f13.net

So I used to watch lots of anime, but I've seen most of the good stuff and I finally got around to picking up a TV show I'd always meant to watch but didn't.  I snagged the first season of Veronica Mars and its not good stuff but its pretty perfect for, back from work, too tired to even play games just want to turn off brain for one hour and hear good story while drinking post work b33rs.

I guess what I'm looking for here are recommendations on other shows.  I've literally almost never watched TV.  I wasn't allowed to as a young child and outside of ST:TNG I never did.  In HS I watched some comedy/sitcom crap and Simpson's in the backround while being a gamer.  As an adult.  Nothing.  Except Entourage, Oz, Buffy, Over There and The Shield + various docs, discovery channel and things I watched with gf's.

So, what have I missed?  I don't need anyone saying "everything on HBO" I know I need to watch BSG, I will, someday, I've seen the first 2.5 seasons, but I sort of lost track of it.  So I'm stuck in that don't want to watch everything over again, but don't want to pick it up where I left off having forgot some of the key details limbo.  What are the sort of fun, sort of corny, but quality entertainment shows that I should have seen?

I'd read the TV thread but fuck me that thing is a monster.  Did smallville stay good?  The first season was bad but Kristen Kruek (sp?) is so insanely hot and it seems like it could have been cool once it became something more then, random HS student turns into mutant via kryptonite and gets defeated by the end of the ep.

Beyond Smallville, and possibly Firefly which I saw a few episodes of and thought it was meh, good show but god that opening song sucks balls.  Also having seen Cowboy Bebop it is up against very stiff competition if its going to try so hard to be a space western.  I have no idea where to even start.

Thx f13.

Well, I watch Reno 911! episodes for silly laughs.

Oh, and Mythbusters is relaxing+interesting.  I really like watching food or building shows that walk through constructing something.  Ace of Cakes and Alton Brown's Good Eats series are win.

Skip Reno 911 if you've seen taht much TV. Go straight to the source, The State. DVDs should eventually be available. I'm sure the show can be downloaded from somewhere. My TV folders look like this:

No Reservations seasons 1-5
In Treatment
Andromeda Strain (the new miniseries)
A Cook's Tour
Californication
Jpod
Life on Mars (UK and US)
Weeds
Pushing Daisies
Dead Like Me
Roswell
Chuck
Boston Legal
Iron Chef
Love Monkey
The Tudors
Top Chef
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I'm sure I'm missing some. Most of this is recent.

Smallville actually has stayed pretty good. There are filler episodes and shit, and that's been hit and miss -- but it always gets back on track. Next season, the Green Arrow is becoming part of the main cast -- so I suppose they're finally moving more into Justice League territory.

Angel's pretty good in the same way.

Rome and Californication are short and excellent.

Three Sheets. Fuck cooking shows.

Deadwood

Network:
The Office
30 Rock
Lost
Veronica Mars
Firefly
Wonderfalls
Heroes
Gilmore Girls
Buffy
Angel
Bones
Pushing Daisies
Arrested Development
Batman: The Animated Series
24 (first couple of seasons aren't terrible)

Cable:
Battlestar Galactica
Farscape (warning: first season is pretty bad)

HBO:
Sopranos
Deadwood
Big Love
Rome
Six Feet Under
Flight of the Conchords
Curb Your Enthusiasm

Showtime:
Weeds
The Tudors
Dexter
Califonication

Cooking/eating:
Iron Chef
Good Eats
No Reservations

History:
The States
The Revolution


Stuff I've watched that's worth missing:
CSI: any variety
Law and Order: any variety
Dawson's Creek (I got addicted, OK?)

All I can think of, at the moment.

