A list of must watch Tv shows

Being an engineer by qualification has it's perks , one of them being that you have a lot of time to while away and spend on things that don't matter much. Let's accept it , Engineering was more or less a vacation with some bumps in between ( read mid terms and semester exams) and that vacation gave me , and i guess a lot of others a list of some of the best of what the American and British television had to offer.

So, here is a list of my favourite TV shows , not necessarily in order of their precedence. I'l also try and mention a quote from each of the shows i enlist below. I have included a minimalist poster of each show, it's more fun that way :)

1.  The Wire : (2002-2008)  IMDB rating 9.4/10  , TV.com rating 9/10

If you are a fan of the HBO original series ,then i am sure that you would have seen or atleast heard of this show. Set in the city of Baltimore , the show deals with city's drug situation and the efforts of the Baltimore Police to curb the trade. Personally, one of my top 3 shows of all time and this one is highly recommended for all who have not been able to come around to watch it .

omar Little - "Lesson here, 'Bey : You come at the King, you best not miss.."




2.  Breaking Bad : (2008-2013) IMDB rating 9.5/10 , TV.com rating 9/10


This show needs no introduction, it's been the talk of the town in the recent past. Featuring one of the coolest chemistry teachers in history and his junkie of a partner Jesse Pinkman . Both of them along with a little help from fellow crystal meth manufacturers are hell bent on capturing the drug market in and around Albuquerque .

Pinkman - " Yo mista white , Let's cook some meth"





3. Game of Thrones : (2011- Present) IMDB rating 9.4/10 , TV.com rating 9/10



Seven , so called noble families, One Kingdom called  Westeros. Let the games begin . Violence , sex and a whole lot more.  An almost perfect script and some intriguing screenplay makes this a must watch.  Another HBO original Series.

"Winter is Coming"






4. F.R.I.E.N.D.S  : ( 1994-2004)  IMDB rating 8.8 

Six friends, who struggle their way through life and always have each others back in every situation. I wish real life friendships were as pure as this reel life show depicted .




Rachel to Joey - I don' t want my baby's  first words to be "How you doing" .







5.  Sherlock : ( 2010 - present ) IMDB rating 9.2 

A 21st century version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyal's masterpiece. Benedict Cumberbatch has done a whole lot of justice to the mental image of Sherlock Holmes we all have in our minds. 221/B Baker street is still the same , it's just that the modernisation has been carried out with such utter ease that for a second it manages to trick the audience into believing that Sherlock Holmes is a 21st century consulting detective.






6. The Sopranos ( 1999-2007 ) IMDB rating 9.2 


A quite intriguing story about New jersey's mob boss Tony sopranos , as he tries to juggle his  personal and professional life simultaneously .










7. Arrested Development (2003-2013 ) IMDB rating 9.1 





A show revolving around Micheal , who takes over his family business after his father is imprisoned. But he faces a ton of problems along the way as he has to deal with his dysfunctional family who are not making things easy for him. Utter chaos and laughter.






8 . The IT crowd ( 2006- Present )  IMDB rating 8.5



Two socially awkward IT guys , one misfit lady who is working with these two in the basement of a large corporation. Personally, one of my favourite British comedy shows. Laughter galore.






9. The Inbetweeners ( 2008-2010 ) IMDB rating 8.3 



4 friends , who try everything in their power to be one of the cool one's in school but fail miserably every time. They are in search of two things every guy wants, Beer and Sex. They generally end up with none of these. A must watch if you want to have a laugh or two.







10 . Entourage (2004- 2011 ) IMDB rating 8.5 

Another HBO original series, the show portray's the life of a film star "Vincent chase " who makes it big in Hollywood , with the help of his close knit of friends , a bit of a has been actor- cousin , Johnny 'Drama' Chase and his trustworthy agent Ari Gold.


Ari - "We're going to hell so bring your sunblock"





11. Scrubs ( 2001-2010) IMDB rating 8.4 



John Dorian gets to learn a lot about medicine , friendship , life and a whole lot more as he tries to make his way in Sacred Heart hospital. A light show, with the right mix of laughter and emotions. It was a bit of a drag in the last few seasons, but was well worth the watch .







12. The Big Bang theory ( 2007- Present ) IMDB rating 8.6 

No need introducing this one. Sheldon , Penny , Raj , Leonard Howard , Amy and Bernadette. A show which can make you laugh even when you are down for the count. Currently in it's seventh season .

Sheldon - "Bazinga"







13. Californication ( 2007- Present ) IMDB rating 8.4 


A writer , played by David Duckovny , tries to manage his washed up career, his ex girlfriend , his daughter and his appetite for the women kind. This show started off very well , but the sixth season was not at all upto the mark. Hoping for some improvement in the seventh season.








14. Modern Family ( 2009 -Present ) IMDB rating 8.6  

Three families which are very much inter connected , but are a whole lot different from one another. A light hearted show which manages to leave some kind of a message every episode.









