My Top 25 Favorite TV Shows (20-16) · 4:20am Sep 16th, 2013
Let's continue my countdown of my top 25 favorite television shows with numbers 20-16!
#20: Switched at Birth
Switched at Birth is an ABC Family drama series that tells the story of Bay Kennish and Daphne Vasquez, two teenage girls that learn that they were accidentally switched at birth. The series focuses on the two girls coming to know each other, their respective families, and all the while getting caught up in the dramas that are brought upon by their conflicting lives, backgrounds, beliefs, actions, and etc. It started back in 2011 and it quickly became one of my favorite dramas. One thing that I love about this show is how real the characters feel. They never feel like cardboard cutouts being portrayed by actors. The characters feel completely realistic and act in a way that you would imagine people to act like in real life. The show never plays the whole "black and white" card with bad people on one side and good people on the other. The show presents how there is both good and bad in all of us. The characters make plenty of mistakes (heck, in the recent season, one of the characters actually blackmails a senator) but they all learn from said mistakes and grow as characters. The show also presented an interesting twist with the switch in having Daphne be deaf. Throughout the series, we're introduced to plenty of deaf characters, we take a look at the deaf culture, and we see the conflicts brought upon between hearing people and deaf people. All of the actors pull off outstanding performances and there's actually a few actors here that some of you might recognize; such as, Lucas Grabeel (who plays Toby Kennish and is known for playing *sigh* Ryan Evans from High School Musical), Constance Marie (who plays Regina Vasquez and is known for playing Angie Lopez in George Lopez), Lea Thompson (who plays Kathryn Kennish and is known for playing Lorraine Baines McFly in the Back to the Future series), and Maiara Walsh (who plays Simone Sinclair and is known for playing Meena Paroom in Cory in the House). There's much more that I wish I could talk about but there's just too much. I'll just say that if you're into realistic, relatable, and likable characters, real-world conflicts, and believable drama then I highly recommend that you check Switched at Birth out!
#19: Seconds from Disaster
Seconds from Disaster is a documentary series that talks about various disasters ranging from famous ones (such as the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, the Hindenburg disaster, and the Oklahoma City Bombing) to not-so-well-known ones (such as El Al Flight 1862 Amsterdam plane crash, the Hotel New World disaster, and the Galtür avalanche). The disasters are reconstructed via survivor interviews placed alongside dramatizations that use actors and CGI to show the disaster. The episode then goes into the investigation process behind the disaster and presents us with the answer(s) behind why the disaster happened and how it either could have been prevented or how more people could have been saved. It's an incredibly interesting series. If you're interested in checking it out, you can easily find the episodes on Youtube. In fact, I'll put a link below to the episode about the American Airlines Flight 587 Queens crash below for those of you who are interested in checking this series out.
#18: Ginga Densetsu Weed
Ginga Densetsu Weed (or Ginga Legend Weed in English) is an anime based off a manga that's actually a sequel to another anime/manga series: Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin. And though I'm not familiar with the first series, that didn't stop me from getting into and loving this series. The series follows Weed, a dog who is the son of the protagonist of the previous series, Gin, as he builds an army and makes new friends in order to reclaim the dog warrior paradise Ōu from the clutches of a terrible monster and later from a sadistic tyrant known as Hōgen. The anime spans 26 episodes and is very dark. Many characters are killed in brutal, emotional ways and it's pretty dark and gloomy for a large portion of it. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't have its fun moments here and there. The action is fast, realistic, and exciting and the large cast of characters are likable and memorable. Finding the episodes is a bit harder nowadays. When I first came across the series on Youtube a few years ago, all of the episodes were uploaded there. Now you'll be lucky to find any of the episodes on Youtube. You could probably find them through a simple Google search and enough looking (as that's how I came across them again). But, still, this is a very entertaining, albeit dark, anime series that I highly recommend.
#17: Tutenstein
Tutenstein is a Discovery Kids cartoon that depicts the adventures of the reawakened Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhansetamun "Tut" and his friends Cleo Carter and her now talking cat Luxor as they face the unpredictable forces of the Underworld, especially Set. The series is very fun as it references a lot of old Egyptian myths (and creates a few original ones) and shows the powers of ancient Egypt effecting the modern world via Tut's shenanigans. The cast of characters from both the mortal world and the Egyptian world are colorful and memorable like the bumbling museum security guard Walter Jacobs and the evil god of chaos himself, Set (although he has nothing on Discord). The show also presents a nice amount of character development for Tut as, in the show, he's a spoiled 10-year-old pharaoh. But, even though he makes childish mistakes and acts spoiled, he does learn from his mistakes and cares for the friends he has, most notably Cleo and Luxor. If you're interested in checking this series out, I've heard that the series is shown on the Hub now. Either that or you can watch the episodes on Youtube. Either way works.
#16: American Horror Story
American Horror Story is a horror anthology series made by the creators of, of all shows, Glee that depicts a different story with each season. The first season, Murder House, revolves around a troubled family moving into a haunted Los Angeles mansion in 2011 that has a dark, blood-soaked past. The second season, Asylum, focuses on a Massachusetts mental institution in 1964 that is plagued by aliens, angels of death, demons, mad Nazi scientists, and serial killers. And the upcoming third season, Coven, revolves around witches in 2013 New Orleans. Any one of you who have read some of my darker stories such as Eight and The Lovely Bones: Afterlife of a Murdered Pegasus probably wouldn't find it hard to believe that I'm interested in weird, twisted horror. Although AHS has proven to be a love it/hate it show, I personally find it to be very entertaining. The cast members all do terrific jobs (especially the cast members that return for different roles in each season such as Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, and Sarah Paulson) and the stories told in each season are dark, twisted, entertaining, and wonderfully horrific. I'm definitely excited for the upcoming third season. I mean, come on. It's Salem witches vs. voodoo witches in New Orleans coupled with flashbacks to Kathy Bates playing real-life serial killer Delphine LaLaurie in 1830's New Orleans. Let the new season of horror commence!
Next, I'll list off numbers 15-11!
Yeah, I can't take ABC Family seriously since they canceled Kyle XY. (That's a show worth checking out. It would probably be on my Top 25.) My sister though can't seem to get enough of all the shows on ABC Family these days like Pretty Little Liars, Secret Life of the American Teenager, and Switched at Birth. Never heard of Seconds from Disaster. I'm not that into anime so never heard of Ginga Densetsu Weed. Heard of Tutenstein, but never watched it. Not really interested in American Horror Story because I have issues with "Asylum".
20 is one I watch with my mom and brothers, we all love it.
17 was a fun show to watch late at night.