Shows that are Over

Cream of the Crop:
Sports Night (Marathon this with a friend and nobody will be able to keep up with what you're saying)
Twin Peaks
Life on Mars (FUCKING BRITISH VERSION BITCHES)
The Wire

Others:
Alias (pointless unless you watch to the very end)
Firefly (Cancelled)
Love Monkey (Cancelled)
The Knights of Prosperity (Cancelled)
The Dresden Files (Cancelled)
Raines (Cancelled)
Lost Room (Mini-Series)
Studio 60 (Cancelled)
Six Degrees (Cancelled)
Tenacious D
Chapelle's Show
Dead Like Me (Cancelled)
Arrested Development (Marathon)

Cartoons:
Boondocks
Clerks (Cancelled)

Shows that are still going:

Cream of the Crop:
Boston Legal
House
Heroes

Others:
BSG (Only if you can marathon the last two seasons, I wish I could)
Lost (Marathon season 3)
Greys Anatomy
Dirty Sexy Money (three Peter Krause shows listed so far, 4 if you count me recommending Six Feet Under SEASON 1 ONLY and the Series Finale episode)
Californication
Weeds
Chuck
Reaper (ONLY AFTER watching Twin Peaks)
Pushing Daises (May not be your thing)
Big Love
Eureka
Scrubs (Beware of Season 7, bleh)
The Office

If you're REALLY fucking bored:
Daybreak
Painkiller Jane

I probably missed a bunch, but you can always go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_programs_by_date (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_programs_by_date)

It has freaking everything with links to their Wiki Pages!  Oh and beware of things that say Cancelled, as they might be only a season or less.

I'm beginning to think that with some series like Weeds, Big Love, Californication, Dexter, and others that are on channels that you wouldn't normally subscribe to or if you're just plain bad at remembering to record, it's not a bad idea to just watch each season on DvD and forgo the whole nightly TV rut.  I've been good with Dexter but nearly everything else I've missed several episodes and some whole seasons.  I didn't even KNOW about Weeds until the second season began.  You can even rent whole seasons from DvD subscription places if you're not interested in owning. 

Getting caught up with Weeds was one of my primary reasons to sign up for Netflicks. 

I get my tv shows delivered through "tubes".

I find it funny that he said "2 decades" and most stuff listed is from the last 5-8 years.

Really though? Nothing.  If you've gone this long without watching it, there's no reason to go back and view any of it.  My real question is, "why are you asking now, after all this time?"

And just because, I'll add a few to the list from the 80's and 90's

X-file's first 3 seasons
Babylon-5
Red Dwarf
The Kids in the Hall
MST3k
The Cosby Show
Seinfeld (Pick and choose from the 'most popular' episodes. I think it was a hit-or-miss show.)
Married... With Children (also pick and choose, and only from the early seasons, but some bits are just classic)
Fraiser (again, the early seasons.)
Wings (screw you I loved wings!)

Oh, and nobody's mentioned Monk yet.  Newish but entertaining and he's a great character. 

What Rasix said is a pretty good start.  For Network I'd add:

Scrubs (on Comedy Central all the time)
Newsradio (Phil Hartman, Dave Foley show from the '90s with a pretty good all around cast)

Showtime:
Dead Like Me

Cable:
Rescue Me (first 3 seasons are great, great fucked up TV)
Chapelle Show


Animated/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim:

Justice League (the '90s Superman and Batman shows are pretty solid as well)
Robot Chicken
Venture Brothers (soooo good)
Metalocolypse

VB is good on its own now... but you REALLLY had to grow-up watching Johnny Quest and the other "Boy Adventurer" cartoons to get some of the early jokes. My wife and my brother, for example, don't get why it's so funny.

Shit ages fast, and not a lot of things can stay fresh for an extended period of time.

At this point,  I'd hesitate to recommend something like Chapelle Show.  Fucking awesome at the time, but at this point everything he did is massively played out or has been incorporated into conventional humor.  I'd say the same for Seinfeld.

Another great example is Mike Meyers stuff on SNL:  I loved it in '91, but now its just lame because he's been doing that shtick for 20 years.


