Unopened Boxsets that I liked the look of from the Pilot: The ILX Television 51 Show Countdown Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I definitely watched at least three of Philly. But yeah, I probably never made it to the second season. So who knows; maybe I'll try again sometime. And I admit, I get impatient quick -- there are tons of shows out there, and I don't want to waste my time with something that's boring me. (Then again, I managed to come up with 25 shows I liked this decade for my ballot, and I barely even watch TV, except for stuff I order from Netflix! So I can't be that impatient, I don't think.)

"one must watch three episodes of a show before making a final judgement."
I think a series that requires this should have it count against them a little.
The Wire should be held to a higher standard than "It's Sunny..."

I will say that most of the choices near the top of my ballot (from Friday Night Lights on down) were shows that I really couldn't wait to see the next episode, to find out what was going to happen next. I really seem to love shows that suck me in, and need to be watched in order, from the beginning -- Not just ones I catch if I happen to be in the room. Though a couple of those made my ballot's lower rungs.

And I was sucked into The Wire before 3 episodes, btw.

My ballot, thus far, including shows that I am absolutely positive won't show up in the top 20 in bold:

1. xxx
2. xxx
3. xxx
4. xxx
5. xxx
6. Gilmore Girls
7. xxx
8. xxx
9. xxx
10. xxx
11. Angel
12. xxx
13. xxx
14. xxx
15. xxx
16. Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!
17. Look Around You
18. xxx
19. Party Down
20. How I Met Your Mother
21. Stella
22. That Mitchell And Webb Look
23. xxx
24. xxx
25. Wonderfalls

Oops. Stella should've been bolded, too, obvs.

I don't think the Six Feet Under fans need to fret. I'm sure it'll place somewhere in the top 20.

Wonderfalls is another show I really wanted to like (had a neat concept, I thought), but gave up after a few episodes.

It's not about "standards," it's about not making a snap judgment. Lots of people start watching a new show from the very beginning, and there aren't a lot of shows where I would pick the pilot as an episode to convince someone that a show is worth watching. They tend to gain a bit more footing a few episodes in, and that goes for high-brow and low-brow fare.

it only had 13 episodes (only 4 of which were originally aired), so it wouldn't have been very far to go to keep up with it --- i just rented it recently and loved it, but just couldn't find room on my ballot for it and already had Pushing Daisies on there anyway

xpost

TV shows are a weird medium as far as accessibility and points of entry -- most of them peak somewhere in the middle, but you have to at least have seen some of the early episodes where it was still finding its footing to understand what's going on

xpost

How do you feel Pushing Daisies compares to Wonderfalls? I always wanted to check out PD, but I could see the writing on the wall (read: inevitable early cancellation) before it even started, so I figured I'd wait and watch it on DVD.

i ranked pushing daisies 10 spots higher on my list than wonderfalls, which has some kind of weird problems

TV shows nowadays should just go ahead and amass a season's worth of episodes to release directly to DVD as an appetizer. That way they work out the kinks, don't risk cancellation, and have a ready-made audience by the time the second season airs on actual television.

Yes, I know this is never going to happen. Just sayin'. This is how I've gotten into the vast majority of shows on my ballot.

honestly side-so-side they're very close, PD maybe a little higher, but since i saw Wonderfalls more recently what i like about it is more fresh in my mind -- if i'd finished the last disc before voting i might've found room for it (xpost)

Yeah, Wonderfalls had some great stuff going on, but it definitely had some hitches in its giddyup. The creators talking about where they wanted the show to go makes me sad for all of the wasted potential. Network broadcasting four episodes. Pssssh. Come on.

