My Favorite TV Shows

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

I've been wanting to do this post for a while and now everyone on YouTube is also doing it so I figured it's the perfect time! Why the hell not, right? Let's talk about my favorite TV shows. 

(Not on the list but I love Garfield.)

I've broken the shows up into different categories, like how Hannah from A Clockwork Reader did it. I find that's the most efficient way to handle this kind of blog post. My categories are: anime, animated shows, crime TV, reality TV, and teen dramas.

Okay, let's get started!

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Anime

1. My Hero Academia

Is anyone surprised? I've already talked ad nauseam about my favorite anime in like, every single Manga Monday post I've made, so I won't spend too much time waxing on about these first few shows. Basically, I love anime, and I would've absolutely just put every single anime I've ever watched in this section because how could I not, but I decided to be good and limit it to four. The first one, obviously, being my single biggest obsession of the moment. What else is there to say? I love My Hero Academia with every single fiber of my being. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

2. Haikyu!!

Another no brainer, I think, if you've spent more than ten minutes talking to me or scrolling on my blog. In fact, all of my anime-based socials (ani-Twitter, my tumblr, and my Ao3 account) have Haikyu!! based usernames. No, I will not share them. However I won't tell you that you can't go searching on your own. I guarantee it wouldn't be hard to find them if you actually want to. Anyway. Haikyu!! is the anime that got me back into anime, so thank you for that! It also makes me really wish I did volleyball in high school, even though the one time I played in middle school, I jammed both of my ring fingers back so hard they broke, so...it's probably a good idea I didn't find this until college. 

3. Pokémon

You know how there's always that kid that watched anime as a kid, except they had no idea it was anime? Hello, how ya doin? That was me, with Pokémon. Of course, I'm sure that's the case for every American kid who watched this as a child. Listen, I'm almost 23 years old, and I still love Pokémon with all of my heart. All of my Nintendo games? Pokémon. Not even kidding, I think I have maybe fifteen Pokémon game boy games. They're the only games I buy. And I'm constantly rewatching the older movies (and the new ones aren't horrible, either). This is one of the only childhood obsessions that grew with me as I got older. 

4. Fruits Basket

I've talked about Fruits Basket before, so again I won't go too in depth. And yes, I am including the original 2001 (2003?) anime in this as well. As horribly 90s as it is, it's still the first Fruits Basket content that I consumed, and I wouldn't even know it existed had it not been for the original show. But I am so so happy that we got a remake that's actually following the entire manga, and it's just so perfect. Okay, I'm done gushing. Watch Fruits Basket. 

Animated TV Shows

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender

Again, is anyone surprised? I feel like everyone in my generation loves Avatar and with damn good reason. I actually have a blog post in the works titled "Why Avatar: The Last Airbender is the greatest TV show ever made" so keep an eye out for that. I have a lot of examples backing up my thesis. My seventh grade English teacher would be proud. I remember sitting down every Saturday morning with my sister and watching the new episode as it aired. We were die-hard fans. We watched it from the series premiere all the way to the four-part series finale. The best part, I think, was the ending, because my sister was a hardcore Zutara shipper and I was Kataang all the way, so the ending had me jumping up and screaming in victory while my sister held her head in her hands, groaning. It was the best moment of my life. 

2. Miraculous Ladybug: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Listen. Don't come at me with the whole "but it's a kids show!" argument, because you will not win. This show is a masterpiece and I've converted so many of my friends into fans. Miraculous Ladybug is a show set in modern-day Paris where superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir protect the citizens from the supervillain Hawkmoth, who is intent on getting Ladybug and Chat Noir's superpowers for himself so he can make his ultimate wish. The lore is super complicated and would take me ages to explain, so I'm just going to tell you to watch the show for yourself before you decide it's not for you. It's so cute while also dealing with a lot of tough topics, like bullying, death of a parent, and fame as a teenager. Plus, the love square? Easily the greatest thing on the planet. 

(PS: Bryce Papenbrook plays Chat Noir, aka Eren in Attack on Titan and Inosuke in Demon Slayer.)

Crime TV Shows

1. NCIS

Ah, another nostalgic favorite. This is a family show for me, as my mom, sister, and I always watched every Thursday when a new episode aired. My mom's favorite seasons are 1 and 2 because of the character Kate, but my favorite seasons are the ones with Ziva. NCIS is like Law and Order and Criminal Minds, where the DC branch of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigates and solves crimes related to the Navy and Marines. Currently, my mom and I are rewatching the entire show from the beginning. We're on season three, at the moment. 

2. White Collar

Another show that is family-driven, between me and my sister. White Collar follows art thief and forger Neil Caffrey as he is hired by the White Collar division of the FBI to find other art thieves and forgers. It's witty and dark and really everything I like in a show. Plus the dynamic between Neil and his handler Peter is chef's kiss perfect. The last season is only six episodes, and I remember I stayed up all night binge-watching it on Netflix when it first came out, and then calling my sister at two in the morning in tears after I finished the series finale. It was a time. 

