Happy Wednesday TV Fans! As I am counting the days until the weekend and I am sure you are too, it got me thinking about numbers in particular on television. I started to create a list of television series with numbers in the title and couldn’t believe how many there were over the years. If you are bored at all throughout the day, I challenge you to create a list of as many number TV shows as you can without using the internet of course. 🙂 It’s actually really fun and you can post how many you were able to come up with in the comments. Naturally, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to rank my top TV shows that fit into this category. My top 5 TV shows containing numbers in the title are:
5) One Tree Hill. One Tree Hill has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I used to watch Soapnet all day when I worked from home and this show came on quite a bit. I was actually really disappointed that they took the show off of Netflix streaming because it is really addicting to watch. While it may seem like your typical teenage soap centered on high school drama, the show does a good job of involving real issues as well. There is a strong emphasis on family in the show and the narrator and main character, Lucas Scott, has a romantic view of the world, which elevates the show for me and ties in epic works of literature along with a lot of important thoughts that may have crossed our minds in different points in our lives.
4) 24. While I have to admit, I have not gotten a chance to watch through this show recently, it is my mother’s absolute favorite and I thought very deserving of a spot in the top 5 even though it is not necessarily my top choice. When this show aired on television, it had a quality that hooked the audience to watch the show live similar to The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones now. You didn’t want to merely record 24 because you could miss something crucial or you didn’t want someone around you to spoil what happened. The number 24 is significant in the series and not just merely in the title, as each season contained 24 episodes covering the 24 hours in Jack Bauer’s life. All of the events happen in real time, which keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat seeing everything from Agent Bauer’s point of view.
3) 13 Reasons Why. When this series streamed on Netflix earlier in the year, it was considered to be very controversial because of the subject matter and targeted audience. As a result, it got mixed reviews. After watching the first episode for myself, I found myself binge-watching the season all in one day. While I am sure many of you have done the same, the show did an excellent job of drawing the viewer in wanting to unlock the real reasons why Hannah Baker decided to end her life and how her friend, Clay Jensen is involved. Rather than leave a suicide note, Hannah records everything on 13 audio cassette tapes and has them delivered to the different people responsible so that they can hear the whole story. While the show makes you want to dive deeper into truth, there is something very raw and painful about the emotions that are revealed along the way from each character who wronged Hannah and how they are dealing with the aftermath of her death along with issues in their own lives that they are facing.
2) The 100. I have to admit that this is one of my favorite shows on television right now and I am counting the days until new episodes are aired. The 100 reminds me of a futuristic version of Lost, revealing mystery after mystery where you truly can’t guess what is coming next. The series starts off after earth has been destroyed by the nuclear war and the remaining survivors are living in a space station called the Ark. However, air and supplies are running low and the leaders of the Ark make the decision to send 100 juvenile prisoners down to earth. While it seemed initially that they were sending them off to die to sacrifice the few to save the many, earth is in fact livable again. The prisoners are all trying to exist in a world without adults and laws, but find out that earth has many dangers, including other people who were already living there, “Grounders,” who are not looking forward to sharing their land with these invaders. While each threat is dealt with, a new one emerges, forcing the Sky survivors to deal with betrayal, love, death, and war.
1) Beverly Hills, 90210. It should be no surprise that my top choice takes place in our favorite zip code. The show lasted for 10 years and even had a revival series done years later. Many of us have grown up watching our favorite twins, Brandon and Brenda Walsh move from Minnesota to the very different and superficial Beverly Hills, California. The soap-drama is a guilty pleasure of many and I recently watched through the entire series again over the summer. Through all of the drama, this group of friends sticks together and grows up fast in a materialistic world only to realize that things don’t come as easily as they did in high school and that you can’t always buy your way out of everything. While many of the plots are outrageous and over the top, there is a lesson in all of them, and we find ourselves rooting for each character who we have come to know well from years of watching them.
I hope you enjoyed the list and feel free to post your comments below about any of these shows or some of your own favorites. If you do complete the challenge, feel free to post how many shows you were able to come up with that do have a number in the title. Happy viewing!
Best,
Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl
