DBWI: Your favorite TV shows

Happy new year and since this month is the 50th anniversary of the Beach Boys acting debut, thought I would start a discussion of our favorite all-time television shows. Let's get the ball rolling.


The Beach Boys Comedy Hour (1964-1973)

The Beach Boys (Mike Love, Al Jardine and brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson) made their official acting debut in the 1963 movie Beach Party, appearing as Frankie Avalon's best buddies. The success of that movie combined with the birth of the Beach Boys’ fan base resulted in the debut of their comedy show just a year later on ABC.

The Beach Boys were already being compared to the Marx Brothers, Three Stooges, Bowery Boys and Martin & Lewis. In contrast to the comedy shows airing today, the Beach Boys were actually very funny. Who could ever forget Mike Love's portrayal of Napoleon? Or Brian breaking into song with his falsetto voice? Or that skit parodying Lyndon Johnson (Brian) deciding whether to name Bobby Kennedy (Al Jardine) or Hubert Humphrey (Mike) as his running mate? Jardine's mimicking of RFK's mannerisms and speaking voice was so convincing that in an interview, Bobby suggested jokingly that Jardine give his speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention instead.

But what has to be the highlight of their comedy show was their 1965 tribute to the Marx Brothers. Dennis was so hilarious as Harpo. Then at the end of the skit, the real Marx Brothers surprised the Beach Boys when they appeared in the show. My second favorite was the show airing in Las Vegas with an appearance by Wayne Newton (and Brian dressing up as Newton's overweight likeness).

Every show had a musical recording act. Jan & Dean would appear the most times on the show. They also appeared in Beach Party and nearly all their hit records were co-writted by Mike Love and Brian Wilson. Remember their classics Surf City USA, Surfin' Safari, Surfin' USA, Little Old Lady from Pasadena, I Get Around, Help Me Rhonda, Don't Worry Baby, Sloop John B, Good Vibrations and California Girls? (Elvis Presley performed Little Surfer Girl on the Beach Boys 1964 Thanksgiving special)

The Beach Boys aired its last comedy show on October 20, 1973. The individual members pursued various entertainment projects while maintaining their comedy act but on a part-time basis. The 30th anniversary show in 1994 would mark Carl Wilson’s last televised appearance prior to his death from cancer in 1995.
 
Mine has to be Star Trek: Voyager. I remember watching it when I was younger and thinking it was really weird, compared to all the Next Gen reruns they were doing at the same time, but looking back at it now I think that it's easily the best series. I can't deny I felt a little something in my throat when Chakotay was killed in the finale - Robert Beltran was definitely one of the best and most believable actors on that show!
 
Dark Angel or Firefly have to be my choices, though House sits high on that list too. The last episode of Season Four of Dark Angel had to have the most surprises of any TV show in modern history. I mean, I don't think any Dark Angel fan imagined that it would be Logan who punches White's ticket or that Thula would kill her boss! :eek:

And House, after all that time, House finally goes back to apologize to Cuddy and dies in the process? What the hell, man?! :eek:
 
The Wire (2002-2010), HBO: (1)

David Simon's show The Wire is one of those awesome, hard-hitting dramas which transcends the medium of television and...blah, blah, blah, we've heard it all before. It's one of those shows that we either love or pretend to love for fear of being castigated by our moral and intellectual superiors.

You know what I like about it? Drunk cops, ebonics, dark humor, highly realistic shootouts and a seriously in-depth exploration of politics in the state of Maryland. Not a single one of its 84 episodes over 7 seasons fails to deliver.

Also, Omar Little. His one man war with the Greeks was totally epic. Too bad the Salvadorans got to him the end.

(1): The show lasts 7 instead of 5 seasons, allowing for an even more in-depth telling of the story of Baltimore.
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Miami Vice (2002-2009):

Seen as a rival to David Simon's The Wire, Michael Mann's second run of his famous TV show starred actors Colin Farrell, Gong Li and Jamie Foxx.

