#86 Party of Five

There was a period during the mid to late nineties when Party of Five was essentially the be all and end of all of Horstmanian television. My sister, Lauren was particularly hooked thanks in no small part to a crush on Scott Wolf and a natural affinity for the show's extreme cheesiness. The main reason I loved the show(at least early on) was that I was allowed to stay up an extra hour on Wednesday's to watch it. We didn't have cable growing up, so at this point Fox seemed incredibly edgy and cool (when we started getting WB instead of PAX it was like discovering a new continent). Lauren was of course a huge fan of Bailey played by Scott Wolf, an optimistic yet cheesily troubled brother who was committed to holding the family together. I identified with Claudia, Bailey's beloved longest sister a bit a bit of a genius who was unable to avoid the family schmaltz gene. Megan, undoubtedly beginning to suspect with horror the extent of her siblings' eccentricity remained a detached Julia. The crowning moment of Party of Five in my opinion was win Claudia tearfully told Bailey that she could no longer be around him if he continued drinking a scene which has oft been lovingly lampooned in Horstmania.

#87 Company

My Love of Company can be traced back to a two CD collection of great Broadway songs I had growing up. On the second Cd, wedged between Cabaret and "I Want To Be Happy" from No, No, Nanette was Elaine Stritch singing "The Ladies Who Lunch". It became one of my favorite songs even though most of the reference's went over my head (Pinter, Mahler, though not the Vodka stinger). I connected with the cynical poignant tones of the song to this day I count it among my favorite songs and use it as an emotional outlet. I even have a large picture in my room of Elaine Strich and several cocktail glasses and the words "Does anyone still wear a hat?". Years later my love of the song would lead me to trying out Follies (also by Sondheim) and then Company itself. The musical is a modern, urban, cynical look at relationships that includes a number of other songs I've fallen for (though certainly not to the same degree)many of which contain that same cleverly cynical melancholy that makes Ladies Who Lunch so powerful. Ultimately, Company matters so much to me because it served as my gateway into Sondheim a name I guarantee you haven't heard the last of on this list.

#88 The Jungle Book

Okay so yes, Rudyard Kipling wasn't the most forward thinking person but I can't help it, I still love The Jungle Book (the book). Kipling was absolutely wonderful at blending scientific knowledge and complex personalities in creating his animal characters in a way that completely brought the jungles of India to life. The culture and laws of the jungle felt like a description of the way things were and not a prescription human conventions and stereotypes on nature. I'm particularly fond of Kaa's Hunting, perhaps my favorite chapter in all of literature. In it Mowgli is kidnapped by the monkeys and Baloo and Bagheera enlist the aid of the ancient python Kaa to rescue him. The description of Kaa and his battle with the monkeys is at once terrifying and beautiful. Apollonian that I am I love to read into Kaa's struggle a victory for order, serenity, and reason over the chaos and cacophony of the monkeys. Much as I love it The Jungle Book came at a cost for me, I can no longer enjoy the Disney movie because it's such a poor interpretation of the book, it caused me to implement a policy of not reading novels that inspire movies I love.

#89 Mulan

Sorry for the long break in posts my few loyal followers, I was caught up in end of quarter stuff and then my new found summer freedom. Mulan will, I think, forever and always be my favorite Disney film for a number of reasons. For one it's the only one I remember seeing at the theater. It also seems to me like it was the last great conventionally animated movie before cgi took over. More personally I'm an eternal fan of actress Ming-na(who provided Mulan's voice) because I loved her on ER. Mulan herself is a great character the only Disney heroine who manages to get off her butt and do something and actually make her own story which she does in a charmingly misguided way, thanks to Mushu. Additionally the music is incredibly catchy, Honor to Us All in particular is a favorite of mine. My sister and I are prone to mocking Grandma Fa's overwrought delivery. While we're on the subject, since Mulan is the only Disney movie on the list I feel like I need to mention the shall we say unique history my sisters and I have with Disney songs. One of us owned a book of Disney songs (Lauren?) and I remember not only singing but choreographing Disney song performances. Most notably on car trips we invented a game in which we sang the lyrics of a song (most famously Part of that World from The Little Mermaid) taking turns singing each word it sounds horribly choppy and often over-dramatic and is a great way to kill some time.

