No Netflix and No Chill

Once upon a time, in a land of no Netflix, I had to be creative with how to watch some of my favorite TV shows. With the exception of one, which will be on tomorrow's list, all of these shows were once binge watched, in a sense, by me. The requirement to make my top 10 list is that they have episodes I have watched more times than I can count on one hand. The first five had to be shows I watched entirely without the use of Netflix. Enjoy!

10. Petticoat Junction -- Fonda would never let me hear the end of it if this show didn't make my list. She also loves to share this fact about me. When I was in Kindergarten, we had to fill out a form about our favorite things. My family watched a LOT of TV Land. I wrote Petticoat Junction as my favorite TV Show. My mom was mortified, only because she was afraid my teacher would think my parents were backwood hicks. Nevertheless, I still love all of the old classics.

9. The Nanny -- I figured I might as well stay on the "old soul" trend. Although, The Nanny probably doesn't qualify as old soul, I certainly didn't know anyone my age watching it. My mom and I watched it together usually during the summer. I think it was on in syndication on Lifetime. We probably liked it because the Nanny was the polar opposite of our personalities: loud and nasally, larger than life, over-the-top, tight mini-skirt wearing with big, poofy hair. Now anytime I see it's on TV, I still watch it.

8. Disney Channel -- Yes, I'm aware this is not a TV show, but how could I possibly be asked to narrow down the best shows? Throw in DCOM's and it becomes an impossible task! Bug Juice (that one is for my sister), The Jersey, The Famous Jett Jackson, Even Stevens, Lizzie McGwire, That's So Raven, Phil of the Future, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Girl Meets World. See, this would have ruined my list of 10. I would be willing to bet that I have seen every episode of all of these shows including their movies. I also know that I watched some of them well past the prime age of Disney Channel viewers, but they were light-hearted TV shows to escape from the drama of high school life.

7. Saved by the Bell -- I know, I know, it's cheesy! I'm well aware of the inconsistent storylines and the rarity of plots flowing from one show to the next. I don't care. I love Saved by the Bell. Come to think of it this is probably where I got my first celebrity crush. Hello, Zack Morris! Sorry, Slater, I didn't dig your curly mullet, but those dimples are another story. It's also the first show I became very opinionated over a love triangle. I definitely rooted for Kelly and Zack. Thankfully, the internet wasn't a big thing when I started watching, so there were no spoilers. I also never realized I was watching the show in syndication. My sister and I used to watch it at my Granny and Papa's house, we had satellite at home which at the time kept us from getting local channels. After watching, we would go outside and play like we were the characters. Finally, when I was older they started airing it on TBS. I loved being up early on snow days and in the summer, because it meant I could watch Saved by the Bell at 7 am. #90sbaby

6. Smallville -- When I was in Jr. High, they started airing the first 4 seasons on ABC Family. They did a marathon of random episodes one Saturday as a kick-off. My mom was watching with me and from the Pilot she told me it was the story of Superman. They showed a new episode every night and since this was before the days of Netflix and DVR, when we were busy I would record episodes on a VHS tape to watch later. (Binge-watching early 2000's style!) Kids these days will never know the horror of thunderstorms interrupting their favorite show. Once I got caught up to the new seasons, I started watching on The CW. It was much easier watching one show a week versus nightly.