Top 100 favorite TV shows of all-time

Ryan Pratt's Top 100 Favorite TV Series Ever

Well, I finally did it. After list after list of top movies, I finally completed my much-requested and highly-debated list of top TV shows. And although I was a national movie critic in a prior life, I do not consider myself a professional TV snob by any means, so I'll spare you my list of "Top 100 Best TV Series Ever" and jump right into favorites. But keep in mind, I'm a millennial, so don't expect too many Dick Van Dyke or Lucille Ball appearances in this list. These are shows from the 80s through the 2010s. Some were binged on Netflix and Hulu, while others were from the pre-DVR-sit-on-the-couch-at-8pm-era. It's a list full of groundbreaking dramas that shocked, hilarious sitcoms that had me ROTLF, guilty-pleasures like reality MTV, and the cartoons I grew up on. It not only includes shows I watched from season premier to season finale, and episodes I've seen a dozen times, but also a show that got cancelled after just 22 episodes.

These are my top 100 favorite TV shows of all-time:

1. Lost
2. Seinfeld
3. House
4. How I Met Your Mother
5. Family Guy
6. Home Improvement 
7. Walking Dead
8. Friends
9. Survivor
10. Game of Thrones
11. Mad Men
12. Grey's Anatomy 
13. Friday Night Lights
14. Breaking Bad
15. Saved by the Bell
16. The OC
17. Homeland
18. Entourage
19. Fresh Prince of Bel-air
20. Big Brother
21. South Park
22. Fringe
23. Whose Line Is It Anyway?
24. Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey
25. Dragon Ball Z
26. Law & Order: SVU
27. The West Wing
28. Late Night with Conan O'Brien
29. Rob & Big
30. King of Queens 
31. Around the Horn
32. Deadwood 
33. Family Feud
34. The Unit
35. Jackass
36. The Bachelor 
37. The Challenge
38. TRL
39. Everybody Loves Raymond
40. The Following
41. Shark Tank
42. Talespin 
43. SportsCenter
44. NCIS
45. Planet Earth
46. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
47. X-Files 
48. Ghost Adventures
49. Two and a Half Men
50. Bones
51. Newsroom
52. Full House
53. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
54. The Office
55. Scandal
56. The Price is Right
57. Double Dare
58. Gossip Girl
59. Jeopardy
60. Are You Afraid of the Dark
61. True Detective
62. Big Bang Theory
63. Vampire Diaries
64. True Blood
65. Man vs Food
66. House Hunters
67. 24
68. American Horror Story
69. Step-by-Step
70. So You Think You Can Dance
71. Wipeout
72. Heroes
73. X-Men
74. American Dad
75. Boy Meets World
76. Spartacus
77. That 70's Show
78. Family Matters
79. The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
80. Power Rangers
81. Live! with Regis & Kelly
82. Laguna Beach
83. Fear Factor
84. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
85. Wheel of Fortune
86. Animaniacs
87. The Cosby Show
88. Baywatch
89. 30 Rock
90. Nip/Tuck
91. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
92. Batman: The Animated Series
93. Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown
94. Seaquest DSV
95. Looney Tunes
96. PTI
97. Revenge
98. King of the Nerds
99. Gargoyles
100. Inside the Actor's Studio

What did I miss? Add your suggestions and knee-jerk reactions in the comments below:

Columbus Zoo Bucket List

Originally posted August 28, 2012. Updated May 23, 2014.

Whether you're making your first trip to the world's #1 zoo, or a season pass member like me, here are twenty-six things you must see on your next visit:

