Category Archives: tv-shows

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #1

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#1

LOST

So we have come to the end of our journey that started on the first day of September. We have reached the number one show of all time according to EYG, and, if you knew me at all, this would have been the least dramatic reveal of a number one ever.

LOST is, far and away, my favorite show ever. I remember the feeling I had when it came to an end: an emptiness in my gut that took several years to fill.

Some claim that LOST had one of the worst endings of any show, and I respectfully disagree. I found the LOST finale to be perfect. It focused on the characters that I had come to love for the previous six seasons.

LOST ran for six seasons on ABC, giving us 121 episodes of awesomeness.

A group of people, who were from all walks of life, boarded Oceanic flight 815 in Sydney, Australia for Los Angeles. That flight did not make it to LAX. Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, the plane came across some major problems and crashed on an island. Almost immeditaely, you learned that this island was unlike anywhere else. As Charlie said…

“Guys, where are we?”

The Island was a character all its own, with a mythology and mysteries for the audeicne to chew upon. That was one of the criticisms of the show: they did not reveal the secrets of the Island. Again, I think there were plenty of mysteries revealed. It may not have spoon-fed you the answers you wanted, but if you paid attention, you could make educated answers to everything on the show.

The Island had a polar bear, a smoke monster, a group of Others, healing properties allowing a crippled man to walk again among other things.

The ensemble cast was brillaint. Led by Matthew Fox, the cast included Terry O’Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Jorge Garcia, Josh Halloway, Maggie Grace, Emilie de Raven, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Malcolm David Kelley, Dominic Monaghan, Harold Perrineau, Michael Emerson, Ian Somerhalder, Henry Ian Cusick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cynthia Watros, Elizabeth Mitchell, Nestor Carbonell, Jeff Fahey, Sonya Walger, Sam Anderson, L. Scott Caldwell, Jeremy Davies, Ken Leung, and Rebecca Mader.

Some of these actors will forever be their characters to me. Many have gone on to do other major roles (Evangeline Lilly was Wasp in the MCU, Terry O’ Quinn and Michael Emerson have had plenty of other roles), but my first thought will always be that they are their characters from LOST.

4 8 15 16 23 42

“See ya in anothe rlife, brother“

“You guys got any milk?”

“We got to go back!”

The greatest show of all time in the opinion of EYG… LOST.

That wraps up the first Daily Countdown. It was quite the undertaking, but we are far from done. Tomorrow we start the next Daily Countdown. It was actually a harder list to compile than the TV one. Tomorrow we start TV THEME SONGS.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #2

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#2

Twin Peaks

“… Wrapped in plastic…”

The number two TV show on out top 100 countdown is one of the biggest phenomenons from the early 1990s. David Lynch brought his flavor of insanity to the small screen disguised as a murder mystery in Twin Peaks.

The first episode kicked off with mild-mannered Pete finding the beautiful prom queen, Laura Palmer, dead on the side of the river, wrapped in plastic. The murder rocked the seemingly normal small town of Twin Peaks, Washington. The call went into the FBI for help in the investigation and the eccentric Agent Dale Cooper was sent.

Cooper had seen this before, and was already on the trail of the serial killer responsible. Using his bizarre techniques of investigation, Cooper made his way through a town that was anything but normal in search of the killer.

Twin Peaks gripped the natioin with its oddball characters and engaging mystery. This was one fo the earliest examples of how impatient the country was, anxious about finally discovering the truth behind Laura Palmer’s death.

The answer did not come until about halfway through the second season, at a point where some viewers had abandoned the show in impatient frustration. Turned out Laura was killed by a spirit called Bob, who had possessed her father, Leland Palmer. The reveal of Leland as Killer Bob was one of the most violent things I had seen on TV to that point, and it was artistically amazing.

There had been reports that David Lynch had intended on leaving the mystery of Laura’s death unsolved, and only bowed to pressure from the network to give a resolution to the crime.