You can tell the shows that do manage to capture a bit of that timeless quality,  because they're still around and still watched.  Law & Order and the Simpsons being the best examples from the last 20 years, but things like the original Star Trek (had that old school "big theme" scifi thing going on) or MASH are others.

I don't think there is a time of day when you can't find a Law and Order or CSI episode of some variety on TV.  Things like The Simpsons, Scrubs, etc. seem to be on a lot, too.  If you have Comcast On Demand they often repeat whole seasons of shows such as Weeds, The Tudors, Deadwood, etc.  That's how I ended up seeing Six Feet Under and The Sopranos.  Other channels, like SciFi, do that, too.  I'm definitely renting some of the cable series seasons this year. 

Did noone mention South Park?   

Honestly, because my interest in games has been dying for quite some time.  For awhile I just ate up all sorts of cartoons, anime and otherwise, but I've exhausted most of the good stuff some time ago.  I loved TF2 to death but I still stopped playing it.  I didn't even buy Q4.  I'm enjoying EVE but not really playing it too often.  I guess you are right.  Fuck TV but when I think about it, I've just been watching anime or playing games instead.  I'm aware of pretty much everything people are listing but this will be very helpful in just picking a few shows to slowly work my way through.  I'm not going to go on some kind of binge and try to watch em all or anything like that.  I still haven't become one of those people who when they get home from work they want to sit down to more work and on weekdays that leaves me with some hours to kill, even when I do make dinner.  Keep in mind, I'm not watching anything on the tv  :-)  I've found myself browsing f13 from home.  That is a sure sign I'm bored as hell.

I'll plug Eureka on Sci-fi.  Nothing better than nerd humor. 

Honestly though, unless you've got a condition that won't allow you to go outside, find something else to do.  I DVR Eureka, Xfiles reruns and I watch House occasionally.  Most of the time I'm gaming or playing with my daughter. 

The Wire.

That is all.

I'd save this for when you're done watching the other shows.

Because seriously.

The Wire.

Don't have much to add except that Spaced comes out on DVD in the U.S. on July 22nd. (http://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Complete/dp/B0019MFY3Q/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1214519781&sr=8-1)

TV series I own on DVD (many already mentioned)

- West Wing
- Firefly
- Deadwood
- BSG
- Red Dwarf (just ticked over to its 20th anniversary - god I feel old)
- Various Doctor Who episodes
- Studio 60 (for Aaron Sorkin writing, Matt Perry and Josh Lineman (or whatever his real name is) not so much)
- Seinfield (mainly because I get all sentimental about living in NY - yeah, yeah I know it's filmed in LA)
- Futurama

I'm not allowed to watch The Wire any more because whenever someone actually refers to The Wire on the show, I feel compelled to go "BUM BUM BUUUUMMMMMM" to highlight the drama of the moment.  Apparently this spoils the mood.

The Wire is serious goddamn business.

I rewatched Twin Peaks earlier this year. Still great.

Only watch up to halfway through season two though. Once everthing is solved it gets shit.

I'd also support the nod for Arrested Development and Boston Legal. Though Boston Legal can get a bit eh after a while.

Watch The Office, UK version.

Six Feet Under

But you can watch that on DVD, so I'd say forget the TV and just rent some of the ones suggested. Live television is just not worth the time anymore, IMO. Better to skip most of the cruft.

Yah a lot of these you can get on DVD or from iTunes. Here's some I watch that are doing new seasons:

Psych (USA) (Season 3 starting this weekend)
Burn Notice (USA) (Season 2 starting this weekend)
Venture Brothers (Cartoon Network) (Season 3? just started)
Rome (HBO) (Donno when 3rd Season starts - may be canceled)
Entourage (HBO, but start at Season 2)

I'll second Six Feet Under as well, but I'd only watch the first 2 seasons - it's funky after that.

Shows that are over/canceled:

Band of Brothers (HBO)
Wonderfalls (FOX)
Firefly (FOX) (Just listing it again 'cause it's so great)
Arrested Development (FOX)
Freaks and Geeks (FOX)

And lots of other good stuff on other folk's lists.

