All this talk about series, how network TV Sucks, and how hard it is to find quality shows, and some excellent shows that fly under the radar, I need a comprehensive review of all the series I need to see.
For good entertainment, I would be willing to buy DVD sets. But I've recently picked up HBOGO by kiping it from my parents, and recently got Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Here is a listing of shows that I currently own or have seen all the episodes of. If it isn't on the list, just assume I haven't seen it.
Spoiler!
Great Shows – Must See
Game of Thrones
Mad Men
Longmire
Burn Notice
House
Spartacus
House of Cards
Justified
True Detective
Breaking Bad
The Assets
The Wire
Sherlock (BBC)
The Americans
The Walking Dead
Deadwood
Netflix: Daredevil
Jack Taylor
Luther
Bosch
Good shows
Travelers
Ozark
The Leftovers
Conviction
Medici
The Last Kingdom
Firefly
Dollhouse
The Good Wife
Hell on Wheels
Big Bang Theory
Falling Skies
Suits
White Collar
Agents of SHIELD
Arrow
Boss
Rome
Orange is the New Black
Orphan Black
The Knick
Goliath (Amazon)
Iron Fist
Show Me a Hero
Hell on Wheels
Shooter
Mediocre
Robin Hood (BBC)
Vikings
How I met your Mother
Scrubs
Chuck
That 70's Show
Top Gear
Graceland
Hung (HBO)
Gotham
Conviction
Crap Camelot
Top Shot
Defiance
Legends of Tomorrow
Here is a listing of shows that I'm currently watching
Spoiler!
Great
Good
Boardwalk Empire
Westworld
Mediocre
Crap
Here is a listing of shows on my list to watch (mostly due to this thread)
Spoiler!
The Sopranos
24
Fargo (missed getting it on the DVR :-) )
Band of Brothers
The Pacific
The Comeback
6 Feet Under
John Adams
Battlestar Glactica
Friday Night Lights
I work a fuckton, so it is hard for me catch a series while it is on to get it on the DVR, but I recognize the entertainment value and am willing to go after the Must See shows. Accordingly, I'm not necessarily looking for anything that is still running. I'm up for watching stuff that has run its course.
So what say you, Planet? Which shows should I see?
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Russian Doll is flying by and living up to the hype
Like if Broad City made Groundhog Day.
I'm 4 episodes in and have realized that I'm undeniably old.
This is the least relateable show I have ever watched in my life. The chronicles of a self-absorbed, drug-addled, slutty hipster NYer and her shallow fuckstain friends. She keeps bitching about a cosmic glitch that she's pretty sure is the product of a bad trip except she knows that can't be right because she's had cocaine lots of times and it never bothered her like this. The surprise twist is that it isn't cocaine...but she's had the drug it IS as well!!! TWIST! Unhappy burnout druggie who's too cool to piss on anyone with a full time job is completely wrong footed by this revelation. Oh no!
Her mopey ex (who is clearly 15 years older than her) is following her around and being all miserable because this terminally unhappy 6 who fucked a stranger in the first episode out of sheer boredom doesn't want to marry him.
Now we've added a compulsive fitness fanatic and a potentially interesting homeless character to the mix...I'm sure that'll be outstanding.
This is just a caricature of 'peak new york millennial' dropped in the middle of Groundhog Day. I'm not surprised critics love it - she IS relateable to that set. Even the myriad of ways to die gets tiring.
Since I'm halfway in and only owe this show another 90 minutes or so of my time, I'll go ahead and finish it. But to this point it's a complete piece of shit that I'm sure will win a ton of awards because it's a the NY Hipster Douche crowd's style of piece of shit. [Reply]
Kind of an oddly ironic critique, I think you'll find by the end.
Don't want to spoil too much, but I think you'll find a lot of the complaints you have play into why the narrative is happening at all.
It's not earth shattering, when all is summed up. I don't think I was as disaffected by this as you were at the point you're at. But while I too found the character a self-absorbed bit of a pill, it was still amusing to watch in an anthropological sense. I enjoy plenty of stories even when I don't like the characters in a realistic sense. Doesn't even have to be anti-heroes or even outright villians [Sopranos, Breaking Bad]. Most Woody Allen characters would strain even the most placid and longsuffering of friendships.
But even if you end up disliking the entire thing, I don't think you'll have the exact same critique in the end. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Kind of an oddly ironic critique, I think you'll find by the end.
Don't want to spoil too much, but I think you'll find a lot of the complaints you have play into why the narrative is happening at all.
It's not earth shattering, when all is summed up. But even if you end up disliking the entire thing, I don't think you'll have the exact same critique in the end.
Still a problem with narrative structure, then.
Let's say the last 2 episodes bring everything around and at least partially repay me for hate-watching the first 6 - why the hell should I have to power through like that?