After the death of Leland, Twin Peaks floundered a bit before it found its footing once again with the arrival of Cooper’s crazy former FBI partner. The show was left off on a horrible cliffhanger where Cooper had been possessed by Killer Bob.

A third season was released 25 years after the end of season 2. It was released on Showtime where Twin Peaks was originally on ABC. The third season wrapped up that cliffhanger from the end of the original series, but left off on another one in the final episode of the Return.

Dale Cooper was played by Lynch favorite Kyle MacLachlan. Other cast memebers included Sherilyn Fenn, Lara Flynn Boyle, Michael Ontkean, David Lynch, Peggy Lipton, Mädchen Amick, Sheryl Lee, Jack Nance, Frank Silva, Ray Wise, Piper Laurie, James Marshall, Russ Tamblyn, Catherine E. Coulson, Eric DaRe, Ian Buchanan, Miguel Ferrer, Richard Beymer, Chris Mulkey, Dana Ashbrook, Joan Chen, and Michael Horse. There were dozens more cast members over the three total seasons.

Twin Peaks was at the heights of what television could be. It was bizarre, weird, funny and dramatic. The sad story at its core brought people into one of the most iconic shows of all time.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #3

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#3

Moonlighting

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

“Good!”

“Good!”

*Door slams*

*Door slams*

That was a scene that happened many times during the run of Moonlighting, a show that went for four seasons on ABC starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.

Set at teh Blue Moon Detective Agency, Maddie Hayes had lost almost all of her fortune to a crooked accountant and she was forced to work in one of the few businesses remaining, a detective agency. There, she met David Addison, a wise cracking, song singing, limbo dancing private eye who challenged her to expand her life.

Moonlighting is one of the best shows on TV. It also felt down to earth quicker than any show on TV. The whole “will they won’t they” aspect of the show kept the viewers glued to their screen, but, when they did, much of the magic was gone.

Still, David and Maddie were amazing together. Charming, fighting, arguing, detecting. They could do anything.

One of the things that they could do was break the fourth wall. This was one of the first shows that I specifically saw do this technique and I found it hilarious. Another specialty of this show was the special episodes… the dream sequences. They had a show called “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice” where David and Maddie had dreams that they were musicians in an old time club. Another episode saw them dancing to “Big Man on Mulberry Street.”

But one of the greatest episodes of all time was “Atomic Shakespeare” which Maddie and David played the roles of Katharina and Petruchio in a satire of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” This episode was written in iambic pentameter and was an absolute joy.

The last season and a half was much weaker, but the first two and a half was some of the best TV of all time. I remember planting myself in front of the TV every Tuesday night to watch Moonlighting… although their behind the scenes challenges and fights caused many of those nights to be a rerun.

When compiling this list, I debated between #3 and #2 for Moonlighting, and it could easily be flipped. Moonlighting made Bruce Willis a superstar and helped him get Die Hard.

“Blue Moon Investigations ceased operations on May 14, 1989. The Anselmo Case was never solved… and remains a mystery to this day.”

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #4

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#4

Whose Line is it Anyway?

Improv is hard, but there are a handful of people who can do it unlike anyone else. That is the concept behind the EYG Hall of Fame show Whose Line is it Anyway?

Whose Line started in England before being brought to the states by Drew Carey, whose pull at ABC was strong. The show ran for 21 years in America, at first on ABC, and then, eventually, over at the CW, when Drew Carey was replaced by Aisha Tyler.

There were three main cast members that were on the majority of the episodes, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady. Stiles and Mochrie were regulars on the British version of the show and Brady became a series regular after season one of the American version (though he also appeared on the British show at times). There is a fourth recurring cast member, referred to as the fourth chair, which included a number of other improv comics such as Brad Sherwood, Jeff Davis, Chip Esten, Greg Proops, Keegan-Michael Key, Gary Anthony Williams, Denny Siegel, Kathy Greenwood, Jonathan Mangum, and Heather Anne Campbell. There were celebrities who appeared as the “fourth chair” including Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Colbert and Kathy Griffin.

