Several months ago, somewhere in between the holiday specials that run incessantly from Halloween on and the debut of new shows and return of old favorites, I found myself lost in Rerun Land.
Not only lost in a full line-up of repeats, but without a remote because my husband was holding it hostage. Never did I imagine I’d long for the days of Pawn Stars and Mythbusters, but when even ridiculous reality television shows went on hiatus, my husband resorted to watching shows about a crazy exterminator in Louisiana, Vanilla Ice flipping houses and some angry men cutting down trees.
It was a dark time.
As I endured cursing loggers and handy rappers, I wondered why I was so incredibly irritated by the lack of good TV. And then I remembered: When rerun season has hit in the past, I’ve taken the opportunity to watch through canceled TV shows I missed when they first aired.
Actually, that’s how I’ve found some of my favorite TV shows! Some of my favorites (so far) are:
- Arrested Development (I need to watch this one again, now that I think about it.)
- Freaks & Geeks (If you’ve been around for a while, you might remember my slight obsession with this one.)
- The Middleman (Very quirky and, possibly, very nerdy. But yeah, I loved it.)
- Better Off Ted (It’s a little bit like a mash-up of The Office and Arrested Development. And it’s a lot [dark and] hilarious.)
- Firefly (Look, I know “space cowboys” sounds like a joke…or a Joker, get it?!…but I’m very serious about how great this show is!)
- Veronica Mars (season one – after I’d already watched the other two seasons. This made everything make so much more sense!)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season one – and I’ll admit, I loved it. But one season was enough.)
- Warehouse 13 (season one – just in time to watch the second season last summer!)
- Felicity (Watching these slightly out of order, as reruns, was crazy confusing. But still so good!)
And last, but most recent, Parks and Recreation. Which is a problem, because this show is still on. And that means I just added another 30 minutes to my already-packed schedule of shows.
I tend to prefer canceled, short-lived series, because the time commitment is small enough to keep me occupied and entertained until my favorite shows have new episodes, but not so long that I have to dedicate months to them. I have friends, though, who have spent many an evening watching the multiple seasons of West Wing, Monk and Psych.
Oh – and I can’t wait to someday watch Friday Night Lights from start to finish. That should keep Swamp People and presidential biographies at bay for a good long time!
What do YOU watch when reruns are on?
An earlier version of this post was originally posted at Blissfully Domestic. Affiliate links are used in this post. And the whole thing will be linked up to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.
Oh my, we loved us some Firefly too. So many great and clever things about that show! (I actually haven’t seen any of the other shows, though I’ve heard of most of them. Weird, I know. We don’t watch much TV.)
A lot of people don’t watch much TV. I could certainly make better use of my time. Until then, though… ;)
I love every single one of those shows. Except The Middleman which I’ve never heard of. Amazing because I consider myself a professional teevee watcher:) I am psyched to check it out though. And btw? Parks & Rec is totes worth the extra half an hour. Best comedy on television.
Middleman is totally campy and quirky and not a little bit nerdy. But, if you like the other shows I like, I bet you’ll love it, too!
Arrested Development is one of my all time faves! We keep it on Netflix for when we need a good laugh. I’ve also been watching Will and Grace, Frasier, and Gilmore Girls. One show I recently watched all of was Hot in Cleveland. I thought that was pretty funny!
Parks and Recreation-another great one!!
I can watch Will and Grace reruns every day – and Frasier, too! (I love Gilmore Girls so much I’ve tried to convince my husband that if we ever have another daughter, we should name her Lorelai. He’s not buying it…)
I just watch inane reality shows…. Good list!
This is a great list! I also watch In Plain Sight which starts its season when the majors are off. I’m going to also start Modern Family via netficks. I LOVE tv!!
I’ve watched In Plain Sight but have never made it a “regular.” Modern Family, though, is awesome!
We watched Arrested Development recently and enjoyed it so we started Better Off Ted. I wasn’t such a fan, but my husband was. We get Netflix through our Wii so we’ve been watching 3rd Rock From the Sun, 24. Right now we’ve got The Mentalist and The Middle from the library and I’ve been watching Army Wives (such a soap opera!)
Oh my goodness, Army Wives IS a total soap opera! I loved the first two seasons but finally stopped watching because it just got me too emotional!
Why aren’t you watching new episodes of Friday Night Lights? It is one of my FAVORITE shows. P.S. I do not care about high school football AT ALL. That’s not what the show is about.
I’m not watching new episodes of Friday Night Lights because I’ve never watched it at all. I’d be pretty lost if I started now!
How are you watching all these? Instant Netflix? Hulu?
Thank you for this list, Hubby and I are trying to find a new show(s) to watch this summer! We’ve tried 30 Rock, we laugh out loud but we don’t really like anyone (except Kenneth the page). We started Parks and Rec last night–it’s not as funny as 30 Rock but it has more of a plot, maybe? Since we’re in the first season of each show, we’re not sure if we just have to wait for them to get better, since we’re heard great things about both. Maybe we’ll try Arrested Development. Is it dark, I don’t love dark?
I need to watch the first season of Felicity. And Firefly.
I watched almost all of them on Hulu. A couple I checked out from the library. About Parks & Rec – I actually only watched the second and third seasons, because I’d read that it drastically improved from season one to two. You might try that. Arrested Development is pretty dark, so I’m not sure if you’ll love it. But personally, I think it’s hilarious!
Arrested Development rocks! I’m so happy you caught up on Felicity. Felicity was a freshman in college when I was a freshman in college so I felt like we were growing up together. But I never had two cute guys fighting for my attention. Alas!
I’ve been sucked into NCIS marathons this past year! I am such a Gibbs fan now, it’s ridiculous. I started watching Parks and Recreation late this season and I’ll be adding it to my usual TV schedule next season too.
There’s never a shortage of NCIS marathons, is there?! I’m watching an episode on cable right now! :)
FNL is a MUST, girl. like, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the coach and Tammy Taylor. and I’m currently lost in LOST on Netflix. it’s making me happy.
I know, I know! I think I’m going to sign up for Netflix next month and order up the first season of FNL. I’m pretty sure Mark and I will both love it!
How did you know that I was just lamenting all of my favorite shows being on hiatus? I need a break from productivity, and now I have several new ideas to add to my Netflix que. Thanks! :)
Parks and Rec is my current favorite show! My husband and I got into it last season, and now we’ve gone back and started watching it from the beginning. I’m pretty sure Ron Swanson is my husband’s hero.
Another series I just started watching on Netflix is Melissa and Joey. I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to help but watching one episode after another of that one.
Kelly, I love Melissa & Joey, too! (And when I first read this comment, I was in the middle of rewatching the entire series of 10 Things I Hate About You, another ABC Family series!)