Well well well- I’ve asked, and boy have I received! For the past few days, I’ve been beseeching you, my friends and readers, to recommend some TV shows for me to watch as I anxiously await the cold, long, dark, long, and unforgiving Minnesota winter. Dramatic? Yes. Prepared? Let’s hope so. Plus, this was an excellent chance to nerd out and color code something.

So what follows is a sort of compilation broken down into categories/genres. I’ll also include my own choices for each in red, shows I’ve heard about elsewhere in blue, and blogger recommendations I haven’t seen in black after that. Hopefully everyone will come away from this with some new good TV to watch, whether on network, Netflix, Hulu, youtube, DVD, etc. Extra votes are in parentheses following the show!

Comedy/ Relationships: Coupling (British), Undeclared, Glee, Weeds, The L Word Ugly Betty (Plus 1 extra vote), Freaks and Geeks, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Rec, Wilfred

Shows centered around families: United States of Tara, American Dreams, Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, Gilmore Girls, Parenthood (2) Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family, 

Legal/Crime/Medical: Castle, Drop Dead Diva (two extra votes!), Rescue Me, Gray’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, The Wire, Prison Break, Breaking Bad (2), NCIS LA, Bones, Charlie’s Angels (new version), Covert Affairs, Suits, 

Fantasy/ Sci-fi/ Supernatural: True Blood (3), Buffy/ Angel (3), Dollhouse (2), Firefly (2), Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Misfits

Soaps: Gossip Girl, The OC, Twin Peaks (2), Pretty Little Liars (2), Royal Pains (2)

Reality: Project Runway, What not to wear, Four weddings (don’t ask!?!) America’s Next Top Model, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Ricky Gervais show (1) An Idiot Abroad, Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Big Brother, Bachelor Pad, Glee Project

Workplace: Party down (1), News Radio, The Office (1), Nurse Jackie

Other: The Big C, Boardwalk Empire, The Borgias, Dexter, Deadwood, Time Team, Outrageous Fortune, The Wire, Treme, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along blog, Sons of Anarchy

And for a little bonus if you made it through all of these- A few shows for this fall I’m intrigued by:

-Pan Am (ABC)- I am a sucker for 60s jet set glamour and soapy goodness! Plus, Christina Ricci

-Charlie’s Angels Remake (ABC)- for the love of morbid curiosity

-Up all night (NBC)- Christina Applegate, nuff said.

-Apartment 23 (ABC)- The concept actually sounds different than whats out there.

-Hart of Dixie (CW)- for Rachel Bilson’s sake, and for how blatant of a “Sweet Home Alabama” rip off it looks to be

-Suburgatory (ABC) A show with a clever name is bound to be clever too, right?

-Best Friends Forever (NBC)- to remember my youth, kind of.

And for my final, completely unrelated question of the night: Choose my next vacation!

1. Savannah, GA

2. Chicago

3. DC/ Norfolk VA

4. Myrtle Beach, SC

5. New Orleans

6. Austin, TX

Pick one, and tell me WHY! 

Meri