Television shows

Generally I had thought TV shows were poor quality. This past year my daughter set me up on Netflix and I have learned to binge on some very excellent shows. There is quality TV after all.

That is my lead in - a category about favorite TV shows. And I have a bunch of favorites now.

I wanted to see if there are any Kimmy fans here. I am watching the 2 year series now a second time. A friend suggested that show to me. (Netflix had not recommended it to me at all. Far from my typical selection.)

My friend and I now text each other random lines from the show.

"I'm not really here. I'm not really here."
"You look tired. How are your BMs?"
"I mathed!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUk6GmqfqnY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIdFa1qLgNQ

"The Night Manager" -- recent TV mini-series (6 hours) starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie.

"Sports Night" -- one of my favorite sitcoms, 2 seasons

"Battlestar Galactica" -- the new one, not the old one!

"Political Animals" -- TV mini-series starring Sigourney Weaver

"Burn Notice" (OK, this one is a guilty pleasure!)

I'm sorry, but I do not understand how anyone can watch the drivel that was new BSG. Was there a single episode that didn't feature lil ol' sex bomb blondie not nearly nude and dripping sex? Ugh. The original might have been all about the macho men, but at least they didn't feel the need to parade naked women around for zero reason. *grimaces and skulks off*

Aaack... I must come out as a fan of the new BSG--but then I absolutely hated the religious-y ending, so maybe a fan only for 75%. LOVED the whole AI/what makes a human theme.

My recent discovery is Spongebob Squarepants. Don't laugh--if you knew what a cement mixer I go through every day these days, you'd appreciate the smile 11 minutes of Bikini Bottom puts on my face...

I've heard there are grown men into something about magic ponies. If this continues much longer, I'll be ready for that too...

>3 .Monkey.:

How many episodes did you watch? If you only watched a few, your opinion on the series as a whole is kind of invalid.

The episode titled "33" won the Hugo Award. I would have to watch it again to see how much time the character "Six" is in it, but I can assure you the episode was not about sex.

By the way, are you always this charming in your interaction with others? You could have expressed the same opinion a heck of lot more politely.

>4 LolaWalser:

Yes, that ending was problematic for me too!

>6 amysisson:

Like they totally ran out of ideas and went for something out of a "it was all a dream" box. It's all vague in my memory now but it really damaged the whole story for me in retrospect.

I watch Sponge Bob. It is a very good cartoon, for all ages. My grandsons all love it.

I will have to watch BSG. Never seen any of the shows.

Richard --

In general I hate television. But, for reasons we'll skip over, from late 2013 to early 2015, I had daily access to one and I began to watch programs routinely for the first time in more than thirty years. (Though for sevreral years more than a decade earlier, I had grad -student housemates and we'd all gather and watch "NYPD Blue" each week. Apart from that, the set was never turned on unless there was breaking news on international doom.)

I recommend my favorite scripted series : "The Mentalist." I watched every episode I could and would eagerly watch the same episode as many times as it aired. While I was watching prior seasons of the program, a current season was aired once a week in the evening.

There's still a devoted following I suppose but the show has run its course and I wouldn't care to see less talented people try to copy it. Only Simon Baker could portray Patrick Jane. BTW, all the actors (except Tim Kang) were new to me--of course! -- and all were excellent.

--------

Because the story is one long development, it's by far more interesting to watch each episode and each season in the series in the order it was produced.

The Mentalist @ Netflix:

http://www.flixlist.co/titles/70155590

I'll add a few:

Black Mirror (self-contained episodes of philosophical techno-drama from across the pond; top-notch stellar in every respect! Think a more polished, British-accented Twilight Zone.)

The Americans (brilliant family/espionage drama; undercover KGB illegals in D.C. raising American children; taut, intelligent, and broadly authentic in its presentation of tradecraft.) ETA: Set in the '80s, with impeccable period cultural curation.

Better Call Saul (a very good spin-off of the iconic Breaking Bad (for which, see Brazilian journalist Pepe Escobar's incomparable hagiography published in the late, lamented Asia Times Online, which is what got me to watch it in the first place).

Most of my TV watching is on Netflix. Prior and other than, I seldom watch TV.

There have been several I liked. Foyles' War is at the top of the list of shows I watched. Copper, The Ripper, and Longmire are also high.

A friend has tried frequently to get me to watch Breaking Bad.

