You may have noticed that most of what we write about here tends to segue from previous posts. Well this one here is no different. After Louis came through and dominated his cult tv segment I started to think about other shows that I like that may have been forgotten about, but that I wouldn’t necessarily consider as “cult” in nature. What I came up with was a list of 5 shows of exactly (mostly) that. Enjoy
5) Whose Line Is It Anyway? – “Where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter”. It started as a radio show on BBC Radio 4, then was a tv show in England for 10 seasons from 1988-98. After it ended, it was brought over to the states and enjoyed 8 seasons on ABC. I tend to lean towards the American version the most because it has, in my personal opinion, the best part of the English show in Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, with the addition of the king of improv; Mr. Wayne Brady (if you don’t agree with me on that…well then you clearly haven’t seen Chappelle’s Show and aren’t as scared of him as I am). Every episode includes a guest performer who tend to be less funny the more famous they are (exception: Robin Williams). This is improvisation at its finest, my friends. My favorite game? Scenes From A Hat, without question. Enjoy
4) Monty Python’s Flying Circus – Before they made their name in movies, the sketch comedy group known as Monty Python had Flying Circus. It was voted as the 5th best British show ever by the British Film Institute, the 5th best cult show ever by TV Guide and was included on Time’s “100 Best TV Shows of All Time” list. Inspiring the early performers from Saturday Night Live, the Pythons did it all. They wrote, directed and starred in all of their own sketches. They chose their theme song not because it was the best option, but because it was free (this isn’t crucial to anything, but I love fun facts. This is my 2nd favorite story about theme songs, by the way…the first being about the How I Met Your Mother theme song. The creators of the show have a band called The Solids that have been together since ’96. Instead of finding a new song to have be their intro, they just used one of their own. Thats just gangster. Anywho…). This style of comedy isn’t what we’re used to here in the States, but by no means does that make it any less hilarious. This is one of those shows that was completely trendsetting and if you don’t like it, it deserves the time it’ll take for it to grow on you. If you already do? Well then just press play and let the tears of joy flow
3) Chappelle’s Show – I’ve been watching this a lot recently, so it’s getting a spot on the list (it’s not number one only because you should already know about it. As a writer, I like assume nothing of my viewers. This, however, is not one of those times). This is my favorite cult show ever, and its number two on the list of my favorite shows (Even though I support Dave’s actions for leaving the show because of his motivations behind the move, I still hold it right below HIMYM because it only went for three seasons. Two if you don’t count the last season where Dave didn’t play the host). When Dave and Neal Brennan re-connected after having not done anything together since Half Baked, ingenuity ensued. Season 1 of Chappelle’s Show remains the highest selling DVD of a TV Show since it passed the first season of the Simpsons in 2004, the same year that it was released. I’ve put more time into watching Chappelle’s show than any other show, bar none. I can proudly say I still know most of the skits by heart. Unless you’ve been living under a rock (cue GEICO commercial), you should already know about this show. Either way, all 3 seasons are on netflix (or for those who aren’t lucky enough to have netflix/a friend to borrow it from…I personally borrow it from someone else… go to sidereel.com and watch it there for free). Favorite Skits: The Racial Draft, Street Hoops, and the one where Dave is a witness in the trials of OJ, R Kelly and Michael Jackson
2) Freaks and Geeks – Created by Judd Apatow (Undeclared, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up), Freaks and Geeks brought together some of this era’s top comedic actors and allowed them make a name for themselves. Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jason Segel all starred in this gem of a show. Linda Cardellini (Grandma’s Boy, ER), Dave Allen (I met this dude’s mom while I was doing a clinical for my CNA certification. I went crazy when I found out her son was the dean on this show. It made everything else I witnessed that day totally worth it) and John Francis Daley (Bones, Waiting…) round out my favorite parts of the cast. A little side note about Mr. Apatow: He loves working with his close friends and family. His wife (Leslie Mann) has been in five of his movies and whenever he needs to have kids running around in the background, he uses his two daughters. To him its simple; “The money stays in the family”. Freaks and Geeks was ranked 3rd on Time Magazine’s list of shows from the 2000’s. I needn’t say more
1) Sons of Anarchy – I was raised on/by comedy television, but recently I’ve discovered that a good drama show fills the void in my heart when I’m burnt out from laughing too much or when I can predict everything thats going to happen in the show before it happens (turns out new sitcoms don’t fall far from the sitcom tree). With it’s mix of interlocking story lines, gritty scenarios and awesome casting, SOA is without a doubt, my favorite drama show out right now (The Wire isn’t running anymore, and I have yet to continue Breaking Bad since I saw the first season…please don’t hold that against me, it’s next on my list). Creator Kurt Sutter, who occasionally appears as an incarcerated Son on the show, spent time with an outlaw gang in California as research for the show. His wife in real life plays the matriarch of the club as the President’s (Ron Perlman) wife and the VP’s (Charlie Hunnam) mother. This show has some story lines that last an episode or two, and some that lie brewing for half a season at a time. Without saying too much, I will say that when everything comes together at the end of the third season, it makes for my favorite episode of any television show. EVER. Every time we go through the seasons, the soundtrack is always brought up. Our newest adjectives for it were amazing and genius. I’ll go ahead and add flawless to the mix as well. Seasons 1-3 are on netflix. Go ahead and try it out. I guarantee that before long, you’ll be singing along with the intro just as passionately as I do. “Fire or Knife?”
“Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands and then eat just one of those pieces”
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