I love TV.
Some other things I love (that are relevant to what I want to talk about today):
Making lists.
Organising things (on lists) into categories.
Ranking things (in list format).
Looking for patterns and themes in the things I rank both highest and lowest.
Foisting my lists of things on people who never asked for them, especially if they are lists of recommendations.
Being told “wow, you have such great taste in everything. You’re like the best sommelier, but of TV shows and cheeses and crisps, rather than wine.”
Stamping on things (actually this isn’t at all relevant to anything I’m writing about, but one of my top 20 lists is the list I made of the top 5 best things to stamp on).
It was a combination of items 1, 3, and 4 that led me to realise that a lot of my favourite TV shows feature birds in one or multiple episodes, and are about people living in small communities.
It’s because of item 5 (and some desire for item 6) that I am now going to present you with a list of my top ten TV shows. The top two are the top two always, but the order of the rest of them changes frequently.
Northern Exposure (small community & lots of birds. More on this coming before the month is over)
King of the hill (small community & pigeons, a whooping crane, a falcon that sits on Herman Goring’s falconer glove, and Peggy’s backyard bird count )
Succession (not very birdy, but Tom and cousin Greg do eat deep fried songbird)
The Sopranos (can you call the mob a small community? yes. Also, ducks)
Reservation dogs (small community & owls with pixelated eyes)
The Good Wife (some factually inaccurate pelicans, but I don’t need birds when I have Christine Baranski. In fact I wouldn’t need anything if I had Christine Baranski. I would quit watching TV and stamping on things if Christine Baranski married me)
Halt and Catch Fire (the only bird I recall is the one that Donna kills with a shovel, in an act of kindness)
Stath Lets Flats (there’s a great pigeon, a Sir even, in episode 1)
Frasier (the Cranes, the crane that was fed a jawbreaker and died, and Eddie’s pigeon friend Barney. I’m not counting Baby the cockatoo, because captive birds don’t do it for me).
Keeping up appearances (this was tricky, because My So Called Life and Fleabag were also gagging for a spot in my list, but neither of them have Patricia Routledge in them, and MSCL unfortunately has SCJL in it)
Shout out to some other great TV shows that didn’t make the top ten but I love them, and they have bird cameos - Father Ted (Pensioners! Tired of crows stealing your glasses?), Peanuts (Woodstock), Detectorists (magpies and a great magpie song), Phone Shop (“a owl”), Lark rise to Candleford (it’s quite twee, but I really love it. It has birds and bees), It’s always sunny in Philadelphia (bird law), and This Town (lots of birdsong and some Kae Tempest writing).
I have written a guide to all of the episodes of Northern Exposure that feature birds (17 in total! Is this the best and birdiest TV show of all time? yes), which I will post in the next few weeks, but in case you’re not already familiar with the show, I wanted to give you enough time to watch an episode or two in preparation.
If you want to know where to watch it, or what SCJL means, please feel free to message me, and if you want to recommend some more birdy TV shows or just to present me with a list of your top ten shows (even if there are no birds) or any list at all, please leave them in the comments.
For now, I will leave you with 2 lists.
TV characters I relate the most to (unfortunately)
Bill Dauterive
Lucy Van Pelt
Peppermint Patty
Hyacinth Bucket (but only as a passenger in cars)
My top five things to stamp/stomp on.
Monster munch
Wotsits
Quavers
Skips
Cheetos
It should be known that these are only ones that other people have dropped on the pavement, or the floor of a train. I would never waste a good crisp of my own on stomping. It should also be known that these are not my top five crisps to eat, because then salt and vinegar chipsticks and scampi fries would be in the top two places.
Bon Hiver.
I think I figured out SCJL after a bit of sleuthing. I am also keen to rewatch Northern Exposure now. And my eyes are peeled for snacks to stomp.
This is a work of genius. Although, when you wrote at the beginning things you like 'stamping on', I thought you meant like art stamping and that lead me down a whole other train of thought. Understanding your actual meaning, these are good choices I feel. Looking forward to your 'Northern Exposure with birds' rundown.