1. Heart of Africa: The newest attraction at the Columbus Zoo opens today and promises to be a major draw for years to come. The Heart of Africa offers visitors a unique look at 165 exotic animals that include lions, wildebeests and gazelles as well as hands-on features like camel rides and a giraffe-feeding tree-house station.
2. Polar Bears: Located in the back of the North America Region. Watch the polar bears dive for fish and play with floating water toys from above or below water via the underwater viewing area located under their icy pool.
3. Gibbons Monkeys: Located in the Australia Region. These monkeys have a huge outdoor exhibit with an island tree-house surrounded by a river. If you're lucky you'll even get to hear the gibbons "song".
4. Western Lowland Gorilla: Located in the African Forest Region. The gorillas can be seen in their expansive outdoor exhibit during good weather, generally late spring through fall. The outdoor area features multiple levels in a round structure featuring ropes, earthen mounds and other fixtures on which to climb, swing, and rest. Indoors, the gorillas have access to a 360 degree exhibit which "encloses" the visitors in the inside! Large artificial trees and climbing structures offer many horizontal and vertical challenges for the gorillas.
5. Baby Bonobos Monkey: Located in the African Forest Region. The bonobos are always extremely active, swinging and playing in their jungle-gym-like habitat. They even know how to turn on the water spicket and get a drink by themselves! And if you're lucky you'll get to the relationship between a mother and its baby.
6. Stingray Bay: Located in between the Zoo and Zoombezi Bay. This new "petting zoo" is a real treat for children. And even pretty cool for adults. Stand around the huge pool and touch the stingrays as they pass by.
7. Polar Grille. Located in the back of the North America Region near the polar bear habitat. This is hands down the best "shack" for food in the zoo. Try the chili cheese fries, amazing!
8. "Hank" the Elephant: Located in the Pachyderm building near the Asia Quest Region. This exhibit provides one of the largest indoor spaces for elephants and rhinos at any zoo. The size and configuration of the outdoor yards makes it possible for elephants to spend the night outdoors. And if you get a chance to see "Hank" (the biggest of the elephants) play in the pool of water out back you're in for a real treat!
9. Humboldt Penguins: Located in the Shores Region, the naturalistic Humboldt penguin exhibit allows guests to see the penguins swimming underwater in their semi-circular 9,000-gallon pool or burrowing holes for nesting in the artificial rock.
10. West Indian Manatees: Located in the Shores Region, in the Manatee Coast building. Manatee Coast is an immersion exhibit modeled after the 10,000 Islands region of Florida. Visitors walk down the pathway, along the acrylic tank which holds 190,000 gallons of water. From the side, visitors can observe the manatees swimming.
11. Australian Boat Ride: Located in the Voyage to Australia and the Islands. Take a "boat" ride on a lazy river that runs around the Gibbons monkey island and throughout Australia. It's the best way to see the monkeys and some of the other Australian exhibits. 
12. Tiger Cubs: Currently located near the entrance. The adults are located in the Asia Quest Region. The tiger's exhibit features a large pool with a heated and air conditioned area adjacent. This makes a comfortable place for the tigers to spend some time and also be close for visitors to see. They also have a large heated/air conditioned cave which is a favorite hang out spot! The covered viewing area offers information about tiger populations in the wild, both past and present. A conservation coin wall is nearby and rewards donors with special tiger sounds when they contribute. One hundred percent of the proceeds from this coin drop go to support conservation of animals in mainland Asia. But the cubs are the real attraction right now.
13. Brown/Grizzly Bears: Located in the forest section of the Zoo's North America Region, each animal has its own exhibit space with natural surroundings composed of rocks, logs to climb in and over and pools for the bears.
14. Red Kangaroos: Located in the Voyage to Australia and the Islands Region, Australia side. The red kangaroos can be found spring through fall in a walk through yard. Visitors must stay on the path but kangaroos can hop anywhere they please!
15. Bald Eagles: Located in the North America Region. This region depicts North American habitats of grasslands, forests and prairies. The bald eagle exhibit is found between the forest and wetland sections and has a large aviary with tree limbs placed strategically to assist the rehabilitated eagles in climbing to the upper levels of the space.
16. Giant Fruit Bats: Located inside the Asia Quest Region. These giant bats hang upside down from the caging above most of the day. I can only imagine what this cage is like at night. Either way, you won't believe the size of these creepy creatures. 
17. Carousel: Located just beyond the Shores Region. This old-fashioned carousel will cost you a little extra money to ride but its well worth it for the pictures you'll get of your kids.
18. Frozen Bananas: Also located in the back of the North America Region near the Polar Grille. This is hands down the best dessert/snack the zoo offers and incredibly perfect for a long hot summer day at the zoo.
19. Train Ride: Located in the middle of the North America Region. Pay a few extra dollars to take your kids on the train tour around "North America" and see some things you can't see on foot!
20. Bonnethead Shark: Located in the Shores Region, in Discovery Reef. Discovery Reef is a 110,000 gallon salt water tank depicting a coral atoll. 1,200 pieces of man-made coral and special wave-producing equipment combine for a beautiful and always captivating experience.
21. Pose with Statues: There are a handful of animal statues located around the zoo (polar bears, shark, elephant, and more) that are a perfect place for a family photo or new profile pic.
22. Yell in the Tunnel: Located in between the front half and back half of the zoo. This tunnel under the highway echoes loudly making it nearly impossible to not yell a quick yodel-ay-eee-oooo!
23. Leopard: Located in the African Forest Region. The African Forest Region immerses guests in the culture and environment of an African rainforest. Field journal entries from wildlife researchers also guide you along the journey. The leopards enjoy an outdoor exhibit with a large fallen tree, their favorite spot to stretch out and sleep! When you visit our leopards, see if you can spot the artificial duiker in the tree. This is an example of how leopards protect their food from other predators. 
24. Burmese Python: Located in the Shores Region, in the Reptile Building, one of the oldest buildings at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. This building was opened in 1968 and renovated to be more interactive in 1998. Home of the Reptile Keeper Lab where you can learn about reptiles in an up-close encounter. Check for scheduled times on the zoo map when you arrive.
25. Wildlights aka Zoo Lights: If it wasn't for most of the animals being inside for the winter, this would be in the top 10 for sure. Staring in mid-November the entire zoo is decorated for the holidays. Don't miss one of the most amazing Christmas light exhibits you'll ever see!
26. Zoombezi Bay: And 6 months later make sure you check out the new waterpark!

