My All-Time Favorite Television Shows

Like any other teenager girl, a majority of my free time is spent watching television shows on Netflix or Hulu.

Throughout the last few years I have begun to watch more television shows and expand the genres I watch.

Today I decided to compile a list of my top five all-time favorite shows.

5 The Good Place

This NBC comedy follows the lives of four humans after their death results in them being placed in a Heaven-like atmosphere called the Good Place. Shortly after arriving one of the humans, Eleanor Shellstrop, begins to believe that she doesn’t belong in the Good Place. Eleanor quickly becomes determined to start a new and better life in the Good Place with the help of her friends. 

IMDb Rating: 8.1/10

Rated TV-PG

It’s fair to say that I was one of the few people I knew that actually watched the Good Place, beginning the show when only the first half of season one had premiered.

After thoroughly enjoying the show I managed to convince a few of my friends to begin watching it. Like me, they found it comically perfect. Similar to another popular NBC show titled “Friends”, “The Good Place” is your basic comedy television show. The jokes are witty and sarcastic, guaranteeing almost any age group to find it funny.

While the show is like many other NBC comedies, the plot twists are what keeps the show intriguing.

Season one began with a solid plot line and focus that was clear to the audience. With only thirteen episodes, and not knowing if the show would be cancelled, the plot line did seem rushed at times. Since the first season ended with such a big plot twist, the first few episodes of season two seemed like the writers were coming up with the plot script by script.

As the episodes went on and the plot became steadier, I found season two much more enjoyable and as funny as the previous season.

The show obviously has a deeper meaning with many of the main characters trying to discover the meaning of life and how to be a better version of themselves. The show can simply make you smile by just watching it due to its cheerful tone.

My favorite episode of “The Good Place” is the eleventh episode of season two titled “Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent”.

 

IMDb synopsis of “Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent”: Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, Janet and Jason go to a place with potentially lasting implications.

“Rhona, Diana, Jake, and Trent” is one of the most brilliantly written episodes on “The Good Place”. The episode offers a lighthearted and extremely comedic tone when the four humans and Janet must sneak into the Bad Place headquarters wearing disguises.

4 The Originals

“The Vampire Diaries’” executive producer Julie Plec created this spin-off in hopes of it becoming as mainstream as her previous eight season television show. “The Originals” follows the first family of vampires as they move back to their home in New Orleans, Louisiana after being blessed with a “miracle baby.”

IMDb Rating: 8.3/10

Rated TV-14

After finishing “The Vampire Diaries” in November of last year “The Originals” sounded more than intriguing to me.

I quickly caught up with the show, which had recently finished its fourth season, and found it disappointing at times.

While the show is more action-packed than “The Vampire Diaries”, I found the story line to have a slow pace and at times be difficult to watch due to the boredom I felt in the first season.

After one of the main characters, Hayley Marshall, gives birth to her “miracle child” in the season one finale, the show began to rapidly speed up its pace, making each episode better than the previous one.

The show aired its fifth and final season in early 2018 and received a lot of hate due to the tragic ending for some of its most beloved characters. I genuinely found the fifth season to be one of the most interesting of the show and I was completely satisfied when the final episode aired in June.

However, I personally believe that the fourth season was the peak of “The Originals”.

The season starts a few years after the defeat of the original vampires, the Mikaelsons, and follows their journey to gaining their power and strength back.

The fourth season packs a lot of information and action into the short thirteen-episode season and the cliffhanger finale left thousands of people, including myself, anxiously waiting for the final season.

My favorite episode of “The Originals” is the season five premiere “Where You Left Your Heart”. 

IMDb synopsis of “Where You Left Your Heart”: Desperate to see her father Klaus after seven years, Hope resorts to drastic measures to bring him back to New Orleans.

This season five episode was so much more than a feel-good episode. Bringing back one of the most beloved characters from “The Vampire Diaries”, Caroline Forbes, many long-time fans, especially myself, found this episode to be full of devastating events and romance.

3 The Office

This mockumentary, which originally premiered on NBC, follows the personal and professional lives of typical office workers at a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The shows comedic value is brought to life by the way too insensitive branch manager, Michael Scott. Due to his often bad comedic timing, the employees at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company experience very interesting events that make for a hilarious plot line. 

IMDb Rating: 8.8/10

Rated TV-PG

“The Office” is by far one of the most popular television shows ever made. After constantly hearing about how wonderfully written it was I decided to watch it.

While the first episode has a slow pace and very few of the jokes are funny, the second episode “Diversity Day” is drastically different. While in 2018 “Diversity Day” may be found offensive, it is definitely the episode that made me decide to keep watching the show.

Michael Scott’s ignorant sense of humor kept the comedy going through the seven seasons the character was in.

While the show obviously focuses on the comedy aspect, many of the episodes are also heartwarming and romantic. Throughout the episodes the documentary crew captures the story of Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly, a couple at Dunder Mifflin that started off as best friends when Pam was engaged.

