Top Ten… Favorite Shows

Last year, I said I was going to start doing a series of various top ten posts here on the blog, and then I did one in August, and never did another one.  Ha!  When I saw that Shay had a linkup this week about favorite shows to binge, I thought it would be a great excuse for me to finally put out another top ten list!

I’ve always loved TV ever since I was a kid, and Brian and I watch TV pretty much every evening for about an hour before bed, so I have seen a lot of shows in my day.  Like everyone else, I have shows that I can watch over and over again, and today I’m going to share my top ten favorite shows of all-time!  FYI, it was nearly impossible to order these (aside from my number one – that one was a no-brainer), so just know that some of these I love equally… especially the remainder of my top five… I honestly think 2-5 are pretty equal…

Working backwards from #10, here we go!

 

10.  Breaking Bad – For the record, this is not remotely the type of show that I normally enjoy, but for some reason, I just could not tear myself away from this one.  The storyline is genius, and I loved it so much and Brian and I blew through the entire series in just a matter of months.

9.  Gossip Girl – I didn’t watch this one while it was on TV, so this one was a pandemic binge for Brian and me.  I absolutely loved everything about the show – the characters, the clothes, the setting (NYC!), and the drama.  And I was honestly surprised at the ending.

8.  Friday Night Lights – It took me a few episodes to get into this one, but once I was in, I was fully committed.  Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.  Coach Taylor forever.  <3

7.  The Handmaid’s Tale – Y’all, this show is a total trainwreck – SO messed up – and yet – I can’t stop watching.  It’s so hard at times to watch, but oh my word, is it fantastic.  Excellent acting, insane storyline, amazing writing… all of it.  It is the definition of riveting.  Fascinating.  And disturbing.  And I’m still not-so-patiently waiting for season six to drop… they are taking foreverrrr and I am just dying to know how it ends!

6.  Gilmore Girls – I actually didn’t watch this one when it originally aired, but Brian and I binged it years ago and I loved it.  It gives all the cozy vibes, all the happy feels, and it’s just a great show… perfect for happy background noise while I work.

5.  Dawson’s Creek – This was a favorite from my teenhood, and one that I did watch live as it aired back in 1998-2003.  I couldn’t get enough, and at the time, it was my second favorite show of all-time.  I’ve re-watched all of the seasons a couple of times through as a middle-aged adult, and I have to say, it stands the test of time!  And while I FREAKING LOVE Pacey (he was my favorite guy on the show and I’ve had a crush on Joshua Jackson since he was in Mighty Ducks when we were little… I still have a crush on him), I was one of the rare few who wanted Joey and Dawson to end up together because – soulmates.  So which guy did Joey end up with?  Well, you’ll have to watch and see for yourself!  It’s a whole thing!!

 

4.  Schitt’s Creek – Admittedly, it took Brian and me a couple of tries to get into Schitt’s Creek, but once we we got into it, we could not stop.  It was just fabulous from start to finish.  It’s another feel-good show that will make you laugh and make you cry, and it’s just the quirkiest, most heartfelt show ever… especially the episode where Patrick sings Simply the Best to David (again, IYKYK).  If you haven’t seen the show then, EW DAVID, go watch it now!

 

3. Parenthood – Brian and I binged this many years ago and I couldn’t get enough… would seriously have sat and binged watched it for hours.  It’s one of my all-time favorite shows, and sadly, it hasn’t been streaming on any of the services that we have for a long time, so I haven’t been able to have it as my happy background noise.  It only took a few episodes for me to decide that I want to be a Braverman!!  Doesn’t everyone after watching that show?!

 

2.  Ted Lasso – It’s the happiest, most feel-good show ever, and it moved into my top five almost immediately after starting it.  You will laugh.  You will cry.  You will cheer.  And you will feel so good after every episode.  Except maybe the Beard After Hours fever dream episode (IYKYK – LOL).  If you haven’t seen the show yet, what on earth are you waiting for?!

 

1.  Friends!!!! – I mean, don’t even say that you didn’t know this was coming.  ;o)  Everyone who knows me – and even most of you who just “know” me from reading this blog, probably already know that Friends is my favorite show of all-time.  I always say that I invented binge-watching because I used to have the VHS set of “The Best of Friends” back when I was in my early teens, and I would literally watch those episodes over and over and over again while I was in my room studying, writing, talking on the phone, scrapbooking, or whatever else it was that I was doing.

Eventually, they ended up releasing each of the full seasons on DVD, and I literally bought them one-by-one as they were released, so thrilled to have more episodes to add to my constant loop of Friends background noise.  To this day, I still own the entire set of DVDs (with the special edition DVD glass case holder!) and it will be something with which I will never part.

If I had to guess, I have probably seen every episode at least 30 times, with some of them (my favorites) probably more like 50 times.  I can quote most of each of the episodes, and even after seeing them all of those times, it’s never enough.  It’s the soundtrack of my life, and there’s nothing that makes me happier than an episode of Friends.

Fun fact (which I’ve mentioned a couple of times on the blog), my cousin is married to Matthew Perry’s sister, so I had the privilege of meeting him at their wedding back in 2014.  He was kind and funny, and he gave the best speech at their wedding… it’s something I’ll never forget.  To say I was devastated about his passing is an understatement, and I’m still so sad to know that my six favorite TV characters will never be able to be together again.

And that’s my top ten!!  (And hopefully I didn’t forget anything important!!) 

After writing this post, I totally realized (about a month later... updating this post on 8/9/2024) that I forgot the show Shrinking!!!!  So, if I had to do this post all over again, I would probably move Shrinking into the #6 slot, remove Gossip Girl from my Top 10, and move the remaining shows back a slot.  Too many good shows.  This was hard.  ;o)

This was fun!!  What are some of the shows in your top ten??