I’ll admit it: I’m a TV junkie.
That’s right — I love to sit on my couch in front of my TV and just soak up a good show. And while there seems to be less and less good things to watch in 2013 (reality television is really, really stupid), one of the best shows in my lifetime is wrapping up its five-season run.
“Breaking Bad” is a series that appears Sunday nights on AMC, formerly known as the American Movie Classics channel. It’s a story about an everyman — a high school chemistry teacher who moonlights at a carwash — who finds out he has terminal cancer. He has a loving wife, a son with a mild disability and a baby daughter on the way.
The character — Walter White — is also flat broke. With death coming soon, he teams with a former student to start producing methamphetamine.
It’s an intriguing and thought-provoking premise: Walter is trying to provide for his family so they’ll have money to survive after he succumbs to the cancer.
I’m not going to go any further into the plot, just in case you haven’t seen it — because you should. In this awesome media world of 2013, you can pay $9 a month for a service called Netflix, where you can completely catch up on “Breaking Bad” (or any of hundreds of other shows), then watch the final seven episodes with the rest of us.
An aside: Before last Sunday night’s episode, I had never watched an episode of “Breaking Bad” on a TV; I didn’t “discover” the show until a little over a year ago and every show I’d watched was either on my phone, iPad or computer.
The end of “Breaking Bad” has made me think of all the other great TV shows I’ve enjoyed in my 44-plus years on this rock. Here’s a quick list of my favorite shows; please note the emphasis on “my” — these are the shows I’ve enjoyed the most. There will be some missing that I’m sure you like, including some I’ve never watched that others rave about, such as “Mad Men,” “The Wire,” “24” and “West Wing”.
Also, a warning: There are some plot reveals coming, so I don’t want to ruin any of these for you if you haven’t seen them.
“THE SOPRANOS”: Until I see how “Breaking Bad” ends, this is the king of all TV shows to me. I’m pretty sure there was never a character like Tony Soprano on TV before “The Sopranos” — the person who you know is a bad guy, but you begrudgingly like him (and can even associate with him) anyway.
I absolutely hated the way the series ended with the sudden black screen preceded by Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” That dislike has intensified with the real-life death of James Gandolfini, the man who expertly portrayed Tony. We’ll never know what exactly happened to Tony … and that’s how the series creator wanted it, I guess.
“SEINFELD”: Another awesome series that had a subpar final episode (in my opinion), the “Show About Nothing” was simply brilliant in its writing and character development. The brilliantly-written dialogue between Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer still makes me laugh at episodes I’ve seen a dozen times or more.
And here’s the true testament about “Seinfeld” — every TV market you visit has it running in syndication on one of its channels. It’s hard to say that about many shows, especially one that ended its run in 1998.
“SCRUBS”: To outsiders who never really experienced “Scrubs,” I can see you shaking your head at this pick. But there has never been a TV show — sitcom or drama — that has worn its heart on its sleeve quite like “Scrubs,” which starts with a group of first-year doctors at a California hospital and follows them for several years.
The first three seasons were amazing; the writing dropped off a little bit in the middle, but the series ended strong — and no, I’m not talking about the putrid spinoff that should never have happened.
“FAMILY GUY”: Yes, it’s crass. Yes, it’s boorish. Yes, it’s crude.
But it’s also incredibly funny. The writers take no prisoners when they poke fun at everything in popular culture. It’s much, much more intelligently written than naysayers would have you believe.
“THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW”: I would be remiss if I didn’t include my favorite show of my youth — and still one of my favorites today. I grew up less than 30 minutes from Mount Airy, the setting for the fictional town of Mayberry, and marvel at all the insider jokes the show spawned in its run.
This is one of those shows (you know you have them, too!) that snags you when you’re channel-surfing; you stop on the channel and before you know it, you’ve watched three hours of it.
Other shows I’ve loved in my life include “The Simpsons,” “30 Rock,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Hee Haw,” “Arrested Development,” “Cheers,” “The X-Files,” “Friends,” “Dukes of Hazzard” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
I’d love to read about your favorites; please leave a comment on this column online. Also, the poll question at Kinston.com asks which of the top 10 shows in Writers Guild history you enjoy the most; take a moment and register your vote.
Bryan C. Hanks is the editor of The Free Press; his column appears in this space every Sunday. He can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCHanks.
Breakout box:
Here is the list of top 10 TV shows of all time, as voted on by members of the Writers Guild. To see the entire list, visit TVLine.com. To vote for which of the following 10 you like the best, visit Kinston.com.
1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone
4. All in the Family
5. M*A*S*H
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7. Mad Men
8. Cheers
9. The Wire
10. The West Wing