1. Stranger things
This is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, this is also one of those rare kinds of shows where it's one that I feel was just made for me as it just about has everything I want. I love the show is a period piece, the show has a bit of a two way effect, for people like myself that have lived in the 80's decade, it's a really big welcome piece of nostalgia as the film just has everything 80's to a tee. Just seeing this show really makes me feel like a kid again, living and being part of that decade once more.
There is a really big sense of familiarity from the movies, certain technology they have like VHS's, Dungeon's and Dragons, but my absolute favorite thing is the Starcade video arcade with all of the classic video games I know and love like "Dragon's Lair", "Dig Dug", etc. Just seeing the characters playing in that video arcade makes me sorely miss them but also motivated me to play some of those classics again. You name any of the culture and relics of the 80's it's all there. For anyone that never lived in that decade, this show can be an educational history lesson for anyone interested in that decade.
Setting the show in the 80's really works, from giving you the feel of seeing a movie from that decade as most of their film were really colorful and most involved ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. But also fit with the drama as the 80's decade was a time of a certain degree of chaos under all the brightness of the 80's but also great change and the rise of culture and counterculture. I really love the title sequence, from the big red-letter graphic design that look like the kind you would see from the horror novels from yesteryear. But also that theme music which is great it's one of my favorite theme songs of all time, it sound like the kind of music from a John Carpenter film which is cool as he's my favorite movie director and makes sense as his films were a big part of the 80's decade.
The effects are great there is some CGI but mixed with some practical effects. Really love seeing those creatures from the upside down, they don't disappoint as the kind from H.P. Lovecraft tales, whom are all strange and messed up. Their the kind of creatures you must see to believe along with the upside-down world which is equally all kinds of messed up. But also, like how the psychic powers are handled, they really look and feel believable.
The suspense is also great and can be a scary sometimes. Really love the story, it almost feels a bit like this could of easily of been a Pre Sequel story to "The X-Files" which is ironic I say as "The X-Files" had a couple of pre sequel comic stories from IDW on Mulder and Skully. Man, this could have made an awesome crossover seeing Mulder and Skully encounter adult versions of Eleven and Mike, along with the rest.
Anyway, the storyline is great not just does it feel a little like "The X-Files" with the shadow organizations, conspiracies, psychic powers, monster, etc. But also, the show draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft, as it deals with otherworldly realms and the creatures that exist in them. I like the pacing, which is a steady pace when it gets further it starts to pick up more and more speed. The show is the serialized structure but it's not too long, there are twists along the way but their good twists because there is actual weight to them because they make sense and also keep the story's eye on the ball. And of course, the true strength of the show for me are the Strange Raiders characters themselves. These guys are my favorite fictional protagonists of all time, I love how all of them are well rounded and develop throughout the course of the show and as they develop, I feel they all get better.
2. Breaking bad
It's hard for me to be super objective about this show. Over the course of 62 episodes, right from the start, for me, Vince Gilligan and his team of writers and directors crafted a piece of neo-noir-western American tragedy that almost never, if ever, lost its footing. In its story of the rise and fall of Walter White (or his fun alias Heisenberg) and how he becomes a Meth "Emperor" in Albuquerque during his run of lung cancer, we get all kinds of dramaturgy here.
There's conflict, conflict, conflict going on in this show, always, from the familial (what do I tell my wife, Skylar, or not tell her, what doesn't she tell me, how far do the lies and deceit and horrors go?) to the more genre-leaning (how much criminals go in their crazy s***, which is established early on with the throw of the particular chemical and the "This... is not Meth" explosion) to the dark comedy that gives the Coens a run for their money (Better Call Saul!) - not to mention how it made Aaron Paul just as much as star as Bryan Cranston, both working actors along with Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt and Bob Odenkirk. It all... fits. Often with a show it's easy to let things slip, even (or especially) on the great shows when it comes to character dynamics, repetition, things that can be hard to control over the space of such a long period of time. But everything is so carefully mapped out, season after season, for the unpredictable to keep happening and for the dramatic beats to gain tension and mystery.
Just take how the writers set up, so patiently, over a season, the opening clues of objects and debris all outside of a house, and when you finally find out what all this is about - BAM right to the gut. What one comes away with, outside of the tremendous performances (you might gripe that Cranston got too many Emmys, but... what didn't he deserve with every fiber of his acting bad-assery?) and the consequences that are built up for all the characters, including those we think are made of rock and steel (Mike Erhmantraut), is the world of moral terror. What is morality in this world? There isn't any. It's the Wild West, but crossed with something like, I dunno, American Beauty. What happens when you take a hardcore drug-gangster tale of suspense and warp it with dark comedy about what it means to be a man in society today, or what it means to have a family (and believe me, there are many moments that are downright haunting, harrowing to the soul that speak to this, especially as it builds and builds in its last eight episodes)? You get... this. Perfection.
3. Friends
Suffice it to say that Friends is a classic comic treatment of what I have always called the "post-college adolescent phase" of life, which is roughly the ten years immediately following college graduation as you strike out on your own and try to find your place in life. It is the time in life when you are likely to have the best health, the most freedom, the most disposable income if not necessarily the most total income, and the most fun if you are fortunate enough to have people to share it all with.
This phase ends when you "settle down" both career-wise and family-wise, and I always found Friends to track this time in life quite accurately and with both drama and great humor. It follows the life of six young people living in New York City from 1994 to 2004, so even now a few of the cultural references will be stale, but the relationship truths never will be.
Ross is the nerdy guy who grew up to be a little uncomfortable in his skin but still very good looking. Ross' sister Monica is an aspiring chef who is now thin but was obese up until the middle of high school. Rachel has been Monica's friend since high school and is adjusting to life without daddy's credit card when the series begins, and is looking for a career in fashion. Chandler, Ross' friend since college, is successful in his budding career in business. Rounding out the group is Joey, not the brightest bulb in the room, who wants to be an actor and as a result works a series of odd jobs and stars in a series of odder commercials and the occasional appearance on a TV show.
Finally there is Phoebe. Her history with the group doesn't go much past the beginning of the series as she's had a rather Bohemian upbringing that has led to a Bohemian adulthood. Complicating factor as the series begins - Ross' wife has just declared she is gay and left him for another woman, Ross now and always has had a crush on Rachel who doesn't know he's alive, and Ross' wife discovers she is pregnant by Ross shortly after the separation. One of the best shows on TV with the most heart and the most laughs. Highly recommended.
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