Five Best Serials of the Year

I have tried to break off from the routine of selecting just “dramatic” serials or five “comic” serials. What I have tried to chart out here is a list of programs on TV which I watch regularly and the select the best out of them, according to me. The serials listed below are the ones that I watch most frequently and I have enjoyed watching for their entertainment value or even information value. The ratings are strictly personal and may be different from the way you may rate them. As usual comments are always welcome.

News based serials

Well here the fight is between Reality Bites , We the People and the Big Fight. All of them are on Star News. I try not missing any of them; if I do I at least try and catch up on the re-runs, which are usually scheduled within 24 hours of the first run. I have already written a review on Reality Bites, which is a hard hitting investigative journalism kind of a serial anchored by Barkha Dutt. We -the People is also anchored by the same person and is a 60-minute program that gives people a chance to talk to policymakers, administrators and those who make the rules we are governed by. There is a high degree of audience participation, in fact the politicians, policy makers, journalists and the audience sits together. But my selection for best News based show would be The Big Fight, anchored by Rajdeep Sardesai, the reason must be of my liking for debates and arguments. It’s a show in which a current issue is discussed/ debated/ argued amongst three people with different view-points, who are also open to question from two panelists (usually journalists) and audience and moderated by Rajdeep.

Chat based serials

There are quite a few of these that are up and running. Movers n’ Shakers on Sony was brilliant, sadly it is not on air anymore. Shaker Suman was simply hilarious and thought provoking on this show. Rendezvous with Simi Garewal too was a show that I watched with keen interest, initially telecast on Star Plus, this was later shifted to Star World, often made of episodes that were re-runs. In my final tally the three contenders are Star talk hosted by Vir Sanghvi on Star News, Harsha-Online hosted by Harsha Bhogle( Usually dealing with cricketers but sometimes it features sportspersons from other disciplines too) and Face To Face (Karan Thappar’s show in BBC). I left the last one out, probably because; I prefer a mellower talk than highly accusatory one. The winner in this segment is Vir Sanghvi’s Star Talk , in which he shows that he has this knack of gathering as much information as possible from the celebrity without appearing nosey.

Comedy serials

There are scores of excellent comedies on TV. Frasier, That 70s Show, Drew Carrey Show, Office Office and I haven’t even begun the list. The finalists in this segment were Dharma and Greg (the highly entertaining couple she is a Yoga teacher/dog trainer and he is a Harvard scholar, whose small world is rocked by relatives and friends), Friends (Now what do I say, three guyz and three girlz who can turn your world upside down each, individually, imagine them all together) and Whose Line Is It anyway? It was tough deciding on who should take the lone spot, I know I am going to disappoint a few of you out here; in fact I am going disappoint a part of me and proclaim “whose line is it anyway?” the winner. Friends lose out basically because as hilarious as they are, the serial is full of repeat runs.. I still sit and watch them… Dharma and Greg I don’t know why….one of them had to be second (but still make to the list of 5). Whose Line Is It Anyway? is the winner on the sheer weight (of Drew Carrey...No) the creativity and the timing displayed by each and everyone on the show. Whose Line is it Anyway? is a show in which contestants improvise scenes in theatre-sports-type games given to them by the host. They might be required to sing about an audience member, speak only in questions, become weird superheroes, or guess at bizarre quirks. I really don’t know what else to say about this show “where everything is made up and the points don’t matter”

Non-Comedy

Now this becomes a very large section. This includes action, reality, family, mystery etc. I considered a lot of serials under this category and ended up with the following short list… Roswell, Angel, Ally Mc Beal, The X files, The Pretender, The Practice all on Star World. Who Dares Wins; Ripley’s believe it or not, Worlds Most Amazing Videos (all on AXN) are all shows that I watch, whenever time permits. It’s a tough choice to select one from this list as I like each of them for a particular reason. But on the whole if there is a series that I hate (the most) to miss from this list then it is “The Practice”. As the title suggests the story revolves around a few Lawyers, who make up a law firm that’s trying to establish itself. How these people battle their internal turmoil as they fight legal battles on behalf of their clients is very engrossing. It features a lot of emotions, sentiments, wit and humor besides, simple mysteries. I simply love the court room dramas.

So the Final Five that I would not want to miss on TV

1. The Big Fight                     Star News(Saturday, 20:00 hrs)

Note: All timings are IST.

Please leave a comment, mentioning your opinion on my list and mention your favorites too.