Monday, September 5, 2016

Cancelled shows, all-time favorites, and books that should be on TV (Top Ten Tuesday #11)


September 6:  In honor of Fall Tv, do a tv-themed topic! Top ten favorite tv shows of all time, ten new shows coming out this Fall that are on my radar, tv shows I wish never got cancelled, tv shows I would recommend to book characters, books I wish would be tv shows, ten favorite shows from the late 90's or early 2000's, ten tv shows for every fantasy lover, etc.

Ten shows I wish never got cancelled: 
Bunheads - Small town shows are great, and this one had a great cast. 
Agent Carter - Easily my favorite Marvel thing ever.
The Carrie Diaries - I've never seen Sex and the City, but I loved this. Not sure if it's historically accurate, but the aesthetics were something else. And Maggie's storyline! :((
Galavant - This is impossible to recommend to my friends! It's a TV show that's a musical about a knight and fairytale tropes... and it's really funny. I did get them into Hamilton, though, so there's hope for our ass, after all.
Forever - The show's premise was so unique for me, and Henry's relationship with Abe was just... I loved this show.
Limitless - I'm not sure if this was actually a good show or if I just had a soft spot for Jake McDorman since he played Evan Chambers on Greek.
Selfie - I have a thing for modern adaptations, even if I haven't seen the source material. Plus, John Cho!
Grandfathered - Such a ridiculous, adorable family. 
Telenovela - It felt like behind the scenes of The Passions of Santos at first, but Ana and Mimi and the rest of the cast and crew really grew on me.
Make It Or Break It - This was one of the things I bonded over with my first college friend. I think she gave me a CD of the episodes. It's so frustrating how they didn't even get to film the Olympics episodes.

Top ten favorite shows of all time: 
White Collar - I got into it for Matt Bomer, but the art heists and forgeries made it a lot more interesting to me than any other crime-related show. And Mozzie was the best.
Elementary - I haven't actually kept up with this, but every episode I've seen so far has been great. Sherlock and Watson have a great relationship, and the whole Moriarty twist was amazing. 
Greek - Just. All the friendships. Wow.
Jane the Virgin - This is so important to me because it's probably the most Catholic show on TV and it portrays family in a way that's very familiar, even if Jane and her family are from a different culture than mine. Also, that narrator. 
Parks and Recreation - Leslie Knope is the greatest and I want to grow up to be like her. Jean-Ralphio is iconic.
Leverage - I think Parker had the most subtle/least dramatic character development, and I loved her and Hardison. The format was kind of cheesy, but Nate was kind of cheesy anyway.
Grace and Frankie - The premise of this show is so great! So much awkwardness all the time but these two lolas are so endearing.
Agent Carter - Peggy was the most badass character on TV. And this show was the prettiest thing too, and Ana Jarvis was a delight.  
iZombie - While trying to describe this to a friend, I mentioned washing down a mouthful of potato chips with ice-cold soda. I don't know. It gives me the same sugar rush. It's about zombies trying to prevent the zombie apocalypse while solving crime.
Younger - Sutton Foster from Bunheads! Nico Tortorella from Make It or Break It! And Hilary Duff from... life! A 40-something suburban mom pretending to be a 26-year-old hipster (?) in order to get work is sad, but also hilarious.

Books I wish would be TV shows: 
After watching The 100 I have decided that a lot of YA series would make great shows or mini-series. The Raven Cycle, The Mediator, The Lunar Chronicles, and Six of Crows come to mind.

Crazy Rich Asians would also make a great TV show, since there are so many separate-but-related storylines to follow and they could jump from country to country. 

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett would be an amazing mini-series. It's about a hostage situation, so it'd be difficult to draw out to more than a handful of episodes, but I feel like a movie wouldn't do it justice.

Scruples supposedly has a series in the works, but I'm mentioning it anyway because the lush setting (luxury department store, but also France and uh... a vineyard?) and the drama would make this such a treat.

And wishes that have already come true: Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte has both a telenovela and a US TV series! Outlander had a TV show before I started reading the series, though I finished all the books first before watching it. Lastly, Call the Midwife has a show too! But I've only watched the first episode.


8 comments

  1. I have seen Elementary around, but I'm still not sure whether or not to watch it ... I'm more of a Sherlock fan :-) here is mine: https://pageturner20.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/top-ten-tuesday-43/

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  2. Great list! I have Elementary, Agent Carter and iZombie on the list of shows I still need to watch! One day I hope to get to them. :)

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  3. Agent Carter! AGREED. Also - CARRIE DIARIES! (sighed sadly when I read that). Jane the Virgin is a fav of mine too. I watch it with the friend who loves iZombie. :)

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  4. Wait, Limitless got cancelled? :(

    I liked Galavant, too, but forgot to keep watching after the first season. :(

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  5. Love Jane The Virgin! Such a great show!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/top-ten-tuesday-73/

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  6. I have always wanted to catch up with Bunheads and while I hadn't yet watched Agent Carter, I was so mad when I heard it got canceled because so many people I know had gushed about it. It makes me reluctant to even start it because I suspect I'll just be heartbroken. Bad TV Execs!

    I would really really love TV adaptations of The Raven Cycle and The Lunar Chronicles - I'm surprised they haven't been picked up for something of the sort! Bel Canto would definitely make an interesting mini-series - I'd watch it for sure. My pick for a (long) miniseries would be Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series. Definitely by the BBC.

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  7. I'm SO MAD they cancelled Agent Carter!! IT WAS AMAZING. Honestly Peggy Carter is like my favourite superhero ever and she's not even a superhero.😂 So don't even ask me about my logic omg I HAVE NO IDEA. I JUST THINK SHE'S AMAZING. And I really loved Leverage too! Sooo sad it ended. And yeah, Nate was super cliche, but I loved all the characters so so much and Eliot and his cooking (AND HIS HAIR!) were also my favourite things. What dorks they were. What very clever thieving dorks. <3

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