![]() | Veronica Mars - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $45.49 / Used from: $14.50 Gripping mystery, strong characters, great writing and beautiful filming. This is simply an amazing story to live through, and I can't believe how invested I became in this story and these characters in 22 episodes. One of the best TV experiences I will ever have.
|
![]() | Firefly - The Complete Series
Buy new: $38.49 / Used from: $21.45 This show is sort of miraculously good. Joss Whedon's most mature work.
|
![]() | The West Wing - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $10.97 Amazingly sharp, witty dialogue and fascinating acting.
|
![]() | The West Wing - The Complete Second Season
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $7.99 Same as above, and the Thanksgiving episode is one of the funniest hours of tv I've ever seen
|
![]() | Friday Night Lights - The First Season
Buy new: $18.99 / Used from: $14.89 This show reminds me of Everwood, which is just about the highest compliment that I can give. I am in love with every single character in this screwed-up little football town. I even enjoyed the football scenes, although I never was able to figure out the rules of the game. This is one of those rare seasons that doesn't seem to make a single mistake in storytelling.
|
![]() | Freaks and Geeks - The Complete Series
Buy new: $35.49 / Used from: $32.49 I wish I could explain what is so amazing about this, but I have a hard time. It may have more realism than any other high school show ever made.
|
![]() | How I Met Your Mother: Season One
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $13.12 This comedy feels good to watch. The jokes are funny because the characters have good senses of humor, not (as in other comedies) because unpleasant things are happening to them. The whole thing feels fresh, young, and easy to connect to.
|
![]() | How I Met Your Mother: Season Two
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $14.89 The only thing more funny and touching and genuine than Season One of HIMYM is Season Two. Something about this show resonates with me as a 20-something viewer. This is my favorite comedy.
|
![]() | Mad Men - Season One
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $18.50 The plot twists are delightful, but the emotional lives of the characters are the meat of the show. We understand why they make the choices they do, even though we often don't agree with them. The historical detail adds an extra layer of fun and interest. This was my favorite show of the 2007-08 season.
|
![]() | Supernatural - The Complete Second Season
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $18.99 Few shows have such small main casts, and all of them tend to develop rich, complex, layered characters. This story of two brothers is no exception. The monsters add excitement and make me look forward to each episode, and the season arc glues the story together wonderfully.
|
![]() | Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Second Season
Buy used from: $10.49 Like all Buffy and Angel this is raw, honest, moving and funny, although the show doesn't hit its stride until about halfway through this season. Lots of drama, but in a good way.
|
![]() | Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season
Buy used from: $11.81 Probably the best season of Buffy, in that there are few to no weak episodes.
|
![]() | Everwood - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $6.25 It took me a while to get used to how cheesy this can be, but underneath that it is a heartwarming show. It makes you care deeply about all the characters and it never relies on cheap plot twists or shock value. The other seasons (unfortunately not out on DVD) made this one of my favorite shows of all time.
|
![]() | Scrubs - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $11.35 This season has great pacing and editing, the visuals are attractive, the characters and relationships are complex and interesting, and the jokes are funny. A beautiful blend of comedy and drama.
|
![]() | Angel - Season Two
Buy used from: $9.13 This season is fairly fun and lighthearted, but also getting a bit more focused and interesting than the first season (also quite good) was.
|
![]() | Angel - Season Three
Buy used from: $8.50 This season is probably the best of the show in terms of character development.
|
![]() | Angel - Season Five
Buy used from: $17.77 The season starts off shaky but gets very strong by about halfway through and has a tragic and beautiful end.
|
![]() | Quantum Leap - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $32.49 / Used from: $16.85 The concept is interesting and allows for a novel structure. There are only two regular actors, but luckily they are both great and carry the show easily. Each episode can stand alone.
|
![]() | Dexter: The First Season
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $14.24 Creepy and chilling but completely can't-look-away fascinating. The show is incredibly dark, but you still get drawn into the lives of the characters and feel sympathy, even empathy, which is maybe the most unsettling part of all. Seasons 2 and 3 are just as good.
|
![]() | Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 3 Collection
Buy new: $44.99 / Used from: $41.19 This is animated and on Nickelodeon, yet still manages to totally appeal to grownups. The story is told in well-defined arcs that lead to a satisfying conclusion, the world of the show is fun to fall into, and the jokes are clever and funny.