I have missed out on TV over much of the last 40 years, living in places where there was little access to TV. Even now I only get to watch TV rather sporadically on a South African satellite TV station which broadcasts all over Africa. So I'm just discovering some series a few episodes at a time, sometimes on YouTube, sometimes on DVD, sometimes on TV, but I rarely have the chance to watch a whole series.

One series which I was able to watch before my nomadic period was Dad's Army. I can re-watch many of those episodes again and again. Brilliant stuff.

I wish I had been able to watch Spitting Image when it was new and fresh. It's still funny but the political satire is obviously no longer current.

Blackadder is of course one of the greatest comedy series of all time, with Blackadder Goes Forth (the World War I series) probably being the best. Blackadder is Rowan Atkinson at his best (supported by a superb cast). John Cleese's Fawlty Towers is also in a class of its own, not least because he refused to make more than one series of it.

One of my great favourites is Father Ted. Another crazy Irish comedy series which I only recently discovered is Mrs Brown's Boys.

The British TV serialisation of John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was really well done.

One thing I don't like about many non-comedy series is that they draw the story out just to fill the time, and what is otherwise a promising storyline becomes tedious because it is dragged out over such a long period. A few years back I started watching a science fiction series called V, which showed promise. I even bought the DVD when I had to move on after only watching the first three or four episodes, but it soon got boring just because it was so long and slow. I've found a number of series with the same problem - full marks for the story idea, but a pretty low score on the actual product.

>1 richardbsmith: If you like Kimmy Schmidt, you may also like Arrested Development. All seasons are available on Netflix. We are currently going through it for the third time. It is extremely quotable.

BTW, we are also fans of Kimmy.

I am not normally a fan of superheroes, but I think the recent shows Daredevil and Jessica Jones were very well done.

I like House of Cards--political intrigue. It is pretty dark, though, but it reminds me of a novel. Very dense.

I personally think quality of TV has really increased recently, just at the same time that movies in general have become horrible.

>13 sturlington:

Thanks. Those have also been recommended to me. As several friends know I am a newly created binger.

And a former comic book lover - my favorites were the Marvel heroes - DD, Avengers, Spiderman. Jessica Jones came out after my time as a pre teen.

Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Arrow were all good I thought. Also the Avengers movies - Ironman, Captain American. I wish Agent Carter has been a bit better.

I must put in a word for the best TV shows and I believe many can be found on Netflicks...
Orphan Black...very engaging and a space-BBC co-production...
The Wire....a police procedural to end all police procedurals...it got around to the municipal administration, the malaise of the Press in USA, Drug wars, the inner city education system, union life....just kind of grew into a War and Peace kind of thing.
The first season of "American crime"...Felicity Huffman rocks!
Heroes...ordinary lives of super Heroes..and the reboot wasn't bad.
the first two seasons of "Veronica Mars" ....teenage girl wish fulfillment at its finest
"True Detective" Raw but sooo real
"Jessica Jones" one of the best super hero stories, ever (as I'm tired of the Marvel Universe...)
"Misfits"..a BBC show featuring super heroes (Sorta) who are doing community service...and only the first two years of that...fans of Ramsey Bolton, keep your eyes out!
"Deadwood" in spite of the language, very intelligent indeed
"And "Game of Thrones"...write George write like the wind!
and I wind down with Silicon Valley and Big bang theory.

The Wire sounds like something I would like.

Jessica Jones gets a bunch of mentions. I liked it also.

Did you see Foyles' War?

There are several shows that disappointed me. Supernatural leads the list. It was a big favorite of many people. It just became boring for me.

The West Wing. I tried to watch it. The Jewish jokes didn't carry. Gave up watching there. And then. So different and politically correct from Nixon's taped anti-Jewisms.

I managed to see a few episodes of Foyle's War and I enjoyed it. I've always liked books and films about the Home Front.

A conversation on robots on another group reminded me of Lexx, a very surreal science fiction series, I think from Canada. I bought the boxed set of DVDs, four series if I recall correctly, and thoroughly enjoyed most of them.

My Kimmy partner has just ordered me to watch Breaking Bad and Orange is the new black.

Can't speak to the latter, but the former won't disappoint!

She (my Kimmy partner) said Orange is the most binge worthy show other than Breaking Bad.

BTW >15 DinadansFriend:
I looked for The Wire on Netflix. Only available with DVD. That does sound like a good show for me.

>21 richardbsmith: It's excellent. Well worth paying for because you will likely watch it through more than once.

And then there is Chuck.

