prize money is so big and life changing just like the title of Top Chef is.
Task Master
Something I started during the pandemic. Started out as a YouTube recommendation and then a sudden binge watch. Everything about this show is something that clicks with me so easily. The entire premise of the show, british comedians doing strange tasks and seeing how creatively a person can do them, then having running commentary on them by the Task master who just scores people arbitrarily? Just excellent stuff. I also really like the show’s sense of humor because it is on that nitpicky technical level that I enjoy so much.
Cut Throat Kitchen
The most evil cooking show in existence and that is why its so good. This is alway’s Alton Brown’s real terror hours as the four competitors try to sabotage each other with the money that they could possibly win or withstand the sabotages that they are given. It is just a fun sort of watch to see all of these people so interested in getting these prices just to win.
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
This is a show that I first started watching during a college band trip and that’s when it started becoming a major part of my college life. We were all obsessed with it to the point where we played the BSG board game while playing BSG music in the background. This story of colonists being chased by a race of human like robots on space ships is a deeply enthralling sort of adventure and some of the best television ever. It’s just really good.
Babylon 5
Another show that feels timeless for me mostly based on its writing, themes, and ideas. The first image I remember from this show was when dad was watching it when I was five or six and there was an image of Kosh. A character which I still love to this day. This is such a unique science fiction setting where technology starts out as familiar in the earlier years of a civilizations time in space and gets more complicated as time goes onward. Plus this is a sort of Lord of the Rings story is good, but everything with the Earth Government getting more and more fascist is phenomenal. Kind of my favorite part of the show.
MASH
This show is apart of who I am because I saw many of its episodes through re runs. A comedy show at times about these doctors stuck in Korea during the Korean war, but one that can get very serious about the human costs of war and everything it is doing to the people there. The fact that it can do both of those so seamlessly with its lovable cast of characters is why its so wonderful and relatable even if some of its ideas are outdated. The bulk of the show is fantastic stuff
Runners Up/Still Thinking About
-The Expanse
-Wheel of Time (only one season)
-Farscape
-Sandman (Only one season)
-Ultraseven (Haven’t completed yet, but it’s some classic sci fi that I can’t help but love)
-Ultraman Decker (It’s really good.)
-Sarah Connor Chronicles
-Terminator: Star Trek DS9
-Pushing Daisies
-Great Food Truck Race
-Whose Line Is It Anyway
-Tournament of Champions
-Legion
-Caprica (I feel strange in that I really liked it compared to so many others who didn’t)
Those are the only kind of shows that come to mind right now.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 