The return of warm weather and sunny days also brings some of the best reasons to hole up inside with the television all day. A few of my favorite shows will be gracing the screen once again in the upcoming months, and if you arenât already obsessed with them, you should start catching up.
Game of Thrones (April 12)
Everyoneâs favorite fantasy drama is coming back with, hopefully, a much better season. Season four, although I gladly watched its entirety, was unsatisfying and lacking in narrative. Each episode felt like an excuse to kill off unnecessary characters or build personalities for characters that no one really cares about (all eyes on you, Gilly). And yet I am holding out hope for season five. Game of Thrones is my ultimate guilty pleasure. It is decadent, overly violent and sexualized and does not try to hide its obvious ploy to prey on the most basic forms of entertainment. It embraces its excessiveness and through that it thrives. Despite my every instinct to scoff at something so animalisticly enjoyable, I am still hooked. Plus, I will never turn down an opportunity to watch Emilia Clarke in any situation, but especially when she is plotting to take over the world by way of dragons and well fitted dresses.
Hannibal (June 4)
If up until now you have been spared my heated rant on the brilliance of Hannibal then I have failed as a fan. I repeatedly urged my family to begin watching for months before they finally gave in, and now they regret not starting it sooner. I can say with complete confidence that Hannibal is one of the best shows on television today. I have enjoyed it much more than some of the more beloved shows i.e. Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Mads Mikkelson as the titular character is absolutely mesmerizing. He plays the repugnantly evil man in his stages as a well-respected therapist, before his unsavory habits are discovered. He befriends the unassuming Will Graham, played by Hugh Dancy, and begins a path of sadistic manipulation. The two establish one of the most captivatingly disturbing relationships that rapidly muddles the distinction of a protagonist. Aside from having a fascinating plot, Hannibal also excels in cinematography. The repeated scenes of Hannibal preparing dinner are equally repulsive as they are stunning. It is a masterpiece of a show that has left me feeling incomplete while not on the air.
Project Runway (Late July)
Competition shows stress me out more than most things. I so quickly allow myself to care about each contestant and root for almost all of them. I watch the end of each episode of Project Runway through a blanket Iâve hid myself under so I donât have to see the designers cry when they get Heidi Klumâs âAuf Wiedersehenâ. I still hold a grudge against the girl who won four seasons ago with a line composed of the same shapeless maxi dress. You donât need talent to sew a maxi dress! Project Runway has been my go to reality show for years. It has just the right amount of drama and the contestants, usually, actually exhibit talent and compete for legitimate reasons unlike many of the popular Real World, and Bachelorette types. Plus it never gets old living vicariously through the struggles of making a ball gown in less than 24 hours, and then criticizing those who fail when in fact I couldnât even load a needle in a sewing machine.