I am a big fan of television and the shows that I try to keep up to date with weekly are:

• Game of Thrones (obviously)
• Archer
• Elementary
• Once Upon a Time
• Mr. Robot

There are others like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Legends of Tomorrow, Flash and Orphan Black which I like, but I’m not too worried if I have to play catch up because I missed a week or two.. or three. You can’t be up to date on everything!

I tend to hear about cool television shows from my friends and family, but occasionally the internet lends a helping hand. Some of my favourite television shows came to be that way because I saw .gifs on the internet that made me go, “oh hello”.  

Gravity Falls

In 2012 my Tumblr dashboard was overrun with Gravity Fall .gifs. Over. Run. I couldn’t scroll five seconds without being accosted by an animation of these characters. Normally I scroll past, unfollow and get irritated, but there was something about the animation style and dialogue that made me curious. After the first episode I was hooked, ravenous for more content and absolutely resigned to my fate that I would love this show forever. 

What’s great about it? It is earnest, honest, funny and kind. It merges fantastical and magical events with the very real issues the characters must deal with. Growing up, fear of missing out, discrimination and all kinds of love. I mean, it gets a little heavy during later episodes but it is so consistently good. Breaking with the tradition of American shows outlasting their welcome, Gravity Falls ends when the original premise ends, and that makes it that much better.

I don’t know who it was that reblogged all these .gifs, but thank you. 

Community

I’m pretty sure someone posted a .gif, then others complained that it made no sense without the video, posted the video, I watched and laughed my butt off. 

Community was a great show when it was on air, it was not consistent, some episodes fell flat and there were times the characters became weird parodies of themselves but it never stopped trying to entertain. Now I have Netflix , I’ve watched Seasons 1 – 5 countless times, jumping back and forth between seasons to . It’s actually the reason that I have Netflix. 

You could say, this show is the gift that keeps on giving.

Rick and Morty

There’s a bit in an Austin Powers movie where they call the wife of a henchman because her husband is dead, and in context it was so hilarious. Seeing a call back to that just set me off in a fit of giggles that I had to find out more about this show. 

Wow. This show is like if in Back to the Future, Doc Brown Back was a raging alcoholic, Marty was a wimp and also completely replaceable. For a comedy show, it is pretty heavy and existential. It’s not a show that I would want to watch with family, nor would really recommend it to anyone other than a, “I think this is cool” just because it’s so out there at times. Still, it’s funny in a smart way even though it presents itself as a dumb show. 

Are there any shows that you like because of a random video or .gif someone sent to you? I’m always trying to discover new shows!