Ryan’s Favorite TV Show ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Signs on for Three More Seasons

Sons of Anarchy on FX is hands down the best show on TV. Arguing with me about it will be an effort in futility. There will be no way to convince me that another show is better, so don't even try. With that said, I was pretty pumped to read an article at Screenrant.com earlier this week announcing the show has been signed for another 3 years!

In case you're not familiar with the show's plot, in it's simplest form, it centers around the main character, Jackson Teller and his struggle with trying to balance his at home family with his other family, a motorcycle gang in the fictional town of Charming, California who run an auto repair shop as a front for their real money-maker, the gun running business. It's like The Sopranos on motorcycles.

Why is it so awesome? For starters, it has an awesomely awesome (that's how awesome it is) theme song:

Secondly, it's gritty. The show is routinely rated TV-MA, D,L,S,V  (mature audiences, suggestive dialogue, coarse language, sexual situations, and violence, respectively). All basic necessities when trying to convey the world of a motorcycle gang to the general public. There's shootouts, illegal drugs, "adult entertainers", and turf wars with other gangs.

Does it promote violence and the seedy underbelly of society? Not anymore than any version of Real Housewives promotes snobby gold-diggers who think everything should be handed to them on the back of a shirtless pool boy. Or how Keeping Up with the Kardashians promotes the idea that if you're pretty (which applies to only 2/3 of the cast...sorry Bruce) and were born into money, you can have your own successful TV show regardless of the fact that you have zero talent and provide no positive contribution to society in general.

Back on point, another aspect of the show that makes it great is the cast. Outside of Ron Perlman and the former Mrs. Peggy Bundy, Katey Segal, the cast is largely comprised of "hey, isn't that they guy from..." actors and actress including Kim Coates, Mark Boone Junior, and Ryan Hurst. The lead character of Jackson Teller is played by Charlie Hunnam. A guy so convincing in his role that I didn't even know he was British until I looked him up on IMDB.com. He's that good.

They're all that good honestly. So good in fact that you find yourself rooting for them to win even though they're essentially the bad guys. That, more than anything is what makes the show great. They basically play a group of thugs who from time to time will do deplorable things in an effort to further their agenda or protect their club and yet they manage to endear themselves to you in a weird sort of way. My wife and I will find ourselves so wrapped up in the story line that we're actually a little happy when they get the upper-hand on a rival, even if the means of getting the upper-hand was shooting a dude in the face.

What's that you say? "Your wife watches it too?" Yes indeed...and she loves it. Granted my wife enjoys beer and can only tolerate shopping for no more than two hours straight, but outside of that, she's all woman and enjoys the show just as much as I do. Sure it helps that the aforementioned Charlie Hunnam is easy on a lady's eye, but she genuinely enjoys the story being told as well.

The only flaw in the show isn't actually in the show itself, but the network it airs on. Like so many series before it (Rescue Me, The Shield, etc.), FX makes viewers wait for what seems like an eternity between seasons. Sons begins in early September and wraps up during the first or second week of December. While it's nice know that I'll get a new episode every week for 13-14 straight weeks with no repeats, the nearly 9 month wait between seasons is as agonizing waiting for your tax return to show up after you file it.

Season 5 kicks off sometime in September which gives you plenty of time to catch up. Seasons 1-3 are available instantly on Netflix or at a few branches of the Evansville Public Library on DVD. Season 4 will more than likely be released sometime in August giving you just enough time to get caught up before the new season premieres.

I won't guarantee anything, but I'm pretty confident that once you start watching, you'll join the rest of us that know there's far better things on TV than reality show schlok.