Must-See TV Shows

This show BLOWS ME AWAY. Seriously. Revenge is an amalgamation of all that I think TV should be: it's dramatic, suspenseful, complex, visually jarring and beautiful, deep and full of emotion. The actors are talent (yes, I said that as I meant to--they personify talent).

Emily Thorne, or rather, Amanda Clarke, is the main character of Revenge (played by Emily VanCamp, formerly of Everwood and Brothers & Sisters). She was a happy little girl who lived in a beach house with her kind and loving father until he was suddenly taken from her in a very public arrest for terrorism, for which he was sentenced to life in prison. He was innocent. Amanda Clarke (her real name) lived an immensely difficult life of imprisonment and lies, as her father did, after this arrest. Her life finally improved after his tragic death in prison; she inherited billions from the business he had left behind, and was finally taught the truth of his innocence. This is all BEFORE the show starts!

At age 18, Amanda finally learns and comprehends the truth of her father's arrest by reading a journal that he left for her. In truth, her father was framed in a complicated conspiracy by the immensely wealthy and influential family whom lived next door to their beach house, the Graysons. Victoria Grayson (played by Madeleine Stowe), the married woman with whom her father was having an affair before his arrest, helped her husband and colleagues to frame and trap Amanda's father in prison until his untimely death and to confine Amanda to a sequence of juvenile detention centers for the rest of her childhood.

Victoria and her family become the prime focus of Amanda's extensive plan for revenge, hence the show's title, among numerous other players in the conspiracy, including therapists, writers, security personnel, and others who testified at her father's trial or helped to frame him. They ruined her life and her father's, so she aspires to ruin theirs (through various means, most of which are not violent, like disrupting their fortunes, fame, careers, family life). Accidents and plot twists happen frequently, deepening the story and intensifying her struggles. Surprisingly, Victoria Grayson's story becomes central, as she struggles with the results of the infiltration of Amanda (who has formed a convincing new identity as Emily Thorne) into every part of her life.

In the pilot episode, a plot twist is immediately evident that brings intense suspense to nearly every moment of every episode henceforward. Viewers are left to wonder how the violence and heartache that results from this event, which is set to occur nearly two years in the future (from the time of the first episode), will occur. There are subtle suggestions of the murder to come, but the questions of why and how and who remain ever-present.

Time is expertly used and demonstrated, with frequent flashbacks and rare glimpses into the future, in Revenge. Emily (Amanda) has an extremely complex and well-developed plan for each person she feels compelled to harm in a specific and often somewhat ironic way, and these plans are slowly revealed to viewers as they are simultaneously altered to fit ever-changing circumstances.

The characters on Revenge each display depth that many TV shows cannot achieve for such a vast number of people. The plot is exceedingly complex, which is to be expected from the creators of Lost.

This show keeps viewers guessing, taking them on a purely entertaining and visceral roller coaster of emotions. It is truly excellent television!

This treasure requires a suspension of realism, which most of us are happy to allow.

So... there is this little town in Maine called Storybrooke, where everyone you have ever read about in fairy tales is trapped because of an evil curse cast by the wicked stepmother from "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs." These fairy tale characters are not only trapped in the boundaries of the town; they are also trapped in time and in lives that shall NEVER result in the happy endings they did in fairyland--if the evil queen has anything to say about it. (This town is in the real world and modern day, the world of hybrid cars and cell phones and the Internet).

These poor cursed people stay like this, stuck in time, place and misery, for over two decades, until one day, the adopted son of the wicked queen escapes to Boston, finds a lonely police detective in her apartment on her 30th birthday, and tells her she's his birth mother. She follows him begrudgingly to Storybrooke, plays along with his "game"--the truth of the curse--, and frequently makes small steps toward reversing the curse (without realizing or believing that she's doing so) with her sweet son's help, and against the wishes and efforts of the evil queen/mayor.

Each episode features a reworked, interesting and unique version of a fairy tale (including Rumpelstiltskin, Jimmeny (spelling) Cricket, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and, of course, primarily Snow White, among many others), with the underlying story of how these fairy tale characters are faring in the real world, under the influence of the curse, without any knowledge and only sparse memories of themselves or their fairy tale existences.

It's a truly charming and enchanting show, with colorful and unique cinematography, costumes and makeup, great acting, strong and (understandably) familiar characters with surprising depth, and moments of emotional poignancy. Once Upon a Time is a perfect show for young and old hopeless romantics alike, especially women and men who grew up watching Disney movies like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, A Little Mermaid, etc. and reading as many fairy tales as we could get our hands on.

It amazes me that Grey's Anatomy is still an exciting and relevant medical drama, even after so many seasons and some serious plot twists. Yet, it seems to get better with age, less superficial and more substantial, with better cinematography, varied relationships, new background characters (like Little Grey and Arizona) who become intertwined in the main story, and fascinating medical stories and surgeries to keep it moving.

I would be very surprised if you are an avid TV watcher and haven't at least heard of Grey's Anatomy, which is currently in its ninth season(!) of success. It started out as a medical drama that focused on the sex lives and relationships of a group of medical interns at a large teaching hospital called Seattle Grace in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Meredith Grey and Dr. Christina Yang have remained the central characters in the show. McDreamy and McSteamy (nicknames for the very attractive senior doctors of neurology and plastic surgery, respectively, at the hospital) have been present pretty consistently.

There are so many lead characters in the spotlight on this show at various points, and all of them are worth watching as they grow up, settle down (or don't), develop their careers and personal lives, and make mistakes and learn from them. The medical stories intertwined into each episode feed the intellectual curiosity of viewers and influence the attitudes and choices of the medical staff. Dr. Grey narrates the show during most episodes with a stream of consciousness, offering lessons she or others learned about life, work or love. This is great television!

