Thanksgiving Character Conundrum

To My Youngers,

This past weekend (aka My first Thanksgiving at the cottage in over a decade :o) K and I got in a late-night discussion about favourite television characters. This was jointly brought on by a major Sliders watching marathon and a re-telling of a moment in the Gossip Girl Season opener where two characters chime in union "Because he's Chuck Bass!" (Oh Chuck Bass, the reason for my embarrassing love of Gossip Girl...). I had some difficulty coming up with a top ten (after completely failing to turn my top two into an acceptable top five) but I think I've whittled it down.

SIDEBAR- there is something awesome about a top five list that is not often reflected in a similarly themed top ten list- because really, once you get past seven, you're just going for filler. Pretty much every list starts out as a top three, which is ever so difficultly fleshed out into a top five by suggesting then eliminating possible 4 and 5 candidates until you finally settle on the appropriate entries. A top ten list is just a lazy-man's top five. I would put forth that this is one of my few exceptions to the rule. Either that or I was just too tired and full to do said effective whittling.

Also note the difference between a top ten BEST and a top ten FAVOURITE... this is the latter type of list and does not in any way purport to be of the former sort!

So here is my list (partially in order, insomuch as Josh and Chuck Bass would be the top two)
1. Joshua Lyman (The West Wing)
2. Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl)
3. Gareth Keenan (The Office, UK)
4. Desmond Hume (Lost)
5. Donna Noble (Dr Who)
6. Peggy Olson (Mad Men)
7. Chandler Bing (Friends)
8. Sam Becket (Quantum Leap)
9. Sheldon Cooper (the Big Bang Theory)
10.Rory Williams (Dr. Who)

Honorable Mentions go to Quinn Mallory (Sliders),  Jessica Fletcher (Murder she Wrote), and the-man-with-his-twin-stuck-in-his-stomach (the Fiji-Mermaid episode of the X-files. What? He made me cry!)

-E

Alternative

To my elders,

When referring to the 90s, "Alternative" can mean so many things. Music. Hairstyles. Lifestyles. Shoes. Medicine. Bus this past week it has meant something a little different. Its meant Dimensions. As in, Alternative, parallel dimensions.

I'm not crazy, I promise. I rediscovered that once upon a time I found Sliders somewhere and got the first 3 seasons. Remember Sliders? No? A tv show from 1995 about wormholes to other dimensions? Starring Jerry O'Connell? Vaguely? Well then check out the trailer.

We watched Sliders growing up. And you know what? It is probably why we like Doctor Who so much. New adventures on strange, yet familiar worlds every week. Worm holes. Dimensions. Time(-ish) travel. Occasionally dinosaurs. Cheesy special affects, simplistic plots, and yet surprisingly interesting. And you know what? If you get past the grunge-ness of it (it was 1995 after all), it really does stand up.

I kind of love being able to rediscover something I was so into as a kid. Its like getting to glimpse something of your past. I remember some episodes better than other, and some not at all. I may never have seen them, or maybe they just didn't stick that well. It was on past my bedtime.

-K