The show featured members of the cast performing improv games read off by the host. Some of these games included Helping Hands, Whose Line, Scenes from a Hat, Three-Headed Broadway Star, Doo-Woop, African Chant, Dating Game, World’s Worst and Hoedown.

Hoedown was particularly disliked by the cast, which became a running joke on the show.

The quick-witted performers had amazing ability to come up with funny responses consistently Stiles and Mochrie had an unbelievable chemistry with each other which led them to having many scenes together.

The game “Living Scenery” was used when guest star Richard Simmons was on the show and it led to, perhaps, the funniest scene in the entire show’s run. If you have never seen this game, do yourself a favor and find it on YouTube. It is as funny as anything you’ll ever see.

Ah heck… here it is…

Daily Countdown #5

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#5

Picket Fences

David E. Kelley has had a couple of other shows on this list. Picket Fences is my absolutely favorite one of his oeuvre.

A little town called Rome, Wisconsin was home to all sorts of weirdness. I have been a fan of the genre of show that feature a strange, eccentric town full of bizarre things (from Eerie, Indiana to Twin Peaks). Rome is certainly in the mix.

The family at the center of this weird town is the Brocks, including Sheriff Jimmy Brock and his wife Doctor Jill Brock. Jimmy’s daughter from his first marriage, Kimberly, and Jill’s two sons, Matthew and Zach, were part of the family too.

Much of the action took place inside the Rome Court House, where Judge Henry Bone oversaw the court. One of my favorite characters of all time was the defense attorney for just about anyone… Douglas Wambaugh! “Wambaugh for the Potato man,” “Wambaugh for the steamroller, your honor.” Douglas Wambaugh was as bombastic as humanly possible, played with perfect precision by Emmy Award winning Fyvush Finkel. The combative relationship between Wambaugh and Judge Bone was one of the most original and entertaining relationships on TV.

Picket Fences was also where I was introduced to Don Cheadle, who played D.A. John Littleton. Cheadle went on to a successful movie career, including replacing James Rhodes in the MCU.

Some of the most amazing plot lines happened on Picket Fences, and somehow, they all seemed to have major impact on the Brock family. Any holiday where the Brocks gathered for a dinner was destined to turn into fireworks. Thanksgiving? Hold on to your hat.

Jimmy and Jill loved each other but they were never afraid to throwdown if the story called for it.

Some of the major events in Rome included the capture of the Green Bay Chopper, the arrival of serial killer Cupid, a mayor who was arrested for murdering the guy who carjacked him and then. before going to prison, spontaneously combusted, a woman who flattened her husband with a steamroller and blamed it on PMS, the iconic Dancing Bandit who eventually became Rome’s mayor (not the one that spontaneously combusted), and a town where one of the most dangerous appliances was the human sized icebox.

These are just some of the stories that populated this wonderful town.

Picket Fences ran for four seasons and wound up winning 14 Emmy Awards in that run, including Outstanding Drama Series twice.

Cast members included Tom Skerritt, Kathy Baker, Fyvush Finkel, Ray Walston, Don Cheadle, Holly Marie Combs, Costas Mandylor, Kelly Connell, Zelda Rubenstein, Adam Wylie, Justin Shenkarow, Lauren Holly, Marlee Matlin, Ray Dotrice, Leigh Taylor-Young, Roy Brocksmith, and Robert Cornthwaite.

As Judge Bone would so nimbly put it at the end of a case, “Now get out.”

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #6

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#6

Monk

Adrian Monk, the defective detective, slips into the number six slot in our top 10. Monk ran for eight seasons on the USA Network and helped garner star Tony Shalhoub three Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

Adrian Monk was a homicide detective who had a series of OCD and other fears. However, when he met his future wife, Trudy, those traits calmed down. Adrian Monk was brilliant, seeing things at crime scenes that no one else could. Tragedy struck when a car bomb exploded, killing Trudy and sending Adrian into a spiral of neurosis and depression.

