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

haha sorry dude! it came really close, i'll admit

Forgot to vote, but go American Idol! and Weeds!

Two things I'm curious about, which may or may not be able to be tabulated:

How many people voted for both "Office"s, and of those, how many ranked each one higher? (I put the UK one #11 and US one #16 myself. Took me a long time to appreciate the US one at all, by the way.)

Habitital Potsmokers vs. Voters Who Aren't. (Beer's about the strongest substance I use, but I have a feeling that if I used different ones, some of these shows getting lots of votes might make more sense to me.)

US Office - #20
UK Office - #12

Still think Sorkin's best work, and the one he's been trying to replicate, is Sports Night. I stopped watching WW after he left -- don't even remember which season that happened now! -- and I don't know if I can give it another shot even though people have said it picks up after a bit. And WW is not a procedural to my mind; procedurals have a very specific self-contained narrative rhythm, and WW was too all-over-the-place to be called narratively formulaic.

I agree that on a level playing field, I like Sports Night much more -- West Wing has the benefit of both being an hourlong show and being around for way more seasons, so it feels like a larger, grander body of work even aside from the subject matter. I just watched the first few seasons recently, and am currently trying to slog through the post-Sorkin stuff just to see the whole series. Also, nobody here called WW a procedural, maybe you're confusing that with the exchange about The Wire the other day.

I find it difficult to choose between SN and WW. He recycled a lot of storylines from the former for the latter, but they also worked a lot better because of the setting and the premise. WW was a much better mouthpiece for his politics. Either way, both are miles better than Studio 60, which was awkward and awful.

yeah...SN was like a semi-believable show about show business, WW was a believable show about politics, and then S60 was just this bizarre fantasy where people in show business have the same conversations as people who work in the White House

20 - 11 anyone?

please do

go slow.

20. The Office U.S. (22 votes, 2840 points.)
http://www.tvblanket.com/image/the_office_tv_show.JPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRQoJBsVczM

I'll reveal 1 every half hour or so, unless I get bored or have something to do.

hey! that's where i placed it.

and until then i am going to chill, peel my unpeelable orange, play fm10 and listen to arthur russell. the good life.

Indeed Gukbe. And you never know, you might be right with the other. Or not. Or maybe. Or etc.

I don't really care for that type of *makes you embarrassed for the characters* type of comedy, so I can't really say much about Office US.

Mr. Snrub wrote this on thread The Office (US) — Season 5 thread on board I Love Everything on Oct 25, 2008

fruck it all! this is best goddamn seaso of the office yet! and fuck everybody that hates the romantic lovey dovey jim and pam stuff!! i love it. i just watched laswt night's e[isode for the fourth time and i for one think its fucking great!! this is the best goddamn tv show ever and if you don;t like it then you can fuck off!! when michael says "some of what we order depends on whether we're HAVING SEX AFTERWARDS" you think to yourself "oh no! michael's being cringeworthy embarrassing like at the job fair episode or the wedding episode" and you cover your eyes and are like "oh christ make it stop!!" but wait! then holly's like, "Hell yeah, we are!!" and then you're totally relieved, like "Oh! I forgot! Holly is Michael 2.0!! So of course she's thinking the exact same thing he is!!" I love it when they play with our emotions like that.

Fruck it all, indeed.

(And, uh, spoilers, I guess.)

i've been catching some of US Office lately, probably pretty recent stuff cause pam and jim are together (?), and i guess they must be focusing a lot more on the emotional drama part at this point because it's very rarely funny.

Try and watch season 3, it's the best one.

19. Veronica Mars (22 votes, 2910 points.)
http://www.daemonstv.com/images/cw/veronica_mars_dvd_s3.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC6e5KRp-CI

Wallace is like my favourite 'best friend' character ever.

VMars beating US Office is probably my favorite meaningless little victory this poll has produced so far

Ha! That was also my number 19.

with you there bro, xpost.

Every time a TV show--no matter which--cuts from a scene to its opening theme music, I expect to hear, "A long time ago we used to be friends, but I haven't thought of you lately."

VM My number 4, basically for that first season. Thought it might have placed higher. Low British visibility can't have helped - doesn't even seem to be on DVD over here.

I think it was on Living a few years back. E4 exposure has only started in the past few months unless I'm mistaken.

Yes, I sort of remember catching an episode a couple of years ago on a random channnel and wondering what the hell was going on. It only slayed me when I watched through a torrent of S1 (then s2, then with some pain s3) last year.

yeah that third season was suuuuuch a letdown. first two seasons are brilliant, still!

It is very much like The Wire in how you need to watch a whole season to get it. I mean it is great and all watching it and being like 'well done veronica for finding a missing dog' but what you really wanna know is the little bits that figure out who killed lilly and who was mr. rapey and who blew up the bus etc.

Yes - part of the joy is the way it manages a neat little wrapped-up mystery each week (and I super dumb about crime-type plots, so the outcome would almost always surprise + delight me), while cranking along the big plot. I don't think I've seen anything do it as well as that - Buffy tended to veer between monster of the week and looming apocalypse.

the show obviously owes an immense debt to Buffy, but i dare say it actually does the whole high concept-high school allegory even better (though buffy ranked above it in my ballot, overall)

18. Peep Show (20 votes, 2 first place votes, 3020 points.)
http://wikicomic.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/peepshows1.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRS41-7MTSs

those are some british ass teeth

I love Super Hans.

i hope you all have enjoyed my quality participation in this thread

I would try and defend British teeth but my mum was showing me her new dentures this morning so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mdazf0CUOY&feature=PlayList&p=F9D20DD9E314D6CB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

sb'd you for "ass teeth" concept xposts

My favourite epsiode is the one where Mark pretends to be a mature history student in order to stalk a girl.

(multi xp now)

I put Buffy well below VM (and Angel, which was right behind VM in my ballot), but only bcz I excluded the 90s seasons (which would make Buffy my all-time #1, most likely). I don't think it's got the fun & wit of Buffy 1-3 (particularly), but that spikey unhappiness that's there in S1&2 of VM is really compelling & sympathetic.

Peep Show probably "bleakest" UK comedy ever (altho its also much funnier than, say, Nighty Night).

is it the britishes It's always sunny in philadelphia then?

For Americans, the first series of Peepshow is on Hulu for your watching pleasure.

http://www.hulu.com/peep-show

(also spaced which I hope, forlornly, is still to come in the poll)

bleak how? i'm guessing you don't mean in a same way that say Psychoville is bleak.

I would like to know how many SBs have taken place in this topic by the time it comes to a close.

I had no idea that Veronica Mars was... good. I was aware of its existence, but I guess it's got bad adverts (in the UK) or something.

I've seen no more than an episode or two of almost everything listed, so I'm getting some rich pickings here. Excluding How I Met Your Mother, which I am confident is rubbish.

Peep Show's bleaker, I think, because it's much more about real life.

xpost

yeah i guess. just never really thought about it that way, i don't feel attached to that real life-ness. maybe that is because super hans is my favourite character.