I finished season two of The White Lotus today. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was maybe just a touch below season one, but just a touch. I was wondering where I would put it on my list of all-time favorite TV shows, and then I just decided to make such a list. I did it for movies a few years ago and enjoyed the process. So, below is my rankings of my 100 favorite TV shows. The two criteria are: a) how much did I enjoy it when I first watched it; b) how much has it stuck with me through the years. And all the usual caveats with lists like this apply: They are impossible to make and heavily dependent on the mood and whims of the ranker at the time they did the ranking. If I made this list next month instead of today, it would look different.
Okay: The list 100-51. (I'm breaking this up into two parts because I remember the movie one taking me way too long.)
100. Love Is Blind: This is a good example of what I was talking about above. Probably the only reason this made the list at all is due to recency bias. It's not very good, but we just watched it and had fun, and that's fresh in my mind.
99. The Arsenio Hall Show: The only late night show I ever watched consistently, and I only did so for a very short period of time. It was a thing at my school for a hot minute. Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo!
98. He-Man & Masters Of The Universe: My favorite action-figure show as a child by far.
97. Game of Thrones: Watched a season and a half, thought it was okay, but never really got into it. I stopped watching when a woman shot a smoke monster from her vagina, and I realized I had no clue what was going on and didn't much care, anyway. Fantasy just isn't my bag.
96. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Very briefly my favorite sitcom, circa 1991.
95. Perry Mason: I think I've seen every episode without ever watching an entire one all the way through. It was my mom's favorite show, so it was frequently on at my house as a child.
94. Roseanne: It's funny how there was once a show that featured John Goodman, George Clooney, and Laurie Metcalf, but the star was Roseanne Barr.
93. Cheers: A bit before my time, but I still watched it and enjoyed it. RIP Kirstie Alley.
92. Lingo: It's not just letters; it's lingo! S and I used to watch this together back when we were just dating.
91. Scrabble: Another word game show hosted by Chuck Woolery. This was appointment watching whenever I was home sick.
90. Entourage: Watched the entire series, never think about it now.
89. Extras: Another one I watched and never think about. I couldn't even remember what it was called. I had to look it up on Ricky Gervais' Wikipedia page.
88. The Brady Bunch: I watched it as a child a bit, but then there was a summer when I was a teenager, and I watched it every day, half ironically, half as comfort content.
87. Parker Lewis Can't Lose: Some kids in my sixth-grade class used to watch this, so I started watching it too, so that I would be in on things. I remember it being kinda cute: "Synchronize your Swatches!"
86. Married with Children: I never really liked the cynical alternate reality of the show, but I really liked Christina Applegate. She's a big crossword puzzle fan, by the way. She's also had some crazy bad-luck with health issue -- breast cancer to MS. That's rough.
85. The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling: The actual original wrestling program, not the Netflix series based on it. I used to watch it religiously. It came on after...
84. WCW Wrestling: Which came on after...
83. WWF Wrestling: Every Friday night for a few years in the mid-'80s, I would watch three hours of wrestling and then sleep on the sofa in our living room.
82. Saturday Night Live: Never watched it regularly, always thought the full program was kinda boring, but can't deny that it has had some funny skits through the years: It's my dick in box...
81. Silicon Valley: The interplay between Kumail Nanjiani and Martin Starr was my favorite part of the show.
80. Call My Agent!: Halfway decent French drama/comedy about movie agents. It's called Dix pour cent in France, which means "Ten Percent." I've always wondered why they didn't just keep the title for the English-speaking audience.
79. The Last Dance: It's basically just Michael Jordan hagiography, but still fun.
78. Welcome Back Kotter: As a sophomore in college, I used to watch it at the same time everyday between classes. I don't remember a single episode, but I remember it fondly, nevertheless.
77. The Big Bang Theory: Really funny in the beginning, petered out more quickly than your typical silly sitcom, which already peter out very quickly.
76. Around the Horn: I went to grad school with this guy M who would always say the funniest, randomest shit, and one of his lines was, "Time to go home and watch Around the Horn and wish I was doing something else."
75. Pardon the Interruption: A small step-up from Around the Horn.
74. SportsCenter: It's been made totally obsolete by YouTube, Twitter, etc. Nobody wants to reserve a time in the day to watch sports highlights anymore. But it was a staple in my life for many years.
73. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Only watched it for a bit but did enjoy it -- not enough to get totally into it though.
72. Welcome to Earth: Very beautiful. Will Smith is a good host, and he doesn't slap anybody in any episode.
71. Drive to Survive: I liked the first few seasons, but probably won't watch it now that I kinda keep up with F1 in real time. Also, I don't really care much for Max Verstappen. I'm a Lewis Hamilton guy all the way.
70. Boardwalk Empire: I always felt like I should be liking it more than I actually was.
69. The Mandalorian: The only Star Wars spinoff TV show that S and I got into. We quit The Book of Boba Fett after one episode (that was basically just a 45-minute torture scene), and can't get into Andor at all.
68. Sesame Street: A kid classic, which I loved, but my hot take retroactive to 1983 is that...
67. The Electric Company: ... was better.
66. In Living Color: The world's introduction to Jim Carrey. I used to do a mean Fire Marshall Bill impersonation: Let me show you something! Pretty much nothing on this show would fly today.
65. Project Runway: The second best of the reality TV shows S dragged me into.
64. Indian Matchmaker: The best of the reality TV shows S dragged me into.
63. Broad City: Solid raunchy comedy.
62. Batman: The original Adam West version. The same summer I watched The Brady Bunch I also watched this.
61. Family Guy: Never been a huge fan, but it's definitely made me laugh.
60. Ted Lasso: You can file this one in the "Good, But Way Overrated Because Everybody Acts Like It's the Greatest Show Ever, and It's More Like Top 100 But Not Fifty, Which is Still Pretty Good Because There Have Been a Lot of TV Shows" folder.
59. America's Funniest Home Videos: Super corny, but I loved this show as a tween. RIP Bob Saget.
58. The Beatles: Get Back: Does this count as a TV show? I'm counting it.
57. Lost: Really great show that totally fizzled at the end. I actually never watched the finale, which led me to formulate the Lost Principle of TV Watching: Never feel compelled to watch a show to the end of the series. Bail once it starts getting consistently bad. You will be so much more satisfied than you will seeing it through to the bitter end. Trust me, this principle can change your entertainment world.
56. Homeland: Excellent first few seasons. I heard it got bad at the end. I wouldn't know.
55. Friends: Never a big fan; somehow seen every episode. Well, it was like the biggest TV show in the world for a solid decade, during a time when everybody pretty much watched the same five channels, so I guess it's no mystery as to why I've seen so many episodes.
54. The Muppet Show: A favorite as a child. It's still pretty good when I watch clips on YouTube.
53. Unsolved Mysteries: The theme music still creeps me out a bit. I wonder how many of the mysteries would've been revealed as total bullshit in real-time if people had the internet back then.
52. Winning Time: One funny thing about this show is the name: Winning Time. It should be Showtime because it's about the "Showtime Lakers," but it's on HBO, so they didn't want to promote that name.
51. Atlanta: Really liked it the first few seasons, then S kinda soured on it, and I haven't been properly motivated to get back into it by myself.
Until next time...
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