3. Psych

This is probably my most favorite show in this category. I've definitely rewatched it the most. I love Shawn as a character, it blows my mind that he is so freaking smart that he can pull off being psychic. I mean, how?! Psych follows Shawn Spencer as he comes on to SBPD (the Santa Barbara Police Department) as a consultant because he is so smart he pretends to be psychic because he notices the smallest little details that no one else seems to think about. He's honestly like a ten year old but again, he's a freaking genius. He starts a psychic detective agency with his best friend Gus, and together they solve weird-ass crimes that the police don't take on. The last season totally went down the drain, but up until then it was really, really good. 

Reality TV Shows

1. Ghost Adventures

This is about as spooky as I can get when it comes to visual things. I can't watch horror movies or horror TV or anything like that, but Ghost Adventures is my guilty pleasure. I love all things ghosty and supernatural but I just can't handle the visuals! Even like the reenactments that they do in the episodes freak me out. But everything else about this show is gold. My friends and I even came up with a drinking game that corresponds with the show. *Ehem* take a sip of your drink every time 1. a light anomaly appears, 2. Aaron says "Whoa!" and 3. Zak gets possessed. Down your drink every time the "Debunked" sign shows up on screen. You'll be trashed in no time, it's great. 

2. Buzzfeed Unsolved

Obviously this is in the same vein as Ghost Adventures. What can I say? I live for the spooks. I like Buzzfeed Unsolved mostly for the dynamic between Ryan and Shane, and it cracks me up how much Shane just doesn't care. I'd probably act more like Ryan if I were to visit the places they go at night (because I've been to plenty during the day with regular tour hours), but Shane just makes me laugh. I appreciate that. Again, some of the reenactments they do creep me out, but that's just part of the show that I gotta take with the rest. 

3. The Great British Baking Show

On a completely unrelated note from the last two, my parents and I are obsessed with The Great British Baking Show. And I mean, obsessed. Even though it's reality TV, we actually rewatch old seasons when we're lacking something new to watch. All three of us just like watching the desserts that they make. I'm a big baker so I like watching to find inspiration. And my dad also likes to bake, but less sweet stuff and more breads and things like that. I feel like he and Paul Hollywood would get along. My mom and Mary Berry would absolutely hit it off (they both really appreciate alcohol in baking). I'm just here for the food. 

Teen Dramas

1. Teen Wolf

Again, I watched this show from the premiere to the finale. It's so bad, but so good at the same time. Like, season one's CGI? Oh, my god. Disastrous. At least it finally got the budget the show deserved. But I gotta tell you, there's something special about season one, awful CGI and all. I appreciate it on a deeper level. Of course it has the greatest episode of the entire show, so maybe that's why. Teen Wolf is an MTV remake of the same titular movie, following high school sophomore Scott McCall as he is bitten and transformed into a werewolf. The show brings in a ton of mythological creatures like banshees, kitsunes, and berserkers, all mixed in with classic high school drama. It's a masterpiece, truly. You know how when you were in high school and everyone was obsessed with Pretty Little Liars? This was my Pretty Little Liars. I commandeered my TV every Monday at ten pm. My parents knew that that was my TV time. They even watched with me sometimes. My mom and I both cried at that episode in season 3b. And I can still rewatch this show and enjoy it just as much as the first time. 

2. Anne with an E

 A more recent favorite, since I only began watching it last year, but it definitely clawed its way up to the top. I've never even read Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery, but you can bet I plan to now. Even my quote for October is from this series. I just relate to Anne's imagination and enthusiasm so much, even if I can't relate to her circumstances. I found myself becoming increasingly more invested as each season passed. And now, rewatching it for the first time with my parents, I find myself vocalizing every time Gilbert gets screen time (he's adorable and I love him) and muttering under my breath whenever a character I despise shows up (the teacher, Billy, etc.) It'd be so nice if the show got renewed for a fourth season. 

3. Merlin

How many times am I going to say this a family-wide favorite? Again, my mom, sister, and I would all get together and watch when new episodes aired. My sister and I are under the firm impression that Merlin and Arthur should have totally confessed their love to each other in the series finale. I actually have a lot of problems with the queerbaiting in this show, but that's a more recent development as when I was watching it for the first time, I was a child who didn't know what queerbaiting was. This is, without a doubt, my favorite King Arthur retelling. Nothing will ever beat this, I'm telling you. And as a kid, I was totally in love with Colin Morgan. Like, completely, stupidly in love. It was embarrassing. I'm pretty sure he was my first celebrity crush? That sounds about right, yeah. 

4. Gilmore Girls

Alright, last but not least! Again, Gilmore Girls is a more recent favorite of mine, I only started watching it about three years ago. I can binge the entire series in a week, though, and I have done so. I've probably rewatched this series maybe five times? The more I watch it the more I hate Rory, but the rest of the characters are still okay. I do kind of wish I found it earlier in life, though, because I was a lot like Rory in high school. Not the "rich privileged white girl" characterization (though I am a privileged white girl, not so much the rich part) but more the "studious have to get good grades but would much rather be reading anything other than my textbook" characterization. She definitely gets worse as the series goes on. The first couple seasons are more like high-school-Ally. Crappy boyfriend and all (sorry, Dean, but Jess is the real winner and we all know it). 

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Okay, that was super long but I hope you guys enjoyed this! I'll be doing my favorite movies later on in the week, so keep an eye out for that.

Until next time!