I am awful when it comes to watching
movies. In the past year I have seen two movies in theaters. One was Wonder
and the other was The Last Jedi. I really struggle committing to a two
or three hour window of time to watch a movie (and to be honest, I'm a horrible
"watcher" of anything. Usually I am multi-tasking and listening while
I read, clean, cook, or some other task). However, I am a pretty decent binge
watcher of television shows. Admittedly, I have my favorites that I watch over
and over (and over) again, but somehow I can commit to watching many seasons of
a show over the course of a week or two, but can't find two hours to watch a
movie unless I really want to. I know, I am strange. Anyways, here are
my Top 10 favorite shows that I have binged:
1. How I Met Your Mother
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My all time favorite show (except on
days when it's Gilmore Girls, because I can't make up my mind)! It
amazes me just how much care went into creating this series and how many hints
and details to things to come are sprinkled into the various episodes. I know
that a lot of people thought the finale ruined it, but in my opinion, it made the
show that much stronger.
2. Gilmore Girls
(this includes A Year in the Life)
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I love Lorelei and Rory! This show
has been a constant rotation in my life for a good 5 or 6 years now. I've loved
it longer than that, but once I owned the DVDs, it seemed that I was almost
always in the middle of one season or another at any given time. I came to love
it even more when Netflix released A Year in the Life. While I have my
issues with certain moments (especially in Season 7) this show will always be
near and dear to my heart.
3. The Office
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This show being on the list has a
caveat. I binge it to a certain point. I loved the show until Season 5, then my
love started to fade. It seemed that parts worth watching were less and the
jokes just were not as funny. Once Steve Carell left the show, it really went
downhill for me. I have seen every episode, but typically, I hit my favorite
episode in Season 6 and just pretend that the show ended there.
4. Switched at Birth
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I was very surprised by this show. I
didn't have high expectations for it, but in the era of Netflix, I like giving
shows a chance. I was blown away. Yes, it suffers that same problem the many of
the Freeform shows have, where there are a few too many cliffhangers and
unnecessary (and unbelievable) drama for my taste. But I loved how sign
language was integrated into this show. I took a semester of sign language and
really enjoyed it and though I don't remember much, it was so amazing to see
this language and how the show incorporated it. It was weird having a show that
I actively had to “watch” though since so much of the dialogue is not verbal
(not a complaint of course, just an observation to how bad I am at watching).
5. Orange is the New Black
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I didn’t think I would enjoy this
show but am glad I gave it a try. It has hit a point for me where I don’t love
it as much any more. As with so many shows, I feel that the writer’s told the
story they set out to tell, but then more episodes and seasons were bought and
so they have to keep writing to keep the viewer’s. While the last two seasons
have moments that I think are great, I’m not as hooked as I was in the first
two seasons where I could not get enough.
6.
The Fosters
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Once again, a show with a lot of unbelievable
drama, but I got hooked. I haven’t finished it yet (I’m close), but powered
through what was available on Netflix pretty quickly. It’s nice to see an
unconventional family and what they go through to keep themselves together.
7.
Roseanne
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Still one my favorite shows. It has
it’s moments where it gets weird, but I like that it’s a show that I can put on
and not have to put a lot of thought or attentiveness into the plots since I
have seen them so many times. And there are a few jokes that still get me each
time I watch.
8.
Full House /
Fuller House
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Yes this is cheesy as all get out,
but I can’t help it. The Tanners are one of my favorite TV families and
sometimes it is really nice to watch a show where there is no big conflict and
things will be solved at the end of the episode.
9.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
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If you have not watched this show.
You must. That is all.
10.
Rugrats
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I think this was my all-time
favorite show as a kid. I’ve recently started watching it with my son. While it
suffers the same fate of running out of story that I have already complained
about in this post, some of those early episodes are gold. However, watching as
a parent is pretty stressful- Didi and Stu Pickles are pretty much the worst
parents ever and their friends and family aren’t much better. So if you are a
parent and ever feel that you are failing, watch an episode or two and you’re
realize that you are doing just fine.
Happy Reading (and Watching)!
-Melly