Apart from merely being pot-committed, there's nothing to keep me watching this show. Even general curiosity doesn't do it - at this stage, I couldn't give a fuck why this is happening to her. I suspect there's some kind of Checkov's Computer Program involved given that we keep getting reminded that she's a coder which is otherwise wholly immaterial to the plot.
Maybe you're right, maybe something happens that turns the whole thing on its ear and I'm amazed. But The Good Place did that and I was actually entertained for 10-12 weeks before it happened.
This is just crap. It reminds me of The Sixth Sense in that people wanted to suddenly pretend like that movie was good just because the ending was. No, not really. That movie sucked but since the ending was awesome it got a pass and convinced Shyamalan that all he had to do to make money was start with a twist ending and work backwards, quality of the rest of the movie be damned. And he fooled folks into seeing shit like The Village and The Lady in the Water on that reputation for years. [Reply]
I thought it was pretty interesting. It is an argument story, so every character is an argument or a counter argument to the main character's story. It really is a clever use of that type of story. Her story is the logical argument and his is the emotional argument, but not a counter argument. They are two sides of the same argument and everybody else is the counter argument, thus they disappear as the mains come to the conclusion.
I don't think liking her is necessary at first, but they did wait a bit too long to try to turn that dial as obviously they did intend to redeem her. They did make it very clear from episode one that for this argument, the morality of her lifestyle is irrelevant.
I suspect that this was a fairly low budget project and that meant little to no rehearsal. For me, the performances are the place it fails a bit, but I still enjoyed it enough. [Reply]
Finally caught the first couple episodes of The Other Two on Comedy Central [Thurs after Broad City].
I'm pretty high on this one. Pretty smartly written with jokes and bits big and small coming in waves upon waves.
Kind of reminiscent of Popstar:Never Stop Stopping, but very 'of the moment' in terms of the off-kilter existence of striving and thriving in today's entertainment.
The best thing about it is the constant onslaught of quips and jokes and references, so you're always finding something ridiculous to chuckle at even if the narrative slows down for you a bit from time to time.
The second best thing is it looks like they're making the characters not so much flawed people as regular people living at a flawed time in history. For instance, the central of the conceit of a 'Bieber' like younger brother who effortlessly shames his older siblings through easy fame and success, but he's not an entitled A-hole, just a kid who happened to resonate with the youtube/insta generation.
The thing is, even if you think that the subject matter is tired out outside your interest range, the strength of the show is that it's much more about how than what. It's solid writing and funny bits, that just happens to be fairly timely as well.
I need something new to watch while I”m waiting on the next season of Mindhunter. I read several months ago that it’d be out in December of ‘18, but that obviously didn’t happen. I’ve watched Godless since then and highly recommend it. Tidland was ok, kept my attention, but didn’t realize all it’s potential. I thought Elite was better than it. I couldn’t finish Altered Carbon, it started strong and then just faded away.
I’d also recommend the Get Down, the first part was a lot of fun. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I'm 4 episodes in and have realized that I'm undeniably old.
This is the least relateable show I have ever watched in my life. The chronicles of a self-absorbed, drug-addled, slutty hipster NYer and her shallow ****stain friends.
This is what I thought as well. As the show went on it did a good job of showing the audience that no one is as good a person as they think.
In actuality all people are bigger assholes than we think we are. Few people think about how selfish they act or just how much of their motivations are self-serving. We really don't get to see how our actions completely impact others and frankly we never really know what people think about us.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Going to call an audible here.
I just started hunting around Netflix for something 20ish minutes long I could watch in the background while chasing around twins and a puppy.
Man, I've always been a 'Cheers' guy in the Cheers v. Seinfeld debate but I'd really forgotten how truly excellent Cheers was.
My favorite sit com of all time.
It usually came on late at night when I was a kid so when my insomnia is at its worst I'll either put that or Twilight Zone on in the background while I lay down to go to sleep. [Reply]
Cheers is definitely one of the best if not the best sitcoms of alltime. What do you guys think of Night Court? I loved that show, great quirky characters, inside jokes, and fantastic comedic timing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Great Expectations:
I need something new to watch while I”m waiting on the next season of Mindhunter. I read several months ago that it’d be out in December of ‘18, but that obviously didn’t happen. I’ve watched Godless since then and highly recommend it. Tidland was ok, kept my attention, but didn’t realize all it’s potential. I thought Elite was better than it. I couldn’t finish Altered Carbon, it started strong and then just faded away.
I’d also recommend the Get Down, the first part was a lot of fun.
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Maybe you're just old. Evidently, you're so feeble you've got some phantom twisting your arm to watch. :-)
The 2nd half was good.
Holy shit that was a long-time coming though. Bold move relying on hate-watching to get me through the 3rd and 4th episodes before finally starting to make things tolerable... [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
The 2nd half was good.
Holy shit that was a long-time coming though. Bold move relying on hate-watching to get me through the 3rd and 4th episodes before finally starting to make things tolerable...