Click here to download a map of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

And if I missed any of your favorites, feel free to add them in the comments below:

Ten ideas for a destination wedding in Aruba

Our #prattwedding in Aruba is almost here! After a 22-month engagement we can't believe how quickly it came! It's seems like it was just yesterday Ally came home to Ryan and this. 

Now with only 11 days until the ceremony and 6 days until many of us arrive on the island, we finally have all of our plans finalized and we're truly ready to leave. There was a lot of preperation and planning -- though admittedly easier than a local wedding -- but it's definitely necessary to make sure everyone is on the same page before they leave the country.

Besides the obvious things -- like flights, accommodations, luggage, and passports -- here are ten things we sent to all of our guests as reminders 1 week prior to our destination wedding on the beaches of Aruba:

1. Great overview article worth taking 5-mins to read: Aruba Travel Guide
2. iOS and Android app to download to text for free while traveling abroad: WhatsApp Messenger
3. A hashtag to use when we you or your guests tweet or post pictures on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, etc: i.e. #prattwedding
   
4. Tentative agenda of ideas of fun things to do for the week in Aruba i.e.: WeddingWire.com/PrattWedding Agenda
   
5. Contact list of people coming to Aruba and where they're staying on the island and sitting at the reception.
   
6. Google Map of hotels, beach houses, etc. i.e.: Map of the Pratt Wedding in Aruba
   
7. Printable map of island and attractions: I Heart Aruba Map
   
8. Address and times of ceremony & reception: i.e. 5:45pm on Vela Beach at Aruba Marriott & Stellaris Casino @ L.G. Smith Blvd 101, Aruba
   
9. Address of the Bride & Groom: i.e. TheArubaHouse.com @ L.G. Smith Blvd 470, Aruba
   
10. Info about the rehearsal dinner or scheduled parties and excursions: i.e. Jolly Pirates Sunset Cruise 

If you're planning a destination wedding in Aruba and have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below:

Facebook, Twitter and Google+ cover photo sizes

You may have noticed my new cover photo (see above).