Deric, that's kind of what happens w/ cable series nowadays anyway -- they usually seem to just go ahead and produce a whole season and the network airs it all no matter what the ratings are, and usually rerun it like crazy to give it a chance to find a following before deciding whether to renew for a secondseason (xpost)

Huh. I was not aware of that. Well, all shows should just be on cable, then. Problem solved!

as someone who is socially inept and downloads in bulk, i find 3 episodes isn't enough. but i understand i am a rare case.

im going to do the stuff in bold that wont make it trick with my ballot too:

1. The Venture Brothers
2. Wire In The Blood
3. xxxxx
4. It's Always Sunny
5. xxxxx
6. Monk
7. Dexter
8. xxxxx
9. Sealab 2021
10. xxxxx
11. Pushing Daisies
12. xxxxx
13. xxxxx
14. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
15. IT Crowd
16. xxxxx
17. Dead Like Me
18. League Of Gentlemen
19. Firefly
20. Wonderfalls
21. ATHF
22. Carnivale
23. Clone High
24. Family Guy
25. The Simpsons

if any of my xxxxx's dont place i will be completely stunned

hey all the americans turned up cool! WHY THE fUCK DIDN'T YOU VOTE OR PLANET EARTH?

:)

Pushing Daisies is a lot more like Early Edition than Wonderfalls, though they all feel Canadian for some reason.

i voted for Planet Earth fwiw

IASIP: The first episode is called The Gang Get Racist... this is not looking good.

Also reminds me, why do most American sitcoms still have those awkward 'lol we don't get black people' moments?

i dunno, it annoys me too

Re: IT Crowd as per JJusten's picks - in general I think that IT Crowd is pretty hit or miss but the episode with Gay: The Gay Musical is one of the funniest things ever.

Americans not getting black people? or seeing that endlessly lampooned on sitcoms?

re IT Crowd, is this a series that requires more than 1 ep viewing?

it's a sitcom that doesn't merit watching even one

watch fr ted twice

Yeah, IASIP fails the three episode test. I watched and was unimpressed by at least half of the first season of that, along with that other show that started on FX at the same time about the people with eating disorders. At least Sunny was better than that show.

x-post OK but have you seen the Gay the Gay Musical episode Darragh?!

I've watched fr ted about five times tbh.

What kind of disabled are you? Leg. I'm leg disabled.

(sorry)

no i've not seen gay the gay musical, unless you are referring to joseph & his dreamcoat

I don't think Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies should be spoken of without a nod to Dead Like Me, my favorite of Bryan Fuller's projects. My ranking would be DLM > PD > W.

I didn't vote, as I don't have an antenna/cable, and couldn't think of more than 13 titles I'd recommend to strangers. Thanks to voters I now have Wonder Showzen DVDs inbound.

I quite liked what I saw of Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, but Pushing Daisies was a bit too saccharine for me. Also, do not want to smash Anna Friel, which I think is the majority of the appeal of PD, no?

Oh no I see i've mixed up Dead LIke Me and Pushing Daisies. Do they all take place in the same non-denominational dead-a-verse?

do not want to smash Anna Friel

madness!

PD was less about acting than about production/costume design. It looks like nothing else on TV, and nothing else beside a gayer Tim Burton project.

Dead Like Me is on my Netflix queue, just happy to have one more of his shows to still get into.

I loved PD and don't really look at Friel like that, fwiw.

do not want to smash Anna Friel

yeah whut?

I couldn't get into PD. I admired it but didn't enjoy watching it.

http://images.askmen.com/galleries/actress/anna-friel/pictures/anna-friel-picture-2.jpg

<3 <3 <3 <3

Straight guys have a lot to lust over PD. For one, it has more cleavage and upskirts than any other prime time show. We just have to get over our aversion to burnt orange and avocado.

yeah personally i was just more into Chenoweth

Oh, forgot she was in it. She's way cute in the West Wing.

okay, here are the two Sunny clips I would recommend:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/18561/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-hes-a-bear
http://www.hulu.com/watch/40910/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-stand-up-throw-up

darraghmac, if father ted had been in the 2000s it would have been way way up there for me. also ENBB super OTM about the gay musical episode, its great.

I recommend Dayman, fighter of the Nightman. Champion of the sun.

Father Ted would most probably be up there with [HIGHEST RANKING BRITISHER SHOW] if it made it into this decade.

How many episodes of Father Ted before you are allowed to decide?