Favorite TV shows

It sometimes is ironic how Michael Hirst chose to make so much, enormous historic inaccuracies... but he's somehow forgiven because he knows how to make drama from history for entertainment purpose, and we can find comfort in all the little detailed accuracies he's got right. His wording is pleasing to the ear and his writing is quite constant (Michael Hirst wrote all 38 episodes).

The costumes and sets are simply magnificent, the direction is also sumptuous at times.

Finally, the cast is brilliant. I had an irrational hate for Jonathan Rhys Meyers before watching The Tudors, but I can't denied he's impressive in his role (even if he does not look like Henry VIII AT ALL).

And a round of applause for the female leads who are all quite simply amazing, all of them... Natalie Dormer, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Tamzin Merchant, Sarah Bolger, so on and so on, even Joss Stone!

OH, AND THE MUSIC BY TREVOR MORRIS IS AMAZING TOO.

Nodame Cantabile is simply the best Japanese TV drama for the directors' sheer ability to reuse the manga style and its crazy characters without it being stupid and/or unbearably cheesy.

It's ridiculously funny, the characters are completely wacky and the actors know how to play with the right level of craziness.

And what an enchantment is the classical music to the soul...

Completely hilarious and crazy. And who doesn't like sex puns and jokes?

The strength of OTH resides in its power to tell a story, more so than in the story itself. The combo of Lucas' voice-over, the awesome use of indie music and the effective editing of the early seasons was a delight.

Yes, it may has been a little shallow at times with typical storylines for a teen TV drama (a love triangle and the good girl falls in love with the bad guy for example) but the writers and actors always knew how to make it more special and profound. And it always delivered important life messages about the value of friendship and love without trying to be moralistic (or overdramatic).

Seasons 5 and 6 lacked energy and the spark of the first four seasons, but it was still watchable... The whole Brooke/Sam dynamic was sweet, Hilarie Burton was great in season 5 and Daphne Zuniga is just so awesome... but maybe psycho nanny Carrie and same old Dan Scott made it not worth going through it all.

Season 7 was a real clusterfuck (which could alone make you ashamed of ever liking OTH in the first place) with at least five main storylines rehashed from early seasons but added with ten layers of stupidity, with a dull, boring and bored ensemble cast, resulting into a really lame TV show or even, a soap opera. *weep*

Anyway, I liked my characters better when they were modest and struggling with money, family and love than (filthy) rich struggling with random people blackmailing them...

If only TV networks weren't so prone to renew decadent TV shows...

It's everything The Office isn't anymore and even with less annoying characters.