The Alphabet Meme Chronicles
(First, note the new design and look. On Thanksgiving, let us all give thanks to the “silent” member of The Extratextuals, Ivan Askwith, who makes the whole thing possible and recently updated our Word Press. Thanks Ivan)
Caught up in a fervor of alphabetical list making, I decided to follow up on the Alphabet Meme with a list of best television shows. There’s a slight bit of cheating involved at S/Z (ooo — very Barthesian, no?), but I couldn’t bring myself either to nominate Zoey 101 as the only Z show I know, or to choose between the two best shows in TV history, both of which inconveniently begin with S. I also went only for series or continuing shows, not one-offs (sorry, 28 Up). Without further ado:
The Amazing Race
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
ER
Freaks and Geeks
Goodness Gracious Me
Hockey Night in Canada
Iron Chef America
Jack & Bobby (neat idea, not super, but the J’s give little competition)
The Kingdom (the Danish one, not the American atrocity)
Lost
The Muppet Show
Northern Exposure
The Office (I’ll go with the American one, though Brit one gets a gold star too)
Pushing Daisies
Quantum Leap
Roseanne
The Simpsons
The Twilight Zone
Ulysses 31 (old school cartoon. Still have the theme song in my head)
V Graham Norton
The Wire (sorry, West Wing. You picked a bad letter to begin with)
The X-Files
Yes, Minister
Zesame Street
Hey Jonathan,
Again, here are our TV lists. Thanks for making Pennsylvania and New Jersey seem like a breeze.
Amanda’s List:
Alias
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dancing with the Stars
E.R.
Friday Night Lights
Gossip Girl
House Hunters
I Love Lucy
John & Kate + 8
King of Queens
La Femme Nikita
Melrose Place
Newlyweds
One Tree Hill
Party of Five
Queer as Folk
Redesign
Sex and the City
Take Home Chef
Under the Umbrella Tree
Veronica Mars
West Wing, The
X-Files
Young and the Restless, The
(No Z)
Sam’s List:
As the World Turns
Beverly Hillbillies, The
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dick Van Dyke Show, The
ECW
Friday Night Lights
Green Acres
House M.D.
I Love Lucy
Jeopardy!
King of Queens
Late Show with David Letterman, The
Mama’s Family
Night Court
Odd Couple, The
Pushing Daisies
Quantum Leap (rarely seen, but only choice)
Raw
Shield, The
30 Rock
Unsolved Mysteries
Veronica Mars
West Wing, The
X-Files (rarely seen, but only choice)
Young and the Restless, The
Z (Never Seen One)
Driving through Pennsylvania west to east is hardly a breeze. I think you’d need more than the alphabet to make that acceptable.
But again, good lists. Nice to see a fellow Pushing Daisies fan, too
A few duplications…but here’s my list in response:
Angel
Battlestar Galactica (2003-)
Chappelle’s Show
Da Ali G Show
Extras
Firefly
GI Joe
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
I Love Lucy
Jurassic Fight Club
King of the Hill
Lost
Married…with Children
Night Court
The Office
The Practice
Quantum Leap
Reno 911!
South Park (sorry Soup, Sealab 2021 and Star Trek franchise!)
Transformers
Unsolved Mysteries
Veronica Mars
The Wire
The X-Files (though I’m tempted to choose the animated X-Men)
You Can’t Do That On Television
Zoobilee Zoo
And let’s not forget shows that start with #s:
12oz. Mouse
24
30 Rock
The 4400
- (5???)
60 Minutes
77 Sunset Strip
- no real pick for the 8s, but I suppose one could go with 8 Simple Rules
9 to 5