Due to its presence on FX, the show took a much darker and more violent turn than its more mainstream predecessor, which was reflected in its color palette (no more pastel shades). The plot was driven by solid, interwoven story arcs between the main characters and in classic Michael Mann style, the gunplay was beyond explosive.

The plot was wrapped up in a 3 hour long feature film. I'll put the poster up here:

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After the movie came out, Colin Farrell was finally permitted to shave his pornstache.
 
It's amazing how many People don't realise Mark Harmon is an American after he replaced Martin Shaw in the Professionals when the American Networks picked it up ... Still remain unconvinced by the choice of John Thaw to be the head of CI5 when Gordon Jackson Passed away... although the Harmon-Collins dynamic was never quite the same as Shaw -Collins , the revitalised (current) Series with Harmon as head of CI5 is brilliant ...

Equally Martin Shaw as Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC was never an easy fit ... I wonder what Kavanagh would have been Like if John Thaw played him ...
 
Ren and Stimpy Adult Party cartoon. After all these years it's still much funnier then Family Guy or South Park. I also love their clever reimagining of two of my favorite childhood cartoon characters.
 
OOC: I think the butterflies generated by the '60s POD would make modern TV shows drastically different.
 
Tugs- 1980-82

Tugs was a personal side project of David Mittons that he worked on as a sister programme to 'Thomas the tank engine'. Set in Bigg City Port during the 1920s, the programme focused on two competing Tug companies, Star fleet and the Z stacks. From the outset its made clear that the Star tugs are the protagonists, they have bright clean yellow superstructures with red, blue and white smoke stacks. The Z stacks on the other hand have drab brown structures and black smoke stacks and so are clearly the villains.

But Tugs wasn't as simple as I've presented here, Unlike TTTE which presented steam locomotives as good, Diesel locomotives (Mostly) bad. There was a lot more moral vagueness, and on some occasions both sides would band together to deal with a common problem and in the process form friendships that remained as canon. It presented a much more mature and thoughtful outlook than TTTE.

It had its dark moments as well, on episode in particular is the Season three episode "Fireraiser", in which the supplies of Coal for both fleets are burned in suspicious circumstances, both fleets naturally claim Sabotage and blame the other. However suspicion ends up falling on the Star tug "Godfrey" who was new to the fleet at the time. The true culprit is eventually unmasked, but not before both teams almost destroy themselves trying to insure that they are clear from blame.

I have other favorites. The 80s star wars mini-series "Rise of the Second Republic" For one.
 
W.I.T.C.H. (2005-2010)

Only the greatest action cartoon of all time! I seriously think it got better every season, though the third season is a particular favorite of mine with Raphael Sylla and that twist involving Irma's mom being Arkhantan royalty. I also liked the fourth season where they brought in Orube, Kari Wahlgren did an awesome job voicing her and I liked the character even better than the one in the comics. The sixth season is controversial because they created a completely new arc and stopped adapting the comic but it was a brilliant way to wrap up the series and I love how they had the girls age and mature throughout the series, graduating from high school in the final season. I know a lot of people will disagree with me and say that Gargoyles was Greg Weisman's best work, but for me it had to be his work on the second through sixth seasons of W.I.T.C.H., I'm so glad Disney XD decided to stick with this series.

The live-action feature film adaptation coming out this year looks really good. Kiernan Shipka is going to make an awesome Will and I'm loving the casting of Amandla Stenberg as Taranee.
 
The West Wing (1999-2011)

The West Wing was by far one of my favorite television shows. Jason Robards as President Jed Bartlet was good for the first season and a half, and after his death in the middle of Season 2, I saw no way for the series to make it, but Tim Matheson as the new President, John Hoynes, was simply phenomenal. He had great appeal among many of the staffers and it was believable for all of them to stay on. And then, the most brilliant plot twist of all: John Spencer's character being appointed Vice President and allowing for Rob Lowe's character to become Chief of Staff allowed Lowe to stay on in the show - which was something I was so happy they managed to work out. How long the show lasted (12 seasons) still impresses me, and how they could make the show work after the end of Matheson's Administration and his replacement by a REPUBLICAN President w/ his own network of staffs shows that The West Wing was truly a classic...
 
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