10 Foreign Series We Grew Up With, From Prison Break to Supernatural

Some shows we watch and then move on from once they end. Others become part of our lives: series we waited impatiently for the next episode of, discussed with friends, and quoted dialogue from...

We just watch some series and after they finish, we go to the next work. But some others become a part of our life; The series with which we would wait for the next episode, we would talk about them with our friends, we would repeat their dialogues and some of their characters would remain in our minds so much that hearing their names years later, the memories of a certain period of life would come alive.

For many of us, childhood and adolescence are tied to various foreign series; From crime dramas and prison break stories to vampire adventures, zombie apocalypse and even some otherworldly hunter brothers. Many of these series have now ended, some others have not continued for years, and some no longer have the same effect on the audience as before, but the memory they created still remains.

In this list, we have gone to 10 series that were not just a TV show for a large part of our generation; We grew up with them.

Few people in the 2010s were involved with foreign series and had not heard the name of The Vampire Diaries. The series, which at first glance may have seemed like a teenage fantasy drama about vampires, but very soon it was able to present a broader story of romantic relationships and emotional triangles. The story took place in the fictional town of Mystic Falls; Where the arrival of two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, changes Elena Gilbert's life forever. Later, witches, werewolves, hybrids and different generations of vampires also enter the story and the world of the series expands significantly.

But the main reason The Vampire Diaries stayed with many audiences wasn't just its story. This series was published in a period when many of us were just getting to know foreign series more seriously. Each season was full of new characters, complicated relationships and unexpected events, which made following it a weekly or even daily habit. From Stefan and Damon to Caroline, Bonnie, Klaus, and Elijah, there were characters that are still easily remembered even years after the show ended.

Before big series like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad became global phenomena, Lost was one of the works that showed how much a TV series can involve the audience in theorizing. The story begins with a plane crash on a mysterious island and a group of survivors are forced to stick together to survive. But it soon becomes clear that the island is much more than an unknown place.

The countless secrets of the series made the audience constantly guess about the future events. Each answer created a new question and each episode provided new clues to the viewers. From Jack, Sawyer, and Kate to Locke and the rest of the survivors, Lost had a lot of memorable characters and was one of the first shows that made watching TV feel like solving a big mystery for some viewers. Maybe not everyone was happy with the ending, but the impact that Lost had on TV show culture can't be ignored. For many of us, this series was one of the first serious experiences of engaging with complex and multi-layered stories.

If you grew up with Smallville, the first image that comes to your mind when you hear the name of this series is probably a young Clark Kent; A boy who is not yet Superman and is discovering his powers, identity and destiny. For many generations, Smallville was the gateway to the world of superheroes. The series told the story of Clark before becoming Superman, and it took him years to become the hero everyone knows.

One of the most interesting features of the series was watching Clark's gradual growth. At the beginning of the story, he was a teenager struggling with his strange powers, but over time he learned how to take responsibility for them. Along with him, characters like Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang also played an important role in the memories of the audience. Smallville may not be as impressive today in terms of special effects and production form as modern superhero works, but its place in the history of television and the memory of the generation that grew up with it is undeniable.

If some of the series on this list remain in our minds with excitement and violence, How I Met Your Mother is immortalized with friendship, love and everyday life. The story of Ted Mosby and his friends in New York was ostensibly about finding the love of life, but in reality it was more about the journey of life itself. Marshall, Lily, Barney and Robin soon became a part of the audience's life.

One of the reasons for the series' popularity was that each character had a distinct identity. Barney with his quirks and antics, Marshall with his big heart, Lily with her controlling but lovable personality, and Robin with her independence made a group that was a joy to watch spending time together. Most importantly, the show has portrayed growing up over the years. Relationships change, people make mistakes, move away from each other and get back together, and eventually everyone has to deal with change. For this reason, How I Met Your Mother was not just a comedy series for many; It was a picture of a period of life when we thought our friends would always be by our side and the future was still completely unknown.

Now we come to the series that for many audiences was the beginning of a new era: The Walking Dead. At a time when apocalyptic and zombie-centric stories were not yet as prevalent as they are today, The Walking Dead was able to bring the genre to mainstream television and become a global phenomenon. The show's opening with Rick Grimes waking up in a haunted hospital is still one of the most enduring openings in TV series history. But the real appeal of the work was not limited to zombies. During the story, the audience was accompanied by a group of characters, some of whom stayed with them for years and others were suddenly removed from the story.

The death of popular characters was one of the features that made The Walking Dead an unpredictable series. No one was completely safe, and each season could change the fate of one of the characters we had followed for years. From Rick and Daryl to Carol, Glenn, Maggie, and Negan, the series produced an unforgettable cast of characters. For many, The Walking Dead is associated with long nights, debating which character will survive, and waiting for the next episode.

