What tv show had a big impact on you?
What tv show had a big impact on you?
For me, its Xena.
Few years back, height of covid epidemic, was living in homeless shelters. Overcrowded slums, everyone miserable, yelling, screaming, fights, abuse, rage. At one point, could feel the anger building in me. Powerless, a victim, desire for retribution. What good was trying to be better person, when all it meant was people walking over me.
Started rewatching xena, hadn't in years. Big message of the show: when surrounded by hate, violence, it's tempting to give in, to not be a victim. But you have a choice, to not continue the cycle, to make a better world. I so needed to hear that message at that time in my life.
What tv show helped you?
The Bermaga-Era Star Treks (TNG-ENT). For better or worse, they were some of the best television made in that time, and a guiding light for morality, ethics, and hope for what the best of humanity can be. Eventually…
Ya know, after we nearly annihilate ourselves in a few decades in WWIII, then invent warp drive, get visited by aliens, and decide to form a democratic socialist world government that puts the worst mistakes of humanity behind us so that we can finally begin exploring the stars.
It doesn’t get mentioned much outside that one movie, but all that has to happen first before humanity gets over its collective bullshit. I’ll probably be dead by then, though.
All of the Star Trek show, especially TNG, Voyager and Emterprise, because I've watched them so many times when I was a kid at my grandparent's house.
I was fascinated by the various captains. They were always so smart, capable, full of resources, curious, charismatic and generally great leaders, mostly coherent with their morals. They were basically badass scientist explorers and I identified so much with them without even realizing it.
Now whenever I find myself in any leadership position, I ask myself what they would do. I could choose to be logical and intellectual like Picard, empathetic like Janeway or brave like Archer. This shaped me more than I could ever imagine.
Firefly helped me realize perceptions are just that and don't have much bearing on people, also that there is a liminal space between society and revolutionaries.
Deadwood helped me understand that personalities are expressed, refined philosophies.
Cowboy bebop reminded me how dreams and life are made of the same stuff and that nothing is permanent, stagnant or impossible.
Arcane. Hands down 10/10 on practically every possible metric, but the thing that really got me was the way they portray trauma and the subsequent impact on mental health. I work with folks who have experienced trauma and I thought this was one of the best depictions of the aftermath I had ever seen in media.
Also, this is a perfect depiction of a Greek tragedy, in the sense that everything ends in tragedy not despite, but because of everyone's best intentions. As the story unfolds you understand everyone's motivations and they all make sense. There's no perfectly good or bad characters, just a lot of people doing the best they can with the cards they were dealt.
X Files - scared the crap out of me. Wasn’t a fan of aliens and screw that one episode with the inbred family.
Babylon 5! I was born in 94, when it premiered and have always watched it (along with Star Trek). It was one of the first shows that really pushed the continuous plot over serialized and it makes rewatches a game of finding the hints.
I've said before that Babylon 5 is the more realistic depiction of if we had made contact with aliens over star trek (at least the early ones), but the heros are still that.
Whose Line is it Anyway. It got me interested in improv, which has become something I enjoy doing.
I'm not even kidding but planet earth the original series. I learned some life lessons from that one surprisingly.
Mr. Wizard's World. MacGyver. The A-Team.
And all the cooking shows on PBS in the 80s.I've always been someone to tinker and break things apart to create new things. I've always been a problem solver.
Oh - and I pretty much got my entire sense of humor from Three's Company, Mork and Mindy, Cheers, and Mash.
adventure time and bojack horseman
Scrubs - landed at just the right time for me, fresh out of school and working through first real job/relationship. While my mates and I aren't Turk n JD close, we were closer than the typical dude-bro stereotype of the time and it felt like this show just made it a lot easier to love your best mate without the homophobic shame BS!
Mr. Wizard and MacGyver were big ones for me. They hit a curiosity and adventure sweet spot for me as a kid. Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross also helped teach me empathy and kept my artistic side interested.
I’m really grateful for the era I grew up in and the television personalities it gave me. It’s nice knowing that my influences have stood the test of time and I appreciate the foundation they gave my young mind.
If only I could keep that energy and inspiration going. Anxiety coupled with depression can really get you lost.
Six Feet Under, by far. It’s (in my opinion) the best show ever made. I never cry, but I cannot stop myself from crying at the end. It’s a perfect end to a perfect show. Its themes have a lot to do with themes in my own life and it changed my perspective on… everything? Nah, but a lot of things. Especially grief.
I was elated that my now-spouse who is a mortician had never heard of it… watching it again with someone to whom the subject matter… mattered even more was an incredible experience.
Twin peaks X-files Xena
The Simpsons raised me. It was a paternal and maternal figure, and friend. It prepared me for the rest of my life.
While young, x files and South Park. While older, Twin peaks, which I only watched recently including the new season 3.
When I was young, I read "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang".
Littlest Hobo was my fav show, about a dog helping people.
Malcolm in the middle
I don't think I'd be the same person without Adventure Time
ER almost made me become a doctor, I could have easily seen myself going down that path. I thought it was much more expensive in my country for medical school than it actually was, so I didn't go into medicine because of that, and then after I realized I was wrong about how much it would cost it made me realize okay maybe I wasn't smart enough to be a doctor to begin with.
Silicon Valley inspired me to continue working hard on one of my Java-based personal projects. I'd love to say it's a hugely massive success and I have hundreds or thousands of customers, but it's still just a personal project for fun at this point and probably always will be.
Friends
Basically any show on PBS Kids. I used to watch back when Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired regularly on it. Other shows I watched included Zoboomafoo (with the Kratt brothers!), Clifford, Arthur (was sad when I heard it'd aired its final new episode recently), Cyberchase, and Clifford's Puppy Days. My parents didn't have cable until I was a teenager, so I was pretty much raised on nothing but PBS Kids (as far as TV shows I could watch).
Another show I used to watch when I was really young, though, was Disney's House of Mouse on ABC Saturday Mornings. I was devastated when they stopped airing it. We didn't have a TV guide or anything, so, when it simply didn't come on one morning, it caught me by complete surprise. On a less sad note, I think I actually still have Snowed In at the House of Mouse on VHS.
Star Trek and Xena too.
How I Met Your Mother
Won’t pretend it’s the greatest of shows but, for a couple lonelier years a while back, they were my best friends
There's two shows that I started watching in my formative years (16-ish) that had a big impact on me: Frasier and Smallville. Frasier is still one of my favourite shows of all time. Recently watched a bit of Smallville again and it's... Not that good.
In Living Color. Man, the talent on that show was unbelievable: Almost the complete family Wayans, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey ... they all started with that show. And Jennifer Lopez was on the dance crew! Look up the skits on Youtube or Piped. The comedy I saw on that show was transformative. It's 30 years later and I'm still quoting Hans & Franz, Men on film, or Calhoun Tubbs regularly.
Permanently Deleted
Beakmans world. Way better than that sham Bill Nye. Also I had a crush on Josie.
No show had a bigger impact on me than Neon Genesis