15. South Park (1997- Present ) IMDB rating 8.8 



One dysfunctional town of South park , four foul mouthed 4th graders . Weird things keep happening in this town and no one seems to care . It used to be aired in India , but was banned by the government some time back. Should give you an idea on what all goes on in this show. Anyways , a must watch :D







16. Shameless US ( 2011- Present ) IMDB rating 8.5 

A totally wacky show. Different both in it's script and it's execution. An alcoholic father with 6 kids to raise but all he can think about his where his next glass of beer will come from.








17.  Band of Brothers ( 2001) IMDB rating 9.5 



The story of East company of the US army's 101 Airborne division and their mission in World war II. Directed by Tom Hanks. A solitary season with 10 episodes to die for.

I will constantly be updating this blog post. Still a long way to go before this post is done. A lot of shows still in the pipeline. :)

Manchester United vs Arsenal : A preview to one of the most important matches this season.

Last night Arsenal defeated an in form Borussia Dortmund 1-0 at Signal Iduna Park to cement their place at the top of Group F of the champions league. A group which was called the group of death at the beginning of the champions league campaign has lived upto it's hype with last year's UCL finalist Dortmund in the third spot with two matches to go. On the contrary , most of  the football Guru's felt that Arsenal's way to the round of 16 would be under a lot of jeopardy with them being in the same group as Dortmund and Napoli.


After 4 matches Arsenal is well on their way to the next round with 3 wins and 1 loss. Injuries to the likes of Walcott and Podolski has not been much of a blow to Arsene Wenger's men as they lie pretty in the Premier League standings with a 5 point cushion at the top. Yes, Arsenal have had a comparatively easier start to their EPL campaign, which is seen from the fact that they have played only two top 10 teams so far. That however does not take anything away from the fact that they have played some amazing football this year and are the team to take the most number of premier league points since January 2013.

Mezut Ozil has made a huge impact after his transfer to Arsenal , with Ramsey and Giroud being two men on a mission and are looking to make every opportunity count. Ramsey who was kind of a scapegoat last season for the Gunners miseries has more than made up for it this season  by scoring goals at the rate of knots.

Run away winners last season, Manchester united have not gotten off to a great start by their standards and are languishing at the 8th spot after 10 matches with a gap of 8 points between them and leaders ,Arsenal. With losses to West bromwich albion  , Liverpool and Manchester City there is much to do for  David Moyes , if he wants to have any shot at retaining the title. Manchester United have now gone 8 matches without losing in all competitions and are on the top of Group A of the champions league , slowly moving towards qualification for the round of 16 and finally showing some indications of coming back to form .

The two teams will fight it out at Old Trafford on the 10th of November and this match will  be a big indicator to where the season is headed . If Manchester United pull off a victory they will reduce the gap between them and the leaders to 5 points and will give their season the much needed impetus. On the other hand if Wenger's men manage a victory it will give them further confidence in their quest to regaining the EPL trophy , which they last won in 2004.

Arsenal will come into this match with momentum on their side after a great victory against an in form Dortmund side whereas Manchester United who drew their champions league clash against Real Sociedad after Van persie missed a penalty, will have a lot to do if they want to get the better of the table toppers.

Robin Van persie , Wayne Rooney and Januzaj have made a delightful trio in the recent past and the forward line is now more or less settled with Chicharito being the Super sub . The problem lies mainly at the back where Jones, Rafael ,Smalling and the likes are not at all looking comfortable . The addition of Vidic will surely strengthen the defense and they would look to reduce the load on Dea Gea, who is being forced to make terrific saves match after match. So, all eyes will be on Old Trafford this weekend for what should be a riveting clash .

The Future of ODI cricket

The recently concluded India Australia series left a lot of questions to be answered . Yes, the series ended with a positive result for us Indians but there are other aspects to be catered to . Out of the maximum possible 14 innings in the 7 match ODI series, we witnessed only Eleven complete innings with rain playing spoilsport in the other three .Out of these 11 we saw scores of 290 plus in 10 innings and scores of 300 plus on 9 occasions. The general opinion was that this due to the new ODI regulations of having only 4 men outside the 30 yard ring . But i like many others tend to differ in this regard. Having placid pitches which give no help to the bowlers means that it is perpetually raining fours and sixes. The story was the same even in Mohali, a ground where traditionally bowlers are supposed to receive pace and bounce from the wicket.

There have been 6 occasions in ODI cricket where more than 700 hundred runs have been scored in a match ,and out of those 6 ,we witnessed 3 instances this very series. Statistics which point out to the fact that this has become such a batsman friendly game with small boundaries adding to the woes of the bowlers. At one point it felt that the bowlers were there just to make up the numbers and it was Batsmen vs Batsmen affair altogether. Even giving the bowlers the leverage to bowl 2 bouncers in an over has not made much of an impact as far as cricket in India is concerned.

But the India vs Australia series was not the only ongoing one day series in the recent past. If we look at the Bangladesh Vs New Zealand one day series or the more competitive Pakistan vs South Africa Series in UAE , they both have one thing in common, the shortage of runs. Bangladesh defended scores of around 250 twice in two matches whereas targets of around 200 were not chased down by both Pakistan and South Africa in their opening two encounters.So,i guess the ICC’s regulations are not to blame for the mayhem we saw in India. The difference comes in the preparation of the pitches.Pitches in the UAE always have something in them for the batsmen and the bowlers alike and the supreme bowling attack of both Pakistan and South Africa meant that runs have been more or less curtailed.  

