TOP TEN - Shows I Want To Re-Watch

This week's Top Ten list is a very common topic in my head. I have an almost constant craving to re-live the drama or comedy of my favorite shows. It is very mood oriented and changes constantly. The rules are that it has to be a show I have seen. More important, it can be just a season or partial series. Oh, and the list is 15.

15. NYPD Blue - Season 1 and 2 only. Maybe season 3. Times watched: 2. Caruso is the man. This show was so much more than a procedural murder per week show. It was so raw and original. The writing and acting were top notch.

14. Six Feet Under - Seasons 1-3. Times watched: 2. Season 3 is the peak for me. This show had moments where it was gut wrenching and tragic and morbid and terrifying and plain sad. But to me those moments only served to set up the show's true core of family, comedy, overcoming adversity, and genius. The scenes where the kids talk to their dad and the dead bodies are so brilliant they are reason enough to watch again.

13. Smallville - Seasons 1-6. Times watched: 2. Martha and Jonathon. Lex and Lionel. Lana before she was terrible. This show was once about Clark as a high school student. He had parents and a curfew and Lex wasn't evil yet. The show was about Clark becoming Superman and Lex becoming an evil master mind. Skip some of the freak of the weeks and 70% of the loft scenes and this is a SuperShow.

12. Northern Exposure - All but the last season. Times watched: 2. This show is so quirky. It is Picket Fences without the crazy. The characters make the normal people seem like the weirdos. The central love story between Maggie and Joel is legit. So are Adam and Eve.

11. ER - Season 1-5. Times watched: 1. The Clooney Years. This show was so energetic and chaotic and stressful. It was revolutionary. And the best part was the docs had lives and flaws and moments. And no one did sweeps like ER. The tragedy episode was never better.

10. Gilmore Girls - Seasons 1-6. Times watched: 3. The all time fast talking feel good show. How can you not love Stars Hallow and the crazy folks that run around. The ultimate show to watch with spouse. It is a "her" show but one a guy can get into as well. Skip the last season. It was terrible.

9. West Wing - Seasons 1-4. Times watched: 3. I love that this show is about the smartest people in the world running the country. And they are trying their hardest to do their best and to do the right thing. So naive. Sam leaves at the end of season 4 and the show is never the same. As I think about it, I did like the last couple seasons, but for re-watching I will stick to the prime cuts.

8. Cheers - All seasons. Times watched: 3. This show is home. It is funny in the kind of way where the episodes feel like memories. Like I was there. And there are so many episodes. You can really get to know everyone's name. (Nailed that play on the theme song, right?)

7. X-Files - Mulder seasons. Times watched: 5. I have previously professed my love for this show. I have nothing against the Doggett episodes, but they are such an after thought in my mind. I would probably only re-watch the Mulder years. The Erlenmeyer Flask is the first episode that comes to mind. And Colony/End Game. Alien Bounty Hunter.

6. Scrubs - JD seasons. Times watched: 3. This show was such a surprise to me. I had no expectations. My brother-in-law had the DVDs and I took a shot and watched them. I was shocked with how smart and sincere the show can be along with being hilarious. As with a lot of these shows, I love people who can have a sense of humor in a high stress environment.

5. Arrested Development - All seasons. Times watched: 5. This show demands being watched over and over again for three reasons: 1. There are only about 53 episodes, so it isn't a huge commitment; 2. There are so many insider jokes you will find new layers of funny every time. It is one of the best written comedies ever; 3. It is ridiculously hilarious.

4. The Wire - All seasons. Times watched: 3. The sheer number of characters and depth of the story demands multiple viewings. It is only 60 episodes and all but a handful are riveting and fascinating.

3. Deadwood - All seasons. Times watched: 1. I have been wanting to re-watch this show for a long time. The number one reason why? This show was an acting clinic, especially Al Swearengen.

2. Sopranos - Seasons 1-3. Times watched: 3. It has been so long since I have watched an episode of this show that I feel like I am starting to forget it. Seasons 4-6 were a gradual decline so I would start with the first three and go from there. Junior as a player. The mom. Tony as an (almost) likable character. Some of the best TV I ever saw.

1. BSG - All seasons. Times watched: 1. I watched this show for the first time ever last year, right before the final episodes aired. I had heard it was a fanboy must. This show is one of the rare things in life that deliver on unbelievable expectations. I can't wait to through the ride of this show again. This show is so under watched by the masses that to have watched it is like being a member of a very exclusive club of smart TV watchers. The only thing that stopped me from doing so yet is that I don't own the show. I will have to add it to the queue or break my self imposed moratorium on buying TV show DVDs. I have a bit of an addiction.