The Best TV Schedule Of All Time
I've been recovering from a short period of being deathly ill, and while the first 36 hours were pretty rough, the last 48 have been a lot of "well, it hurts to move, but if I stay
right here I'm doing fine." So I've had a little bit of free time. I thought I'd share it with you on my new project.
The object was to create the greatest possible TV schedule of all-time. The rules were simple:
1. All TV programs had to be placed on their original network.
2. All TV programs had to be put into a time slot they had once inhabited during their original run. Shows cannot be moved, nor the start times fudged, in any way.
So the point was not to select the best 100 shows, but to create the best TV schedule from TV schedules that had already existed, as if I went through a stack of
TV Guides with scissors and tape.
I was also curious if there were spots that certain networks never tried to fill, or used to compete in and then gave up on. NBC was once famed for their consistently formidable Thursday night comedy block (it's okay-ish now) - if that's where their efforts have focused, where have they turned a blind eye? (Mondays at 10 PM, for one thing.)
When I created this, I tried to decide how it would best be experienced, should it become real.
Option A: I have my memory of all these shows be wiped, then start the TV season in September with the first season of all these shows. But that didn't seem right. A couple of these shows only got one season, and some of the others got a lot of seasons, but they didn't really get rolling until season three or four (this is often true of comedies. "Cheers," for instance).
So my next thought was
Option B: I should pick out the best season of each show for this. But that didn't work either. I wasn't intimately acquainted with a lot of these shows - I set out to make the best schedule, not my own personal viewing wish list - so I wasn't qualified to guess which season would be best for each show. I planned on doing some research on this afterwards to figure that out, though, until I hit on:
Option C: I still get my memory of these shows erased, but first, reality-be-damned, they all start recording new episodes immediately, as if the show had never existed before. I'm not saying they reboot the franchises, I just say the shows simply reappear, with the original casts and crew and sets and time period and what-have-you, but now all in glorious high-definition. What's more, I pick out directions for all of them. Because, let's be honest, I could fix some of these shows. I know things. I'm savvy. Shows that were great and don't need to be touched get a free pass, shows that were great but lost something over time get a return to glory, and shows that were good but could have been better get some new blood.
One quick note - While the Big Three have had the privilege of broadcasting shows for well over 50 years, newer networks like Fox and the CW have had less time, and so less options for me to pick from. Therefore, I combined the CW with its two forebears (UPN and the WB) and called it one network, which seemed to be playing fair enough. I also made no bones about the quality of programming that has appeared on these networks since they began. If they've never tried to broadcast anything worthwhile after 10 PM, I'm not going to give them any credit.
Sunday
Alright, Sunday night has become a little bit of a throwaway in recent years, but that wasn't always the case, so there's some quality to be had here. However, changes need to be made. First, "Alias" must return to its early season glory, so let's get J.J. Abrams back as showrunner and bang things out. What's more, he also has to run CBS' "Mission: Impossible," since he did such a bang-up job on directing
MI:3. Even better, Tom Cruise and Phillip Seymour Hoffman have to come with him.
Ed Sullivan, not-dead and in the prime of his career, will run his show in 2009, working with modern bands and comics who grew up idolizing him, but the Smothers Brothers will still operate in the sixties and seventies. Steve Martin will return to the writing staff and be named head writer. Likewise, Conan O'Brien will return as head writer of "The Simpsons," and Brad Bird will direct all the episodes.
"The West Wing" will start their run over, but Moira Kelly will
never be hired - instead, Emily Procter will be introduced as Republican Ainsley Hayes in the third or fourth episode, and David Caruso will be executed in the street (not in the show, in real life) so that no one can start "CSI: Miami" and take her away from the show. Aaron Sorkin will naturally return to write all the episodes, and no one will ever give him cocaine.
"Psych" will return to network television, but be given a network budget to play with, and Rachel Leigh Cook's character will start having a recurring role. Jessica Biel will return to "7th Heaven," bringing Justin Timberlake with her. Her character will become overwhelming embarrassed when Timberlake forms a hip-hop/beatbox act with her father. Also, zombies are added.
Monday
ABC regains the rights to "Monday Night Football." They broadcast the best game, every week, which is selected the week before and not months in advance, so we see the best possible rivalry instead of Browns vs. Bengals in mid-November. Joe Buck is in no way involved.
"The Rifleman" takes on both John Ford and Quentin Tarantino as executive producers. Modern-day Ron Howard directs all of "The Andy Griffith Show." Old-school Ron Howard still stars.
We finally meet the goddamn mother.
"Northern Exposure" gets an added boost of quirk when Rob Morrow's "Numb3rs" co-star, David Krumholtz, joins the cast. Also, Judd Hirsch, just because. "House" combines his original team with his newer team, though Kal Penn still dies a messy and memorable death somewhere midseason (John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris both guest star as 'voices from his past'). There is at least one episode where Hugh Laurie, Robert Sean Leonard, and Lisa Edelstein do nothing but sit in a room together and say witty and acerbic things to each other.
On "24," the series starts over. For once, Kiefer Sutherland dies and gets resuscitated exactly zero times during the season. Elisha Cuthbert shows up and looks very hot for a little while, then dies a clear and irrevocable death so that she can
never come back again. Dennis Haysbert returns as President, but it's revealed that he's also his character from "The Unit," and he and Sutherland go off and kick some terrorist tail together. The Chinese are never involved, and no one ever gets amnesia.
"Heroes" starts over from scratch, but someone writes them a truly awesome season finale. The show never comes back again. "Studio 60" starts over after the pilot and no one ever talks about politics ever again. Matthew Perry and Sarah Paulson agree just to disagree about whether God is real or not. Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler write all the sketches seen on the show.
The casts of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Aliens In America" switch locations, just for fun.
Tuesday
First of all: no one jumps over a shark.
Next, "Sports Night" combines its cast and the sharp writing of Aaron Sorkin with oversight from ESPN executives, giving the show a more frantic, realistic pace. The show will tie in to real sports events, actual sports stars will guest from time to time, and Clark Gregg will join the cast full-time.
David Caruso will re-join the cast of NYPD Blue, then be executed in the street again.
Every episode of M*A*S*H will feature Alan Alda flying away in helicopters while Mike Farrell leaves him messages formed from piles of rocks.
Tuesdays at 9 will be "The Simon Baker Hour," with interspersed episodes of "The Guardian" and "The Mentalist." Eventually, those two shows will combine, and Simon Baker will attempt to win drug cases with the defense "I just
know that he's not telling the truth" and a boyish wink at the judge.
On "American Idol," the top 12 will be Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Kris Allen, Blake Lewis, Fantasia Barrino, Jennifer Hudson, Elliot Yamin, Allison Iraheta, and just for fun, Kellie Pickler or Sanjaya. Kara will not be judging, Simon will pay attention the whole season, and someone will spike Paula's drink every night.
No one will let Bailey start drinking, ever.
"News Radio" features the original cast, including Phil Hartman, but the show moves to Cincinnati to compete with "WKRP." It also subtracts some Dave Thomas kvetching. "Scrubs" features both Heather Graham and Tom Cavanaugh as permanent guest stars, and Brendan Fraser keeps popping back up as the dead brother only John C. McGinley can see. Zach Braff still goes off and makes
Garden State, but this time he doesn't get a big head when he comes back.
"Remington Steele" just becomes
James Bond, but weekly.
No Dean, no Logan, no Jess, no Christopher. These Gilmore Girls have
terrible taste. Jared Padelecki is allowed to return only if it is revealed he was secretly his character from "Supernatural" this whole time, and he, Sean Gunn, and Liza Weil start a werewolf-hunting team, at which point it is revealed that Edward Herrman is a werewolf (I always suspected it).
"Veronica Mars" gets a complete free pass, on the condition that we get lots of Percy Daggs III.
Wednesday
"Pushing Daisies" gets complete freedom from network control, and Bryan Turner is allowed to run the show however he wants. However, Barry Sonnenfeld has to direct every episode. "The Johnny Cash Show" becomes essentially a weekly live Johnny and June Cash show, with guest spots from modern artists playing with Cash. Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson guest-host.
Chris Rock is added to the cast of "All In The Family." Paul Greengrass is named executive producer of "Hawaii Five-O." The results show of "American Idol" moves back to half an hour. There's a group number, a music video, Simon says something smarmy, and we find out the results.
That's it."The OC" starts over, but this time Olivia Wilde is a full time cast member, and Mischa Barton isn't on the show at all. The show features Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan and almost no other adults. Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson get together and stay together, and hang out saying witty things to a surly Ben McKenzie.
"Law & Order" stays "Law & Order," and doesn't become "Law & Order: Useless Spinoff." Mariska Hargitay, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Jeff Goldblum all leave their spinoffs and join the cast.
