Pretty cool huh! As with anything that is worth something in life it ended up being a little more challenging that originally thought, but not too bad. So major kudos to Shannon on a fantastic job.
On a completely unrelated subject, life just continues to move at the speed of light sometimes and it is hard to believe that we are almost to Thanksgiving. Sometimes I have trouble remembering if I am coming or going. But during those moments when the day slows down and nothing is really required of Shannon or me, we have been enjoying watching our favorite show together. Of course I speak of "Lost". We have been enjoying it so much that I, of course, had to stop and try to figure out a countdown list of my favorite shows of all time. Remember back when I told you I was a freak about countdowns? You may have thought I was exagerating. Bet you are rethinking that now. So here we go. The 5 greatest television shows ever according to Ryan Rapier:
Ok just before we get to that, I will present the also rans. Those shows that are very close to the top 5, but just fell short. They are:
The Office
Seinfeld
Voyagers(Little known show from the early 80s about a guy and a boy who drop into historical situations and have to fix whatever is going wrong. Haven't seen it since 1983 so it is possible the acting is atrocious and it isn't near as good as I remember, but there was nothing so fascinating to a 9 year old who loves history as having an omni that would send you anywhere in time you wanted. Awesome!!! Little known trivia: The star of this show, Jon-Erik Hexum died a year after this show was cancelled when he was working on the set of another show and in a moment of boredom, put a prop Magnum .44 to his head and pulled the trigger. It seems that ammunition they put in prop guns will not harm someone a few yards away, but the impact when it is placed directly next to the temple will shatter your skull. Keep that in your valuable knowledge file in case you should ever need it.)
Psych
Fantasy Island (Come on!!! Stop rolling your eyes. Ok I am listing this more on the idea than the actual show because I don't remember it that well. But an island where you can go and have your fantasies come true only to find out that maybe you didn't want them in the first place? That is awesome!! Add in Ricardo Montalban in a white tux with a midget named Tattoo who rings a bell and yells "De plane, De plane" in a squeaky little voice who also happens to wear a matching white tux. They really should redo this show. I know they tried once, but try again for heaven sakes. This is a no brainer to me.)
Ok, now to the top 5:
5. The Amazing Race
This show is a dream come true to anyone who would love to travel around the world and experience things they would never have the opportunity to experience. The premise is 11 teams of two race around the world in different stages. At the end of each stage, the last team to arrive gets booted from the show. During each stage, they are required to complete certain tasks associated with the part of the world they are in. Some of the things they have required:
Bungee Jumping from the second highest bungee jumping point in the world off a bridge over a ravine in New Zealand; frying up and eating an entire Ostrich egg; plowing a muddy field in Vietnam with a real water buffalo; rappelling up the Great Wall of China; and unrolling massive hay bales in search of a clue in Sweden.
That last one doesn't sound too intimidating, but one team arrived in second or third place and then spent over 8 hours looking through hay bales that weigh over 200pounds. Fascinating television.
Shannon and I have talked about what it would be like to go on this show together. I am convinced it could possibly be the end of our marriage, but if we survived, that would be one heck of a memory.
4. Maverick
Now I know what you are thinking...or at least one of two things you are thinking. First, for anyone under 40, you are saying, "Wait, that doesn't count, it is a movie." If you are over 40, you are saying, "Wait, you are way too young to remember that show." You are both right and wrong. First, yes it is a movie, but it is based on a 1960s television show with James Garner as Brett Maverick. That is why it was so cool that he was the (SPOILER WARNING) dad in the movie. But I am actually referring to a one season version of Maverick where they tried to reboot it in the early 80's. The premise was that Maverick came to a small town and ended up winning a saloon and ranch house that tied him down to this small town. He of course then set about trying to run all kinds of shennanigans under the nose of the wise sherriff played by Ed Bruce (short lived country singer) who usually was on to what he was trying to do. Why is this show #4. Well, it inspired my play time and halloween costume for the next 5 years. Just to show how much I loved this show that wasn't on for hardly a minute, there were a lot of good movies to come out during my mission which took place between 92 and 94. When I got home, I cared about only one. Maverick!!! I would give anything to find that one season on DVD. And yet I wouldn't. It probably sucks pretty bad. And I don't really want those memories ruined. Because...I really LOVED that show. Because of that show, James Garner is still one of my all time favorite actors, hands down.