|
![]() | Chuck: The Complete Second Season
Buy new: $38.99 Great nerd humor, a completely lovable main character, a sweet but impossible romance. More humor. Exciting fight scenes. More danger and romance. My favorite show of the 2008-2009 season.
|
![]() | Doctor Who: The Complete First Series
Buy new: $41.99 / Used from: $34.99 A bit like Quantum Leap in structure and works just as well. Great stories that just couldn't be told without a time-traveling spaceship. The friendship between Rose and the Doctor is great.
|
![]() | Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series
Buy new: $41.99 / Used from: $39.99 This season was better overall than the second, and episodes 8 through 11 are phenomenal. However, I liked Rose (S2) and Donna (S4) much better then Martha as companions.
|
![]() | Wonderfalls - The Complete Series
Buy new: $24.49 / Used from: $13.45 Colorful show, colorful characters. The main character, Jaye, is a bit alienating at first, but by the end she is completely sympathetic and wonderful. On surface this show is different from anything I've ever seen, but it's a family drama at heart, and a particularly endearing one. It has the catchiest theme song since Firefly, and unfortunately had just as short a lifespan.
|
![]() | Gossip Girl - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $13.95 I am glued to this show every week. It's fun and totally delightful. I don't even care when it goes over the top, because it is true to teenage heightened-drama reality. As far as I can tell, this show is the reason The CW was invented.
|
![]() | Big Love - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $20.50 This is my favorite kind of show, a family drama. But the family is polygamous, which gives the story a unique and interesting perspective. I don't usually like HBO's style, but this show just works for me.
|
![]() | Red Dwarf: Series 1
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $9.81 This is ridiculous and funny and marvelous and British.
|
![]() | True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
Buy new: $33.99 / Used from: $24.00 This heavily atmospheric show is a third excellent character drama, a third excellent vampire romance, a third excellent murder mystery. It's a neat combo, and hey! 100% excellent.
|
![]() | Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Third Season
Buy new: $44.49 / Used from: $40.49 I hope the future will be exactly like this.
|
![]() | Grey's Anatomy - The Complete Second Season
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $18.99 Some of the plotlines are brilliant and will suck you in completely, while others, especially at the end, may seem a bit over the top. Although the stories are sometimes soapy, the emotional journeys are very realistic and make the show worth watching.
|
![]() | Nip/Tuck - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $17.49 / Used from: $8.99 It's more cheesy and overdone than any other show I like, but some of the plotlines near the end of the season are surprisingly well done. And it's fun, especially if you watch with friends.
|
![]() | Heroes - Season One
Buy new: $44.99 / Used from: $16.09 Watch this show in HD if you can. It's a comic book done as TV, and done very well, perhaps because it's an original story instead of an adaptation (although fans of X-Men might feel some amount of deja vu). While the climax at the end is perhaps built up a bit too much for its own good, the journey there is exciting, surprising, and fun.
|
![]() | The Office - Season Two
Buy new: $19.49 / Used from: $15.50 This season is full of wonderful pranks, just-beneath-the-surface romance, and the character development of Michael Scott, the best worst boss in Scranton.
|
![]() | Weeds - Season One
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $7.97 Although this is billed as a comedy, its real strength is how well it portrays tragedy. This is in many ways a show about loss and helplessness and being trapped by our own bad decisions. The episodes almost always leave me melancholy and unsatisfied, but sometimes the show will achieve a really perfect moment and take my breath away.
|
![]() | Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fifth Season
Buy used from: $17.89 The last season before the show got really dark. Nice arc with a satisfying ending.
|
![]() | Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season
Buy used from: $8.89 This is a very good season but extremely difficult to watch because of how depressing it is. But still honest and beautiful and touching. Just... very sad.
|
![]() | House, M.D. - Season One
Buy new: $19.49 / Used from: $14.74 I can't decide how I feel about any aspect of this show besides the acting of Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard, which are amazing all the time. More than enough reason to watch.
|
![]() | Dead Like Me - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $31.99 / Used from: $12.88 The premise of this show is unlike any show I've ever seen. It is both funny and touching.
|
![]() | 30 Rock - Season 1
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $16.48 The best one-liners of any comedy I have seen.
|
![]() | Coupling - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $6.71 This is pretty much all fluff and relationship/dating humor, but when it is funny, it is so, so, so very funny. Season 2 is just as good.
|
Listmania!







































