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Favorite TV series?
WhiteSponge
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Hey everyone! Although I'm new here, I'm always curious to know what TV series people are into.
Currently I'm finding Arrow to be one of the interesting ones
Currently I'm finding Arrow to be one of the interesting ones
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Carnivale gets an honorable mention because it was just so fucking out there and amazing, if brief.
- Breaking Bad (the only non-HBO series I've found so far that's up there with the greats)
- Treme
- Fringe - obviously in a very different league, but pulpy fun nevertheless
Much of the HBO portfolio:
- The Wire
- Six Feet Under
- The Sopranos
- Deadwood
- Rome
- Carnivale
Other than that:
- Buffy
- Firefly
- The West Wing
- Veronica Mars (mostly for Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni)
- Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
- Twin Peaks (although it does suffer after the main mystery is 'resolved')
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Fringe for me started as something mysterious and intriguing...
however in this last season it has gotten all sad and dark ever since Henrietta died
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Personally, my top TV series of all time come down to: The Wire, Lost, Friday Night Lights, and Arrested Development. They each tickle my fancy in very different ways, and I greatly enjoy rewatching from time to time.
Breaking Bad's my on-air favorite, and is pretty much in my personal greats, but I still need to see how they stick the landing before I make it official.
As for other stuff I'm into these days: Bob's Burgers, Archer, Justified, and Parks & Rec. There's a ton more, but they're either off the air, or have already ended/cancelled.
Twitter: @phillerworks || @AKOPpodcast || Steam: mr_philler
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- Once Upon a Time
- Archer
- MLP
- Doctor Who
I watch on occasion and enjoy:
- 2 Broke Girls
- Scandal
- Parks and Rec
- New Girl
I plan to follow once they start up again:
- Gravity Falls
- Game of Thrones
- Community
I'm thinking about starting sometime in the near future:
- Adventure time
- Arrested development (saw like half of season 1 already)
- Avatar / Korra (I want to watch Avatar first so I know the characters / setting but I know how it ends so...)
Don't follow any more, but have lifetime achievement awards in my heart:
- The Simpsons
- Futurama
EDIT: I like mcdermott's idea below, so I'll do the same:
Once Upon a Time: All fantasy characters actually existed in a parallel universe. The evil queen Regina works with The Dark One, Rumplestilskin, to enact a curse that wipes everyone's memory and places them in Storybrooke, Maine, in modern day. She's the mayor, the dwarves are janitors, Snow White is a teacher, etc. A woman with a questionable past finds a boy who ran away from home (the town), who claims he's her son. He is, but the queen is his legal guardian and despite her tendencies, does really care about him. I love the juxtaposition of some characters - "Did Mulan just threaten to murder Captain Hook?". Also has a really good way of weaving multiple plotlines together.
Archer: See mcdermott's explanation, fucking hilarious.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Good writing, likeable characters that are actually young adults starting their careers, a surprisingly vast amount of worldbuilding that puts them essentially in late 1800's America, and a knack for tugging heartstrings at opportune moments. I sincerely believe that it's the best possible cartoon one could make about magic pastel horses.
Doctor Who: A supremely silly British sci-fi show about a time-travelling Time Lord, the last of his kind, and the hijinks him and his human travel companions get into trying to stop various alien evildoers. For all its campiness, the show also goes into serious mode from time to time and usually pulls it off.
2 Broke Girls: While I can't call it Great Television, Max's "I'm so poor that ___" humor gets some laughs out of me.
Scandal: A drama about a woman who is a lawyer, a Fixer in DC that people come to to help them get out of trouble, and she's also the President's mistress. Not nearly as intelligent as something like West Wing, but good for a lot of "oh snap" plot twists.
Parks and Rec: Really funny show about the town government department of the same name, in a small town in middle america. Good characters, pretty good writing too.
Gravity Falls: Cartoon about two twins, Dipper and Mabel, who get sent to their great uncle's Mystery Shack tourist trap in Gravity Falls, Oregon for the summer. They find a book detailing a bunch of supernatural findings in the town and the show has a surprising amount of continuity. Also, it's really funny.;Mabel may be one of my favorite characters on television.
Game of Thrones: Very high-budget low-fantasy set in a fictional world of Westeros. Immense amounts of intrigue and plot twists, and lots of varied characters.
Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, Regular Show, and Adventure Time are all top notch cartoons.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
(Though it wasn't bad!)
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Those are the first ones that come to mind.
Archer
Breaking Bad
Deadwood
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Rome
Shameless
The Sopranos
The League
The Wire
Mad Men
Luther
Breaking Bad
Star Trek TNG
Firefly
Futurama literally got me through college.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
Homeland
Supernatural
Psych
Parks & Rec
Community
Archer
Justified
Bob's Burgers
Adventure Time
Arrested Development
Game of Thrones
Olden Times -
Pretender
Quantum Leap
Homicide : Life on the Streets
The Good Guys
Terriers
Twin Peaks
X-Files
Home Movies
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I am enjoying Breaking Bad but trying to hold off on getting through S2; I don't want to get too into the later seasons until it's finished and I can watch it all at once.
Archer is pretty great.
