Too good to multitask.

While traveling this year, I've developed the habit of watching television on my iPad while blogging/working on my laptop, or vice versa. I can rarely ever watch my favorite shows on television, but luckily most channels have free apps that allow me to watch shows the morning after they air. Sometimes, I stream a mindless show on my Netflix account while working (think How I Met Your Mother or Glee), but there are three shows I can't multitask while watching because they are just too darn good.

1. Scandal

I was expecting a trashy scandal, but instead I got intelligence and wit! Score!

I first saw commercials for this show while watching Revenge* on my ABC app and devoured the entire first season on Netflix in about two days (it is only seven episodes, if that makes me sound less pathetic). Honestly, I first started watching it because the commercials made it look sexy and scandalous. I wanted a brainless, 50 Shades-esque show to watch while I worked away on my other device. What I got, however, was my new favorite show of the year. Scandal is one of the smartest shows on television right now, and I just can't get enough. Luckily, the second season is full-length, not like that paltry seven-episode teaser they called a season last year. It follows Olivia Pope, a high-powered "fixer" in Washington D.C. dealing with all sorts of scandals, who also happens to be a central figure in the biggest scandal of them all ... an affair with the president. Although I do enjoy following the ups and downs of Olivia's "relationship," I like the show more because of each episode's independent scandal storyline, much like the format of my favorite crime shows (e.g. Criminal Minds and No. 3 on this very list).

2. The Following

The minute I saw a commercial for a new show about a serial killer, I knew I had to watch. This show is also very clever—disturbingly so—and has a somewhat scandalous relationship storyline on the side. The only gripe I have about this show is it doesn't follow the semi-independent-episodes format of my other favorite shows. I was expecting each episode to be about a different attack perpetrated by Carroll's following, but lately each episode has just been a continuation of things that have already happened. Is it weird that I want to see some more blood, or at least different victims?...

3. Law & Order: SVU

My love of SVU is no secret. Even after Elliot left two seasons ago, the show continued to impress. I've blogged about this show before, so I won't rehash everything here, but wow.

What are your favorite shows of the moment? And/or, what old shows have you been watching on Netflix lately?

*I must say, the second season of Revenge has been a huge disappointment. I don't care about Emily's love triangle (quadrangle?) anymore—I just want to see her take some people down!