Adrioan Monk slowly got back to doing what he did best, though the police force understandably doubted his ability to rejoin the force. So Monk would work as a consultant on the cases that no oen could solve.

Monk was both a comedy and a drama, doubling down on the problems Monk faced. He was afraid of heights, crowds, enclosed spaces, as well as milk, bees, germs, needles, mushrooms, lightning and MANY more The show listed 312 phobias that Monk suffered from during the show.

He was also very compulsive, with everything needing to be just right. Everything had its order and Monk spent time vaccuuming and cleaning to make sure everything was as it had to be. Adrian Monk knew how ridiculous he was, but he just could not get past these compulsions.

The best episodes though were the ones where Adrian Monk, despite his massive list of fears and eccentricities, was able to overcome and still be brillaint. Monk showed his own personal determination, even through some of the most harrowing moments for the defective detective.

Tony Shalhoub led the cast which included Bitty Schram, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Stanley Kamel, Emmy Clarke and Héctor Elizondo.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #7

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#7

The X-Files

I Want to Believe.

The truth is out there.

FOX’s paranormal/suspernatural hit, The X-Files, comes in at number severn. I just finished a three year long rewatch of the show this past summer through all eleven seasons. The show even inspired two feature length movies.

The X-Files was created by Chris Carter and was the story of FBI agent Fox Mulder, who looked into cases deemed too mysterious or unsolvable for the FBI. Mulder was in search of the truth, spurning from his sister Samantha’s disappearance when he was a child. Mulder believed that Samantha had been abducted by aliens.

The FBI, afraid of secrets that Mulder might uncover, assigned agent Dana Scully to “debunk” his investigations. Scully, though a skeptic, was also honest and willing to listen to the insane scenarios Mulder would lay out. Scully became the only person Mulder could trust,

The show moved between episodes dealing with government conspiracies to monsters-of-the-week. Some of the best episodes of the series included “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space,” “Bad Blood,” “Home,” “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “Small Potatoes,” “The Post-Modern Prometheus,” and “Humbug.”

The show was the best with the pairing of Mulder and Scully. Over the run of the series, both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were away or off the show and they were replaced by other actors, most notably Robert Patrick, who replaced an abducted Mulder, as Agent John Doggett. Though many episodes were still solid, the show was never the same without Mulder.

The show also had one of the greatest villains ever in the Cigarette Smoking Man. CSM, played by Willaim B. Davis, was a character that I hated SOOOOOO mcuh. I constantly just wished Mulder would shoot him in the head, and I called for that to happen on a regualr basis. CSM has to be near the top of any TV villain list.

The show was revived for a tenth and eleventh season in the mid 2010s. These seasons were shorter and had their ups and downs. Both Duchovny and Anderson returned to their roles for the revival.

The X-Files was one of the most successful FOX shows and transcended television.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #8

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#8

M*A*S*H*

Based on the 1970 movie of the same name, M*A*S*H was a comedy/drama series (perhaps one of the earliest examples of a dramedy) based in the Korean War. It ran for 11 seasons on CBS. Pretty impressive for a war that only ran for just over three years. Truthfully, much of the show was based on the Vietnam War, which was still going on when the show started.

M*A*S*H was set at the 4077th M*A*S*H, which stood for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and showed the humor, spirit and dedication of a group of doctors, nurses, coremen who faced death daily and battled while standing in blood. There were moments of complete jocularity, and then deathly serious moments as well. Some times in a matter of minutes.

Led by Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda), the cast of M*A*S*H was amazing. It included Mike Farrell, Wayne Rogers, Larry Linville, Harry Morgan, McClean Stevenson, Loretta Switt, Jamie Farr, Gary Burghoff, William Christopher, and David Ogden Stiers.

