The other week I ran a poll asking what people would like me to write about. Amongst them were a piece on The Land Before Time (which you can read here), my own personal favourite Disney films (which you can find here) and this one. The three were very much neck in neck, so I decided to write all three, though this one unfortunately took longer than expected.
     I also promised ten random shows I love and not just six. I was planning on doing ten, but then ran into a problem of my own. Not only could I not figure out how to cut things down and what to go with, I also realized that a lot of the shows I gravitate towards re-watching are animated. So instead of creating a list that was mostly animated shows, I decided to cut it down the middle; three animated and three live action.
     This is a subject I’ll come back to in the future, but I do face a downside. All of the shows on this list, and ones I love in general, will surface at some point in their own little pieces and write-ups I’ve been planning. Therefore, I don’t get too in depth in certain areas, and make sure to mention it because I kept getting nervous, but these are still six random shows I love and highly recommend.

Hannibal

    I decided to kick the list of with the most recent series on this list. I went with Hannibal because;      1) For anyone that knows me, this isn’t a surprise.
     2) I want to try my best to turn more people towards the series if they hadn’t seen it yet. I need more Hannibal, no matter what the possibility may be.
    With it being recent, I can easily say that everything you may have heard about it is very true. The acting is spectacular across the board. Of course, the strongest pull is the two main characters. Hugh Dancy is great at portraying a character that is dragged through so much mud and hell that he begins to understandably question everything around him.
     Then there’s Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter, himself. Mads is absolutely incredible in this role. He is able to make the role his own in the series as portraying the character in a way that makes him more terrifying than we have before. He’s understated and well put together. He loves what he loves, and does so passionately. From the way he dresses, the types of foods he likes to cook, to the way he keeps things around him, he is wonderfully classy while also not coming off self-indulgent or full of himself. The level of charm he exudes is exquisite, and fully makes you believe why people would look past him as a possible suspect or doer of evil things.
     Of course, what helps the actors have such great characters is the writing, which is amongst some of the best, in general or an adaptive sense. The creators and writers could beautifully tie in elements of the books into their own story by reshaping them to work properly, and it was neat to always catch small references they put in here and there, or foreshadowing. The relationship it grows and presents with Will and Hannibal is also incredibly real, natural and built to such wonderful emotional investment and payoff. If you didn’t catch it when it was on air, please do put time to the side to do so. Here’s hoping for a possible future, be it a mini-series or film.

Home Movies

    Created by Loren Bouchard (Bob’s Burgers) and Brendon Smalls (Metalocalypse), Home Movies follows eight-year-old Brendon and his friends, Melissa and Jason, and their love of filmmaking, as well as the ongoing day-to-day happenings of life for them and a few around them.      Home Movies was a show that appealed to me originally based solely on the premise, as I can easily relate to the whole “loving-films-so-so-so-freaking-much”, but what I ended up getting was so much more. The show not only contains wonderful writing, fantastic characters, and even some heart-touching moments, it is also easily one of my favourite comedy shows ever. The writing is incredibly witty and smart, a lot of it based perfectly around real-life interactions with slightly more eccentric characters.
     Brendon’s mother is a single mother of two who perfectly balances her home and work life. It is incredibly refreshing to see such a character, especially since she’s a fantastic mother. She’s witty, smart, and properly supports her son with his passion. School soccer coach John McGuirk, played amazingly, like everything else, by H. Jon Benjamin, is a fantastic supporting character that has, quite possibly, some of the greatest comedic monologues ever.
     A lot of Home Movies' humour comes from what is noticeable in that clip above; everything always felt very natural and real. What made is so great is the process they took to episodes. A plot and scenes outline would be laid out and the actors simply improvised all the dialogue. Because of this, throughout its four-season run, Home Movies constantly felt like real individuals not just interacting, but bonding and growing. The fact that it was as successful as it is truly shows how great all the actors involved were. The idea of improvising the script-dialogue came from Dr. Katz, as did the squigglevision that Home Movies used for the first season, before they moved onto their own, unique style.
     The show is well worth diving into some of the episodes, to see if you enjoy them. I find it a hard show not to enjoy, based on not just the wit, but how great all the characters feel and how likeable and relatable they are in their situations and day-to-day activities.

The Kids in the Hall

    The Canadian sketch show, which has been described as a pseudo-sibling of Monty Python (understandably so) is my favourite sketch comedy series ever. Though The Kids in the Hall has a bunch of sketches that I think anyone would find funny, a majority of the show is definitely one you either enjoy or you don’t. The five comedians were masters at absolutely surreal and off-the-wall sketches, more-so than a lot of any other you will still see. Not only that, as time went on, they were less and less nervous to really experiment with what they could do. There are lots of pieces that aren’t even that funny, or aim to be, they’re just a surreal (sometimes dreamlike) few minutes that go by and you’re left not entirely sure what you watched or how you feel about it.
     The series is also home to a great plethora of characters, monologues, and surprisingly touching and relatable bits that touched on a variety of real-life subjects. Everyone here is wonderfully used and were on top of their creative game, and the fact that they weren’t scared to throw curveballs at their audience has helped it stand as more timeless than most sketch comedy shows. They also had a penchant for not using any real pop culture references; the end result being a show that has also not really aged in terms of its content and jokes. The show still stands as one of the best comedy shows created, and will for a very long time.