#90 Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night (also known as What You Will) is a comedy by William Shakespeare, it is also the only Shakespeare play on this list. So, what it makes it stand out enough to enjoy this lofty honor? Well for one thing it is riotously funny, the clown, Feste is genuinely quite amusing and not a pain to have around like some Shakespeare fools (I'm looking at you touchstone). Toby Belch, and Andrew Aguecheek can be a bit over done but have their moments, particularly when the acid tongued Maria is around (I always pictured her as Kristin Chenowith, which adds to the fun). Malvolio is so deliciously self-satisfied that his comeuppance is satisfying (if a bot harsh). Additionally, the scene where Viola and Andrew are forced into a fight that both are terrified of is for my money the funniest in Shakespeare. however all this comedy is balanced with a pair of love stories involving characters one genuinely begins to feel for, both Olivia and Viola sorrow over lost loved ones and unrequited love is quite beautiful. It also includes my favorite verses in Shakespeare from when Olivia asks Viola what she would do if she loved her as much as the duke claims to,
Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house,
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night:
Hallow your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air cry out “Olivia”
O you should not rest between the elements
Of air and earth but you should pity me

#91 American Dad!

After making myself seem mature by posting about Mystery! I'm going to completely undermine that image with American Dad! The show is by the creator of Family Guy Seth MacFarlane, but in my defense the former show does next to nothing for me. American Dad! is about a conservative immature CIA agent, Stan, his more level wedded wife, Francine his liberal daughter who hates him, and rather nerdy son who idolizes him. What sets the series apart for me is Roger an alien who lives with the Smiths because he once saved Stan's life. Roger is a mess of vices, he drinks, smokes, eats junk food, and spends a prodigious amount of time watching TV which has given him an extensive knowledge of pop culture. To combat the boredom of being a shutin he creates a number of disguises and personalities which he steps in and out of with glee. This leads us to the best Roger story, in one episode he and Francine decide to pretend to be a professor and his wife and invite over a couple they meet at a country club. Francine tells the couple that Roger is an economics professor, even though Roger wanted to be a political science professor. He complains and she says "Oh well,it's been established. This leads to all at war as both of them tell the other couple increasingly horrible things about the other in what becomes a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf parody reaching a climax with Roger revealing that Francine killed their baby which leads to a fight that leaves both of them broken and scarred both physically and emotionally. For this undying commitment to imagination, acting, and fiction, Roger has become one of my heroes. I like to think that if I woke tomorrow with no Id I would become Roger.

#92 Mystery!

Mystery! is a subset of Masterpiece Theatre on PBS which brings British Mystery series to America. It long been a staple in my family and given my love of Agatha Christie is unsurprising I've got the bug. Oddly I often hate the adaptations of Agatha's novels and instead my Mystery love is divided between three main series Foyle's War, Inspector Lewis, and Inspector Lynley. Foyle's War does a beautiful job of capturing World War II era Britain and is beautifully shot and cleverly written. Inspector Lewis is set in modern Oxford and is notable for the great dynamic and dialogue between rather rough around the edges Lewis and his highly educated reserved sidekick, Sergeant James Hathaway. Lynley, however, will always be the one closest to my heart because it was the first I watched. Lynley is very uppercrust (he's an earl) polished, handsome, while his sergeant, Barabara Havers is working class a bit homely was demoted for being difficult to work with yet is nevertheless adorable. She has a tendency to find herself alone with the villain at the end of the show just as Lynley figures out the mystery and realizes that she is in trouble. She also (in moment that has gone down in Horstmanian lore) once shot a commending officer in the chest with a flare gun, good times.