Advise me on getting started into TV

[hal]

So.. I watch the final episode of Heroes. And I am just totally blown away at what American programming can do. I am well aware that this is not the norm. But I can no longer ignore this medium. Cable is not an option here. I started with a cable modem and the up and down speeds were fantastic ( splenda) But the downtime is totally not acceptable. I signed up for DSL and the availability has been very nice. So for TV we are talking satelite. Now I am going to want to have the ability to time shift programs. Can you guys point me in a direction of a satellite provider and a recorder? I know a media center PC but I don't think the time is ripe for that solution. Any way I await your responses.

[Miasma]

If you haven't watched TV in a long time you have probably missed an unfathomable number of hours of quality programming.  That said shows which follow a continuous story arc for a whole season are in the minority, most are individual 30/60 minute stories (22/44 without ads).  I would suggest just renting old seasons of recommended TV shows.  The people who like Heroes also seem to like Battle Star Galactica and 24.  The HBO series are also highly thought of.

If you are thinking all TV is like Heroes you are in for a terrible dissapointment.

[schild]

As of tomorrow, I would endorse downloading all of your TV shows HDTV, installing TwonkyMedia on a computer ($40) and streaming it all to a PS3.

But hey, I'm crazy like that.

[Trippy]

In the US there's DISH Network and DIRECTV -- pick your poison. Both have DVR options.

[Xanthippe]

TiVo is awesome; get one.

FX generally has the best shows (Heroes notwithstanding).  The Shield, Rescue Me, The Wire, The Riches...

You can rent them on DVD and watch the shows in order.

HBO still has some decent shows - particularly Rome (over now, but wow just brilliant).

The TV thread is in General Discussion - full of good things to see.

[MrHat]

Is FIOS available to you?

[Yegolev]

I have DirecTV and their HD DVR/TiVo unit.  Seriously considering buying an unofficial hard disk for it, both for capacity and to enable the USB ports.

I have to assume that you have never, ever watched American TV and so my suggestions might seem odd.  If you haven't seen Newhart, I suggest that.  If you want to get a good background on the classics... well Jesus, where to start?  Honeymooners, then I Love Lucy, then Newhart (extra credit for watching The Bob Newhart Show first, at least so the Newhart finale will make sense), and you will be pretty much covered for all of the sit-com cliches.  Take Honeymooners, turn Ralph and Norton gay and you get Will and Grace.  Same thing works for I Love Lucy.  Put Fred Mertz in a blue rubber suit and you get The Tick.  Well, not quite, but almost.

Do you know who was the first TV couple to share the same bed on primetime TV?  Yeah, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo slept in separate twin beds... where did Little Ricky come from?

[Xanthippe]

Mike and Carol Brady?

[squirrel]

As well as getting set up with satellite, don't ignore DVD's to get caught up. Things I would highly recommend watching on DVD:

Firefly
Season 1 Lost
Seasons 1 - 3(2.5?) BattleStar Galactica
Seasons 1 - 4 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Arrested Development
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Season 1 - 3 Sopranos

Stuff to watch ongoing
Heroes
Heroes
The Office

Also I'd second schilds advics, at least sort of. I don't have a PS3 but I do have a media PC and I watch most of my TV now in HDTV from Torrents.

Have fun :P

[Yegolev]

Mike and Carol Brady?

Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

EDIT:  Hey, watch the Flintstones, too, it's like a normal sit-com but animated.

EDIT EDIT:  Ongoing stuff you should watch would include The Venture Bros., seeing as how it's better than 98% of all TV shows, ever.

[Arrrgh]

98% of current programming is crap. You're better off just getting season box sets DVDs of the shows you want.  If you get a dish you'll have 200 channels of crap showing a couple of hours per week of something that's actually worth watching.

[cmlancas]

For cheap laughs, check out Robot Chicken. Mythbusters is pretty great too if you like reality-science shows. The episode where Tory takes a plant and "makes it feel wanted" kills me every time.

[hal]

Thanks for the replies. I guess going the DVD route makes the most sense and saves the expense of the satelite dish. It also avoids filling up the hard drive with downloaded content. In reply to some individual points.

HDTV hell ya, I recently got a 28" wide screen TV/monitor and me likey. Very much so.

I have been without TV for 6 or seven years so no, theres no reason to get caught up on leave it to Beaver or Ozzie and Harriet.

The PS3 bit is interesting. Keep us informed as how that works out. I am having issues with my Xbox360. When I switch to HDTV mode my TV displays "Unsupported Format". I am new to this LCD world and it is very possible this is "User Error"

[Yegolev]

Yeah, you have to verify what your TV supports.  Mine, for example, only supports 480i, 480p and 1080i.  No 720p support has me playing Resistance in 480p, which is sad.

[Mandrel]

The West Wing is a great series you may have missed.

[WayAbvPar]

Lucy and Ricky Ricardo slept in separate twin beds... where did Little Ricky come from?

Lucy was fucking Fred Mertz on the side. That man just oozed sex appeal.

[Big Gulp]

Deadwood
Rome
The Office (both US and UK, but the US version is the only one still ongoing)
Arrested Development
Battlestar Galactica
The Wire

[MrHat]

Deadwood
Rome
The Office (both US and UK, but the US version is the only one still ongoing)
Arrested Development
Battlestar Galactica
The Wire

This list wins.

I'm rewatching Arrested Development.  So God Damn Funny.

[Hokers]

If you like serial dramas, I would add to the liist

Murder One (Season one)

Veronica Mars (Season one)

[SnakeCharmer]

TV shows worth watching:

Heroes
Dogfights (History Channel)
Dirty Jobs (Discovery Channel)
Battlestar Galactica
The Office
Family Guy
Robot Chicken (hit or miss)
CSI Las Vegas (I'm addicted for some reason)
How They Make That (or something similar, can't remember the exact name)
Pretty much anything on History Channel



DVD
Firefly
Previous BSG
Early seasons of Soranos


I never got into Deadwood or Rome much.  Couldnt stand Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

[raydeen]

Stargate SG-1 (the early seasons - the last couple of years have been struggling)
Battlestar Galactica
The Shield
Rescue Me
Babylon 5 (there is nothing finer)
24 (I know I'm in the minority on this one - but season 2 was kick ass)
Mythbusters
Scrubs

[Righ]

Doctor Who
Life on Mars
Waking the Dead

... on BBC America. Well, it counts as American TV. :)

[schild]

Does the BBC America Waking the Dead TV series have Jennifer Connelly's Tittays?

[raydeen]

Doctor Who
Life on Mars
Waking the Dead

... on BBC America. Well, it counts as American TV. :)

Is it the new Doctor Who or the old? When we had BBC:America it was pretty much just the best of Tom Baker. We had the whole series on a local PBS station but the BBC made the original series unavailable in the states when the new series got picked up by SCI-FI. Pissed me off no end as I had started to tape the episodes when the Hartnell episodes started. Got the first 12 and then...it was gone. The explanation was they didn't want viewers to be 'confused' between the two series. Bah.

[Signe]

It's the new Dr Who but Sci Fi showed them first.   I don't know who's going to do what for the next season.