Can I use this thread to say that I've never understood what the big deal about Battlestar Galactica is? On paper it should be right up my alley and I know lots of people like it, but I've watched I think about half of the 2000s era stuff and it just leaves me cold.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Yeah, Breaking Bad is the easy call for best show currently on the air as far as I'm concerned. Agreed that we have eight episodes left to see where it falls in history, but it'll likely be up there regardless.
Also, for on-air, I highly recommend Justified. If you haven't given it a shot, you should, at least if it looks like it might even remotely be your cup of tea.
On the comedy side, I'm mostly addicted to Community, New Girl, and Mindy Project. Also Archer and The League.
Obviously the all-time list is longer. The Wire is towards the top, if not at the top. Buffy and Angel will always have a special place in my heart. I could list all day, but those are what come to mind first.
EDIT: To move slightly out of list-thread territory, and explain some of these:
Justified - First, to me it's a modern take on classic westerns. Also, Timothy Olyphant is the man. But also, it's nice to see a show that explores rural (and white) poverty and crime, by moving the setting out of the city and off into another region. It's also nice that it's a show that somehow (to me) manages to glamorize gun violence but then turn around and also highlight the absurdity of it. In later seasons in particular, the main character tends to (as mentioned in our Justified thread) end situations involving guns without any actual gunfire. Where lazier shows would just have everybody start shooting. Though yeah, they do some of that too...
Community - Man, just go read the thread.
New Girl - I like that this show takes the MPDG trope and, to some extent, turns it on its head by actually turning Jess into a fairly normal-ass human being who just also happens to have that outward personality. Also, for the most part it manages to portray actual mixed-gender friendships without constant sexual tension. Plus, the guys in the show are funny as fuck. Zooey less so, but that's just me and many disagree.
Mindy Project - I hated Mindy Kaling in The Office, but somehow this show works perfectly for her (makes sense, since she's also the showrunner). Watch at least three episodes before making a decision, preferably starting at the beginning.
Archer - I love cheesy spy movies, and always have. Now take the joke density of Community, add guns and the dumbest secret agent ever, and animate it. So fucking funny.
The League - This show is what you get when you get a few awesome comedians together, give them a loose outline and central theme (the fantasy football league), and just let them go at it. Like half or more of this show is improv, and it nearly always works perfectly. No football knowledge, let alone fantasy football knowledge, required to enjoy it.
Was the show that came on before this Head of Class or Drexler's Class or something?
And, uh, Platypus Man, er wait..
I'd add Farscape though. Love that shit.
For the last decade or more, CBS has been America's #1 network almost the entire time, yet I have never followed a single program of theirs, nor do I know many people who do, and rarely do their shows get called out during awards season. They don't pander with gimmicky reality shows or games shows, and they aren't chasing the juggernaut music competition show market. In fact, the only gimmick I can accuse them of is how six of their top-rated evening dramas are essentially the same show with different casts set in different locales (the three CSIs, the two NCISs, and Hawaii 5-0).
They just . . . trudge on. With millions of silent fans. And I don't know how they do it.
My parents watch a bunch of CBS.
It is weird, though. Like, I don't watch a ton of shows, but there is precisely one that I watch on CBS (How I Met Your Mother). And, looking over their lineup, no other shows that I've seriously considered watching (if I had more time), nor any that I've watched in recent years. For ABC, NBC, FOX, and the CW there are multiple shows that I've watched, and more that I've wanted to...but for CBS, just...nothing. HIMYM, and that's it.
Even hitting wikipedia, the only two other shows they've had that marginally interested me either got axed swiftly (Jericho, though I heard it came back for a minute) or turned into the same boring procedurals that keep me off the network (Numb3rs).
It does feel odd that the most popular network is just a complete black hole to me personally.
EDIT: I'll point out that CBS arguably pioneered the reality genre, in that Survivor was (to my knowledge) the first network reality show to see any real success. But they haven't run with it as hard as the others. Also, I think CBS shows that there really is just a huge market for franchise procedurals, even if I'm not part of it. Do what you're good at, can't hate them for it. Also, I probably come off as hating procedurals, I don't. I just don't really care for most, and CBS's in particular.
I feel the exact same way. For all I know, I don't even get CBS. I NEVER watch it, and could not even name any of the shows on it, except for the shows that people mention when I have said this in other threads. I am as perplexed by their domination as I am by NBC's poor performance, as NBC is the only network (parks and rec, community, the office, 30 rock, the apprentice) I watch other than Foxes' singing competition shows (the X Factor, American Idol) with my wife. That said, I literally listed every single network TV show I currently watch in that last sentence. . .
I think that Breaking Bad is both the best show currently on and the best show of all time. Other shows I love include Parks and Rec, Community, Archer (I literally feel like this show was made for me, personally), the Office (although I don't enjoy it now), 30 Rock (same). I also enjoy Mad Men quite a bit. I still watch Dexter and enjoy it, but it has fallen from its peak quite a bit, imo.
For shows that are not currently airing, I love the Wire to death, and also loved Arrested Development (amazing that it is coming back), Rome, and the early seasons of 24.