The show started getting really good at the beginning of season two when the characters’ stories had developed and the audience understood what the show was about.

Like any other long running television shows, some beloved characters left along the way, the biggest one being Michael Scott who exited the show in season seven.

The final two seasons of the show were definitely the most boring without Michael’s humor to keep the plot running smoothly. However, I was thoroughly surprised by how hilarious and interesting the series finale was.

My favorite episode of “The Office” is the thirteenth episode of season four titled “Dinner Party”. 

IMDb synopsis for “Dinner Party”: Michael invites Jim and Pam and Andy and Angela to a couples-only dinner party, which makes Dwight very jealous. However, the only thing he’s missing is a ringside seat to witness Michael and Jan’s extremely dysfunctional home life.

“Dinner Party” is one of the funniest episodes of “The Office”. Michael and Jan’s relationship struggles adds a comedic touch to an otherwise normal episode. The dysfunctional life of Michael results in all characters involved in the episode to be extremely uncomfortable, leading for some fantastically written and timed jokes.

2 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

In this FOX comedy, recently picked up by NBC, Jake Peralta, Brooklyn’s 99th precinct best detective, faces conflict after his new captain Raymond Holt arrives with a very dry sense of humor. The show mainly follows seven characters working at the precinct: Jake Peralta, Raymond Holt, Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz, Charles Boyle, Terry Jeffords, and Gina Linetti. 

IMDb Rating: 8.4/10

Rated TV-14

While “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is a fairly unpopular show, due to it only being available on Hulu, it is by far one of the most hilarious shows currently on television.

After borrowing one of my good friend’s Hulu account, I decided to watch “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”. The show has a similar plot line and sense of humor as “The Office”, making it hard to not enjoy the show.

Like many other shows, the pilot episode has a slower pace, starting the show by introducing the extremely different characters. However, by the fifth episode the comedy style begins to develop and the show becomes difficult to watch without bursting into laughter.

Throughout the show the story also follows Jake Peralta’s massive crush on his fellow detective Amy Santiago. Once again similar to “The Office”, their relationship eventually blossoms and a large amount of the plot begins to focus on them.

While I’m only currently on season three, the show is still funny and thoroughly enjoyable.

My favorite episode of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is the nineteenth episode of season one titled “Tactical Village”. 

IMDb synopsis of “Tactical Village”: Jake tries to set a new record on a training course, Rosa is angry when she does not get an invite to Charles’ wedding, and Gina helps Holt overcome his newfound addiction to a game on his smartphone.

“Tactical Village” is the perfect combination of a heartwarming and funny episode. Jake’s jealousy when Amy starts to flirt with another detective at the training proves how much he generally cares for her. The comedic value enters the show through Captain Holt’s obsession with Kwazy Cupcakes, an video game that Captain Holt swears he won’t play.

1 Grey’s Anatomy

This long-running medical drama series focuses on the lives of five interns as they move their way through residency as well as their lives as surgeons. The shows main focus is Meredith Grey, a general surgeon resident who struggles to maintain platonic and romantic relationships. 

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

Rated TV-14

Whenever I ask people if they’ve heard of “Grey’s Anatomy” the general answer is yes. While the show is one of the longest running drama shows and is extremely popular across social media, many teenagers have never watched it.

Last summer when I was scrolling through Netflix in hopes of finding a new show to watch, “Grey’s Anatomy” caught my eye. The first episode definitely intrigued me but the extremely long fourteen seasons was intimidating.

Since I had two months with no school, I decided to give it a try and I am so glad I did.

As someone who enjoys heartwarming, sometimes overly dramatic, and sad shows, “Grey’s Anatomy” was perfect for me.

The first three seasons of the show were both devastating and intriguing, constantly leading me to want to keep watching it. However, the fourth season of the show was definitely more boring and I thought the show was taking a turn for the worse. With new characters being introduced it seemed that the show would no longer be enjoyable, but, I was wrong.

The season six finale introduced some of my favorite episodes and an extremely action-packed series of events. Although it seemed that season seven was only used to set up a new plot-line, it was still interesting.

Unlike many other fans of the show, I believe that season six through fourteen are more devastating, romantic, and filled with action than seasons one through five.

Recently, season fifteen was released. While it is not as enjoyable as season fourteen, due to the loss of two main characters and the setting up of a new plot-line, it is still better than season four.

My favorite episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” is the twenty-third episode of season fourteen titled “Cold As Ice”.

 

IMDb synopsis for “Cold As Ice”: One of Grey Sloan Memorial’s own is seriously injured, making the team reflect on what is truly important to them. Meanwhile, Nicole Herman pays a visit to Grey Sloan Memorial and talks to Arizona about an exciting opportunity. 

“Cold As Ice” is one of the most distressing and overwhelming episodes of the series. Considered one of the few “trauma” episodes of the series, this episode completely twists the lighthearted beginning into an episode worth crying over.