Smart Shows on the Idiot Box

Of all the nicknames for the television to live up to, it had to be "idiot box". But watching too much TV doesn't have to cause one to lose too much IQ points. In an age where brainless is a new genre, there remain a handful of entertaining, but not necessarily idiotic shows, that are worth becoming a couch potato for. Here are the top five series with utterly brilliant plots that make me go from channel surfing to swimming in just one channel:

 

CSI

Watching the first few episodes made me say, "When I grow up, I wanna be a forensics specialist!" Unfortunately, it's too late for me now, being a college graduate and all, so I choose to live vicariously through Gil Grissom and his fellow crime scene investigators. Science geeks have never looked sexier.

 

How I Met Your Mother

This Carter Bays and Craig Thomas creation is sheer genius from the storyline to editing, all the elements come together to create a show that reflects real life. Loosely based Bays and Thomas's personal lives, the show is a refreshing sitcom that a lot of yuppies can relate to. Ted, Robin, Barney, Marshall and Lily are household guests I enjoy having around every once in a while.

 

The Office

Michael Scott is the kind of boss I'd either want to have (because work will be a breeze, in fact, I might not have to work at all!) or dread to work for (because you'll find yourself doing the silliest things like running a marathon for rabies or  making imaginary phone calls to avoid him). Either way, I'd take that cubicle at the corner just to be around the goof.

 

Pushing Daisies

Whimsical and romantic best describe Pushing Daisies. Who would ever think that a story about a pie maker and his formerly dead childhood sweetheart would make great tv? Bryan Fuller obviously thought so and I agree 100%!

 

House

Dr. Gregory House has the kind of brutal honesty we all wish we could have. Except he diagnoses patients with the all the deadliest diseases known and unknown to man kind; with that in his job description shouldn't he break the news to them gently? Gregory House doesn't think so and that's what makes him my kind of guy!

 

From watching these shows, the only kind of idiot you'll turn into is the one that gets drawn to the lives of the characters and forgets that it's all fiction.

 

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Photo sources:

http://flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/hector-csi.jpg

http://z.about.com/d/tvcomedies/1/0/P/0/-/-/cast_red_chair.jpg

http://assets.hulu.com/shows/key_art_the_office.jpg

http://squareeyes.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/pushing_daisies.jpg

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/arts/2007/03/23/house460.jpg