Edit: I also watch the WWE and am kind of watching Homeland (watched the first few eps and am not addicted yet), and now I have literally listed EVERY current show on TV that I watch.
I'm not a huge fan of procedurals, or at least the kind the CBS is famous for making, i.e., a series of one-off stories where the bad guys are obviously evil, the good guys are white hats, and the status quo is returned to by the time the credits roll around.
The Wire is the best procedural ever created, but largely because it's trying to tell a single unified story about the city of Baltimore in an episodic fashion. I can't stand shows like CSI and Law & Order; they seem tailor-made for people who don't like moral quandary.
I no longer have any interest at all in watching villain of the week shows. If you aren't telling a long form story in episodic form, I don't care how good or polished your show is.
Well I wasn't listing old shows, duh. Obviously The Shield comes in pretty high, but I still put it somewhere below The Wire, Buffy, and Angel. Which may or may not be ridiculous, particularly with Buffy and Angel...but I just loved those shows.
The Shield ranks below Buffy and Angel?
Dead to me, McD.
DEAD.
TO.
ME.
You are in for an absolute treat, sir. Seasons 1 and 2 are positively sedate compared with what's to follow.
For me, Breaking Bad is one stuck landing away from beating out The Wire for "Best Show Ever". If Breaking Bad keeps what momentum it has and finishes strong, then it's the best. Full stop.
Cletus VanDamme got robbed at the Emmys, I tell you!
I'm rewatching The Shield on Hulu+ right now. Man, I forgot how good it is. Those first three seasons seem slower than I remember, but then again maybe my standards changed since my first viewing. I'm looking forward to seeing how Season 5 holds up on a rewatch, because until recently that was my all-time favorite season of a TV show.
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
I think the only thing that may hurt The Wire in the long run was how the 5th season kind of just went out on a wimper. The big arc for that season with the newspaper and everything was just kind of underwhelming compared to how seasons 3 and 4 played out.
Mythbusters
QI
Castle
Person of Interest
Ongoing shows that I like to watch:
Fringe
Justified
Top Gear (UK version is only version)
My favorite cancelled TV shows:
Lie To Me
Firefly
Alphas (Noooooooo!)
Farscape
Cancelled shows that I like to watch:
Space: Above and Beyond
X-Files
The Pretender
And a bunch I'm not remembering.
I'm gonna give you a sandwich then drop a grenade in your car. Just you wait.
yeah, I think in S5 they really tried to take on a much bigger issue than they could cover in 12 episodes or whatever it was, and it winds up all feeling rushed. The whole story arc with McNulty felt pretty fantastical too, compared to the rest of the series.
CBS' success is the biggest evidence going for the existence of a 'silent majority.' The silent majority, it turns out, really loves police procedurals.
NBC's situation can be attributed to the fact that they're doing a lot of niche programming, I think. I mean Community and 30 Rock are great but I suspect they are only really appealing for the audience that enjoys that style of sketch-esque comedy. Lots of people would, apparently, rather watch Two and a Half Men.
ed: also horrible mismanagement of, you know, everything
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Superlatives? Why not expletives? The show's made a whole scene out of an expletive, so why not follow suit.
And on the subject of BSG, I was a huge fan of the series right until a little after the season 4 premiere. The S3 finale absolutely knocked me out, and yet the show absolutely eradicated any goodwill it had by the time the series ended. I think there's a lot of great episodes and moments, but it's ultimately bogged down by the need to overtly explain its mythology. Overall, interesting setting and concepts, but not the greatest execution. But hey, some people loved the finale, so I dunno.
Breaking Bad has an incredible amount of goodwill for me, that I see very little that could derail my love for it. Unless the next eight episodes somehow turn into a bizarre Malcolm in the Middle prequel that explains how Walt turned into Hal. Actually, hmm.
Justified is kind of a strange thing in television, I find. It's rather light and accessible for a drama in comparison to greats like say, The Sopranos, The Shield, Breaking Bad, etc. And yet, it's got such a clear vision of what it wants to be, and a startling confidence in being able to deliver that. Personally, I don't find it very high on my all-time favorites list, but it's so entertaining and interesting that it gets points purely by being a little different than the rest. Also it's a modern western that treats its good guys and bad guys with equal love.
I like the idea that Archer could be a radio drama and still be just as entertaining, though I'm glad they didn't because the animation quality went up another notch this season it looks like. On that note, no one has brought up The Venture Bros. and that disappoints me.
Homeland is also great, but this last season left me a bit wanting. But from what I've heard they're moving the series towards something like a John le Carre novel, which absolutely excites me and makes me hopeful that it can sustain itself past the Brody arc.
Twitter: @phillerworks || @AKOPpodcast || Steam: mr_philler
PAX East '14 Locations: || Classic Console Freeplay || Tabletop Area || Long Wharf Pre-PAX Game Night (Come say hi or trade buttons!)
I also enjoy Breaking Bad and Justified. Dexter and Sons of Anarchy to an extent, but they've really taken dives these past couple seasons. As far as cancelled/finished shows go, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, The Wire, Rome, and the lone comedy in my list is Arrested Development.
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
Have just finished the most recent series of Mad Men and am starting Deadwood for the first time.