I couldn't decide between "Felicity" or "Roswell," so I decided to combine the two. Now Felicity goes to college and discovers her identity in the very spot where aliens established contact with the Earth. Kind of a teen dramedy/sci-fi show, with big special effects. Fortunately, J.J. Abrams is named showrunner. Keri Russell, Greg Grunberg, and all the hot people from "Roswell" star. Especially Shiri Appleby.
Thursday
"The Odd Couple" stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
Done. Clive Anderson mercifully returns as host of "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" "Lost" starts over, is told "you have 100 episodes to solve this thing. Go." Nikki and Paolo never show up, and no one ever tries to teach us the secret of Jack's tattoos. J.J. Abrams also has to return as showrunner.
Andy Garcia and Sean Connery reprise their movie roles in the TV version of "The Untouchables." Kevin Costner does not.
Someone shows Alfred Hitchcock, who was a practical joke player of disturbing intensity, a tape of one of those hidden camera scare shows and just says "you can do stuff like this on television now," then leaves the room. Hitchcock is given a gigantic budget and no oversight whatsoever.
Nobody on "Friends" ever has a baby, or tries to have a baby. They instead are forced to adopt "Seinfeld's" 'no hugging, no learning' policy. "The Office" spends three seasons trying to keep Pam and Jim apart. At the end of season three, they finally get together, and the show ends.
"Cheers" recasts Rhea Pearlman's part. "ER" has a cast of George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Maura Tierney, Anthony Edwards, Eriq La Salle, Julianna Marguilies, Linda Cardellini, Parminder Nagra, Shane West, Jorja Fox, and Busy Phillips. It goes off the air before it tries to do a smallpox scare for a second time.
"Smallville" picks up and moves to Metropolis, and Tom Welling begins his life as a young Superman, finding his way. Brian Singer is named executive producer, and Frank Langella and a young Marlon Brando join the cast.
Friday
Friday night's always been a bit of dumping ground, so this one got trickier.
On "Sabrina," we spend way less time with the aunts and way more time with the talking cat. The characters on "Boy Meets World" never go to college, though we do get that great subplot where Will Friedle goes to LA to become an actor. "Joan of Arcadia" is given a couple of seasons to discover how good a show it can be without everybody yelling at it about low ratings. It also stars the current, better-acting version of Amber Tamblyn as Joan, and Jeremy Renner as God.
I couldn't decide between "Dukes Of Hazzard" and "Moonlight," so in this new show, the Duke Brothers split their time between running from the law
and vampire hunting. Likewise, I'm combining "The Love Boat," "Dallas," and "Falcon Crest." I can't even imagine what that would look like, but I would totally watch it.
Fox will run both "Firefly" and "Wonderfalls," and outside of broadcasting the programs will
not interfere with either show in any way. It would also be up to the showrunners to decide how the show was marketed, not the Fox advertising department.
8 PM on Friday night for NBC was always a low-brain-cell affair, so I combined "Quantum Leap," "The A-Team," "Knight Rider," "Baywatch," and "Dark Angel." In it, the A-Team drives around in a giant talking Trans Am, fighting hordes of evil slow-motion lifeguards, masterminded by a leather jump-suited Jessica Alba. David Hasselhoff stars in it twice.
Nobody ever kills anybody on "Friday Night Lights." The amount of football played on the show is doubled.
"Star Trek" and "Star Trek: Enterprise" both return. J.J. Abrams is named showrunner for both.
Saturday
If you thought Friday night was bad, Saturday is even worse. These days, the networks literally don't program anything at all on Saturday nights. They just decide a week or two before what old movie or volleyball game they're gonna throw on. Sad.
"The Partridge Family" starts a competitive rivalry with the "Brady Bunch." Hijinks ensue, and everybody laughs and learns a valuable lesson. Then things get
violent.
"Lawrence Welk's Dodge Dancing Party" returns to TV, because, oh my God, I can't believe a show was ever named that. David Lynch returns to "Twin Peaks," but Alfred Hitchcock is named executive producer. Gunsmoke is given the HBO "as violent as you wanna be, boys" treatment.
And of course, Fox does nothing but show "COPS" all night. God bless 'em.
Now, admit it - can you find even one thing about that TV season that you would not watch?
Labels: abc, all-time, best, cbs, cw, fox, nbc, tv schedule, upn, wb
Top Performances of American Idol: Season 8
This post will probably be as controversial a post as anything I've ever posted, but I've gotta say: I went over this list half a dozen times, moving things up and down, removing things, putting them back in, etc., and this list has to be pretty close to an absolute.
