The Acrostic Name Game

Sort of inspired by the very funky film fan Drama Llama and her Alphabetical Movie Meme, I wanted to create something that reflected my website a bit and could be just as easily adapted by others. I came up with an acrostic of my site name linking it with an explanation of my favourite TV show with that letter. So feel free to take on the challenge yourself, either with TV shows, or films, albums, singers, celebrities, recipes, cities or whatever else suits your blog.

A is for Arrested Development An example

An incredible show that is pretty much close to perfection. Never receiving the commercial appeal to push it beyond a cult delight, it nevertheless pushes the boundaries of comedy like all the greats do. Narrated by Ron Howard who is almost a character in himself, the show about the feuding Bleuth family is littered with satirical, sibling and romantic twists that merit being seen countless times.

L is for The Larry Sanders Show

This was probably the easiest choice of them all. An astonishing show, so far ahead of its time. With comedians like Larry David and Ricky Gervais having shows regularly featuring celebrities playing a semi-fictionalised version of themselves, it’s worth remembering how much the 89 episodes about an egocentric host, ambitious sidekick and manipulative producer, helped inspire them. Even without its visionary element, it’s observations on office politics, are just astonishingly perceptive.

E is for Everybody Loves Raymond An example

I know it’s more cuddly than cutting, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Everybody Loves Raymond. It covers the hilariously awkward relationship we as adults have with our parents. And just how much of a disaster it would be if we were happily married but they lived opposite the road and were always coming over uninvited.

X is for The X-Files

With most detective shows there’s normally a killer, a motive and a method. The X-Files blew that concept out of the water and seemingly created a new genre. The tales of two FBI agents, once cynical, one believing, investigating the paranormal world soon captured everyone’s imagination. I was hooked immediately. It ran on for too many episodes, but that can’t dilute just how fascinating it was for so long.

R is for The Racoons

For someone born and bred in London, seeing The Raccoons brought our the dreamer in me. Set outdoors in the Canadian Rockies with all the freedom to roam around, it was a really playful and adventurous cartoon that always made me smile.

A is for Alfred Hitchcock Presents

I’ve always been a big fan of short stories, so a show presented and closed by the ‘Master of Suspense’ was always going to grab my attention. With short stories adapted by literary greats of the genre including Ray Bradbury, John Collier, Fredric Brown and Henry Slesar, the show was consistently riveting and full of morbid twists.

P is for Perfect World An example

Not the best known of comedies by any means, but the adventures of Bob Sleigh and his long suffering colleagues made me laugh more than any other show. Running for only two series, the energy of each episode was incredible, as the workshy Sleigh would find himself in a problem, but be able to ingeniously find a solution by the end.

H is for House of Cards

I know there is a recent remake with Kevin Spacey, but it would be more than difficult to improve upon the British original. Ian Richardson’s sinister portrayal of the scheming Francis Urquhart was perfect in the political drama about a man desperate to do anything to force himself into Downing Street.

A is for Arrow

It’s only up to the second series, but I’m glued to the exploits of Oliver Queen and his secret life as the Arrow vigilante. Desperate to save the city he loves so much, Queen makes full use of the combat skills he learnt while kept captive on a hidden island. What I find particularly clever is the double story of his current life mixing with the flashbacks of his time that helped make him who he is.

E is for ER

There are countless medical dramas now, but ER was astonishingly ahead of its time and showed just what a show set in a hospital could achieve. It allowed you to get to know the characters really well to show not just the pressure they were under, how no two days were ever the same and the wide range of communication skills they needed. The first 7 or 8 series are as good as any drama I’ve seen.

L is for Law and Order  A Detailed Explanation

Running for 20 years, Law and Order is the longest ever running crime drama and I’ve seen pretty much every episode. The nature of the show meant you got to see the detective and the legal side, enabling a great set of detailed stories filled with all kinds of twists. It never shied away from the gritty side of city life and ugly loopholes in the justice system.

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