"After a bad break-up, Jess, an offbeat young woman, moves into an apartment loft with three single men. Although they find her behavior very unusual, the men support her - most of the time." -- IMDB

Zooey Deschanel, who plays Jess, is on fire in this hilarious comedy. Her roommates are almost or maybe just as quirky as she is, in different ways--but they don't typically break out in song at random moments, especially out of embarrassment, as she does. Gradually, the four roommates develop a kinship and help each other through all kinds of shenanigans: meeting ex-girlfriends, confronting ex-boyfriends, trying to make a Thanksgiving dinner from scratch only to find a dead lady, hosting a birthday party on a bus, teaching high school students to play the bells... This comedy kicks it like most comedies, in my opinion, fail to do--with heart and uniqueness, without being annoying and trashy.

So, Glee.

It's a TV musical comedy/drama about an unorthodox group of high school students who have been ostracized and ridiculed for being abnormal in some way (size, shape, race, orientation, ability, oops baby, interests, style, attitude, etc.). They make up the Glee Club called New Directions at a high school; they are led by the caring and musically talented Spanish Teacher, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). As Mr. Schuester deals with marital issues, his students have a whole array of problems to face, including their sexuality, relationships, social acceptance/ostracism, self-esteem, identity, and so on. Much of this is narrated through songs the students are asked to choose to sing in Glee Club, as they prepare for and compete in Show Choir competitions.

The hilariously cruel antagonist, Coach Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch, does everything she can to devise devious plans to crush the hopes and dreams of Schuester and the Glee Club members while attempting to elevate the successes of her cheerleading squad. Every character on Glee has flaws and strengths, including Sue.

It's a silly, sometimes witty, often emotional and somewhat over-the-top show with a strong following of "gleeks," Glee geeks. The cast sells the songs they perform on the show on iTunes, with huge success, and has made a movie, completed tours with live performances, and truly branded themselves, to a gigantic monetary success. People, especially young people with a flair for theater and music, are in love with and obsessed with Glee.

Personally, I think it's a good show, and a great idea, but I hope that it won't be run overlong just to make money. After this season, the main characters that make the show good will have graduated high school in the plot, so unless the show will be following them to New York or adulthood, I highly doubt it can sustain this success past this season with the same formula and story line (musically talented but socially ostracized high school students struggle with life issues through song).

Glee is a phenomenon because the idea of it and its blanket of welcome to people of all walks of life is sorely needed in our society and by our young people. It sends such a positive and hopeful message: it's good to be whoever you are, and you deserve to be happy as you are.

I cannot fault that; I can only embrace it. It's such a wonderful message!!

The young adults on the show have talent which deserves to be showcased. The choreography and cinematography are pretty good, especially for a TV show, but the writing can be predictable and cheesy. The acting is pretty good, but not amazing.

Overall, Glee is a good show deserving of its praise and fandom, but it will not last if it doesn't grow with its characters and mold itself into something new and different, taking a risk instead of staying with a simple (but smart) formula that should not be repeated.

"The Booth At The End is about this guy who sits at the back corner in a booth at a diner. And you can ask him for anything you want: your son will live, your wife will love you again... Anything. But he wants you to do something in return for getting what you want. And he doesn't actually care whether you do it or not, what he cares about is the story of how it's going. So all the characters who make a deal with The Man have to come back and tell the story of how this thing they're [supposed to be] doing - the last thing they ever want to do - is going."

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/video/article/interview-the-booth-at-the-end/#ixzz1kROzBdFH

Can you say INCREDIBLE?! This show blows my socks off. It's storytelling and suspense at its best. The writing and acting are superb, and the intelligence of everyone involved is immediately obvious in the first five minutes of the first episode. If you like cerebral and dark shows, this one is for you. It absolutely blew me away! It is unlike anything else that I have seen on television. Period.

That is the question.

Doctor Who, the show, is more than twice my age.... It began in the 1960's.

I am not typically a science fiction fan, and I've never been a fan of British television. However, and this is a BIG, e-m-p-h-a-t-i-c however, I cannot get enough of Doctor Who!! It is the most addicting show I have ever seen.

The Doctor, as he is called, is a Time Lord; he isn't human. He drives, or rides, depending on your point of view, an amazing ship (that looks like the blue police boxes of old Britain) that travels through time and space, and all kinds of vortexes, called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space). (It is bigger on the inside. Teehee.)

His purpose in traveling through time and space is to solve and correct errors in time that, left uncorrected, could cause the destruction of worlds, races (yes, there are hundreds of races besides humans in the universes of the Doctor), or time itself. The Doctor does this with intelligence, ingenuity, charisma and pure silliness; he bravely traverses lands unseen and fights mortal enemies like the Daleks and the Cybermen, as well as the only other Time Lord that still exists within time, The Master, with the help of human companions who tend to sort of fall into his lap while he's on adventures and end up being brave, resourceful and friendly (or at least one of these).

He is a lonely and very old soul (last I heard, over 900 years old). He is immortal, but when his body dies, he must regenerate as a new Doctor. I believe that he has had eleven reincarnations thus far (since 1963); this means that eleven actors have played The Doctor in the history of the show.

I cannot express how amazing and incredible and fantastic this show is!!! It has adventure, suspense, mystery, love/romance, excellent characters, beautiful graphics and cinematography (since 2005), hilarious and emotional moments, and incredible, fantastical stories. Oh, the writing! It is just... there are no words.

Doctor Who is my favorite show, the best show I have ever seen. I literally can't wait till the next episode comes out, and literally watched every episode since 2005 in sequential order over the course of two weeks during a break from school, nearly without pause (except to eat and sleep and shower, etc.). That is how good this show is. There is a cult following of Doctor Who, to which I guess I belong, because it is just that good.