Well Twitter just announced its new profile page redesign, including a new "Cover Photo" feature that's their attempt to catch up with what their two main competitors -- Facebook and Google+ -- have already done.

Originally posted on September 18, 2012. Updated on April 25, 2014: Twitter redesigned their profiles again with new, larger cover photo images = 1,500 pixels by 500 pixels.

It's a way for people to express themselves beyond their profile picture and bio. But its also one of my favorite new universal features amongst social networks. Why? Because it allows users to upload a profile picture of just their face (which, by definition, is what a profile picture should be) and now use the cover photo for pictures of their dog, baby, significant other, favorite athlete, actor, team, etc.

But unfortunately, it's not that simple. While most profile pictures today are a standard square:

• Facebook: 128px by 128px
• Twitter: 400px by 400px
• Google+: 252px by 252px

...each of these social networks have different size constraints for their cover photos:

• Facebook: 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall (or 3404px by 1260px)
• Twitter: 1,500 pixels wide by 500 pixels tall (or 3756px by 1878px)
• Google+: 480 pixels wide by 270 pixels tall (or 3840px by 2160px)

So please, change your profile picture to an image of yourself, by yourself, and then take advantage of this new social network feature. But if you want to create a cover photo that meets each site's recommendations, you'll have to have 3 different images or at least 3 different crops of your image for each.

An image is worth 1000 retweets

An image is worth a thousand retweets.

The old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" was long attributed to Confucius as a Chinese proverb, but the expression was actually first used in a 1911 newspaper article discussing journalism and publicity.

The exact phrase first appears in an 1918 newspaper advertisement for the San Antonio Light which says:

One of the Nation's Greatest Editors Says:
One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
The San Antonio Light's Pictorial Magazine of the War
Exemplifies the truth of the above statement—judging from the warm
reception it has received at the hands of the Sunday Light readers

Today, the phrase is a full blown cliche, forbad by journalists and newspapers around the world. But with the popularity of social media and its ever-growing reach, the context of the phrase now takes new meaning.

Today, with the constant stream of posts, blogs, and tweets, it can be difficult to differentiate and emerge from the masses. But one simple way to draw the eye to your posts, and to your account, is with images.

If the objective of every social media account is to gain followers, and the intention of every post is to promote engagement, then the best (and easiest) way to attain your goals is by adding a photo, picture, or image to everything you do. But don't just add a profile picture and cover photo (which you should definitely be doing), you should also add an image to every tweet, every blog post, and every Facebook update. You'll see your likes, favorites and retweets increase almost immediately. And before you know it, every image will be worth a thousand retweets. 

Top 10 movies of 2013

Top 10 movies of 2013

Every other month in 2013, I found myself walking out of a movie theater saying, "best film of the year... hands down!" First it was Warm Bodies in February. Then Before Midnight in May. Then Pacific Rim in July and Prisoners in September. Then it was Gravity and Captain Philips in October. And finally, Wolf of Wall Street in December.

It was a record-breaking year at the box office, but also a fantastic year of award-worthy filmmaking (two scales that rarely correlate). There were brilliant screenplays, moving stories, and outstanding individual performances. In my opinion, Tom Hanks deserves an Oscar just for the final ten minutes of Captain Phillips and the rest of the major acting awards should go to the cast of American Hustle.

But there's more to a "best picture" list than a handful of Oscar-worthy performances, and now that I've had some time to reflect, I think I've finally finalized my lists. Here are my...

... top 10 best films of 2013:

1. Gravity
2. Captain Phillips
3. Wolf of Wall Street
4. Pacific Rim
5. Lone Survivor
6. Blackfish
7. American Hustle
8. Her
9. Frozen
10. Chasing Ice

...and top 10 favorite movies of 2013:

1. Pacific Rim
2. Wolf of Wall Street
3. Lone Survivor
4. Blackfish
5. Prisoners
6. Gravity
7. This is the End
8. Man of Steel
9. Warm Bodies
10. Croods

Disagree? I'm sure you do. Let me have it in the comments:

25 holi-days of better Christmas movies

Sick of the movies that ABC Family shows every year during its "25 Days of Christmas" holiday special? There are literally dozens of ways to watch movies these days, change the channel, visit your local Redbox, fire up Netflix, check the discount DVD bin, or search on-demand, and go watch these films instead!