Daria

    One of the best television spin-offs ever created. With how the series went, it’s odd to know Daria first appeared in Beavis and Butt-head. Taking place in the fictional town of Lawndale, Daria follows— of course— Daria Morgendorffer, an intelligent, and a bit misanthropic, teenager and her day-to-day life and observations.
     Filled with great writing and fantastic characters, Daria is a series that honestly holds up great in this day and age. Re-watching it, it seems as though Daria seemed to be both perfect for the time it was released, and also like it was 20 years early. Everything that the series presents and covers, and the way it does so, feels so much in line and applicable to present day. But I think that has more to say about the show being timeless. It’s sense of humour and heart-touching moments and scenarios are always successful and hit close to home. Daria goes through life kind of how we wish we could, especially when dealing with certain people we may meet day to day; she’s smart, sarcastic and witty, constantly knowing exactly what to say back at any given time. The refreshing thing, though, is that she is called out on her behaviour quite a few times, specifically by her best friend, Jane.
     There’s a lot I could talk about here, but I’m kind of in the mind frame that I shouldn’t. It’s not just because (surprise, surprise) I do want to talk about the show down the line. The main reason is simple; if you haven’t watched Daria and are caught in an age where the world seems like a lot sometimes, please watch it. I feel completely confident saying that it will become one of your favourite shows to revisit. Of course, that’s not to say that anyone out of the age group wouldn’t enjoy it, as there is a little bit of something to everyone here. A lot of heart, a great sense of humour, and one of the best shows to ever come out of the 90’s, Daria is worth getting to know.

The Twilight Zone

    Still the end-all/be-all of the anthology television format, and one of the greatest television shows ever created. The Twilight Zone is responsible for quite a lot of inspiration when I was younger; with its social commentary, twist endings, wondrous writing and acting and so much more. I was easily pulled into the show, absolutely in love with the style and variety that we were constantly given. The show itself wasn’t the only thing that ended up inspiring me. As I got older, I learned more about creator, host and writer Rod Serling.
     Serling had not only been known as someone who butted heads with executives a lot (over issues of censorship, war, racism and other subjects), but also seemed to be a machine when it came to work. The Twilight Zone had five seasons, made up of 156 episodes. Rod Serling wrote 92 of them. Most head-writers or creators of shows may write a couple episodes here and there, but it almost never was a massive input of individual work. You need to remember, this wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill, every day show; this was The Twilight Zone, a show that has a legacy for the relevant social commentary in its day and age and being amongst one of the best written, period. What Serling accomplished just with his output is mind-blowing. I can only wish to achieve a level where I could have a constant output with such lasting and ground-breaking legacy as his.
     The Twilight Zone is a show that I know I wanted on here but also wasn’t entirely sure what I would say about it. Even if you haven’t seen a single frame of the series, you have probably made an off-handed reference to it in some way, or known someone who did. The Twilight Zone has reached such a peak so long ago that we describe odd things happening as ‘The Twilight Zone.” If you’ve never had a chance to see the show, make some time to jump in, especially if you’re a writer, or would like to be. You can learn a lot simply from watching. It’s a series that holds up and is still relevant to this day.

Cowboy Bebop

    I knew it would only be a matter of time before I wrote about Cowboy Bebop and thought I might as well jump the gun and include it here. It may sound cliché, but sometimes cliché is completely understandable; Cowboy Bebop may very well be my favourite anime series ever.
     I’m not going to delve too deep into it, as I plan to write a separate piece about the show and— well— it’s Cowboy Bebop. There isn’t a whole lot new to say. It is filled with great, intriguing characters, wonderful stories – both standalone and over-arching character pieces— and touching moments, a fantastic sense of humour, designs, worldbuilding— anything that can be said about it has been said, and still stands. Plus, who doesn't find themselves relating to Spike Spiegel in a few ways…?

     I believe that anyone that knows me and knows Cowboy Bebop wouldn’t be too shocked at the fact it might hold my top spot for favourite anime. I’m a massive fan of character pieces, in a career like this, and the mixing of various styles and genres. Everything Bebop blends, it does so damn well that it’s hard to find any real faults to it. The music, by Yoko Kanno, is splendid, and amongst one of the greatest soundtracks ever created. In due time, I’ll be able to talk about the things I love about the series, but I will say this; spoiler alert! Cowboy Bebop’s opening theme, Tank!, is my favourite opening TV show theme ever. Listen to the full three-and-a-half-minute version if you haven’t heard it before. It’s perfect to get you ready for the day in the morning.