I disagree.  You must agree with me or I will show you what's in my Magic Murder Bag.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Murderbag.jpg)

No one mentioned Carnivale? Oh man... Wish they hadn't canned it.

I wonder why Fox cancels so many shows that seem popular.

If you are talking about Carnivale, it was an HBO program.

Otherwise, I agree. They were the ones that canceled Family Guy (for a while at least), and look at how popular that was. On the other hand, what is with the Simpsons? That hasn't been good in years.

Undeclared :)

I knew Carnivale was HBO.  I remember wanting to watch it and never did.  Another one for DvD rental, I guess. 

It just seems as if Fox has canceled a lot of shows that people seemed to rave about.  Arrested Development - which I found really funny, Futurama, Firefly, and those are only the ones I saw and liked.  They all seemed to get canceled before running any sort of natural course, too.

Because no one watches those shows,  and they tend to be massively expensive to film(large ensemble casts, effects costs, etc)?

I give Fox credit: 

They seem to be the only major network that will give those shows a chance. The big three would prefer to give you police_procedurial_5213, sitcom_starring_comedian_3324, and hospital/lawyer_drama_11341.

Uh, well... ABC has Lost and NBC has Heroes. Arguably the only two shows right now with feature film production quality.

Fox is getting better though...At least the Terminator series isn't canceled yet.

Greatest show they canceled was the Tick.

The first few seasons of the shield were great.

Has anyone mentioned the first two seasons of House yet?  I stopped watching after that for no particular reason, but the first two seasons were great.

That's cause it wasn't on Fridays.

Which was on Fridays as was Wonderfalls (the show I'm still pissed about) and Firefly (shown out of order) and Harsh Realm and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and The Lone Gunmen (okay that show wasn't good) and...

I'll second the reccomendation for Burn Notice, Psych, and Monk, USA's lineup is looking pretty stellar this year.

And wings, I loved wings.

Out of how many shows ABC and NBC have tried to sell over the last four years,  that's it?  And if Heroes ratings slide again, that's going to go bye-bye.

The only other show I can remember is Bionic Woman....  and during that time period there have been dozens of sitcoms, a pile of shitty cop shows, bad reality shows, etc.


Scifi/fantastic shows tend to be expensive to shoot, have an awful format for network TV (story arc based BAD, in a world of pre-empts), and generally of limited interest.


Fox also gets credit for FX in my book:  they have some great original programming.

Shows I own on DVD or have Netflixed:

Sopranos
Deadwood
BSG
Farscape
Buffy
Angel

Animation I'd recommend:
Venture Bros.
Southpark
Futurama, if you like the Groenig thing (it's better than the last 37 seasons of the Simpsons)

Rome is not to be missed.
Babylon 5 if you never watched it.

Can't really think of much that hasn't already been touched on.

Black Books, The Office (US and UK versions are both good, I prefer the US office myself) and Extras.

I'm going to veto blackbooks. Ookii says there's a couple good episodes, but from the little bit I saw - unbearable.

I'll save you lots of effort.  I have watched TV from way back and I have a great foundation that lets me ignore 99% of what is produced today.

Firstly, watch The Honeymooners.  This will cover 80% of what you would see in any sitcom.
For the other 20%, watch I Love Lucy and you'll cover another 15% of sitcoms.  Especially Fred Mertz, who causes things like Everybody Loves Raymond to be moot.
Comedic sitcoms?  Gilligan's Island.  Just watch the black-and-white episodes if you are on a time constraint.  If you want maximum camp, watch the color episodes.
Flintstones.  This will fill any possible gaps in your sitcom repetoire as well as filling that animated-prime-time gap.  Note that Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first married couple to share a bed on prime-time TV.

If you have some sort of 1980's campy gap, for whatever reason, you can pick from the following:
Knight Rider
The A-Team
Airwolf

For good comedy, I recommend all of Bob Newhart's series.  Bob Newhart is a fucking god, and please note that he is one of George Carlin's influences.

