The best television shows can transport you to other worlds
— but you may need to be sedated for the voyage. In fact, every great TV show
needs a drinking game. Here are 10 television shows that deserve their own
drinking games, along with some suggestions.
Watching TV with your friends is one of life’s great
pleasures, as
long as everyone plays nice. And a drinking game is one great way to make a
show interactive, especially if everybody’s seen the episode already. These
suggestions below are not intended to be complete or definitive — please
suggest your own drinking game items for the 10 shows below. And also please
suggest other shows that could use a drinking game, and which occasions you
should drink on.
https://gizmodo.com/im-trying-to-watch-my-tv-show-and-youre-being-a-war-c-1462776424
And finally, please drink responsibly — just because Torchwood is a ridiculous bundle of
ridiculousness does not mean you should cause permanent brain damage while
attempting to do it justice with alcohol. Also, don’t drink and drive, or
attempt to pilot mecha for that matter. With that out of the way…
1) Star Trek: Voyager
What it’s about: A
Federation starship gets lost on the wrong side of the galaxy and has to search
for a way home.
Take one drink when: Something
that ought to be irreplaceable is lost or destroyed. The show tries to interest
you in Kes’ love life. The holographic doctor does something adorable. Seven of
Nine shows that she knows everything the Borg know about everything in the
universe, but doesn’t understand basic human stuff.
Drink and chaser when:
Janeway says she’s not changing her mind about something, and then changes her
mind 10 minutes later.
Shipper bonus
cocktail: When Janeway and Chakotay show obvious signs of romantic tension.
Swig from bottle when:
The crew wastes all their time worrying about their latest holodeck scenario
when they’re trapped hundreds of light years from home.
2) Angel
What it’s about: The
tormented “vampire with a soul” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer moves to Los Angeles and slowly sells out.
Take one drink when: Lorne
the karaoke demon does something adorable. Wesley makes another small step on
his journey towards ultimate badassery. There are wacky L.A. in-jokes. Angel
does something lovably awkward, like dancing.
Drink and chaser when:
Angel’s son makes a giant mess or does something bratty, or just generally
exists.
Swig from bottle when:
A main castmember dies horribly. The show tries to shove an Angel-Cordelia
romance down your throat.
3) Torchwood
What it’s about: The
evil spy organization from Doctor Who suddenly
turns nice, because the immortal Captain Jack is in charge.
Take one drink when: Captain
Jack turns something innocuous into sexual innuendo. Two characters hook up
ill-advisedly. Owen does something sleazy and/or horrible. Tosh makes goo-goo
eyes at Owen. Ianto does something adorable. Gwen Cooper pouts.
Drink and chaser when:
Captain Jack suddenly shows a flash
of being the devil-may-care swashbuckler we loved on Doctor Who, instead of a grumpy boss.
Swig from bottle when:
A main castmember dies suddenly of something the Doctor would have been
able to fix with both hands tied behind his back.
4) Game of Thrones
What it’s about: It’s
another planet, where seasons last years, and everybody’s fighting over the
throne while ignoring the inexorable march of the ice zombies.
Take one drink when: Daenerys
screams about her dragons, or anything else. There’s pointless nudity to bribe
us into listening to a lecture about the history of the Targaryens. Varys or
Littlefinger tell the truth and nobody listens to them. Tywin or Lady Olenna put the smackdown on someone.
Drink and chaser when:
Someone makes a dreadful decision, that you can tell will lead to ruin even
if you haven’t read the books.
Swig from bottle when:
There’s insane sadism, mutilation or
general inhumanity depicted right on the screen.
5) Terminator: The
Sarah Connor Chronicles
What it’s about: A
spinoff of the classic James Cameron films, in which Sarah Connor and her
teenage son try to prevent the rise of Skynet.
Take one drink when: A
Terminator looks confused. John Connor acts whiny. Sarah Connor does something
badass. Cameron the Terminator shows signs she might be secretly evil. Derek
Reese looks haunted by the things he saw in the future.
Shipper bonus
cocktail: Any time there’s romantic/sexual tension between John Connor and
Cameron.
Drink and chaser when:
There’s a time paradox, or some hint that the timeline is changing, or some
clever use of time travel to illuminate the characters.
Swig from bottle when:
John Henry or Cameron say something cool about the nature of artificial
consciousness. Or maybe when Shirley Manson kills someone in a really insane
way.
6) Get Smart
What it’s about:
The world’s most bumbling spy, Agent 86, manages to save the world over and
over, in spite of himself.
Take one drink when: There’s
an awesome gadget, including the shoephone. Agent 86 says one of his
catch-phrases, like “missed it by that much” or “would you
believe.” Agent 99 does something lovable.
Drink and chaser when:
The Chief and Agent 86 go inside the Cone of Silence.
Swig from bottle when:
Hymie the Robot turns up.
7) Arrow
What it’s about: Basically it’s Batman Begins: The TV Series, except that Batman wears a hood and
shoots a bow and arrows. And there are flashbacks to an island.
Take one drink when: Ollie
being awesome dissolves to a flashback of Island Ollie being a twerp. Diggle
proves that he’s right about everything and totally the best at everything. Felicity
steals another scene. Every time Ollie takes his shirt off for no reason.
Drink and chaser when:
Ollie looks guilt-stricken for his past mistakes, and/or someone is yelling
at Ollie for being such a jerk.
Swig from bottle when:
Another DC Comics character is introduced, and is handled better than
anything in Green Lantern.
8) Blake’s 7
What it’s about: The
Federation from Star Trek is evil and
totalitarian, and only a discredited freedom fighter and his band of criminals
can destroy it. Or can they?
Take one drink when: Avon
says something brilliantly sarcastic. Vila is hilariously cowardly and lovable.
Dayna comes out with some awesome new weapon. Travis acts like a maniac.
Shipper bonus
cocktail: Whenever Blake and Avon stare at each other and talk about how
much they love/hate each other.
Drink and chaser when:
One of the computers on the show serves up an awesome burn to the stupid
humans.
Swig from bottle when:
Servalan shows up wearing another amazing outfit and either kills someone
or seduces someone or both in the same moment.
9) Batman: The
Animated Series
What it’s about: There
will never be a Batman show as great as this. Live action or animated. Batman
the way you always wanted to see him.
Take one drink when: Batman
says something that only sounds cool because it’s the voice of Kevin Conroy. Harley
Quinn says “Puddin.” There’s a “hero shot” of Batman that
uses light and dark to paint a picture of Gotham at its most epic.
Drink and chaser when:
One of the classic villains from the comics suddenly turns out to be
sympathetic.
Swig from bottle when:
The unfortunate fates of Batman’s friends and sidekicks are foreshadowed.
Or when Batman quotes Nietzsche.
10) Person of
Interest
What it’s about: An
ex-spy and a computer genius fight crime with the aid of a supercomputer that
can predict crimes before they happen.
Take one drink when: Bear
the dog turns up and does something cute. Finch looks at a computer monitor and
raises an eyebrow. Shaw looks awkward. Fusco and Carter both get phone calls at
the precinct and look at each other across the room.
Shipper bonus
cocktail: When Root and Finch share
a moment of sparring over their differing perspectives on A.I.
Drink and chaser when:
Reese pwns a whole group of mooks,
or uses a vehicle to mess up people and/or property, or just generally shows
why he’s the biggest motherfucker.
Swig from bottle when:
One of the show’s tragic flashbacks, or a moment of lonely desolation in
the present, unexpectedly makes you get choked up.
Thanks to Annalee, Matt and Meredith for the suggestions!