If we were to talk about quality alone, Breaking Bad could easily rank higher; But this list is about our memories. The story of Walter White, a chemistry teacher who enters the world of drug manufacturing after being diagnosed with cancer, tells one of the most powerful character downfalls in television history. What made Breaking Bad special was that the audience saw Walter's gradual change throughout the story. He was a sympathetic character at first, but as he progressed, his decisions became darker.

In contrast, Jesse Pinkman became a character with whom the audience made a strong emotional connection. The relationship between Walter and Jesse was a big part of the heart of the show; A relationship that constantly changes between cooperation, betrayal, dependence and hatred. Sal Goodman, Gus Fring, Mike Ermentrout, and many other characters later became so popular that separate series were even made about some of them. Breaking Bad is perhaps more than the series we grew up with, it's the series where we realized at a certain point in our lives that television can really be like cinema.

Now we come to one of the most obvious choices in this list. Prison Break was not just a series for many Iranian audiences; It was a phenomenon. The story of Michael Scofield, who deliberately goes into prison to save his brother Lincoln Burroughs from execution, presented one of the most interesting ideas on television from the very first episodes. The plan that Michael had tattooed on his body, the secrets behind the company and the conspiracy that led to Lincoln's imprisonment, caused each episode to end with a new question. But what made Prison Break last was not just the story of the escape. Characters like Michael, Lincoln, Sarah, Sucre, T-Bag, Blake, and Mahon each formed an important part of the series' identity.

For many of us, watching Prison Break was the first real experience of a series that could not be stopped easily. An episode would end and we immediately wanted to see the next one. Even those who don't remember many of the story's details years later still remember the show's opening music, Michael Scofield's face, and his intricate plot. Prison Break was exactly the kind of series whose name alone evokes a period of life.

If Prison Break was the series we couldn't stop watching, Supernatural was the series we felt like it was never going to end! And indeed it was so. Supernatural began with the story of two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester; Two supernatural hunters across America battling ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves and just about any other strange creature you can think of. But what made this series stay in the lives of the audience for years was the relationship between the two brothers.

Dean and Sam weren't just the two main characters; Their relationship was the main pillar of the series. Even as the story took strange and unexpected turns, there was always one big question: How do these two get back together? Over the course of 15 seasons, the show grew from a simple monster-hunting story to a much larger universe; Where angels, demons, Lucifer, God and different versions of reality entered the story.

Characters like Castiel, Bobby Singer, Crowley and Rowena also became so popular that it was hard to imagine the series without them. But perhaps the main reason why Supernatural is on such a list is its incredible longevity. 15 seasons means that a large part of the adolescence and youth of some of the audience has been spent with these two brothers. Some seasons of the series may be great and some seasons not, but when a series stays with you for more than a decade, it is no longer just entertainment; It becomes a part of your life memories.

Game of Thrones became one of the biggest cultural phenomena in the world in the late 2010s, and for many audiences, watching it had become a social event. This series taught us that no character is truly safe. From the very first seasons, the characters that we thought were the main heroes were suddenly killed and the story took a completely new direction. This unpredictability was a big part of its appeal. Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark and Jaime Lannister were among the characters whose stories millions of people followed for years.

Game of Thrones also made watching the series a collective experience. People were discussing the new episodes, making theories and speculating about who was going to win the throne. Even the controversial ending of the series could not erase its importance in the history of television. We may disagree about the final seasons, but it cannot be denied that Game of Thrones became a part of the memories of a generation that followed its episodes week after week and had to wait months for the continuation of the story every time a season ended.

But if we are going to choose only one series that we can really say we grew up with, a choice like Friends is more about nostalgia than anything else. Even though we weren't all of the same age when the show first aired, Friends has been seen over and over again on TV, the Internet, and streaming services, and generations have connected with it. The story of six friends namely Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe in New York is simple on the surface; But what has made the series last is the sense of familiarity and intimacy between these six people. They fell in love, broke up, got married, failed, had different jobs, changed houses and stayed together all these years.

For the audience, some of those moments may be little more than a TV joke. The Central Perk Cafe, Monica's apartment, Chandler's pranks, Ross and Rachel's love story and eccentric behavior all become images that are instantly recognizable even years later. Friends may not be about saving the world, escaping from prison, or fighting for the throne, but it is about something much simpler: the friends that make up one's world at one point in life. And maybe that's exactly why even after all these years, watching a few episodes can take us back to a time when life was simpler and our biggest concern was when the next episode was going to air.

These series may end up being just a collection of episodes, but for those who watched them at a younger age, they are part of the memories of an entire era. We didn't just watch the series; We spent time with their characters, were thrilled by their stories, saddened by some of the deaths, and changed along with them over the years. And maybe that's why some series, even years after they ended, still feel strange; It feels like opening an old door and stepping back into a period of life that is never going to repeat itself exactly the same.