I assume you have watched some Three Stooges.  For the love of God.

Crime shit?  Magnum P.I. or perhaps Simon and Simon.

Hospital drama?  St. Elsewhere did it first.

Cop drama?  Hill Street Blues did it first.

Show I wish had made it?  Cop Rock.  I make no apologies.

Sci-fi?  For the Harryhausen/retro flavor, some Doctor Who (pre-Eccleston) and original Star Trek.  If you have a tolerance for space opera, the new Battlestar Galactica.  Firefly was great, but get the DVD set.

Oh man. That's an unbearable list of shit.

In most cases, with TV, he who does it first generally does it Badly.

Are you saying TV isn't shit?

99% of Network TV - yes. 98% of Cable TV - yes. 90% of Premium Cable TV - yes.

But there are still some jewels in there if you don't mind wasting away your life on a couch.

Sort of the point of my post.  If you watch what I have listed, you'll be done with TV.

QFT.  Easily the best show ever.  EVER.

Well it's not like the OP is short of suggestions anyway; I'm a big fan of Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran so sue me. I liked it a lot.

I never saw that show but I  :heart: :heart: :heart: Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran, too.  Especially Bill Bailey.  Especially on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

20 years you say?


Bobby isn't really dead, the entire previous season was just Pam's bad dream.

The WIRE!(again)

And when you're done with that, watch... well it doesn't matter because nothing else compares.

You NEED these DVDs (http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Brisco-County-Jr-Complete/dp/B000F7CMPE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1214623649&sr=8-1)

The Dick Van Dyke Show is pretty much in the same category for me as well, while being slightly more modern.  I watched 90% of the show a few years back and realized that almost every single episode I was watching was done recently on some other sitcom, and not as well.  The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, and Dick Van Dyke to me are pretty much 99% of what you will see in any sitcom from the last 30 years - basically just no "Very Special Episodes" where kids are mainlining ice or being touched by an uncle (throw in The Mary Tyler Moore show if you want that occasionally).

Those shows and the first 4 seasons of MacGyver are guilty pleasures for me.  I can't really say I've tuned into anything beyond Family Guy and Futurama from the last 10 years with any regularity.  I watched plenty of sitcoms\comedy with the other half and was mildly amused about half of the time on a good show and not amused considerably more with the bad shows (mostly I called alot of situations that were occurring and how stupid they were).  Nothing I have seen would honestly qualify as a must-watch if you haven't.  Shows like Lost, Heroes, House, etc I just don't care enough to sit down for them or didn't care for what I saw, so my opinion doesn't count for those.  My parents got rid of cable when I was in high school, so I stopped watching TV for the most part and never really bothered to get back into it.

THE WIRE (me too).

I came to the thread to say The Wire. Look, there are five seasons, with each episode running about an hour. Start at season 1, watch a few episodes until you understand the style and characters, and you've got an awesome long journey ahead, through possibly the best ever TV.

It's also a good one to watch as a catch-up, because it occasionally mentions things that are happening at the time and changes in technology, so you can place the year and what you were doing while you were missing this show.

http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/wireseason4?q=the%20wire
Average of 21 professional reviews: 98/100
Average of 268 user reviews: 97/100

To be honest, I struggled with the first half of season 1 of The Wire. I got the feeling the show itself didn't quite know what it was yet. It went from gut-wrenching cruelty to attempts at 'humor' (the fuck-fuck-fuck-FUCK-fuck scene, for exampe) that were just ...I don't know, out of place.

However, once over that hump, the series took on levels of depth that were positively shakespearean. The only other show that maybe reached that level of psychological refinement were some select episodes of Inspector Morse.

For your entertainment - The Wire - Brothel bust (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=GpF6HngDOag)
For your excitement - The Wire - A meeting of two epic characters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20G17K_0ghU)


Ever seen the British version of the series Cracker? Starring Robbie Coltrane (aka Hagrid). That is some deeeeeep psychological awesomeness. A police psychologist who is a total mess himself, with awesome scriptwriting.

