Image via Complex Original
Before the dawn of social media, TV commentary was limited to yelling at your television screen. But thanks to Twitter, now you can vent to an audience when Walter White hatches one of his crazy schemes or when Stevie J cheats on Mimi. And best of all: Like-minded viewers join in with you. Still, some shows are better to engage than others. Here, we present the best 25 TV shows to live tweet.
Written by Michael Arceneaux (@youngsinick)
Catfish
Channel: MTV
Time: Monday, 11 p.m.
It's literally the same show every week with a few small shifts in the lie of a given episode, and yet you can't stop watching or tweeting about it. Moreover, you can't help but notice the irony in some of your peers who are essentially pulling a "catfish" every single day on their timeline.
Dexter
Channel: Showtime
Time: Sunday, 9 p.m.
This past season featured Dexter not only revealing to his sister that he was a serial killer, but Deb declaring her love for her brother, plus the murder of their boss... at her hand. And viewers tweeted every minute of it.
Snooki and Jwoww
Channel: MTV
Time: Wednesday, 10 p.m.
So technically, this show just started, but if the spinoff rivals even a fraction of the tweets Jersey Shore generated, it'll be worth keeping up with. If not, you can just complain to each other about wanting that old thing back until it's cancelled.
Watch What Happens Live
Channel: Bravo
Time: Sunday - Thursday, 11 p.m.
Andy Cohen gets A-list and D-list celebrities tipsy on air and is smart enough to make sure he has his Twitter audience involved with the show. And there's a drinking game, which is what matters most.
The Sisterhood
Channel: TLC
Time: Tuesday, 9 p.m.
This one goes for the Christians who want to partake in all of the sensational drama reality TV delivers, only without all the profanity and fists—because that's, like, a sin or whatever. Also, the Lord's finest can help us all figure out what a "Christian bar mitzvah" is exactly. Still needs some explaining.
Californication
Channel: Showtime
Time: Sunday, 10:30 p.m.
Hank Moody is kind of a douche, but mildly entertaining. We never stop discussing those types, do we?
Mob Wives
Channel: VH1
Time: Sunday, 8 p.m.
The Twitter commentary on this show is not unlike the chatter that happens on fight night. Plus, cast members like Drita D'avanzo are known for replying to the many, many fans tweeting her.
Celebrity Apprentice
Channel: NBC
Time: Sunday, 9 p.m.
Donald Trump may be more than worthy of being nationally ignored, but his business-minded reality show remains worth discussing. Yes, no one needs to be reminded that "celebrity" is thrown around way too loosely these days.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Channel: Bravo
Time: Sunday, 9 p.m.
The Real Housewives of New JerseyFamily Feud meets the moms of The Jersey Shore—reality series really made its mark with viewers in the last two years. As you saw from many of the tweets, everyone has that spouse you can't stand, a broke sibling who spends way too much money, and gossipy friends you wish you could drop off in the woods.
First Take
Channel: ESPN2
Time: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m.
Because they talk too much noise not to talk back. Oh yeah, sorry or whatever for your loss, Rob Parker.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
Channel: TLC
Time: Wednesday, 10 p.m.
A nation joined together online to decipher a bunch of self-professed rednecks talk about their gay pigs and gas—complete with lingo they clearly picked up from hip-hop radio and BET. God bless America?
Basketball Wives
Channel: VH1
Time: Monday, 8 p.m.
See women eat lunch and gossip. See some of those same women go and spread the gossip to other women. See all these women ultimately gather and fight. Tweet your reactions. Rinse and repeat weekly.
Best Funeral Ever
Channel: TLC
Time: Tuesday, 10 p.m.
The new TLC reality series recently trended nationally thanks to the funeral of Willie "Wolf" Johnson, best known as the guy who sang Chilli's "Babyback Ribs" theme song. The funeral featured professional mourners, giant ribs waving in the air, and Willie's kin dipping ribs in BBQ sauce. Seriously.
Bad Girls Club
Channel: Oxygen
Time: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Every week a bunch of loud, cantankerous, cheap celebrity-seeking women find a way to curse each other out and ultimately brawl in a home they don't have to pay rent on. Is it really that hard to figure out why so many actively tweet about this show?
Grey's Anatomy
Channel: ABC
Time: Thursday, 9 p.m.
The breakout medical drama has been on for several years, though it seems for many of those who still watch the show, they really enjoy tweeting, "What the hell happened to this show?" I'm not sure, but apparently you guys need a better hashtag.
American Idol
Channel: FOX
Time: Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m.
You saw the footage of Nicki Minaj cursing out Mariah Carey, right? Don't you want to join America in chronicling side eye for side eye, diss for diss?
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Channel: Bravo
Time: Sunday, 8 p.m.
Quit acting like you don't watch it. Maybe not when it's airing, but there's an episode or three hiding on your DVR. And it's okay.
Girls
Channel: HBO
Time: Sundays, 9 p.m.
If you're into the dry humor of the young, privileged, and over-analytical, there's an audience for you via #GirlsHBO. If you hate at least one or more of those things, there's an audience for you via #GirlsHBO. If you're somewhere in the middle, yes, try, #GirlsHBO. The tweets are more diverse than the cast, but try to enjoy it, why don't you?
Boardwalk Empire
Channel: HBO
Time: Sunday, 10 p.m.
You can always count on three familiar subjects being discussed on Twitter during a given season of Boardwalk Empire. How much of a jackass is Nucky Thompson? Why is Margaret so annoying? And, Can we please get more of Chalky White? These questions never get old.
The Walking Dead
Channel: AMC
Time: Returns Feb. 10, 9 p.m.
The show is centered around the deceased, but Twitter fans are a lively bunch. They're here to condemn you for not enjoying the show and comfort each other when their beloved AMC drama spooks the hell out of them. Sample tweet floating from #thewalkingdead hashtag: "I just watched 5 episodes of 'Walking Dead' so I will be sleeping with binoculars, canteen, rifle, 2 handguns and also I won't be sleeping." Riiiight.
All My Babies' Mamas
Channel: Oxygen
Time: TBD
Okay, so the show isn't on yet. However, you wouldn't know if you went by the number tweets, right? I thought so.
Mad Men
Channel: AMC
Time: Sunday, 9 p.m.
Surprisingly, a show set in the 1960s has a multitude of parody accounts that keep fans entertained during the on and off season. Take your pick: @PeggyOlson, @BettyDraper, @TheJoanHolloway, @PeteCampbell_NY, @StanRizzo_SCDP, @CreepyGlen, @idas_ghost, @Fainting_Couch.
Scandal
Channel: ABC
Time: Thursday, 10 p.m.
Shonda Rhimes' salacious political soap opera has been creeping up the ratings week after week due, in part, to the positive word-of-mouth boost it's gotten from social media. If you're into playing the guessing game of Scandal with an audience, Twitter is the best place to go. Fair warning, though: Don't get too caught up with your timeline or you might miss one of the many dramatized monologues delivered during the show.
Breaking Bad
Channel: AMC
Time: Returns Sunday, July 14
Breaking Bad fans never shut up about the show, even when it's not airing. I would slam those people for being so obsessive online, but after recently discovering its greatness, I now count myself among the fold.
Love & Hip Hop
Channel: Vh1
Time: Monday, 8 p.m.
Take celebrities and famous-adjacents, fill them up with tons of liquor, and place them in largely combative situations and it's no wonder why both the original and Atlanta version of the reality franchise are popular. To wit, if you want to see the funniest aspects of the subgroup known as #BlackTwitter, log onto the social network any Monday night the show airs.