Teh first three seasons of M*A*S*H are my least favorite. Don’t get me wrong, these episodes are still very good, but my favorite time of the show was when BJ Hunnicut came to replace Trapper John and Col. Potter replaced Henry Blake. This time frame, while still with Frank Burns, is some of my favorite television ever.

These characters developed and changed over the run of the show. Margaret Houlihan changed the most, going from a one-note antagonist for Hawkeye and Trapper John, to a deep, three-dimensional character that was more than just what she started as.

The series finale was the highest rated shows ever on televison for years. It was entitled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.” It showed the final days of the Korean War and the departure for each of the main characters from the 4077th M*A*S*H.

M*A*S*H was one of the most original and brillaint shows on TV. I can sit down today and watch M*A*S*H, enjoying each episode.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #9

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#9

WandaVision

The first Marvel Studios Disney + TV show is, arguably, the best of them all. WandaVision was not supposed to be the first Disney + show, but the schedule got messed up with Covid and this got moved into that spot.

WandaVision got more popular with each week, as the collected fanbase argued and debated about what was going on and what was going to happen.

WandaVision turned out to be a show about grief and loss, as Wanda had to deal with the loss of her great love, Vision. Of course, she does not deal with the loss well.

Elizabeth Olson and Paul Bettany were amazing in this show, both showing was top line actors they are. Their chemistry was great and their relationship carried the show.

There was also the strange format of the show. The first two episodes were shot in black and white and followed setup of classic sitcoms like MaryTyler Moore Show, I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke Show. Following episodes were based on Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, Full House, Modern Family among others. But it was not just the format of the show, it was part of the story.

WandaVision introduced us to the delicious Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and would spin her off into her own Disney + show, Agatha All Along.

WandaVision gave us one of the most memorable quotes in MCU history. Vision told Wandsa, who was grieving the loss of her brother Pietro, “What is grief, if not love perservering?”

WandaVision ran for nine episodes on Disney + and provided an amazing, self-contained series while still existing clearly in the MCU.

Flourish!

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #10

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#10

Mork and Mindy

Na Nu, Na Nu.

We enter into the top 10 with one of my childhood’s favorite shows, Mork and Mindy. Robin Williams and Pam Dawber starred in this Happy Days spin off that went for four spectacular seasons on ABC.

Mork was an alien from the planet Ork who arrived in Boulder, Colorado and met Mindy McConnell. Mork had his suit on backwards, making Mindy think he was a priest and she gave him a ride. Little did she know that she was getting into a situation that would lead to her having a child named Mearth, who was played by Jonathan Winters.

Mork and Mindy was comedy at its best as the manic and ultra-energetic Robin Williams bounced around the show with amazingly sharp dialogue and thigns that had to be improv. Mork learned about humans and their ways as he slowly became more human every week.

I was obsessed with Mork and Mindy, and by extention, with Robin Williams. As a child, I sent away a letter to Willaims asking for an autograph. He (or someone) sent me an autograph on a post card personalized to me. Sadly, I no longer have that post card, but it was one of my prized possessions as a 10 year old.

Mork and Mindy was a classic and hlped lead to Robin Williams becoming the massive star that he became.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #11

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#11

Agents of SHIELD

I have just started the 2025 Year in Review at EYG where I compile lists of the year’s best and worst. When I would make lists of the best TV shows, Agents of SHIELD was consistently the number one show. It was number one for several years as I loved this show. Even when it seemed as if it was no longer MCU canon, I loved this show.

Agents of SHIELD was a show that ran for seven seasons on ABC, featuring the adventures of a group of SHIELD agents led by Phil Coulson.

Of course, Phil Coulson had been murdered in The Avengers movie by Loki so there was going to need to be some shenanigans in order to have him star in this show. Clark Gregg reprised his role as Coulson and he brought his natural charm and wit to the show.

The other main agents of the show included Melinda May (aka The Calvary), Daisy Johnson (aka Quake), Leo Fitz and Jenna Simmons, “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez and Mack Mackenzie.

