Tell Us About Your Favourite TV Shows and We'll Guess Your Age
- by Jessica
- – on
- in Movies and TV
In the past few decades TV has eclipsed magazines and newspapers as a medium of cultural information and entertainment. There are hundreds of shows now at our disposal with access to streaming sites like HBO and Netflix. There are new spinoffs being released every month because producers know they can find funding for series that mimic what has done well before-- just think of all the detective or dating shows out there. What you choose to watch says a lot about you, and we're guessing there's a generational gap evident in the TV you like.
Binge-watching series provides a perfect type of TV escapism but what sort of genre do you navigate towards? Do you like the really intense crime shows, or do you prefer the ones with a romantic twist? Are you in it for the horror shows or are you more about cozy family dramas? This quiz will not only measure the types of genres you like, but also the aesthetics you're looking for, and the characters you gravitate towards. This quiz will also remind you of all the shows you've watched temporarily throughout the years before you decided it was going downhill.
Rate your favourite TV shows and we'll guess your age!
What's your favourite crime show?
Of course none of us would want to undergo the trauma and stress of the events we see in these series in real life. But somehow they're addicting to watch if it's happening to someone else. All shows have sort of a mystery tied into them when the detectives are hunting for the bad guys. Also your choice between these shows depends how much drama you want mixed in with your action.
What's your favourite series you didn't know was based on comic books?
These tv shows span from everything that's slightly supernatural to an outright space series. It also depends if you're watching to see if the series remain close to the original storyboard narrative or if there have been a lot of creative changes. I bet some of you didn't even know a few of these series are interpretations of comic books.
What's your favourite mob show?
A lot of these shows pull back the curtain to reveal the communication and cooperation that goes on between the police and convicted criminals. After all, the cops need people on the ground to rely on for their information. Mob networks are like a family, and their presence in town is often an open secret.
What's your favourite family show?
Family shows are always warm and generally funny. There is never any full character development, except maybe for one of the family members learning a lesson. They perfectly capture that though people are related by blood they can be very different and have somewhat dysfunctional relationships.
What is your favourite medical show?
From the perspective of these shows, hospitals seem like extremely steamy places. They have hot doctors, relationship drama, and sometimes inappropriate intimacy with patients. For us non doctors, it's always nice to imagine this is what is happening behind closed doors.
What's your favourite dating show?
Dating shows can be painful to watch. But sometimes that's the allure, you want something that is just cringeworthy enough to make fun of. Sometimes you catch yourself liking and rooting for a few of the contestants! Still, call me old fashioned, but I find the idea of anyone getting married on reality tv ludicrous.
What's your favourite animated comedy?
The top animated series are typically comedic, all of them use satire and they end up being quite cynical. Do you remember when you stayed up to watch on Adult Swim? Even if you remember back to that era, chances are you can still appreciate the humour of budding recent animated shows-- it doesn't age.
What's your favourite sci fi series?
We like to be reminded there might be something beyond our planet or that some new science might alter our experience of the world. You might be surprised to learn a lot of the science used in Star Trek is authentic-- the producers did their homework to make the series a plausible rendition of another world.
What's your favourite model series?
This is one of the reality tv trends where contestants are scouted. They come on the show and learn from the fashion world's greatest mentors how to channel the style and grace it takes to be a supermodel. The contestants always have drama between themselves because it's a fight to see who will survive till the next round.
What's your favourite divorce series?
These shows help us navigate through difficult separations. Fights we see in these series can be hilariously funny but only because they can hit quite close to home. They show a dysfunctional family, or sometimes two, trying to pull things together in the most civl and uncivil ways possible.
What's your favourite arthouse series?
These artsy mysteries took off after the creation of David Lynch's Twin Peaks in the 1990's. They're all eerie and aesthetically tasteful. They focus on the ripple effects of crime and how that can lay a veil of hauntedness upon a town. Some lack closure or any resolution to the mystery which eventually turned mainstream audiences off.
What's your favourite suburban series?
These shows are all about lives in suburbia, and though some of them portray it well, others have some seriously messed up things going on. I mean the lore of a deceased neighbour's dead child? That was certainly not going on in my cul-de-sac.
What's your favourite teen series?
These are the shows you watched in high school (and sometimes later) to get a grasp on what was going on. This is why a few of these series have been critiqued on how they handle sensitive issues like suicide or depression--because real teen audiences are looking to them for advice.
What's your favourite drug series?
Some of these drug series do a good job of complicating the characters on either side of the law. They expose corrupt police departments and failing school systems. They also unveil how dangerous the drug network is once you get caught up in it.
What's your favourite friends series?
The settings of these shows generally shift from apartment to apartment. They document the random banal events, like a wedding or a parent coming to town, that punctuate everyone's life once in a while. These shows don't have a major narrative line through their series-- you can start watching them just about any episode in the season.
