No one probably expected a cliché show featuring high school kids trudging through teenage problems and belting out tunes to be such a huge success, but Glee defied all expectations. From performing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing in the pilot episode to popularizing songs like Fun.’s We Are Young, Glee has not failed to deliver iconic performances. When the New Directions hit those high notes, Gleeks and the rest of the world could not help but stop and listen. And yes, this show is now ten years old.
Parks and Recreations
Leslie Knope just wanted to make her small town Pawnee a little bit more fun. But did you know that before becoming a darling of the television audience on its own right, Parks and Recreation faced a rocky start after being compared repeatedly to the by-then successful predecessor The Office? Though once some tweaks were made and applied, Parks and Rec became a name on its own, further cementing Amy Poehler’s status as a queen comedian.
The Vampire Diaries
Love triangle? Check. High school setting? Check. Vampires? Check. Protagonist with hidden special ability? Check. The Vampire Diaries probably ticked off all the most popular tropes in 2009, and the world ate it all up. We probably saw a lot of the supposed twists and turns coming (hello to almost everyone who comes back to life), but there are still many instances the show surprised us. Elena Gilbert turning into a vampire is still one of the biggest twists that brought the show to a new direction. It’s just sad Nina Dobrev didn’t stay until the end.
Community
From Abed impersonating Christina Bale’s Batman to Troy and Britta dressing up as Michael Jackson in different stages of his career, Community didn’t fail to give us all the moments that just make us laugh out loud. The amazing meta take of Community on most, if not all, tropes and conventions in film and television is what made the show uniquely innovative, and essentially, what drew people back to watch the next episode.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
A lot of people debate over which anime adaptation is better: the first, which had a different ending from the manga, or Brotherhood, which stayed more faithful to the source material. Well, regardless of which side wins, all fans agree that FMA is one of the greatest anime shows of all time.
Boys Over Flowers
If there’s one Korean drama the Pinoy audience have watch, it’s probably Boys Over Flowers. After being introduced to the Meteor Garden craze, you’d think the Pinoy audience would be sick of the F4 plotline. But Boys Over Flowers will be a classic through and through. We all still go gaga for all the moments Lee Min Ho’s Go Jun Pyo looks so young and in love with Geum Jan Di, even if he was the type of kid who’d pull the pig tails of the person he likes.
Darna (Marian Rivera version)
The 2009 Darna is the nth iteration of Darna we saw in Philippine screens, but Pinoys love the heroine so much there’s always an audience waiting for it. After the success of Angel Locsin’s 2005 Darna, GMA rebooted the show with their then-most famous actress Marian Rivera, just after her portrayal of the equally popular Marimar and Dyesebel. Ten years later, ABS-CBN is giving us their take on Darna with rookie actress Jane de Leon at the helm.
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Can you believe it’s been a decade since RuPaul started the search for America’s Next Drag Superstar? We’ve gotten so many iconic lines and moments because of this show. Thank Mama Ru the show is still going. We just wish there was a Pinoy version, too.
What shows from ten years ago do you want to see again? Let us know below!