The Best of My Favourite TV Shows
There's no accounting for taste in all my favourite tv shows, but here are the ones I most recommend based on quality. This isn't a list of the "best" tv shows of all time, just the best of my favourites. I don't include mini-series.
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- CreatorJimmy McGovernStarsRobbie ColtraneGeraldine SomervilleKieran O'BrienDr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald is a criminal psychologist. He is rather anti-social and obnoxious but he has a gift for solving crimes. Thus he is employed as a consultant by the Manchester Police.The character of Fitz is played errantly and with majestic depravity by Robbie Coltrane, who proves himself the Orson Welles of television crime drama. To me, this show is legendary. Relentlessly challenging and sorrowfully uncomfortable, somehow, above it all, rises some sort of incalculable romance.
- CreatorMerv GriffinStarsAlex TrebekJohnny GilbertJimmy McGuireA returning champion and two challengers test their buzzer skills and their knowledge in a wide range of academic and popular categories.This show is psychiatrically soothing. Playing right into our superiority complex as we look down at the "dummies" who didn't know the answer when we did, then keeping us humble whenever we shout our wrong answers at the screen. More than that, it's so damn dependable. This is my "desert island" tv show.
- CreatorDavid BenioffD.B. WeissStarsEmilia ClarkePeter DinklageKit HaringtonNine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.The brutality of Game of Thrones sneaks up on you because of how much glee you take in cheering on the endless clashes. It's a show not without its faults, but one *look* at allllllllllllllll those dreamy costumes and I'm hooked. Best tv costumes ever. Peter Dinklage/Tyrion Lannister has captured our hearts.
- CreatorJoan Ganz CooneyLloyd Morrisett Jr.StarsJim HensonFrank OzCaroll SpinneyOn a special inner city street, the inhabitants, human and muppet, teach preschool subjects with comedy, cartoons, games, and songs.Pre-1989 is where it's at. This is a show that had more funk, heart and soul than everything else on tv put together, ever. The early songs are classic. I still sing them today.
- CreatorAlex GansaHoward GordonStarsClaire DanesMandy PatinkinDamian LewisA bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.The chemistry between Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin is electric. A risky show about risk. There are genuinely terrifying moments in this series, scarier than many horror films.
- CreatorDarren StarStarsJason PriestleyShannen DohertyLuke PerryA group of friends living in Beverly Hills, California make their way through life from their school days into adulthood.
- CreatorFabrice GobertStarsAnne ConsignyClotilde HesmeFrédéric PierrotIn a small French mountain town where everyone knows each other, the dead begin to inexplicably return as if their death never happened. Forcing the townsfolk to confront their difficult past as they seek to understand this phenomenon.
- CreatorBlanche HanalisStarsMelissa GilbertMichael LandonKaren GrassleThe life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the nineteenth century American Midwest.
- CreatorDarren StarStarsSarah Jessica ParkerKim CattrallKristin DavisFour female New Yorkers gossip about their sex lives (or lack thereof) and find new ways to deal with being a woman in the late 1990s.
- CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsPatrick StewartBrent SpinerJonathan FrakesSet almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.
- CreatorJ.J. AbramsJeffrey LieberDamon LindelofStarsJorge GarciaJosh HollowayYunjin KimThe survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
- CreatorElise DoganieriBertram van MunsterStarsPhil KeoghanJoyce AguUchenna AguMultiple teams race around the globe for $1,000,000 to 'amazing' locations.
- StarsSarah Ann KennedyEmma ChambersCharlotte MitchellAnimated comedy, following the rather self-obsessed Dolly Pond and her quest to live the kind of life she thinks she should be living, while never getting it quite right. Observational, modern humour from Candy Guard.
- CreatorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonMitch PileggiTwo F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
- CreatorBrad FalchukRyan MurphyHalley FeifferStarsLady GagaKathy BatesAngela BassettAn anthology series centering on different characters and locations, showcasing different aspects of horror.
- CreatorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.
- CreatorOsamu TezukaStarsBillie Lou WattMari ShimizuEsperanzita MartínezAs long as trouble's brewing across the universe, the small but powerful robot, Astro Boy, will have adventures, assisted by his mentor, Dr. Elefun.