These are the 25 best Christmas movies of all-time, in reverse order, saving the very best for Christmas Day:

• On December 1st, watch: Rise of the Guardians
• 2nd: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
• 3rd: It's a Wonderful Life
• 4th: Die Hard
• 5th: Black Christmas
• 6th: Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
• 7th: Four Christmases
• 8th: A Charlie Brown Christmas
• 9th: Jingle All the Way
• 10th: Love Actually
• 11th: Iron Man 3
• 12th: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
• 13th: The Muppet Christmas Carol
• 14th: Arthur Christmas
• 15th: Scrooged
• 16th: Fred Claus
• 17th: Elf
• 18th: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Animated)
• 19th: Home Alone
• 20th: Die Hard 2
• 21st: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Live Action)
• 22nd: The Santa Clause
• 23rd: The Santa Clause 2
• 24th: Home Alone 2
• 25th: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Did I miss any of your favorites? Add them in the comments below:

6 simple tips for social media

At a high level, social media seems very simple. Post this, follow her, retweet that, connect with him. But after you dive in, it can be a struggle to stay afloat. You quickly realize that it can be much more complicated than those simple one-click actions. It doesn't have to be.

Here are six simple tips to help you gain more followers and get more likes:

Adopt early: One of the easiest ways to gain popularity on any social media platform is to be an early adopter. Those who join early not only learn the ropes faster, but can also take advantage of the domino effect of all the other people who join from that day forward. Each person that joins a new network immediately follows every one of their friends who are already on that network. If you're not on that list, they may never look for you again.

Follow friends: You should not only follow all of your friends from day one, but also occasionally check to see if any new friends have joined. Some platforms are great about this (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest), sending you notifications any time your friend from Facebook joins. But others take a little more effort. Check your settings or search tools until you find a "Search My Contacts" button or similar link. Most of your friends will follow back, they likely just didn't realize your account existed.

Follow back: The number one rule you'll hear the most when attending networking seminars, reading social media books, or watching a live webinar about social networks is "Follow Back!" It's something I'm not crazy about (for other reasons), but it truly is the quickest and easiest way to gain the most followers and increase interactions with your posts.

Post once per day: Unless you already have over 2,000 followers, friends, and/or connections I'd advise against posting any more than once per day. Spamming people's timelines and feeds with your opinions and stories is the fastest way to get unfollowed, unfriended, deleted, and blocked. If you have more than one post in mind, save it as draft or schedule it go live the following day.

Update profile: When someone finally does find you on any social network, the first thing they will do is read your profile. Keep it short, simple, and creative. But also make it descriptive. No matter how eccentric you are in real-life, your profile should be direct and to the point.

Add profile picture: I lied, the first thing they will do is look at your profile picture. Many times, they won't even make it to your profile because they didn't even realize it was you. If you want people to follow you, replace that Twitter egg with a headshot. Don't have a professional photo? Fine. Just upload anything for now. You can worry about putting your best face forward later.


I know a lot of my readers are also social media gurus and social networking ninjas, so please feel free to post your other tips in the comments section as well:

Ten reasons to not follow back

Every social media ninja and social networking jedi says the same thing, "Follow Back!" I disagree. Here are ten reasons why:

1. First, just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you should. If Johnny jumped... well, you get the point.
2. Second, it is okay to follow back, just do not do so blindly. Read their profile and last 3 tweets to see if you have anything in common.
3. Just because someone is following you doesn't mean you have the same interests. 
4. There are people out there who follow-unfollow just to gain followers -- so you could end up following people who actually aren't following you back.
5. You can't legitimately interact with your audience if your timelines and feeds are flooded with thousands of new posts every minute.
6. Social network influence algorithms like Klout's take your ratio of follows to followers into account when calculating your score -- having more followers than people you follow will improve your score.
7. Most social media gurus follow a lot less people than they have followers -- so they're not even following their own advice.
8. The only way to know if someone is worth following is by seeing the number of followers they have (the most interesting people have the most followers), so if we all followed back how would we know who to follow to begin with?
9. If everyone everywhere followed everyone back what would be the point? The greatest thing about social media is being able to create niche social networks with those of similar interests.
10. And lastly, by not following back, you're doing your part to put an end to this endless cycle. We have to start somewhere.

