Monday, January 10, 2011

30 Days of TV - Day 4 - Your Favorite TV Show, Ever.



Dear B.,

I feel guilty. You'll soon see why.

One year ago, my favorite show of all time was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'd watched every season multiple times, owned action figures, had autographed pictures on my walls. If someone had asked me what was the best show ever, the first season of Buffy would already have been in my hands to let them borrow.

In April though, I noticed Neil Gaiman twittering a lot about a certain program and how excited he was for it. So I asked Daniel if he might be interested in watching the new season of Doctor Who. Daniel was game, and we set our DVR to record. I didn't know it then, but I had just taken my first step in becoming a traitor.

We really knew nothing at all about the show other than the basic premise. The Doctor travels through time with his "companion," a human girl who goes on adventures with him. We had heard that this season would be a good one to start on because it was also the start of a start of a new Doctor. A new Doctor? It didn't make a ton of sense to me, but Wikipedia told us that Doctor Who had been played by eleven different actors, and that each time they were ready for a new guy to take over, the Doctor would just "regenerate into the next one." Maybe soap operas should take notice??

We watched the first episode of the new season and loved it. The new Doctor was adorable and I was totally loving his "companion" Amy. She was hilarious and really pretty too. :-) The writing and directing were great and the special effects were actually done well. I ended up watching
that first episode twice because I couldn't wait for Saturday to watch the next episode. After that Saturday, waiting became almost unbearable.


That was when we discovered Netflix had instant streaming of the first 4 seasons/series.* We started watching Series 1 and met a different Doctor with a different companion, and we were just as enchanted. By the time Series 2 had ended I had laughed, screamed, and cried so much that Daniel was convinced I would run out of tears.



We started on Series 3 just about the time that Series 5 ended in real-time. Again, more tears came (more than ever, Daniel had been wrong), but more smiles too. We were both just glad to have two more series left before we were caught up. We'd have more Doctor to keep us company til December, when the "Christmas Special" would air.



Christmas Eve came, and we were more than ready for some Doctor Who. We had finished Series 4 at the end of November and it had been a long month without the Doctor. My mom totally delivered on the "Always Gets Me Exactly the Right Christmas Present," too. I happily unwrapped the 5th Season of Doctor Who; I couldn't wait till I got time to re-watch. On Christmas Day, though, we were ready for some new Who. Late that night, Daniel, his family and I watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special "A Christmas Carol." My face was a one giant smile. Watching Matt Smith bumble around everywhere, popping up in the past to convince the space-age Scrooge to save a spaceship full of people (including Amy), I suddenly thought, "This is my favorite show."

I knew it was true.

This brilliant, sweet, funny, frightening, gloriously wacky show is everything I love about television, about telling stories, about being human, and about finding the people you love and holding them close. My favorite. My show. My Doctor.



So now you know why I feel guilty. Why I've branded myself a traitor. In less than a year's time, I've fallen for someone else. I've cheated. Me! Ms. No-Sympathy-for-Cheaters Beth. But although I feel guilty, I can't go back; I don't want to. So I'd like to apologize, Buffy. I still love you and always will, I'm just not the same person I was. Now I'm someone who's met the Doctor.

-Beth.

P.S. If it's any consolation, I like this opening sequence a lot more than the actual one. ;-)



*Doctor Who has actually been around since the 60's, but after a hiatus in the 80s and 90s, they brought back the show in 2005. That was called Series 1 and moved on from there.

Other Favorite Shows:
Dany (to be published)

-over and out-

3 comments:

Bren said...

I'm not upset. It's not like I don't see the inherent good in The Doctor, it's why I keep not watching it.

I'd like to see how you feel in twenty years though. If the blush of Doctor Who is worn off or if he's still the best.ever.

And I want to know who your favorite Doctor is, and why you don't comment on my blog. ;)

Bren said...

And honestly we know why you love this show. You are sharing it with Daniel.

Betty (Beth) said...

What I'm most excited about this being my favorite show is how much of it there is. There is so much still to come, and so much that I haven't even seen yet. I can't wait!

And I need to do some serious commenting. Whoops. :-)