Yes, zones. Plural.
When I’m in the mood to read, romance novels are my favorite pick. I have authors and series that I’ve read so many times I could probably recite some of them. Since this entire site is devoted to that activity, I won’t go into any particulars here.
When I’m in the mood to play, my favorite games bounce somewhere between building and adventure quest games. Which is honestly a weird place to be. Put it this way, I love the stories and puzzles of quest type games but can easily spend hours on good building games. Put the two together and I’m addicted. Suppose that’s why I really love Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. Currently the game I’m the most obsessed with is Kingdoms and Castles, though, and it’s a city building game. Just love to play it.
When I’m in the mood to watch a TV series… well, I’ve only lately come to realize something interesting about that. I mean, I’ve always known I have a real thing for detective series. Especially the British style ones. But those are usually straight detective mysteries or at the very least cozy type mysteries. Recently I’ve noticed, though, that a growing number of the TV series on my all-time favorites “watch again and again” list tend to be series that lean heavily toward mystery and science fiction or fantasy. Throw in an enjoyable romance & I’m in heaven. There aren’t a lot of them but they are around.
Here’s that list as it stands now:
Okay, I admit it, I threw in Scooby Doo: Where Are You! just because I could. It does fit the pattern, though, mainly because of the monsters, real or not, that they hunt. Most of the franchise does. And possibly created the attraction year ago in my young brain, too.
For those that would argue that Stargate SG1 doesn’t fit as a mystery crossover, I don’t disagree. A lot of that series is about a continuing storyline that is very hardcore science fiction. However there are also plenty of one-off episodes in the ten year span of that series that are quite simply about the solving of some quirky problem or “mystery” in the same way as many of the other TV shows here. And many of those episodes are some of my favorite of Stargate SG1. So I can’t leave it off, either. By contrast, I wouldn’t even think of putting one of the Star Trek series on this list. Not the same type of “problem” solving at all. I did consider the new Doctor Who, though, but ultimately left it off.
Also, as to why I included Fringe but not The X-Files… well, while I enjoyed The X-Files when it was on, I can’t re-watch it. I’ve tried and I hit a wall. And it’s not the later seasons either. I think it’s the horror element. My brain just doesn’t want to go there again. OTOH, I’ve watched Fringe several times through already. Go figure.
And what’s my favorite of this list? Hands down, it’s Eureka. For me, it’s the definition of comfort food. Not sure I will ever get tired of watching it. Again and again and again.
So, where are your entertainment comfort zones? More importantly, are there any TV series I’ve missed that might satisfy my sci-fi/fantasy detective cravings?