TV Shows for Holiday Viewing
Article by Bobby Buys
Did not see the original run? Missed a few episodes? Overtaken by nostalgia when faced by the fact that there is noting worth watching on TV? You may want to fill your festive season days with these popular TV shows:
Scrubs
If you thought medical sitcoms have been done to death, Scrubs should change your mind. This sharp, inventive and delightfully insane comedy is inhabited by a bunch of wacky, but endearing characters who are positively addictive. Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke lead the ensemble cast, each of whom vies for acting honours.
Sex and the City
SATC’s intensely feminine perspective raised the bar for chick-flicks to a level that has yet to be crossed. Its four designer-clad heroines, garnered a huge fan following with Carrie Bradshaw’s character, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, becoming a household name. Based on Candace Bushnell’s novel of the same name, it’s a funny, warm and ironic look at the love lives of four New Yorkers.
Ugly Betty
This comedy drama is an adaptation of a popular Colombian telenovela that chronicles the life of a toothy, bespectacled fashion journalist. A cast of colourful, if one dimensional characters and loads of screwball comedy livens the show. Watch it for America Ferrara’s consistently good performance as the endearingly plain Betty.
The Big Bang Theory
Critics panned this sitcom, but plenty of viewers gave The Big Bang Theory thumbs- up for its wacky look into the world of geek culture. It’s funny, smart and you don’t really need the laugh track to get chuckling. Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon, holds this one together with his comic brilliance.
Las Vegas
This five season drama from NBC that aired from 2003-2008 is a fun watch thanks to a racy script and action-packed sequences. Hollywood icon James Caan is Ed Deline, and the show boast of a slew of celeb guests which includes Paris Hilton, Criss Angel, Alec Baldwin, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone and more, up the glamour quotient.
Friends
Is there anyone in the civilized world who hasn’t heard of Friends? When the series finally wound up after ten seasons, millions of TV viewers went into serious withdrawal. Such was the impact of this delightful series about a group of close-knit buddies who frequently meet up at their homes or at Central Perk, a Greenwich Village coffee bar.
Desperate Housewives
Nothing is quite what it seems in the picture-perfect suburb of Wisteria Lane, Fairview. Susan, Lynette, Bree and Gabrielle are the housewives whose lives, secrets, love and, yes, crimes have attracted viewers worldwide, ever since the show hit TV screens in 2004.
Dexter
Plenty of dark doings here for viewers who like chills and thrills. Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is an expert in bloodstain pattern analysis. When he’s not working for the Miami Metro Police, Dexter is…uh…a serial killer. Only, he goes after other killers and not innocent folks.
Gossip Girl
Cecily von Ziegasar’s book series provided the inspiration for this teenage drama series bearing the same name. “Gossip Girl” is an invisible blogger who draws you into the elite world of five young women from Upper East Side, Manhattan. Love, scheming and scandals galore.
The Vampire Diaries
What is it about vampires and bad boys that draws women? Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) falls in love with Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) who’s a vampire, but a good guy. Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) is his older brother, a malevolent personality who also desires Elena.
True Blood
Another vampire tale, this time from HBO. The very curvaceous Anna Paquin plays Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic heroine, while her 173-year-old, hot vampire lover is Bill Compton (Steven Moyer). Lots of steamy love scenes (some nudity too) and violence could hook viewers who aren’t otherwise into vampires.
How I Met Your Mother
Funny, warm and touching, CBS’s sitcom How I Met Your Mother is set in 2030 with Ted Mosby (voiced by Bob Saget) narrating to his grown children a tale of how he met their mother. It’s déjà vu time for fans of Friends, while watching Ted (Josh Radnor) and his five buddies. Great acting makes this worth a watch.
Two and a Half Men
Charlie (Charlie Sheen) is a high-living, happy-go-lucky jingle writer whose life is turned upside down when his brother Alan (Jon Cryer) gets divorced and moves into his beach front home, along with teenage son Jake (Angus T. Jones). Plenty of chuckles in this top-ranked CBS comedy series that has seen seven good seasons.
30 Rock
This 2006 comedy, written by Tina Fey, is partly based on her real life work experiences. 30 Rock is about the behind-the-scenes action that takes place during the making of a live comedy series being aired on NBC. Watch it for Alec Baldwin’s impeccable comic timing.
Smallville
America’s love affair with Superman never ends. Ten seasons on, Smallville holds the record for the longest running series based on a comic-book. Smallville is the birth/place of Clark Kent, Superman’s gawky alter ego. Each season of the show takes you through Clark’s high school years.
Lost
A plane crashes on an unknown island. The survivors must constantly battle The Others, the island’s hostile residents. This simple plot wove itself into a television series filled with twists and turns that have hooked viewers for six years and generated endless discussions on its symbolism and adrenalin-pumping sequences.
Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore comes from MTV, which pioneered reality shows. The action is set in Seaside Heights, a rather downmarket resort town some distance from New Jersey. Here, the housemates are a group of young Italian-Americans who seek to entertain you in various ways, from whooping it up on the boardwalk to engaging in energetic, if aimless arguments, punctuated with colourful language.
Prison Break
This jail series drama has a complex, if logic-defying plot. Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) holds up a bank so he can get into jail and bust out his sibling Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), who’s on death row for killing the Vice-President’s brother. Michael, you see, is the structural engineer who designed the prison! Good performances and well shot sequences make for an entertaining watch.
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