Recommendation #3: Wednesday Night Television

Thursday night was crowned as THE night to watch and/or record television by NBC 22 years ago when they first began using the catchphrase of "Must See TV" after years of dominating the prime-time hours of Thursday night in ratings. Thursday was the stay-at-home night for Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, Cheers, L.A. Law, Seinfeld, Friends, ER, The Office, 30 Rock and My Name Is Earl from 1981-2012 (The Office finale) which is why it's so surprising to see that a night NBC prided itself on being their best has become such a train-wreck. Outsourced, Perfect Couples, The Paul Reiser Show, Prime Suspect, Up All Night, Awake, 1600 Penn, Go On, Welcome to the Family, Sean Saves The World, The Michael J. Fox Show, Bad Judge and A to Z have all been aired on Thursday nights on NBC and died quick yet painful deaths after or during one season since 2010.

After the death of the Community-30 Rock-The Office-Parks & Recreation era of 2012, there was a period of about two and a half years where every night was free for me because, there isn't much of a payoff in not going anywhere for say, Parks & Rec's single 22-minute episode airing by itself with nothing enticing outside of that show airing that night. With the expansion of television into new territories like Crackle and Netflix, the idea of one night being "Must See TV" is extinct as technology like the DVR has become as common a household appliance as the television itself.

The closest thing to "Must See TV" that has packed up my DVR recently are the comedies airing Wednesday night that, according to viewer totals, are being massively slept on.

Workaholics (9 PM CT on Comedy Central)

Already in it's fifth season, Workaholics is consistently amusing and has yet to lose a step even as the lead actors careers' blossom outside of TelAmeriCorp. The show has strayed outside of the actual office that employs Adam, Blake and Ders, settling for more episodes of the adult Ed, Edd N' Eddy coming up with plans that quickly fall apart and have no real consequence in a half hour. It's simple, sometimes dumb fun that doesn't at least gross the viewer out to the point of laughter in every episode. Trust me, if you aren't a fan of the show, it moves so quickly that it won't feel like time wasted (even though the characters might be).

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (9 PM CT on FXX)

Another show that has become a semi-staple of their network, Sunny is already in their tenth under-the-radar season. Don't worry about catching up on the series as none of the story-lines connect from episode-to-episode except for the characters progressively becoming more two-dimensional over time. The FXX comedy showcases that it is possible for a program to remain humorous after a decade (unlike How I Met Your Mother) and the acting on the show is really some of the best comedic acting I've seen. If you want to witness this show in it's peak form, watch this season's "Charlie Work" episode where a visit from the health inspector goes just about as you would expect in a comedy and the payoff at the end of the episode leaves everyone pleased.

Broad City (9:30 PM CT on Comedy Central)

Originally a web series, Parks & Recreation's Amy Poehler originally brought this show to the attention of Comedy Central. Now in it's second season, Broad City is the funniest show on a channel that refers to itself as the center of comedy. Basically a female version of the Workaholics crew, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are two stoner girls living in New York City with Hannibal Burress alongside them as they just try to get by in the busiest city in America. The show has really won me over the past few weeks with episodes like this past week's where Abbi gets stuck in a construction hole in the middle of a park as her and Ilana roller-blade their way to their friends' dog wedding (officiated by Janeane Garofalo of course). The show is another consistently feel-good comedy that Comedy Central should really get invested in with the loss of Jon Stewart.

Man Seeking Woman (9:30 PM CT on FXX)

The newest of the four shows taking up my DVR space on Wednesday night is Man Seeking Woman starring Jay Baruchel and Eric Andre'. The show was created by former-SNL writer Simon Rich and is absolutely nothing like Saturday Night Live. The show seems to be much more influenced by Baruchel and Andre' (who have lengthy histories as writers) as it is one of the more bizarre shows on television. To a first-time viewer, this is the weirdest show in America right now but, after watching the first six episodes, the themes are all fairly common with an absurd twist in each episode. For example, the "Boyfriend gets jealous of girlfriend's new male friend" story-line was made a hundred times more extreme when girlfriend(Minka Kelly)'s new friend turned out to be Tanaka, an ancient Japanese penis monster (voiced by Fred Armisen). The show even reads hilarious without watching it so, I recommend you all watch Man Seeking Woman, Broad City, Workaholics and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as they struggle in ratings when they are some of the most original content on television.