It’s true, I love the camp and the drama of living in a state with an epic self-mythologizing complex. The pride and the bravado may be overwhelming to the masses, but there’s something that’s fascinating about delving into the grandiosely reverential nature of the Texas spirit. Never is this more apparent than in the various television shows that have taken place in my adopted home state: the highs! the lows! the romance! the fights! Oh, sweet Texas.Friday Night Lights is a horribly underrated show that is extremely popular with my friends. The drama tenderly delves into the complex psychology of football in the fictional, small Texas town of Dillon. The pressure and the glory that consumes these young football players’ lives is completely fascinating and it is stunningly well-written. Plus, they shoot in Austin and often employ my slacker friends, who relish the opportunity to watch the games being shot and eat the free pizza. (If you watch the show, check out a recent cameo by yours truly in Season 4, Episode 3! HA.)

But it was Dallas, of course, that set the standard on epic Texas television. This has totally been a recent guilty pleasure of mine. The fashion alone is a reason to take notes. And there are so many awesome fist fights. My favorite is when Sue Ellen knocks out JR in season 11 (this show ran for way too long!).

While on the topic, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the campy awesomeness that is Walker, Texas Ranger. Also shot in the epicenter of Texas weird, Dallas, the Chuck Norris phenomenon lasted almost a decade and featured endless episodes of awesome butt-kicking slow motion fight scenes, cowboy attitude and all sorts of weird, otherworldly phenomena. The wonderful Conan O’Brian is primarily responsible for reintroducing Chuck Norris as the king of camp.  My favorite mash-up of classic clips can be found here.