We've got one more week of performances, though there's no reason to assume that any of them will be unbelievably great, since the judges will be picking songs for the contestants again (yay.), so I think we're safe to put the list on ice before a (hopefully) Adam and Kris finale next week.
Rabid Glambert and Danny fans might pour flame mail down my throat, but you have to admit - while Adam has been more than solid the whole season long, always effortless, always energetic, his two really only show-stopping moments are given their due here, and solid-but-unremarkable (for him) performances like "Black Or White," "Feeling Good," and "Play That Funky Music" don't make the list. Danny fans - what can I say? He's been solid all season, never surprising (save for that
one time), and while his vocals have been excellent, how many can you look back on and say "that was an unbelievable performance." The couple weeks that qualify are listed here.
As for Lil, Scott, Megan, Michael, and (God forbid) Jorge and Jasmine fans, and those vague hangers-on from the Semi-finals (Ricky Braddy, everybody!), I can only apologize. You were all memorable. Just not in the right way.
Links are provided.
25. Jesse Langseth – “Bette Davis Eyes"The only one on this list who didn't make the finals, she never really had a chance - she sang in the same semi-final group that Alison did. How good was this song, though? The backbeat on it, and those smoking vocals over that snapping groove. And Jasmine beat her to the finals because the judges thought she might be a 'package artist.' Grr.
24. Matt Giraud - "Part Time Lover"Matt was unfortunate to never really start to find a real comfort level until the end of the competition, but this was one of the performances where he remained completely in the zone, (mercifully) not killing the melody with riffing.
23. Anoop Desai - "True Colors"Anoop hit a stretch early on where it was clear the only thing that was really working for him was slow, soulful ballads, something he fought endlessly and unsuccessfully. His best moments were always these quiet, understated vocals, and this was one his very best.
22. Kris Allen - "Heartless" The only real standout from the top three's showdown tonight was Kris' attempt to get America's attention by covering Kanye West's "Heartless," a strong choice since it's a current and musically interesting song famously sung by a terrible singer, so the only place to go was up. Choosing to do it with just an acoustic and stretching his vocals to their limits, though, was a gutsy call.
21. Danny Gokey - "Get Ready"We learned early on that if Gokey could get a chorus in his range that just needed him to slam the gas to the floor, that was a moment worth waiting for. Of all his faster moments, complete with gloriously awkward dancing and self-conscious glances at the camera, he never hit harder or more effectively than he did right here.
20. Alexis Grace - "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" The performance that swept Alexis into the finals (where she was immediately swept right out again) was so good that everyone believed that bogus news story floating around at the beginning of the season that the producers already had their top 4 picked out and Alexis was in it. Of course, her getting booted after her lovely but ill-advised version of "Jolene" the second week ended that conspiracy theory pretty quickly.
19. Matt Giraud - "So Small"Nobody really made it through Country Week that well (except for Anoop, of course). It's somehow just not a good week for most singers, for some reason. Still, Matt did some interesting things to Carrie Underwood's hit and really made it sound like something that could be on an album he made. Not bad for a guy who is quite emphatically
not a country artist.
18. Kris Allen - "She Works Hard For The Money"Ah, Disco Week. Where everyone falls all over each other to try to "re-invent" disco (as if anyone invented it the first place. I maintain it was accidentally discovered, like how Marie Curie discovered uranium. I hope whoever it was suffered the same fate). Kris ended up the only person looking untouched at the end of the night with a stripped-down acoustic version of the Donna Summer classic.
17. Allison Iraheta - "Someone To Watch Over Me"Trust me, this is the first of many Allison performances. How she managed to remain skating through in the bottom three each week despite so many jaw-dropping performances is beyond me, but this was one of my favorites. Imbued with all the desperation and trembling vulnerability the song requires, Allison connected with the song in such a way that it would've made Mr. Holland re-write his Opus all over again (Dreyfuss references!).
16. Matt Giraud - "Who's Loving You"We'd gotten the impression that Matt was a good singer during Hollywood week, but his Semi-final performance of "Viva La Vida" (though not nearly as bad as everyone says it was) didn't give us much to go on. When he went back to his roots during Wild Card week, it was game over. Despite the judges very clear efforts to jam as many girls into the Top 12 as possible (Jasmine Murray!), it was clear that Matt had made a home for himself on the Idol stage.
