Gone but Not Forgotten Blogfest

Today I'm taking part in the Gone but Not Forgotten blogfest hosted by Erinn at Something Else to Distract Me. The brief was to write about our top five TV shows that are no longer making new episodes. I'm a big fan of TV from days gone by, so it was hard to narrow it down to just five.



But here are my favourites:

1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy was my obsession during high school. It was the show that my sister and I raced home to watch and wouldn't move or speak to anyone else whilst it was on. We followed it right from when Buffy was just a sassy sixteen year old with terrible 90s fashion sense, stuck with her through her numerous failed romances, battles with awesome villains like Glory, her death and resurrection, her breakdowns and controversial lifestyle choices, right up to her battle with The First and the consequent explosion of the hellmouth. It was a rollercoaster ride and we laughed and cried with her all the way.

But the Scooby Gang was what made the show. Buffy had fantastic friends like Willow (cute computer geek to badass witch), Giles, (the bumpling librarian with an unexpected dark side), Xander (the goofy one I had a crush on) Anya (the reformed vengance demon) and Spike (the irresistably badass vampire you just couldn't help liking). They were all complex, well-rounded characters that developed through the seasons and it was the banter between them and the ups and downs of their relationships which kept me watching, much more than the vampire-slaying side of it.
                                                                                                                                                                                           After seven seasons of drama, the final episode seemed like a bit of an anti-climax. It was tough finding something else to watch on weeknights and accepting that it was finally over. Buffy is definately gone but not forgotten.



2) Charmed
Charmed was another one of my highschool faves. It was broadcast at the weekend so my whole family used to watch it together whilst watching dinner. The storylines were frequently cheesy and cliched, but we didn't mind as the characters made up for it. Piper and Phoebe were my favourites. Like Buffy, the show was all about girl power-strong, confident women kicking demon butt and still managing to look amazing and juggle boyfriends or a family with their magical duties. There were plenty of interesting villains, most notably Cole, Phoebe's on-off demon husband. No character was portrayed as wholly good-they all had the potential to switch between good and evil at different times and they all had their dark sides, even Leo, the angelic whitelighter Piper married.

I loved the relationships between the sisters and their family and the humour of the show. We followed it right from the beginning when the sisters were struggling with their newly discovered powers, through tragic events like Pru's death and their relationship agonies and happy events like Wyatt's birth, right up until the poignant ending. I cried at the last episode because it was just so sweet and drew everything to a close in the nicest possible way. Luckily for me I have the entire collection on DVD so I can relive it all whenever I want to.



3) Red Dwarf
This was, and still is, one of my favourite comedy shows. The cast were incredibly talented and there was a joke virtually every line. The relationship between the slovenly, easygoing Lister and the uptight, nerdy Rimmer was just genius. Luckily it's repeated all the time, so it's not really gone.


                                                                                                                                 


4) Star Trek the Next Generation
Okay, call me a nerd, but this show is just awesome.  I appreciate that many of the storylines had more holes than a string vest, but the show was more about philosophy than plot. It was constantly questioning the nature of humanity through characters such as Data, the android who constantly strives to become more human, and it was about accepting the beliefs and cultures of other races (and species) however odd they might seem to us. It was about the dynamics of teamwork and leadership, with each character playing a different role in the group to achieve a common goal. And it had Patrick Stewart in it! He acts as if he is performing Shakespeare and not some crazy story about Klingon mating rituals and has the smiliest, twinkliest eyes ever. I mean, what's not to love?



5) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

This one takes me right back to my childhood. It was very cheesy and full of canned laughter but you couldn't help but like it. It celebrated teenagers and ridiculed their stuffy parents. Will Smith and the rest of the cast were just hilarious. The last episode was pretty sad with them all going their seperate ways. But it's definately not forgotten, we still talk about the epidode where Carlton dances with Tom Jones and I can still rap along (badly) to the theme tune.                                                                                                                                                                                    


So there you have it- my top five TV shows no longer making new episodes. Hope you enjoyed it! I'll be hopping along to the other participating blogs now-hope you'll do the same!