Just a quick note: there are a number of search services that will tell you which series or movies can be streamed via which service at any given time. For instance, according to JustWatch.com (the best of the top 5 results I got by Googling "where can i watch it streaming" -- yeah, go ahead and laugh), The Wire is streaming for free for Amazon Prime and HBO Go subscribers, and can be purchased to watch on 5 other venues. Thought I'd throw that out there as a public service... of sorts.

>22 sturlington::
I note you are reading Middlemarch, another comparison to "the wire" there! :-) MM very good book IMHO.
I'm very fond of both books and other entertainments where the reader sees a familiar landscape except there's just this one loose thread...and then a whole world gets unravelled!

Oh dear, this thread reminds me that I am old enough to remember when attendance at Sunday evening church services dropped right off because people were staying home to watch The Forsyte Saga (the first version)!

Then there was the dreadful period when the free to air networks displayed total contempt for viewers of the likes of The West Wing and Sopranos by changing the scheduling without notice, so that it was impossible even to tape them.

Nowadays, thanks to streaming and boxed set DVDs you can binge-watch at any time. We have purchased a lot of boxed sets of old favourites. You are always fearful that they will not be as good as you remember. However, Rumpole of The Bailey, The Barchester Chronicles and even Callan stand up very well. What has changed in recent years is the production values; the camera moves around, and the cinematography can be worthy of an art-house movie.

I can recommend Wolf Hall, IMO the finest adaptation of a novel (two, actually) ever made. Bear in mind that I consider Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies two of the finest novels ever written, destined for a place in the canon.

Also, in no particular order, Billions, Better Call Saul, UnREAL, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Ripper Street and Peaky Blinders, which is tightly plotted but graphically violent and best not watched immediately before going to bed.

At the moment the (Australian) ABC is screening Indian Summers and Dr Thorne, both a bit melodramatic, but entertaining nonetheless. I am waiting a while to see if they give us the new War and Peace.

There have been some very good Australian series to keep an eye out for, like The Doctor Blake Mysteries and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, the latter starring the incomparable Essie Davis (who has just popped up in the latest series of GoT).

A great list. I have tried to watch Peaky Blinders. The start was slow for me and not engaging. I may give the show more time based on your recommendation.

Ripper Street was a great show. Then series end was disappointing.

#27
I agree that Peaky Blinders gets off to a slow start. Who are these people, how are they related? What's all that with blowing powder up the horse's nose about? Nothing is clearly explained at the beginning. I promise you that perseverance for at least the first two episodes is worth it, especially when Sam Neill appears as the last word in moustache-twirling villains. There is a new series screening in the UK at the moment.

There is also a new series of Ripper Street, which it seems is yet to jump the shark.

I forgot to put on my list a further couple of American shows; Transparent, a wry comedy about a dysfunctional family's reactions to 60something Dad's announcement that he's transsexual, and The Knick, a fairly historically accurate drama about a pioneering (brilliant but of course personally troubled) surgeon which illustrates the major developments in modern medicine that took place at the beginning of the twentieth century. Fascinating, but not for the squeamish. And not IMO as good as the UK series, set during the same period, The London.

Watching a new show on Netflix - The Principal.

Current, Muslims becoming the majority in a British high school. Gangs. Drugs. Prejudices. Religions.

>29 richardbsmith:

When I worked in Southall, west London, back in the early '80s, we had a number of high schools where Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were the majority. Didn't see much evidence of drugs, gangs and prejudices, although there were a lot of religions living, learning and working together.

#29
Are you sure it's about a British high school? There was an Australian show by the same name, starring Alex Dimitriades as a highly qualified teacher of Middle Eastern migrant background, who is parachuted in to a failing Sydney boys' high school with instructions to get things under control. Eventually he does, with a good deal of dramatic action along the way (commencing with a murder on the school premises), some of it involving his private life. I will say no more in case it is the same show - don't want to spoil it for you.

It was first class viewing, with an intelligent script that did not try to fudge the more problematic aspects of multiculturalism and some great performances.

dajashby,

You are correct. Same show. Sorry about the error placing the show in Britain. It definitely is not shying from any issues. And as you say, "first class."

#32
Well, I'm sure anybody could have thought it was British! Look, they're driving on the left-hand side of the road, it's of no significance that everybody (save for a few Lebanese adults) speaks with an Australian accent. ;-D

I can't tell the difference between the accents. Perhaps Sidney was mentioned at some point, and I might have picked up on that. I finished the series. Hoping for it to be continued. it is a good damn show. Close to Foyle's War, which it my top show.