Scene from the original Cracker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cKG7yqPfKI)

Missed in the last 20 years?

Um, 90210, Buffy, Sopranos and Sex in the City.

Everything else was skippable.  If you haven't seen at least a couple of episodes of the above though I'm thinking you probably don't understand 50-60% of pop-culture references people whiz by you.

lol

Joke post. FOr sure.

Go to a normal person party.  Have a conversation.  They don't make references to the same sort of stuff we do.

Buffy is probably stretching it but every male under 40 has seen it so I put it in there.

If you don't think normal people watch Boston Legal, Sopranos, etc, you're crazy. That list of shit you just put up is shit and I wouldn't inflict it on fucking anybody. Not even a 15 year old girl.

Donna, Mr. Big, Evil Willow, Pauly Walnuts, Denny Crane.

Who the fuck is Denny Crane?  Oh, Shatner, yeah, then they'll get it.

Yes, that was a brilliant series. The american version was good too, in its own different way, much liike the US version of the Office.  Unfortunately it didn't catch on, probably because the main guy was too liberal/intelectual for US audiences.

Wasn't 90210 about high school kids?  I've never seen it but I know it was very popular, probably mostly with teenagers..  I really can't imagine someone who's already grown just starting in on a show like that.  There wouldn't be the nostalgia from when you were a kid, no?  There's a lot of shows like that which are popular, too, but sort of geared towards teens. 

As for David E. Kelly stuff like Boston Legal, I always start off loving them.  Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, LA Law... they start out with a bang but as the seasons go on, they get sillier, the stories get too weird and unbelievable, even stupid.  I think maybe he does the writing or at least heads it for a couple of years or so and then moves on.  I can't seem to ever get to the end of one of his series without feeling disgusted by where they ended up.  I lost interest in Boston Legal.  The relationship between Shatner and Spader became embarrassingly idiotic.  All the young lawyers have melted together in a pile of tired same-sounding unfunny dialog. 

Except for Picket Fences.  That wasn't on long enough and when it ended, I still loved it.

The Wire.  I'm only in season 3, and I can't stress how good it is. 
Dexter.  Holy shit.  Holy fucking shit.  I'm going to put my dvds in now.
Deadwood.  You may need subtitles and lots of whiskey to keep up.
Sopranos.  Best characters ever.
Rome.  Too good to miss.  Way too good to have been canceled too.
John From Cincinnati - I think I'm in a small minority on this, but I loved it.

Has anyone said Huff?  I fucking loved Huff, even if it psyched me out more than once.

The Office - original British series.
Extras - if you like The Office, this is in the same vein.
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Seinfeld sans the censors and scripts.
South Park - still the best at satire and social commentary.  And funny.

NYPD Blue - A bit dated, but still the best cop show ever.
House - for network tv, this is damned good.  Once you've seen the first season, you'll know just about every plot device they use, though.  Its not lupus.

And Mystery Science Theater, of course.

It's never lupus.

It's rarely lupus.  In my House drinking game, lupus is a 'finish your drink and get another stat'.

Surprised no one has mentioned Stargate SG-1, I found that to be a good series, especially the first...eight seasons, where Richard Dean Anderson as Colonel O'Neill was still in every episode.  Stargate Atlantis is also good, if you like SG-1, especially David Hewlett as Rodney McKay.

Everything else I would say has already been mentioned, most several times, though Dr. Who hasn't been mentioned often enough in comparison, so I'll say that one too.

Mst3k
Never Mind the Buzzcocks (if you like music)
Life on Mars (Brit version)
Shaun the Sheep
The Fast Show / Brilliant
Top Gears
Venture Brothers
Dead Like Me
Farscape
QI
Home Movies
Big O
Bottom
Futurama
Heroes
Carnivale
Deadwood
Bullshit
Hex
4400
Bones
Black Books
Is it Bill Bailey?

