Maybe what I really mean to say here is TV series on some kind of media that let you watch as many episodes as you want at one sitting. For so many of us, it's a slightly guilty pleasure to curl up on the couch with some hot tea or a beer and dive into the other worlds that flicker and glow on the TV screen. Movies are fun, but TV shows that are really good can be so much more satisfying--it's like comparing a short story to an epic novel: both have their merits, but when you want to be absorbed for a long time, you go with the novel. The characters have plenty of room to breathe and grow and change, to make mistakes and redeem themselves, to mourn to struggle and to celebrate. There are wrenching moments and cathartic ones. In the best cases, TV series can inspire self-reflection and even growth. Some I have held dear over the years (some for many seasons and others for just a few episodes--and they haven't all inspired deep thoughts) have been Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dawson's Creek, M*A*S*H, A Different World, ER, Early Edition, Ugly Betty, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Batman the Animated Series, and recently the original British version of Skins. And probably a fair few that are slipping my mind right now. I love the moment when I hear the first familiar strains of the theme music and the title credits begin to roll. I lean back, get comfortable, and get ready to be transported.
