I think it was 2003 or 2004 when I saw my first episode of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”  (Yes – I know – I came late to the party.  Let’s blame it on my being in school and being busy studying, hanging out, and neck deep in all things theater.  My geekery comes in all sorts of flavors.)

I was working at a DVD authoring house and my job was ensuring that the video and audio streams were as pristine as we could make them with the available technology.  But basically my job was to watch stuff.  So one day, we get Buffy Season 4 in and I go into my little room to watch it, not knowing anything about the series.  There were four episodes on the disc, and “New Moon Rising” (written by the insanely talented Marti Noxon) was the last one.

I have never been so stunningly, immediately, powerfully rocked by a TV show before.  I remember sitting in the darkness of the room with the menu music looping for about twenty minutes, praying no one would come in because it would be a little embarrassing to be discovered blubbering on the job.

I’ve always enjoyed TV, but that moment crystalized my understanding of the incredible potential television has when it’s done well.

In a lot of ways, a good season of TV is like a novel.  You get to grow and change with the characters in a much richer and deeper way than you’d ever be able to do in a feature film (the short story of the motion picture world).

Some of my favorite seasons include Firelfy, Buffy seasons 2, 3, and 6, Battlestar Galactaca seasons 1 and 2, Twin Peaks season 1, West Wing season 1, Avatar: The Last Airbender seasons 1, 2, and 3. 

What are some of your favorite seasons of TV?