That is all.

Invader Zim gets no love?

And the Tick animated series.

Really? I found SG Atlantis watchable, but this first series was so so full of jingoistic patronizing militarism I just couldn't hack it. The 'helping our little enslaved brown brothers' tone was beyond the pale.

The Tick was mentioned a bit ago. Invader Zim is good (though I've only seen a few episodes) but along those lines good cartoons to see are Samurai Jack and the Clone Wars.

"Pull some levers, PULL SOME LEVERS!"

The Simpsons jumped the shark over a decade ago, so you can scratch most of the series.

Simpsons seasons 3-9.  Pretend the rest doesn't exist.  Buffy seasons 1-3.  Pretend the rest doesn't exist.

(http://radio.weblogs.com/0112482/images/myImages/2004/05/14/InvaderZimWthoutStripes.gif)

You!  OBEY THE FIST!

I know it was mentioned already, but:

Band of Brothers

I can't emphasize enough the greatness that is this miniseries. If you haven't seen it, set aside a day and just watch the entire thing.

Fuck, just realized that I totally forgot my favorite sitcom of the last ten years - Arrested Development.

The past eleven seasons of Top Gear, even if you hate cars.

I second top gear. Even if you don't like cars or don't own one. Clarkson, Hammond and May are simply hilarious. And how hard can it be?

Judging by 5th gear it's harder than they make it appear.

Also all 5 seasons of QI, the best panel/quiz show around at the moment and it has durable viewing quality as it doesn't rely on topical humour.

My favorites. I'm too lazy to read the whole thread and see what's been mentioned.

Drama
China Beach - Vietnam from behind the lines (usually). Features a young Marg Helgenberger (CSI) as a whore, if that floats your boat.
My So-Called Life - A teenage Claire Danes portrays high school in the 90s with the appropriate gawky grace.
Band of Brothers - I rewatched this last week, and it was as good as the first time I saw it. I expect that will still be the case in ten years.

Science Fiction
Babylon 5 - I think it has the best plotting of any SF TV series, though the dialogue and acting can be weak. And virtually all of seasons 1 and 5 are weak.
Firefly - Character-wise, the best science-fiction ever televised. Every damn one of these characters is fascinating and likable. Especially the jerks.
Angel - Buffy was good, this is better. It takes about a season to get into its groove, but after that it begins remorselessly turning every character's life into shit. Plus, you know, vampires and whatnot.

Cartoons
Animaniacs - The humor's getting a little dated now, but it's still as relentlessly quotable as Monty Python.
The Tick (Animated) - If you've ever liked or hated superheroes, you will enjoy this. It's worth it for the big blue guy's wrap-up speeches alone.

You didn't mention a young Dana Delany.

and it has Stephen Fry

The Wire.

Rome

The Wire.

If you're into soldiery things, Band of Brothers is awsome. If you are not into that type of thing, then it will probably bore you, as it did my GF, much to my consternation after swearing that it was the bestest thing ever (the Wire hadn't come out yet  :grin:)

Spooks, all six seasons of this BBC program are amazing. 

They really make the latest Bond look quite bad.

Really? Couldn't stand the toffy nosed twats.

I would fuck all of the twats on that show, minus the grandmother in season six.

(http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/6680/yhpkkfd6sili6q645fzho4rxj5.jpg)

I'm 2/3 through the third season now and it just gets better and better.  Stringer and Omar are two of the best characters I've seen fleshed out in a series.  And Bubbles, but I know more than I should.

Oh man, I totally forgot about animaniacs, I loved that shit. Pink and The Brain had their show for awhile IIRC, that was great too.

The Boondocks, if it hasn't already been mentioned is fucking amazing.

Hustle is oustanding, not sure if its still on or not, I havn't seen an episode in about a year but AMC is in the 700s or somthing so I always forgot to look.
Ad Men, another AMC series, I moved and missed the second half of the first season, but I enjoyed what I've seen so far.