#34
How do you manage with actual British shows, where they employ all the many and varied regional accents? If you watch documentaries with real people speaking in the local accent (especially in the North) you just about need subtitles. Skilled British actors are able to do the accents but remain comprehensible.

I dare say you miss out on the class subtext when it's relevant, which it so often is because it's so integral to British society. If a clearly working class character - son of a miner, say - speaks with an Oxbridge accent, the viewers are immediately on alert. What's his history? Is he going to be a major character because of it?

You can't get maximum enjoyment out of British drama without being able to decode their class system.

Even in this day and age, in British productions of Shakespeare the prose speakers - servants, soldiers, rude mechanicals - tend to have regional or working class accents.

Aussies get this. We are also pretty good with American accents, which are based on region rather than class.

Wow. A lot to learn, if I am to watch any more British/Australian television.

Kind of like reading poetry in translation, or maybe Baroque on a piano?

#36
You got it!

I think you might find this Guardian article helpful. Be sure to read the comments thread. Then, when your head stops spinning, try looking at the comments on an article, pretty well any article, in the Food section. They can't discuss anything without reference to class, and to a lesser extent the North/South thing!

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jun/22/us-uk-comedy-remakes-raised...

There was a comment about leaving the shows unchanged, "I would rather the shows remain British."

I think I agree.

"All in the family" was a great show. I seldom watched Sanford and Sons, though I had never heard that the show was based on a British original.

And I have never seen an episode of the Office.

Maybe if we did not Americanize British shows, I would be able to distinguish British and Australian accents.

BTW,
I did, still and will always love Emma Peel. One of the loves of my pre teen years. She translated well.

>38 richardbsmith: I refuse on principle to watch Americanized versions of British shows. They're almost universally inferior. The only exception to my refusal is "Whose Line is it Anyway" -- though once again, the American version is markedly inferior.

>38 richardbsmith:

Steptoe & Son. It's perfection. There are some episodes on the U-tube.

>39 davidgn:

Me too. I don't get what's the appeal of such shows. Who'd want to see any other FU than the sublime Ian Richardson? (House of Cards)

Since I finished (sadly) The Principal, I am back texting quotes from Kimmy with my Kimmy text partner.

She is trying to get me hooked on Orange. I have watched 5 episodes, and despite the obvious lure of the occasional naked woman/women, the show has not grabbed me yet.

MSN had it listed as one of the binge worthy shows with the new season release.

Anyone like Farscape and Firefly. I happened on Firefly over a Labor Day weekend at my father's house. It was a Firefly marathon back to back, the entire weekend. I never left the chair, watching. When I got back home to Facebook, I quickly discovered that I was the only person in the entire Milky Way galaxy who had not already seen Firefly years ago.

Firefly a classic of shrewd peasant hero, lotta fun especially the "Janestown" episode. Farscape has so far escaped me. there's a follow-up movie "Serenity" for Firefly if you want to know what happened to the crew.
"Orphan Black! Orphan Black! Orphan Black for great TV at present!!

Farscape needs a little slack. It is just fun, with the characters and plots. The ride on Moya is just to be enjoyed. There is an interesting premise hinted in the plot, that some of the human race had been taken and evolved separately in another solar system.

Serenity is something I am saving for a special viewing. Not really sure what I am waiting for. I think I want a full binge of the TV series, then the movie.

Should we bold show names?

Maybe italics as dajashby and JTF are using?

>41 richardbsmith: Anyone like Farscape and Firefly.

Firefly is frickin awesome. Seriously scary in places, though.

I adore both Firefly and Farscape. My main viewing is science fiction, and my top 6 shows are (not in order): Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Next Gen, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica (new), Firefly, and Farscape.

>46 amysisson::
"Outcasts" for the Sci-fi fan who liked "Firefly". "Misfits" for the first two years after which it went gourd shaped.

Just tonight started Marcella, on Netflix.

It is intense.

ETA
I thought I recognized the lead actress. Anna Friel. She was the lead in American Odyssey, another show I liked. That was cancelled after the first year. I hope Marcella has a longer run.

So, the bastards got to "American Odyssey"...I thought it was a very good series that was trying to explain that new wired world had not turned everyone into wired-in Americans. what the digital age has done is make a wonderfully informed world where brilliant improvisations are happening all the time and a lot of them cannot be attributed to either the sinister Influence of Putin's Russia, or the evil of the USA. mind you, it did look like American inter-departemental in-fightng remains a global danger, So I'm sad it went away...too soon.
thanx for pointing out Marcella, I'll go take a look

I just finished the 1st year. Binged over two nights.