What's your favourite witching series?
Wicca culture was represented by these witching series in the early 2000's, and while many of them are not authentic occult representations they still are a gateway to learning more about witchcraft. Plus it was an good representation of women in power, using their spells for good by fighting against demons and warlocks.
What's your favourite British historical show?
Us North Americans are still fascinated with British history, especially if it involves royal figures. Just look at the drama surrounding the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Plus these shows give us access to British accents and, by our standards, ancient scenery.
What's your favourite office show?
There are plenty of shows that give us a twist on common banalities of the workplace. Some are hilarious and record the everyday mischief of an incompetent boss while others are more of a drama. All, however, try to make a work space exciting enough to watch.
What's your favourite variety show?
A lot of these shows find a way to reference or give information about current events in a humorous manner. That's partially how Saturday Night Live has managed to stay on the air for over three decades. The show is having a heyday with this administration, Alec Baldwin's depiction of Trump is enough to even make some Conservatives laugh.
What's your favourite reality TV show?
Reality shows either follow a random group in a mansion, a celebrity family, or a bunch of rich wives. Television network E! even has a bunch of other spinoff and simultaneous tv shows about the notorious Kardashian family. Maybe you like these shows because they're so far from any reality, they're just perfect for vegging material.
What's your favourite comedy series?
These series are about navigating life in your twenties. They bring in struggles of love, professional life, relationships, and mental health. They show you it's ok to mess up and even if things seem at their worst there is a light at the end of the tunnel. These shows also highlight the importance of friendship and loyalty.
What's your favourite documentary series?
These documentary series can be hosted by news cycles like PBS or BBC because their content is real. Anything from the ruined lives of ex-Scientologists to facts about our planet are available. These series are a really cool way to learn new information with hardly any effort. Just sit down and let your mind be blown.
What's your favourite legal drama?
Legal dramas are filled with fictional court procedures but they still show you some inner workings and jargon of the justice system. There are all genres of these available, ranging from modern day Chicago to law and justice in the Britain's most famous 18th century prison, the Old Bailey.
What's your favourite musical show?
There have been a few narrative shows like this to inspire aspiring musicians to stick to their passions and follow their dreams. A lot of these series are also dramas because they focus on relationships and emotional stress that comes with their singing talent.
What's your favourite British comedy?
Some North Americans, particularly on the East coast, like to dip into some of the British comedy available across the pond. Dry satire, slapstick humour, and witty banter are generally the types of comedy on the Britcoms that air on the BBC. They have a reoccurring trope in incompetent figures of authority.
What's your favourite cartoon?
Though all of these cartoons were explicitly made for kids, airing on channels like Sunday morning Nickelodeon, they can still be entertaining for adults. You might find yourself chuckling along as some of the larger themes go over your little one's head.
What's your favourite detective drama?
All of these mystery narratives heavily rely on the detectives that try to solve them. These are not any typical cop show because it's much more centered on one private eye than a whole team of investigators. The crimes are more personal to them.
What's your favourite fantasy series?
Fantasy tv series are the epitome of escapism. All have such intricate plots because they were based originally on a written series. With the after effects and video editing quality available today these series make for an epic ride.
What's your favourite comic book based series?
Comic books are becoming more and more mainstream as they seep into our tv networks. It's great they get such exposure but one comic based series is not necessarily equal to the next. Do you look for how true to form the show's characters are? How do you rate a comic based show?
What's your favourite gameshow?
These are the shows you sometimes watch when you go to grandma's house. And they can be fun when you play along with her. While some of them are outright trivia, others are about knowing when to place your bets and go home with a pile of cash.
What's your favourite show loosely tied to religion?
All of these shows give a dramatized view of religion or its institutions--mostly the latter. They range from a small church in West Texas to the leader of the Catholic Church in Vatican City. All provide something appetizing for our secular fascination with religion.
What's your favourite political show?
All of these political dramas deal with the scandal and corruption at the heart of the US government. Which doesn't seem to be a stretch of anyones imagination these days. The good thing about these shows is things generally clear themselves up in the end.
What's your favourite true crime?
With all of the crime tv available it's not surprising producers decided to turn to infamous past cases for content. However with these shows it is difficult to know where there has been some creative exaggeration. The lines between reality and fiction are blurred.
What's your favourite horror series?
A few of these series are anthologies because the producers rightly understood that if you drag a horror story out too long, say to ten seasons, it ceases to be scary. Some of these horror series rely on a seasonal narrative while others have a separate plot and characters each episode.
What's your favourite teen romance series?
Though all of these are coming-of-age series they are mostly centered around romantic relationships. They might have an simultaneous subplot, like a supernatural universe or a murder mystery but they are mostly here to deal with teen hormones.