- CreatorFiona McHughStarsZachary BennettLally CadeauMag RuffmanA young girl is sent to live with her late mother's relatives in Prince Edward Island. Set in the early 1900's, the series follows her adventures, as well as that of her family and the town's people as she grows up in Avonlea.
- CreatorErnie CoombsStarsJudith LawrenceErnie CoombsJani LauzonAn amiable man teaches preschool subjects with his puppet friends using games, songs, and the infinite number of costumes inside his tickle trunk.
- CreatorSusan HarrisStarsBea ArthurBetty WhiteRue McClanahanFour previously married women live together in Miami, sharing their various experiences together and enjoying themselves despite hard times.
- CreatorJane CampionGerard LeeStarsElisabeth MossDavid WenhamPeter MullanObsessed with the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl near a freezing lake in New Zealand, a brave detective will find herself up against small-town secrets and a side of herself that was meticulously kept at bay.
- StarsAnthony BourdainTom VitaleDavid Scott HollowayAnthony Bourdain visits countries, delving into their political issues as well as indigenous food and culture.
- CreatorMichael LeesonStarsBill CosbyPhylicia RashadMalcolm-Jamal WarnerThe goings-on in the life of a successful African-American family.
- CreatorJohn KricfalusiBob CampJim GomezStarsJohn KricfalusiBilly WestHarris PeetRen, a psychotic Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a dimwitted Manx cat who goes by the nickname Stimpy, have a host of unusual adventures.
- StarsLidia BastianichJoe BastianichTanya BastianichLidia Bastianich journeys through Italy to sample local specialties from Rome, Naples, Padua, Sicily, Trieste and Istria. Back in her US kitchen, the warm and engaging host demonstrates 2 or 3 recipes she encountered during her travels. Throughout the series, friends and family join Lidia in the kitchen. Her daughter Tanya introduces some of Lidia's favorite hidden cultural treasures, while her son Joseph frequently stops by to discuss regional wines.
- StarsMel BlancJune ForayJulie BennettBugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, and all their cartoon friends, with the exception of Speedy Gonzales, are featured in this long-running series consisting of classic theatrical cartoons, often severely edited for violent or ethnically sensitive content.
- CreatorMichelle KingRobert KingStarsJulianna MarguliesChris NothJosh CharlesAlicia Florrick has been a good wife to her husband, a former state's attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a law firm.
- StarsBilly VanGuy BigMitch Markowitz"The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" was as hosted spooky show aimed at a children's audience.
- CreatorMindy KalingStarsMindy KalingIke BarinholtzEd WeeksA young Ob/Gyn doctor balances her personal and professional life, surrounded by quirky co-workers in a small office.
- CreatorDavid CraneJeffrey KlarikStarsMatt LeBlancStephen ManganTamsin GreigA couple of British TV producers move to Hollywood to export their most popular series, and find it is not what they expected.
- StarsStephen YanStephen Yan demonstrates various Chinese food stir-fry recipes prepared on the wok.
- StarsPierre J. CapretzValérie AllainCharles MayerThis educational series teaches the French language and profiles cultural attributes. No attempt is made to use English in presenting skills and concepts.
- CreatorBeau WillimonStarsKevin SpaceyMichel GillRobin WrightA Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.
- StarsEssie DavisNathan PageHugo Johnstone-BurtA female sleuth sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of Melbourne in the late 1920s, fighting injustice with her pearl-handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit.
- CreatorGreg DanielsRicky GervaisStephen MerchantStarsSteve CarellJenna FischerJohn KrasinskiA mockumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, tedium and romance.
- CreatorRicky GervaisStephen MerchantStarsRicky GervaisMartin FreemanMackenzie CrookThe story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follow staff and the manager David Brent as they continue their daily lives.
- CreatorWilliam BlinnStarsWalt DisneyPaul FreesClarence NashA Disney-produced anthology covering many different genres.
- StarsJoely RichardsonSean BeanJames WilbyA young woman's husband returns wounded after the First World War. Facing a life with a husband now incapable of sexual activity she begins an affair with the groundskeeper.
- CreatorAmy Sherman-PalladinoStarsLauren GrahamAlexis BledelKeiko AgenaA dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
- StarsJohn ThawLindsay DuncanJean-Pierre DelageBased on the 1989 best-selling memoir of the same name by Peter Mayle about his first year in Provence, and the local events and customs.