For the past five weeks, Sunday nights - a television landscape dominated these days by vampires, zombies, dragons, and whatever the hell is happening on The Strain - have been quietly ushering a different form of mythological creature into our living rooms: the gay senior. PBS has been airing Series 1 of the UK sitcom Vicious, which stars gay actors Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi as a couple whose near 50 years together have given them plenty of time to perfect the art of insulting one another.

The show airs its finale this Sunday, and most of the current eps are still available to watch online. But if you still need convincing, here are a few reasons I'd choose these fellas' finely-honed barbs over a wooden stake any day of the week.

1. Derek Jacobi, Harder and More Often

I hate to say it, but I had completely forgotten about Derek Jacobi. Back in the '90s I was fascinated by the crisply-bearded fellow due to his fantastic turns in Kenneth Branagh's masterful adaptation of Henry V and campy thriller Dead Again, but after that I kind of lost track. As Stuart, the fussier, younger homebody of the couple, Jacobi is pitch-perfect: he lands every punchline perfectly, can turn from injured to cutthroat on a dime, and looks more dashing than ever.

2. Ian McKellen Plays Against Type

Meaning, he plays a bad actor - one whose biggest claim to fame is an episode of Doctor Who and who thinks that spontaneously dropping potatoes while playing a bit part on Downton Abbey is the height of the craft. We've seen McKellen play good guys (Gandalf) and bad (Magneto) over the years, but we've never seen him play someone so stupidly self-absorbed. It's kind of a trip.

3. Ramsay Snow is... Adorable?

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kind of have a crush on Ramsay Snow - you know, the psychotic serial torturer who cut off Theon Greyjoy's junk on Game of Thrones and sent it to his family as an Edible Arrangement. I had no idea that Vicious featured the same actor, Iwan Rheon, playing a character who couldn't be more different: the naive, sweet, slightly thickheaded new neighbor, Ash. He's cute enough to stuff in a tea cozy!

4. The Theme Song

It's The Communards' cover of "Never Can Say Goodbye," one of the loudest, most insanely peppy songs ever recorded. It's like being bludgeoned about the head and neck with a stuffed plush likeness of Jimmy Somerville.

5. It is a Rare Sitcom That Doesn't Suck

I will admit, I don't watch a single multi-camera sitcom, and I haven't for years. I haaaaate them. But somehow Vicious makes the antiquated format work, possibly because the show feels more like a play than television. The main set - the couple's apartment - is intimate enough to suggest a small stage, and shot closely enough that we see every knick-knack and detail. Plus, the use of a standardized format - we always begin on Stuart on the phone with his mother, Freddie always descends the spiral stair like Norma Desmond, etc. - feels quaintly comforting, and supports the idea that these men have had the same routine for nearly 50 years.

6. It's Hilarious

One episode of his show has more great lines than an entire season of Two and a Half Men (including the ones Charlie Sheen was doing backstage. Allegedly.) In addition to the toxic gems that Freddie and Stuart are constantly lobbing at one another,  Frances de la Tour (perhaps best known Stateside for playing Hagrid's giantess squeeze in the Harry Potter films) is a riot as the duo's clueless lonelyhearts galpal, Violet. And while the humor is biting, it's never cruel - and it dares to tackle topics like aging and long-term relationship fatigue with equal parts wit and warmth. Think Absolutely Fabulous meets The Golden Girls, and you're almost there.

7. It's Insanely Gay and Yet Not at All About Being Gay

It's strange to think that the first truly post-gay sitcom would be about two men who have been around since homosexuality was a criminal offense, but it's true. While the show is about a gay couple, being gay has absolutely nothing to do with any of the storylines, which center on mundane, sitcommy setups like buying a new coat or having a dinner party. Aside from the running gag that Stuart's daft mother still doesn't realize that her septuagenarian son is gay, there's not a whiff of denial, homophobia, or gay panic to be had - and none of the characters even blink at the fact that these two men are a couple.

While some critics in the UK thought the show trafficked in dated stereotypes, I feel quite the opposite - the dated stereotypes are being used as a launchpad for a very modern exploration of gay life today.

And be sure to check out other Best Shows You’re Not Watching!