What are you Watching?
A lot of you know that I haven't had a TV for over 10 years (not preaching) - but that I love TV shows. At the risk of placing myself in legal peril - I'm going to admit that I download a lot of TV. But not watching an actual TV narrows the fields of shows that I'm aware of. I don't see the promos for what's on next. I rely on word of mouth and recommendations from friends. In my view, that's the way it should be. So what are you watching now? Here are my favourite shows. I'm looking for recommendations of more in this vein.
1. Madmen - Increasingly I'm watching this for the gorgeous retro sets. I love seeing vintage wooden HiFi consoles and classy black leather couches. I'm starting to lose interest a little bit now that Don has split with Betty and his desertion past is out in the open. Floating through major historical events in the 60s is still a blast. (Beatles at Candlestick Park)
2. Breaking Bad - Dark, dark comedy drama. The acting and character development is very strong in the show. Watching the slow, inexorable decline of Walter White - from chemistry teacher to drug kingpin has been fascinating and entertaining.
3. Peep Show More dark comedy; surprise, surprise. You get the feeling that Mitchell and Webb are almost playing themselves in this show - or at least a version of themselves, if they hadn't become the famous comedy duo that they are. I love the story arc and returning characters. So believable, so English - so awkward.
4. Glee - Preachy? Corny? Overproduced schmaltz? I don't care - I absolutely love this show. Again the acting, characters and story arc shine. These kids have heart - and it comes through in the performances. And although they do like to tackle typical "after school special" issues - the moral message is often fairly pragmatic. (Teen drinking is going to happen, do it responsibly or you might vomit in public).
1. Madmen - Increasingly I'm watching this for the gorgeous retro sets. I love seeing vintage wooden HiFi consoles and classy black leather couches. I'm starting to lose interest a little bit now that Don has split with Betty and his desertion past is out in the open. Floating through major historical events in the 60s is still a blast. (Beatles at Candlestick Park)
2. Breaking Bad - Dark, dark comedy drama. The acting and character development is very strong in the show. Watching the slow, inexorable decline of Walter White - from chemistry teacher to drug kingpin has been fascinating and entertaining.
3. Peep Show More dark comedy; surprise, surprise. You get the feeling that Mitchell and Webb are almost playing themselves in this show - or at least a version of themselves, if they hadn't become the famous comedy duo that they are. I love the story arc and returning characters. So believable, so English - so awkward.
4. Glee - Preachy? Corny? Overproduced schmaltz? I don't care - I absolutely love this show. Again the acting, characters and story arc shine. These kids have heart - and it comes through in the performances. And although they do like to tackle typical "after school special" issues - the moral message is often fairly pragmatic. (Teen drinking is going to happen, do it responsibly or you might vomit in public).
12 Comments
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
I forgot True Blood - I think that's more of a guilty pleasure than Glee.
deputydogI'm hearing really amazing things about The Killing, a Danish drama series that's currently being shown on BBC4; you can catch it on iPlayer. As expected, an American remake is soon to air.
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
Ooh, that looks good. I'm going to have a look. I've also heard that the Life on Mars sequel Ashes to Ashes is pretty good - though I haven't tried it.>> ^deputydog:
I'm hearing really amazing things about The Killing, a Danish drama series that's currently being shown on BBC4; you can catch it on iPlayer. As expected, an American remake is soon to air.
gwiz665True Blood
30 Rock
Babylon 5
House MD
I've seen like 10 minutes of the Wire, because @demon_ix praises it to the skies, but I haven't gotten into it yet.
South Park, Simpsons, Futurama
ant* 30 Second Bunnies
* All Your History (not all of the episodes).
* American Dad
* The Apprentice
* The Big Bang Theory
* Chuck
* Cinemassacre Productions for online movie and video game reviews (not all of them) with cussings and humor.
* Classic Game Room/InecomCompany -- Not all reviews.
* Educated Earth -- not everything.
* Family Guy (later seasons only)
* Fast and Loose
* Futurama (all episodes and movies and kept up since the pilot).
* GameInformer's Replay Hub (not all of them).