15. Adam Lambert - "Born To Be Wild"Adam has mercifully dialed down the endless showboat wailing that marred his early performances, though he hasn't exactly figured out how to bring the energy back up without alienating fans ("Cryin" was a good step forward this week), sometimes it's best when he lets it all good. "Wild" was every bit as good a vocal as Adam had all year, plus his crowd-pleasing head-banging made for a great show.
14. Danny Gokey - "What Hurts The Most"There's a moment in this song where it gets big, and you need a big vocal to make it work, and as soon as it hit that part, everyone watching said 'oh, wow, yeah, that's why he picked this song.' Watch it back now. I still get goosebumps.
13. Allison Iraheta - "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"No matter how big the song, no matter how fast the lyrics fly, no matter how old the material, if a song is rocking enough, Allison will destroy it. Every time.
12. Matt Giraud - "Let's Get It On"The song that made everyone - even the judges! - snap to and say 'y'know, this guy's got a real chance at that thing.' The swipe of the mike off the piano stand and the subsequent stride to center stage just announced with every little motion an eye-catching, veteran performer. And speaking of eye-catching, it should be noted both how
outrageously tight his jeans were, and how disturbingly excited Kara was at the end of the performance.
11. Adam Lambert & Allison Iraheta - "Slow Ride"Everything about this performance makes me feel happy - the two of them trading lines, exchanging riffs, interacting and grinning at each other, plus the giant hug at the end that showed how genuinely thrilled for each other they were. I hope they actually do let them do it on the tour and not one of those awful group numbers that drag every results show into the ground.
10. Anoop Desai - "Always On My Mind"I still remember the moment Anoop started singing this song and my jaw just dropped to the floor. Up to this point we'd seen Anoop perform at least four times, and there wasn't the slightest indication he had this sort of vocal. But the moment he opened his mouth for this song, it was like you could hear a pin drop in the Idol auditorium.
9. Allison Iraheta – “Alone” At the time Allison performed this in the semi-finals, we had absolutely no idea who she was. She hadn't been seen in previous segments, we'd barely seen her face during Hollywood week, and so we knew she wasn't one of the go-to season favorites (which at that point were Danny, Matt, and Lil, I'm pretty sure). But once she started singing, she'd vaulted into the top 13 before the song was even done. Still one of her best vocals from the season.
8. Matt Giraud - "You Found Me"This must be the year's most underrated performance. Maybe it was performing the song from the pit in front of the stage. Maybe it was being surrounded by 50 fans who could not clap on any of the beats. Maybe it was that awful Members Only jacket. I don't know. But Matt killed on this song, pouring grit into the melody and riffing off to give it a soulful edge. I'll point out that this is the only week during his last stretch where he didn't end up in the bottom three.
7. Allison Iraheta - "I Can't Make You Love Me"How is it that such an adult sort of song about complex relationships sounded so natural when sung by a sixteen-year-old girl? She was so heart-breaking on this song, a selection, it should be pointed out, from "Songs From The Year You Were Born" week.
6. Danny Gokey - "Come Rain Or Come Shine"As stellar as Danny's vocals have been (until recently), it wasn't until Rat Pack week that Danny really had that moment that made you say 'man, that's why this guy is here. No one else could've done that.' And all because that song has so many moments where it seems like it's about to get huge, and you brace for it, and Danny reigns it back in, keeping you waiting for the big finale that makes it all worth it.
5. Kris Allen - "Falling Slowly"How lousy was Movie Music week? Out of seven performances, we had two (two!) Bryan Adams songs, Danny brought a harp player onto the stage, and even Allison was kinda mediocre. While Adam brought the show some energy on "Born To Be Wild," it was Kris' sweet, gentle take on "Falling Slowly" that reminded us of just how outstanding a singer Kris really is - and gives lie to Simon's endless insistence that Kris shouldn't be in the finals because he's not a good enough vocalist.
4. Allison Iraheta - "Cry Baby" (post-elimination)Her Rock week vocal was a little rocky, though I think we can't blame bad vocals for sending her home that week (Oh, Danny, why?). But once she got eliminated, her farewell performance was pitch-perfect and emotionally stunning. Where most people halfheartedly stumble through the song that dropped them from competition, Allison gave us one more reason to remember that we'll be seeing her again soon.
3. Adam Lambert - "Mad World"A lot of people assume that this should be number one, but at least for me, once I heard that Adam was doing "Mad World," I said 'oh, he'll do the Gary Jules version.' And of course he did. But that's nothing to take away from Adam's vocal, which is both haunting and impressive, and his tender, understated (!) performance.