I won't cover a lot that has been mentioned, here's two that you might enjoy:

Breaking Bad - Really dark show about a chemistry teacher who starts cooking meth, pretty much the best show I have seen lately.
Kenny vs Spenny - Comedy about two friends who do a challenge in each episode and the winner gets to choose a humiliation.

Others that are either totally hit or miss:

The IT Crowd - Sitcom about IT staff in a company.
Long way round - Follows Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Borman on a motorcycle trip around the world.
Torchwood - Honestly I'm still in season one but its a bit darker companion series to the new Dr Who (so if you end up watching it watch a few episodes)

So have you watched The Wire yet or what?

It's Mad Men to be precise.

And I don't know if we should be recommending The Wire. It would make everything else pale by comparison. Best to work up to that one.


Heh, just wait until the final episode of season 3.

Californication's first season is on On Demand so I finally got to watch it.  It's very funny.  I usually don't like shows that have a lot of graphic sex because that's what they always like to focus on, but not so in this show.  There's a lot of it, but it's funny and not intense.  I love David Duchovny in this show.  Rome is also on On Demand but I probably won't bother.  I'm all TV seriesed out now.  They're like MMOs.  If there is too much, too close together, I get bored and wander off.

Gah, how could I forget the best mystery shows?

Inspector Morse, all seven seasons from 1987 on and the specials!

Inspector Lewis, or just Lewis, the follow up.  Seasons one and two are quite good.

Foyle's War, all six seasons.

Well, yes, this is true. The Wire is second ONLY to Inspector Morse in my playbook. However, you have to realise that Morse isn't for everyone.

This is like reading a bacon thread where, all of a sudden, people start saying marmalade is right up there with bacon.

Morse: "Lewis we've got a murder to solve... right after we stop off at this pub for a few pints of bitter."  :awesome_for_real:

I've been watching season 1 of The Wire again because of this thread.

I've decided that in order to "get" The Wire, you need to watch the first 8 episodes of Season 1 without skipping a second. Sorry, that's 8 hours of your life, I know, but for anyone who understands, this means you get The Bunk and McNulty and Omar and it's all there.

Once you're at that point, you have another four and a half seasons to watch if you like it, so what's eight hours?

Fine, but what about Kim?

Rock on, Tour of Duty.

Minor update:

I watched Dexter, didn't finish the first season.  While they get points for trying something nifty, it never really clicked for me.  It would have to have been so fucking dark to work.  Instead it felt pretty gimmicked.

I watched S1 of Californication.  Fuck me.  I couldn't turn it off, watched the entire season in one night.  That renewed my faith in this thread.  So much fun.  Great family story, totally fucked up, love stuff like this.  Honestly my complaints are sometimes the random bimbo fucking got in the way of the story bits.  Also the agent/best friend doesn't do anything for me.  I think I'm just spoiled from Ari on Entourage being so damn awesome.

Not sure what to check out next, I need something to buffer between that and watching Rescue Me, which I've always thought I might want to check out.  Perhaps 30 Rock, I love that O'Reiley from Oz is in it.

As gruesome as Dexter can get, its never meant to be dark.  Its told from his perspective, and he doesn't see what he is doing as wrong.  Minor thematic spoiler - a bit of the gimmick, the 'serial killer with a heart of gold' isn't intact by the end of the first season.  The supporting characters don't quite do it for me, but Hall just nails Dexter.






So.

Have you watched The Wire yet?

Have we done Life on Mars yet?

Life on Mars.

But avoid the emo 1980s follow up 'Ashes to Ashes'.


Weeds deserves more mentions than it gets.

Also, My Name is Earl, same applies.

For someone who doesnt think they have watched much TV in thepast two decades....judging by your list you have watched way more than me.

Only show I would recommend outside of Discovery or National Geographic Channel.....by and watch the whole West Wing series.

I'm just watching this for the 2nd time and christ yes, it's fantastic. Up there with The Sopranos, for sure.