* Grey's Anatomy (since the pilot and kept up)
* The Guild (since the pilot and kept up)
* Know Your Meme (also on YouTube; not all episodes)
* The IT Crowd (kept up since its pilot)
* Matt's Chat (not all episodes)
* MythBusters (not all old episodes, but do keep up with the latest ones)
* New Media Agency (NMA) for sometimes funny animated news from Taiwan daily. Not every one of them is watched like the lame weather ones.
* No Ordinary Family.
* Nostalgia Critic (mostly movie and television/TV reviews, and do not watch all episodes).
* Retroware TV (not all episodes)
* Simon's Cat on YouTube (all episodes).
* The Simpsons (should be all episodes since Tracey Ullman's short days)
* Smallville (all episodes and kept up mostly after a few episodes in season one)
* South Park (not all episodes; skip the "sewer"/dirty ones)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars (kept up since its pilot)
* Undercover Boss -- Rarely, since this worker ant only watches the interesting companies.
* Versus (not all old episodes).
* The Walking Dead.
* Walk on the Wild Side (kept up since its pilot).
* Television/TV/Telly commercial/spots/advertisements/ads. on FunnyPlace (kept up with its latest frequent updates).
* Many other online videos especially random ones from VideoSift (not all of them and using filters).
* Various interesting documentaries.
OrnthoronI just finished The Pacific. I really liked Band of Brothers, so I had high hopes, but in the end I felt it was not completely up to par with its predecessor. Nice to learn a little bit of WW2 history from the other side of the globe, though.
Right now I'm at a loss as to what I should watch next. I watched the first two episodes of Mad Men, and while I enjoyed the retro scenery, the storyline didn't really drag me in. I'm thinking of continuing on with season 3 of Dexter, and watch Arrested Development for comedy, since everyone speaks so highly of it. When Game of Thrones comes out, I will watch that. I would love suggestions, though. Things I've seen and enjoyed in the past:
-Deadwood
-The Wire
-Battlestar Galactica
-Firefly
-Doctor Who
-Rome
Ryjkyj"Community" is an awesome show. Working my way up through the first two seasons to the D&D episode was just so much damned fun.
When I'm up late and everyone is asleep, I watch "I Survived".
blankfistNo, dag, you cannot do this. You made a choice to be the fucking jackhole who stopped watching tv because you felt it was uncool, sucking your braincells, a tool for the media elite, or whatever else was popular when you were a rebellious teenager in 1923.
You made your bed so sleep in the Ozzie & Harriet VHS collection you have on the shelf. No new shows for you, traitor.
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
I'm TV ProChoice™. The Internets allows me to watch the TVs I choose to watch without having something pumped involuntarily to my noggin by your country's corporate task masters. Power to the people. I'm sort of like a Lybian rebel that way.>> ^blankfist:
No, dag, you cannot do this. You made a choice to be the fucking jackhole who stopped watching tv because you felt it was uncool, sucking your braincells, a tool for the media elite, or whatever else was popular when you were a rebellious teenager in 1923.
You made your bed so sleep in the Ozzie & Harriet VHS collection you have on the shelf. No new shows for you, traitor.
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
BTW, The Doctor is back on Easter Weekend - for you Who people.
MaxWilderThough I'm not a fan of dark comedy, here are the shows from my RSS Downloader and the reasons I like them:
The Good Wife (best traditional lawyer show currently on tv)
Burn Notice (best how-to spy show)
Eureka (fun sci-fi with great characters)
Warehouse 13 (like Eureka, fun sci-fi with great characters)
Royal Pains (great twist on the traditional doctor show)
Doctor Who (obviously)
Lie To Me (great first two seasons, though the main character is beginning to get annoying)
Leverage (excellent first season, though the quality started dropping off after that)
White Collar (quality mis-matched buddy cop style show)
Covert Affairs (quality spy drama, though it is still trying to find its footing)
Psyche (laugh riot, frequently with good plots)
The IT Crowd (best geek comedy)
Castle (still strong, with Fillion's charm and humor, and Stana's amazing hotness)
The Mentalist (starting to get old, but the first season is especially good)
Chuck (too many reasons to count)
Bones (has some problems, but is mostly good quality)
House (of course)
Fairly Legal (promising new alternative to the standard lawyer show)
Archer (animated spy parody, amazingly awesome)
Not necessarily in order of excellence.
legacy0100I don't own a TV so I can't say, but I am interested in watching Madmen. How do you say, 'Americain sophistique'? lol
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