2. Kris Allen - "Ain't No Sunshine"Nobody else this season has had a moment quite like this - a melodic reinvention of a song so gripping that the judges had to admit that they could see the song being played on the radio right then. It's the only time this year I heard a performance and knew that I'd be buying that person's album when it came out, no matter what.
1. Adam Lambert - "Tracks Of My Tears"Was there any doubt? Remember, up until this performances Adam was a sharply divisive candidate, as fans either deplored him and his persistent wailing, or found him to be the best contestant Idol had ever seen (I was in the former group, though I was starting to come around a little). But "Tracks Of My Tears" - slow, acoustic, and poignant - was unlike any performance we'd ever seen from him, and still let him show off his remarkable vocal range. Looking back, we'll almost certainly end up saying 'and
that's the moment he won American Idol.'
Disagree with me? I'm not surprised. I'm not backing down on this list though.
Labels: adam lambert, alexis grace, allison iraheta, american idol, anoop desai, best, danny gokey, finals, jesse langseth, kris allen, matt giraud, performances, season eight, semi-finals, top
Favorite Webcomics
Because of my job, some weeks I spend a decent amount of time on the web wasting time in very short bursts. Working with video, I do some work on my editing program and then hit "render," giving me about two or three minutes as the program converts the video into a watchable format. There's not a lot you can do in that amount of time, so webcomics are a good fit. Here's a top-five list.
Honourable Mention: Questionable Content, which works much better when you read it in huge chunks than it does on a daily basis. I remember I always felt the same about
Fox Trot growing up - it wasn't worth following in the paper or online, but it was worth reading the collections when they came out. To that end, I have linked to QC's first comic, and you are welcome to start from there. I'd recommend it as an activity for a rainy day (unless it's thundering, at which point you would be wise to shut off your computer to avoid damage from surges).
Mostly I just made QC an honourable mention so I wouldn't have to hunt through its archives for a good example to put here. Also because I wanted to type "honourable" with the British spelling.
Second Runner-Up: Penny Arcade. It's all a little too much inside baseball to rank in the top five for me, but I subscribe to the RSS feed and always keep up. Gabe and Tycho have been keeping the world informed about the idiocies involved in the world of gaming for so long that their popularity has grown to the point that they are now actually making
Penny Arcade videogames on the side. There's a lesson there somewhere.
(click on the images to enlarge)
Honorable Mention: Married To The Sea. A husband and wife duo who take old Victorian drawings and add new captions to the photos. A fun concept that works even better in the reality than it does in theory, MTTS is loaded with fun comics to post around. like this one:
5. Piled Higher and Deeper. This guy started a webcomic about being a grad student in 1997. Seriously, 1997. I don't know if I even really knew what the internet was in 1997*. I was still in middle school, playing NBA Live and listening to Jars of Clay. But there Jorge Cham was, working on
PhD comics instead of doing his grad work (he was - surprise! - getting his doctorate at the time). It simultaneously makes being a grad student look both fun and brain-meltingly boring, as his characters seem to spend most of their time putting off work in order to go find free food. Which sounds about right to me.
*The first webcomic was
Doctor Fun, started in 1993, by the way.
4. A Softer World. A surrealist view of life done in the most emo way possible, the writers will take a picture, spread it across three frames, and add mental dialogue. You've got to see one to understand:
3. Ctrl+Alt+Delete. More of a traditional comic form, it also works best as a long read on a snowy evening. It follows a completely hairbrained main character as he enacts crazy plans that ruin the lives of his more levelheaded roommate and girlfriend. Naturally, being a webcomic, it's also mostly about video games. One of the characters is actually a combination XBox/robot, which I suppose is a less traditional comic form:
2. Real Life. Loosely based around the life of creator Greg Dean, it stays true to its name as we follow Greg from 1999 - when he mostly sat around playing video games with his friends - to the present, as a full time cartoonist. In the meantime, you could follow him as he went to culinary school, moved to California and then to Texas, and fell in love and got married. Of course, Real Life only extends so far, as the character also seems to find time to destroy buildings from Star Destroyers from time to time:
1. XKCD. The clear winner. The title doesn't mean a thing, the drawing is just stick figures, and it's generally just comics about math, but for some reason it's my favorite thing ever. A former NASA scientist decided to reinvent himself and chose this as his new path. Here's a sample:
Enjoy. Thanks Laura for the request.
Labels: a softer life, best, comics, ctrl+alt+del, favorite, married to the sea, penny arcade, piled higher and deeper, questionable content, real life, top, webcomics, xkcd