Can you think of any other good reasons not to follow back (I struggled with the last 2 if you couldn't tell)? If so, add them to the comments below:

An argument for generic LinkedIn invites

You've probably seen a blog post, heard a podcast, or attended a webinar that called for an end to generic LinkedIn invitations. Everyone is talking about it. And everyone seems to be in agreement. For example, here are 10 opinions from some industry experts:

• 40x50.com - (I Am Tired Of) Generic LinkedIn Invitations
• SocialMediaToday.com - LinkedIn Invitations: Everything You Need to Know
• Jim Muldoon - Improve Your Introduction Connect Request Ratios
• MarketingThink.com - 5 Ways to Use LinkedIn Invitations Help Your Social Selling
• Forbes.com - Your LinkedIn Intervention: 5 Changes You Must Make
• Kyle Lacy - Stop With Your Stupid & Generic LinkedIn Invitations
• TimsStrategy.com - 11 Ways to Personalize a LinkedIn Invite
• JobSearch.About.com - How to Send LinkedIn Invitations & Messages
• FastCompany.com - The 3 LinkedIn Etiquette Rules You Should Never Break
• CareerRocketeer.com - 5 Guidelines for Accepting LinkedIn Invitations

But I couldn't disagree more! I am here to argue exactly the opposite:

You don't need to customize your LinkedIn invitations to connect.

You don't customize each phone call greeting do you? No, you simply say "Hello". And when you handwrite a letter you simply start with "Dear". So why do we have to customize our LinkedIn greetings? In an effort to combat the 10 (thousand) posts that are telling you why you should, here are 10 reasons why you shouldn't:

1. It's easier to send generic invitations! Why are we making technology (that is supposed to make the world simpler and more convenient) more complicated by forcing people to customize each individual LinkedIn invitation?
2. The people who send these generic invites aren't lazy, they're busy! Time is money, so the fact that you didn't take the time to customize your message likely means you're a busy, successful businessperson who understands this concept, and therefore someone others should want to connect with on LinkedIn.
3. The LinkedIn mobile app does not allow you to customize your message, so the request likely came from someone innovative and technologically savvy who, again, you should want to connect with on LinkedIn.
4. The LinkedIn social connector add-on for Outlook also does not allow you to customize invitations, but it is the quickest and most effective way to connect with someone you just exchanged emails with while at the office.
5. Nobody reads, so until LinkedIn allows you to embed a 30-second elevator pitch video recording in each invitation you might as well not waste the time writing it.
6. Everyone should accept every LinkedIn invite to connect (you can always block them later), but the whole point of a social network is to connect with people, so why does it matter what their invitation said? The real power is what they bring to your network after you connect. If you accept someone's invitation and they are constantly spamming you, block them (but, unless you're a celebrity, this will rarely happen).
7. If people don't accept every invite, they can still check out your LinkedIn profile (and Google you) to find out more about you than you could possibly explain in the invitation's 300 character limit.
8. LinkedIn itself even says the ability to "add a personal note" is OPTIONAL! If it was required it would just be a blank text input box without a generic template.
9. You don't have to customize your "friendship" requests on Facebook or requests to follow on Twitter and Instagram (the so-called "personal" social networks), so why do you need to personalize your invitations to connect on LinkedIn (the so-called "professional" social network)?
10. And lastly, again, no one should expect you to customize your LinkedIn invites until everyone starts answering the phone, "Hello this is Ryan an innovative and creative marketer who would like to talk to you on the phone right now and here's why you shouldn't hang up yet..."

Are you on team generic LinkedIn invitations? If so, add your reasons below! Or if not, feel free to tell me why I'm wrong: