I spent the weekend finishing the first season of 24 and decided that it's defs on my Top Five list of shows of all time.
This I decided before knowing what my full list is, which I then proceeded to spend hours thinking about. It really is one of the toughest tasks ever.
Just when you think you've decided on a show, another humdinger pops into your head for a different reason. The only way of solving my dilemma was to decide on the exact requirements for the list and came up with this definition:
"A show where I would rather die than miss one single episode, that
had to/
has to be taped if it's missed and which I'll never forget watching for as long as I live."
As you can see this means it doesn't necessarily have to do with the quality of show but rather a riveting combo that has an unmissably addictive, must-see, brain-frying factor.
Armed with this I was able to do it. Here's my final list:
1. 24For all the reasons explained
here.
2. Prison BreakThis show delights me so much, I feel like half a person when I know there are Season 2 episodes that exist that I haven't seen yet. It's actually like being in lurve and not being with your lovee - which has to do with Wentworth and the rest of the slurpy cons all over the place in it obviously.
Through every episode I've been hooked by each moment and the character who's breathed it and I never feel I've seen enough. If the episodes were six hours long they wouldn't be long enough.
I also very much enjoy how non-judgemental it is. You can feel deeply for someone who's the ultimate in evil and have an excellent chuckle at them with no consequence at all.
It makes me remember stuff too - like just how insignificant my problems are, why I don't believe in the death penalty, how stuffed up it is that the world can be so unfair, that there are people prepared to die for justice, how important trust is and how I never want to be locked up for something I didn't do!
3. Under The MountainThis was the first show I've ever been addicted to in the crucial ways necessary for this list. I was a tween when it was on and it's responsible for first showing me what blows my hair back when it comes to TV.
I remember a mish-mash of vivid images from it - there were lakes and lots of greenery hiding disgusting, snail-like aliens called Wilberforce's, who the teen hero's of the show had to destroy.
It's a very under-known show about a set of brother and sister twins who visit their aunt and uncle in some way-out, murky place during their summer holidays. They spend their days investigating the area, meet some crazy dude who becomes friends with them and he introduces them to the Wilberforce's who are planning on taking over the world. Their task is to join him in trying to stop it happening, which they tackle very bravely.
The sci-fi and detective elements of it were my best and, if I recall correctly, the twins were lonely, which endeared me to them. I think it was a situation that they felt they only had each other to rely on.
It's very strange - I don't remember what they looked like nor how they spoke but still recall the exact excitement I felt seeing them rowing down the lake and stepping out of their boat onto dangerous ground.
4. SurvivorHaving been thrilled by zillions of seasons of this show it had to be on the list. The most addictive factors for me are the people-watching opportunities every bunch of Pigs provides and the rituals that happen to them, as well as the ritual of actually watching it.
Each season is like seeing a social experiment gone wrong while having free reign to say exactly what you think about everyone involved - without suffering like they are.
The humour of it is brilliant too. No matter how desperate or intense things get between everyone there's always a laugh at the silliness of life hovering 'round the edges of things, in between people battling fierce odds, alone.
I've been thinking about this more and more - they must feel intensely solo out there. You genuinely can't trust anyone or be your self-self, no matter how much of an alliance you have. There's no-one you can just share a proper eye-roll with and know they won't use it against you.
Aha! I just realised a Very Big reason it's one of my Top Shows - I enjoy talking more than anything and when it comes to Survivor you can never run out of conversation.
5. Twin PeaksThis was a very strinickety choice. It came down to Twin Peaks versus So You Think You Can Dance versus Battlestar Gallactica - all of which are big-time faves. I decided on Twin Peaks though 'cos I can't remember what happened in it.
This may seem like a reason not to choose it but in this case it's the complete opposite - not having one clue what was going on was the grooviest thing about it.
I was finished by how weirdy and different it was and had to see every confusing episode. It was such a revolutionary show that didn't put audiences into boxes at all. It didn't care who thought it was too strange nor whether or not it explained itself enough and just kept delivering all sorts of unexpected things that generally looked cool.
Sometimes I wasn't totally lost. I knew what was happening with the grisly murders and which bodies had been found where, which somehow made things like the creepy dancing dwarf make sense, even when he didn't.
The one thing I'll never forget is Laura Palmer's (chick in the pic) father - his hair went grey overnight. I've been convinced it can really happen ever since and won't believe otherwise.
So, those are them. My ultimate Top 5 List.
What's yours?