The show’s crossover with the MCU was never quite clear. There were times where it seemed clear, such as a close tie in with Captain America: Winter Soldier, or the appearance of Sif. Other Marvel Comics characters made appearances in this show including Ghost Rider, the Inhumans, Deathlok, Bobbi Morse (known in comics as Mockingbird), Mr. Hyde, Hive, Peggy Carter, and LMDs.

Agents of SHIELD personified the brand of Marvel magic that we saw in some of the earliest movies of the franchise. The show featured sweeping adventure with splashes of humor and clever, witty dialogue from compelling characters. Over the years, the relationships among these characters became the backbone of the series. Several of these characters wound up being introduced into the Marvel comics too.

For me, this is one of my favorite shows of all time, just coming short of the top 10.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #12

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#12

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Who thought that a TV Show based on a low budget, poorly reviewed film could spiral into seven seasons of television on the WB/CW?

The TV show took the idea from the movie and expanded upon it with Sarah Michelle Geller assuming the role of Buffy Summers. Buffy moved to a town named Sunnydale, which was located on a Hellmouth. This explained the variety of vampires, demons and monsters that would populate the town.

Buffy met and bonded with Willow and Zander, who became her backup and support. As the one slayer, Buffy had to deal with the responsibilities of protecting the world from the dangers of an apocalypse while trying to pass high school.

Buffy and Angel, a long lived vampire who had gotten his soul back, became the IT couple of the show, though fate was very much against them. Angel, played by David Boreanaz, wound up being spun off into his own show.

Rupert Giles was the stuffy librarian at the high school who was, in reality, Buffy’s Watcher. A Watcher would train and provide guidance to the current slayer. Giles quickly became connected with Buffy and the other “Scooby Gang” members, and he was more of a father figure than a trainer. Giles was portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head.

Spike was another vampire that Buffy had a relationship with. Spike was introduced to the series as an antagonist, but his popularity saw him return multiple times and eventually fall in love with the Slayer. It led to Spike regaining his own soul. Spike was just so cool.

There were amazing episodes with a ton of creativity over the seven seasons including one where everyone lost the ability to talk (“Hush”) and another one where Buffy finds the dead body of her mother Joyce (“Body”). Perhaps the greatest musical episode of all time was Buffy’s “Once More with Feeling” which saw a demon summoned to Sunnydale causing song and dance to break out across the city.

There have been talks about bringing the Buffy franchise back to TV with a new version that would include Sarah Michelle Geller in some form.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #13

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#13

Castle

The third TV series among the Top 100 starring Nathan Fillion is at #13. Castle came after the cancelation of Firefly and before The Rookie. The ABC crime/romance/mystery/comedy series lasted for eight seasons.

Nathan Fillion was the titular character Richard Castle and he starred opposite Stana Katic, as the tough-as-nails police detective Kate Beckett. Castle, a best selling author, was bored with life and was in search of inspiration. After a series of murders that were inspired by his own mystery books, the NYPD approached Castle for any info he could give them. Castle took this over the edge by convincing the mayor that he should be a consultant to the NYPD, specifically Beckett, who he used as the inspiration for his new series of books.

The Castle-Beckett dynamic was what carried the show, but there were some other wonderful traits of this show. Castle was extremely intelligent, though he hid that with his special brand of goofiness. The dialogue and writing of the show was on par with some of the best on TV, clever and funny while informing the characters.

Castle’s family which included his daughter Alexis (Molly C. Quinn) and his diva mother Martha Rodgers (Susan Sullivan) was vital to keeping Castle humanized.

A fun bit of casting included real life mystery authors  Stephen J. Cannell, James Patterson, Dennis Lehane, and Michael Connelly as poker buddies for Castle. Castle would, at times, bounce ideas off of the writers, looking for how they would write the story, if the case were fictionalized.

Castle was a fun TV show with an amazing cast, including two charismatic leads. It was funny, exciting, dramatic and well written.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #14

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#14

24

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…

Kiefer Sutherland was Jack Bauer, an agent with the Counter Terrorist Unit Los Angeles Division (CTU). Jack had to deal with terrorists and dangerous situations to help his country. And every minute counted.

24 had a special gimmick. Every season, there were 24 episodes and each episode was told in real time. So the story unfolded over a 24 hour period and we saw how Jack Bauer and the other agents of CTU responded to these terrorist events.

The gimmick was really cool, but would never have lasted for the length of time that it did without that first season of 24. In the final scene of the first season, Jack discovered that his wife, Teri Bauer, who had been a major role in the season, had been killed by a mole inside CTU. The season ended with Jack cradling the dead body of his wife.

You do not end a season of TV in that manner. The hero does not face this level of anguish in the final scene. It proved to the viewers that absolutely anything was possible during these 24-hour days and that you could not afford to miss anything on the show.

Admittedly, as the show grew older, the show became more played out, and the show did seem to focus too much on Middle Eastern terrorists (accusations of Islamophobia were leveled at the show), but Jack would do absolutely ANYTHING in order to accomplish his goal. There were times when what Jack did was as shocking as anything the terrorist would do.A TV show protagonist just would not do what Jack Bauer did.

24 ran for eight seasons on FOX, which included a TV movie between season six and seven. There was also a new series called Live Another Day, which cut the season in half from 24 hours to 12 (episodes).

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #15

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#15

General Hospital

General Hospital has been on ABC since April 1, 1963. That is 62 years, easily the longest running show in the Top 100.

My mother watched the soap opera General Hospital and I would watch it with her when I was young. I can say that, along with my love of comic books, General Hospital helped to embolden my creativity and my own storytelling skills.

Watching the Luke and Laura love story developing from an ugly rape, the mystery of the Ice Princess and the Cassadines, the arrival of super spy Robert Scorpio, Casey the Alien, the awesome ass kicker Anna Devane, probably my first crush in Holly Sutton (played by the gorgeous Emma Samms), the quarrelsome Quartermaines, Frisco and Felicia, mob kingpin Sonny Corinthos all brought out the best in me.

The show has featured countless actors that have become major stars in other projects that I love. Demi Moore, John Stamos, Rick Springfield, Ricky Martin, Mark Hamill, Jonathan Jackson, Antonio Sabato Jr., Vanessa Marcil, Tia Carrere, Jack Wagner. There were guest appearances from Elizabeth Taylor, Roseanne Barr, Richard Simmons, James Franco, among others.

My favorite characters over the years included:

  • Luke Spencer
  • Anna Devane
  • Robert Scorpio
  • Frisco Jones
  • Laura Webber
  • Lucy Coe
  • Kevin Collins and his evil twin Ryan Chamberlain
  • Holly Sutton
  • Robin Scorpio
  • Bobbie Spencer

The show had a ton of classic villains too including Mikkos Cassadine, Helena Cassadine, Cesar Faison, Heather Webber, Jerry Jacks, Franco, Stavros Cassadine, Caleb Morley, Ava Jerome, Grant Putnam, Frank Smith, and the spy organization DVX.

The show had both the crazy world of spies and mobsters, but also featured serious storylines involving AIDS, breast cancer, natural disasters, mental illness, depression, and substance abuse.

The show gave us one of the saddest storylines you could give: the death of a child. Little Barbara Jean Jones died in a bus accident, and her heart was transplanted into her cousin Maxie Jones, saving her life. The acting performances in this story were spectacularly powerful and painful.

The show would do a yearly talent show called the Nurses’ Ball where the cast members would put on musical and dance numbers. The Nurses’ Ball was always one of my most anticipated episode of the year.

General Hospital influenced me more than just about any show of my youth and it belongs on this list. I do not watch GH regularly any more, but I am aware of things that happen on the show, and my mom still watches it daily.