February - You Are Out of Here!

The month of February has been a rough one around the launchpad.  We lost our good friend and neighbor at the outset of the shortest month, followed by a succession of unfortunate events over the course of the month, including several winter storms - and then the anniversary of my mother's passing on Tuesday.  I will not be sad to see this month end today.

We are planning a relatively normal Pizza / Movie night at the launchpad - though there was some discussion that we should watch Ghostbusters tonight to honor Egon Spengler / Harold Ramis, who we also lost in this cold, bleak February.

Most evenings, after LBA and SoBA are in bed, Mrs. BA and I will settle down for some TV to unwind.  We are often doing other work and the TV is often on in the background - but occasionally we watch something off the DVR or, gasp, on live TV.

A while ago - kottke posted a list from the Writer's Guild of America of the 101 best written TV shows.  Thoughts?  Comment away.  My comments appear for the first 50 shows.

1. The Sopranos - I was a late comer to this show, Mrs. BA converted me.
2. Seinfeld - not that there's anything wrong with that.  One of those shows that is sometimes on in the background if Mrs. BA and I can't find anything else to watch
3. The Twilight Zone (1959) - a little early for me, but Rod Serling is always, the Man.
4. All in the Family - it definitely started to wane toward the end - but Archie Bunker was the bomb. 5. M*A*S*H - one of those shows that I would go and find if it was on somewhere.
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show - OH, MR. GRANT!
7. Mad Men - one of the best shows still on TV
8. Cheers - even with Kirstie Alley, I still watched.
9. The Wire - this is one I didn't watch.
10. The West Wing - Jed Bartlet is still my President.
11. The Simpsons - again, a good show, but I never got on board.
12. I Love Lucy - the definition of ground breaking.
13. Breaking Bad - I watched the first couple of episodes from the first season and even then, it was a little dark for me.
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show - a show about writers in the Top 20!
15. Hill Street Blues - HEY! Let's be careful out there.
16. Arrested Development - this show was never on my radar.  I don't think I could ever get past Jason Batemen from his Silver Spoons days.
17. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - my MIL swears by this show.  It's funny, but it's not for me.
18. Six Feet Under - watched every episode from every season.  I often quote Nate, "I hate the living."
19. Taxi - the extremely capable and underutilized Judd Hirsch.
20. The Larry Sanders Show - don't think I ever saw one episode
21. 30 Rock - One of Mrs. BA's favorites
22. Friday Night Lights - not for me
23. Frasier - another one of those shows that Mrs. BA and I will watch in reruns if it's on.
24. Friends - see #23
25. Saturday Night Live - I recently came to the conclusion that I am too old for SNL now.
26. The X-Files - never got hooked on Mulder and Scully
27. Lost - this show was of course, out there, but it was great, if confusing.
28. ER - another one that I stayed with until the end, and that was hard.
29. The Cosby Show - Bill Cosby, showing that clean comedy is great comedy.
30. Curb Your Enthusiasm - not a Larry David fan.
31. The Honeymooners - Jackie Gleason made this show what it was.
32. Deadwood - this show could only have been successful on pay cable.
33. Star Trek - despite it's limited run - the first was the best.
34. Modern Family - have not watched this one either.
35. Twin Peaks - see Lost.
36. NYPD Blue - after Hill Street Blues, all the rest were just posers
37. The Carol Burnett Show - I still can't watch some of these sketches without losing it.
38. Battlestar Galactica (2005) - I preferred the first one
39. Sex & the City - was never a big fan
40. Game of Thrones - I only went online and watched the Red Mass Massacre because I had to know what everyone was talking about.
41. The Bob Newhart Show - I agree, this Bob Newhart was better than the Vermont inn reboot.
TIE Your Show of Shows
43. Downton Abbey - have not gotten hooked on this new one.
TIE Law & Order
TIE thirtysomething - I watched most of these, I used to know someone who had a thing for Ken Olin.
46. Homicide: Life on the Street - like the Wire, never got into this - maybe it's a Baltimore thing.
TIE St. Elsewhere - Before ER, there was St. Elsewhere
48. Homeland - I may have a thing for Claire Danes.
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - was not a buffy person
50. The Colbert Report - no.
TIE The Good Wife
TIE The Office (UK) - didn't watch the American one either
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. Fawlty Towers
TIE The Rockford Files
60. Freaks and Geeks
TIE Moonlighting
62. Roots
63. Everybody Loves Raymond
TIE South Park
65. Playhouse 90
66. Dexter
TIE The Office (US)
68. My So-Called Life
69. The Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
71. 24
TIE Roseanne
TIE The Shield
74. House
TIE Murphy Brown
76. Barney Miller
TIE I, Claudius
78. The Odd Couple
79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TIE Monty Python’s Flying Circus
TIE Star Trek: The Next Generation
TIE Upstairs, Downstairs
83. Get Smart
84. The Defenders
TIE Gunsmoke
86. Justified
TIE Sgt. Bilko (The Phil Silvers Show)
88. Band of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. Absolutely Fabulous (UK)
TIE The Muppet Show
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will & Grace
95. Family Ties
96. Lonesome Dove
TIE Soap
98. The Fugitive
TIE Late Night with David Letterman
TIE Louie
101. Oz