3. Remington Steele
Me and probably about four other people own every episode of this series that ran from 1982 to 1987. Just as with James Garner, I have a total man crush on Pierce Brosnan because of this show. I lived for Friday nights at 9:00. I wanted to be him and I wanted to grow up and date her. (I would be curious to know how many pre-pubescent boys had a serious crush on Stephanie Zimbalist in 1985. I will be willing to bet it wasn't many.) I am somewhat embarrassed to admit this, but I had secret dreams of being disfigured in a car wreck and having to have plastic surgery that made me look just like Pierce Brosnan, and of course they would have to replace my larynx with one that provided me a British accent. My understanding of human anatomy was not fully realized at this point as you can see. Although the series ended very disappointingly, I loved that show. Now that I own them, I see that they were a tad cheesy...ok really cheesy...ok what do you want, an admission that the sets were built on an old Velveeta factory? Fine, I admit it. But unlike other 80s dramas, I still like to watch them and he still looks like my hero. Remington Steele and Indiana Jones. I get a little wistful that I didn't end up like either one of them, because at 11 years old, that is all I ever wanted.
2. Frasier
The debate over the greatest sit-com of all time will generally include the following suspects: I Love Lucy, MASH, Cheers, Seinfeld, The Cosby Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I submit they are all wrong. Dead Wrong. Frasier, which ran from 1993 - 2004 is hands down the funniest show ever made. A disappointing episode of Frasier is funnier than the best episode of 98% of all sit-coms ever made. I am told to think that 2 and a half men is a comedy classic? That show couldn't slop Frasier's hogs. Obviously that is a lesson in irony as Frasier would never have hogs. But Frasier is one of the few shows that would dare to use the word irony. It is one of the few shows that can get a good joke out of the word crepe. Frasier was a thinking man's (or woman's) show and it never talked down to its audience. If you didn't get a joke that was based on something that was intellectual...Tough! Go learn about that subject and come back later. Then you will find it funny. I own every episode of this show as well and I have seen them all at least twice, with many episodes having been viewed in the double digits. I still laugh. Every time.
1. Lost
I can't say it any more strongly...This is the Best Show ever put on Television!!! If you want, I can add 50 more exclamation points to drive the point home. Nothing drives me more crazy than when I mention the show Lost and someone will say, "Isn't that that show that is something like Survivor?" AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! No, it is nothing like Survivor. It is the best written show of all time. It is highly complex and it is not a show that you want to just suddenly tune and see what is going on. You have to start from the first episode and watch them all...or you will be entirely lost. But trust me it is worth it. Shannon and I are watching them for the second time and there are so many things that we missed the first time. That is good TV. And for those out there who think television doesn't deal with religious themes enough...Lost is for you. It is chock full of religious ideas, themes and questions. To those who won't watch it because, "I don't like to have to think too hard about my television watching." Well, this show isn't for you, but it is certainly your loss.
Now a couple of warnings. It is violent. There are sex scenes, but they are very few and far between and I have seen worse on PG rated movies. I am not justifying it, (or maybe I am, I don't know) I am just saying, sex is not a driving force in this show. Violence on the other hand, is. It is pretty intense. But the beauty of this show is that they can have plot points that are pretty far out there, but you accept them because they never lose focus of the human angle of the show. The show is about the people. And trust me, you come to care about these people. I have a feeling it will be like finishing a great book when this show ends. I will mourn its passing. It is just that good.
There is no other point to this post. That is basically it. I suppose from a journal perspective, this will give my posterity an insight into who I was. With that in mind, maybe I should remove that stuff about a man crush on Pierce Brosnan. Nothing like thinking, "Wow, great great grandpa Rapier was completely insane. And who would name a child Pierce?"
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