I have a really, really, really (did I mention really?) bad habit of getting hooked on television shows 5 or 6 years too late. It generally means that while I’m blabbering on about characters from decades past, my friends are rolling their eyes and searching for someone cooler to talk to at that party. 
My most recent obsession? 2004’s Veronica Mars. As always, no one cares. But they should.
When a friend loaned me the first season of Veronica Mars, a relatively short-lived series that started on UPN (I mean really, what kind of series actually premieres on UPN?), I wasn’t expecting to get so hooked on the show. But when I blew through all 22 episodes of season 1 in less than a week, I knew I had a problem on my hands. Luckily for me, Netflix came to my aid by offering the entire series online. Sure, it’s all available on Amazon VOD and iTunes also, but with Netflix, I felt like I was getting something for free. And we all know free is better.
The series stars Kristen Bell before she was anyone worth writing about as Veronica, a teenager who moonlights as a Private Investigator in her spare time. Okay it sounds a little corny, but it’s not. Each episode has a different mystery for Veronica and her friends to solve, but the real gem of this series comes from the season arcs. Although Veronica does go off on these smaller cases, she also spends the entire first and second season trying to solve her best friend’s murder and her own rape. Heavy stuff.
As if this show couldn’t get any cooler, it was actually created by Rob Thomas, a man partially responsible for one of my other favorite shows, Party Down, which is thankfully also available on Netflix. If you’re a fan of that one, then you’ll recognize cameos and recurring roles from Jane Lynch, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, and Adam Scott on Veronica Mars. Non-Party Down related appearances include Leighton Meester, Michael Cera, Kevin Smith, Rider Strong, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Joss Whedon, Paris Hilton, and the ever-loveable Paul Rudd. Yeah, that’s right, Paul Rudd.
So embrace your inner teenage-girl-PI and spend a little time in Neptune, California with Veronica. If you don’t have Netflix, the entire first two seasons are also available for free from The WB.com. So now you really don’t have any excuses. And when you’re desperately looking for someone to talk to about Veronica Mars while your friends are ignoring your calls, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
