Best. Shows. Ever.

As I have stated numerous times before, I love TV. And I watch a lot of it. It's no secret. Sometimes there is just not enough time in the day or enough room on the DVR to watch everything. Rough life, right?

I am pretty much also an equal opportunist when it comes to TV genres. Yes, I love my reality TV, but I also watch dramas and comedies as well. I can get just as excited to watch the trashiest show on TV followed up by the season's best drama. That's just the way I roll. Over the past few years, there have been many that I follow through and through and some that I just couldn't stick with. Then there were those that I picked up along the way and had to marathon-watch from the beginning to catch up. (Always a fun rainy day/weekend activity.) With all that being said, here is, in my opinion, some of the best shows on television. Ever.

1) The Wire. Cops + War on drugs + Streets of Baltimore= Best TV show ever. Period. The Wire premiered on HBO in 2002 but I never watched it. I had heard so much incredible stuff about it so had to get my hands on it. I borrowed the full series from a friend last year and basically watched all 5 seasons in less than 4 weeks. I was on a mission and I couldn't stop. It was so freaking good. It zeroed in on real world problems in a very realistic manner. Seasons 1 and 4 were by far my favorite. I have since purchased the series myself and watched it again. (This time I did it in 5 weeks though.)

Sidenote: This show makes crush hard on tough ass drug dealers. Attractive. Wealthy. Powerful. I mean, WTF? They do illegal things like selling drugs and murdering people yet I still want to "hit it." What's my problem?


2) Friday Night Lights. I actually watched this series from day one until the series finale and cried when it was all over. I loved the movie and was skeptical that the show wouldn't do it any justice. It goes beyond high school football in Texas and really focuses on the characters and the issues beyond the game. This is what made the show so good. I just wish more people tuned in every Friday. FNL was one of those shows that TV Guide called "The best show no one is watching." Well guess what? I watched. And so did a lot of my family and friends. The ratings weren't high yet everyone who watched LOVED it. Clearly I surround myself with those with good taste if they watched and loved this as much as I did.

Also, on what show can you have a crush on the high school quarterback (its okay because he's actually older in real life) and the high school coach? And also envy the leading lady, Tami Taylor because she is so fantastic. An everywoman if you will. A fantastic mother and wife. (See many reasons why HERE.) Tami Taylor held her family together and also the show. Her relationship with Eric seemed so real. They were that good.

3) Sex and the City. When SATC began, I was in high school so it wasn't really on my radar because it clearly was not geared toward my demographic. I had heard about in college a little more, but didn't really think I was missing that much. Then the summer before the final season, a friend and I decided it was our duty to catch up on all four of the prior seasons so we could watch the fifth season in real time. We got sucked in and wanted to be Carrie (well not me!), Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. They were just so relateable. Their struggles with men. It was like they were in our heads more or less. (I mean as much as women in their 30's in NYC and girls in their 20's in college can be.) If only we had that wardrobe, unrealistic apartments, and seemingly unlimited budget, we could be them too. Obvi. They were independent women (besides Carrie) who took life by the balls most of the time and dealt with the consequences and relished in the rewards. It WAS life.

This show tackled topics that were taboo beforehand and were now made mainstream. It was truthful. It was graphic. And it spoke to women like me. (And made me want a "gay husband" a lá Stanford Blatch. I'm still waiting...) Two movies later and a prequel TV show, SATC has done all it can, but it was definitely a classic and one I will never forget.

4) Seinfeld. The self-proclaimed "show about nothing" actually was a show about a lot of random things that just happened to work. Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer just worked. There was no real season plot or story line, but it worked. It was funny. It was a little absurd. But it was funny.  We all had a little OCD-overly picky Jerry in us. A little loser George in us. Some Wacky Kramer. And definitely, a hold-her-own with guys Elaine. Elaine had a piece of every woman in her and kept it all together. They were a great group of friends and I was with them until the end. There are so many great episodes where you forget how much great material is stuffed in a half hour. No comedy will come close to this again.

I am a firm believer most situations in life can be related to a SATC or a Seinfeld episode. Without a doubt. Am I right? Am I wrong? What about my choices for this list? Do you agree with any and/or all of these? Whether you do or you don't, I stand by them and wish they were still around in new episodes. Considering I own the FNL, The Wire, and SATC series DVD collections, I can watch whenever I wish. When a craving hits to watch, I just throw in a DVD. Love that. And since none of these shows will ever come on the air again, I can still quietly hope for a movie or reunion special. Fingers crossed.