Yes, the crowd loves to see big hitting and balls being hit out the park , but in all fairness the India Australia ODI series was a bit difficult to digest . Dhoni said in the 6th one day’s post match presentation, and i quote "I don't know where it ( ODI cricket) is going. Is it good in the long run that we are seeing - for seven hours - only fours and sixes?" I completely agree with the man , off late he has become quite a statesman , picking and choosing his words very wisely and he got this one absolutely spot on , like most other things.   

A friend of mine tweeted that  “ Fielders have become spectators and spectators have become fielders in this series” . I think it’s not just this series, this was true even in the recently concluded ICC champions trophy. Even there we saw dry and flat wickets which gave the batsmen the opportunity to hit through the line and thereby post totals in excess of 300 very easily. The appalling thing was that the champions trophy was held in England, where we are not accustomed to seeing such pitches .Even though Britain experienced a dry monsoon by their standards but i guess the tracks were produced keeping in mind the Entertainment factor for the crowd and the public at home. I don’t think this strategy would go very far as people are bound to get bored by such redundant cricketing action, leading to a lack in viewership and general interest altogether.



There has to be an equal competition between the bat and the ball to engage the public over a long period of time. Leaving the Entertainment factor and ODI’s aside , speaking from pure cricketing standards, after playing for so long on such pitches it would be difficult for the Indians to get themselves accustomed to other pitches quickly. Seeing that India’s next overseas series is against south Africa , they really need to get themselves out of this rut of the IPL and flat tracks and concentrate more on seaming and bouncing tracks. The real test for the Sharmas and the Dhawans starts now, facing the likes of styen and morkel in their own backyard is no easy task. Experts, Critics and Fans all acknowledge the fact that touring South Africa is a big challenge and doing well there , an even bigger one. With two test matches and 3 one day matches scheduled , it would be interesting to watch whether our men in blue can deliver the goods because at this point it really looks unlikely.

40 Hours without the Internet

You must be wondering that 40 hours is not such a long time to live without the Internet, Yes even I felt that till it happened to me. MTNL’s Internet connection is normally quite dependable and this was just one of those times that I was let down because of it. There are pros and cons of working in an environment where the internet is the major source of completing your work, one of the pros being that you can get a lot done even at home and obviously one of the cons being that if your internet connection dies on you, you are left high and dry, something which I have been experiencing since yesterday. 

Thus working was out of the question and because all my friends were busy working in their respective offices, so going out was not an option. With no one at home, the next best thing to do was to catch up on some TV series, movies and on a bit of reading. I had a lot in the pipeline as far as these “verticals” were concerned. So I started out with season 3 of ‘The Inbetweeners’, A UK based sitcom. Baring some exceptions, I have always fancied British sitcoms , they are leaps and bounds ahead of American sitcoms in terms of comic timing , direction and ofcourse the script .Even though British sitcoms have only a handful of episodes per season  ,but they are always worthy of a watch. So 6 episodes, 25 minutes each and after two and a half hours of laughter I was left wondering what to do next. I remembered that I still had to catch up on ‘Breaking Bad’ season 5 and that is just what i did. After 16 riveting episodes, I was left wanting for more. In my book, one of the best Drama series ever and in a close fight with ‘The Wire’ for the top spot. After straining my eyes for over 10 hours, obviously with some brakes in between, I wanted a rest, so decided to call it a day. It’s very easy to oversleep when the weather is as pleasant as it is these days, and that is just what happened.  I got up late the next day and tried every possible way to make sure the internet started working again, but to no avail. 

With Diwali just around the corner, I was given a shopping list and because I had nothing better to do, promptly went about doing what my parents asked me to do. After running some errands, I got back to whiling away my time by catching up on a laughter riot of a movie, ‘Carry on Jatta’. I am sure that all Punjabi’s have seen this flick more than once and it still makes me laugh the same way it did, when I first  saw it. By the way, the sequel is set for a 2014 release.

After thinking on what to do next, I set my sights on Sherlock Holmes. I had ordered the complete book set from Flipkart some time back but never got around to it much. This was a perfect opportunity to get in some reading time and so set about reading the second story, ‘The sign of four’. After reading two stories now ,I have to admit that the novel lingers on a bit  as opposed to the sitcom. Benedict Cumberbatch has done a fine job portraying Sherlock , even a shade better than Robert Downey jr. I think like me, everyone else is gearing up for the third season of this epic series. It was almost evening by the time I finished. Luckily some friends wanted to catch up in the evening and i got a break from sitting at home. I came back at night and after a pleasant evening, dozed off and woke up in the morning to see the internet up and running once again. This brought an end to the so called siege.

Yes, the past forty hours might not have been the most path breaking time ever recorded in history, but this was a much needed break from the Internet world, which told me to reduce my online time and to concentrate more on other aspects of life.  I also got a chance to add an entry to my blog , what more could I have asked for :)