I will need some catharsis.

I watch Stargate SG1 on Comet TV.

And Heroes and Icons have been promoting that they will be showing all 5 Star Treks. (Doing my happy dance)

>50 richardbsmith::
About that Catharsis, I understand three nights of manning a phone line for a Democratic Candidate will clear it up...ooops! Social engineering spoiler!
>51 nx74defiant::
Even Star Trek Shopping Mall? Actually Deep Space Nine had a great deal of the cleverest writing in the whole series. Back in the '60s and 70's Star Trek did give me hope there would be real Science Fiction on broadcast TV some day.

A friend suggested this

http://nordicnoir.tv/tv-shows/blue-eyes/

The series is not on Netflix.

I've watched two episodes of Aquarius on Netflix. It stars David Duchovny and is set during the Summer of Love, and Charles Manson is a character. So far, so good.

I watched Aquarius. It is excellent. And the ending sets everything up for a very good next season.

What do you mean there is no law against cannibalism in this state?

The days when you can use a government car to visit a brothel are long gone.

Rake

I endorse just about everything my other half has said so far in this thread, though she does watch more streaming shows than I do. A few shows that nobody has so far mentioned that I really liked: Minder, a great show from many years ago, as is Dad's Army. The Paradise Club was similar in many ways to Minder, though the first series was better than the second. I've recently transferred the shows from our Beta Tape archive and rewatched them. When the Boat Comes In was one of the best class-ridden family sagas that the British did. Loved Red Dwarf, and more recently Being Human was excellent.

"Minder" was a good deal of fun at the time, and was set at an excellent scale, the villains not having to be too bad, and even the "heroes" had foibles. I've been fond of Dennis Waterman since, and when George Cole, the Oily Arthur Daley passed on Aug. 7 2015, i went out and fed a few birds and squirrels..just to feel right.
Waterman seems to have had a pleasant career since. His years as the surprisingly moral Terry, are his highpoint to me.

>58 DinadansFriend: The first time I saw Dennis Waterman he was playing the title role in Lionel Bart's "Oliver Twist" at the Mermaid Theatre in 1962, I think it was. Terry was slightly less moral than that... The British do things like Minder very well - the morality is ambiguous at best. Sam Neill appeared in a series on the Australian ABC called "Old school" that had a similar register - Neill was a retired copper who teamed up with a recently released crim who he had put away in order to wrap up an old case - the same one the crim had been doing time for. That doesn't really do it justice. I enjoyed the first few series of "New Tricks", but it's really jumped the shark some time ago. Waterman is the last survivor of what was a good ensemble cast.

The Sweeney (= Sweeney Todd = Flying Squad) was a good series from the same era, also starring Dennis Waterman.

An earlier police series was Z-Cars (who can ever forget the theme music?). Even earlier was Dixon of Dock Green, a different era of more civilised policing, based on the film The Blue Lamp. After PC George Dixon gets shot in the film, there's a classic line from one of the low-level villains, "I ain't got much time for coppers, but I don't 'old with shooting them!" (quoted from memory - may not be exactly word for word). Those were the days...

>60 John5918: Never watched The Sweeney. I believe it was more a straight cops and robbers show. Do remember both Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green (thus revealing my extreme age). I may be making this up, but I think the phrase "Now then, now then, what's going' on 'ere" originated with Dixon. Who else remembers that Brian Blessed began his career on Z-Cars?

"Lock, stock and two smoking barrels" was also right out of the "Minder" school of comedy criminal drama.

>61 dajashby:

Lock, stock and two smoking barrels is brilliant. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a film, not a TV series.

"Now then, now then, what's going' on 'ere"

Thirty-odd years ago I was leading a workshop with a mixed group of white, black and Asian youth in Southall, where we had a role-play in which someone had to be a policeman. I innocently said, "You know, you can flex your knees and say , 'Now then, now then, what's going' on 'ere'", and one of the young black teenagers corrected me and said, "No, it's more like, 'Right son, get in the back of the van'" followed by the thwack of truncheons raining down on the unfortunate victim.

the Novel "catch-22" has the insight that the cry "Help! Police!", may not always be a cry for help! It could be warning or a cry for assistance from the non-law-abiding community.
I am searching for a DVD of "Lock Stock, and Two smoking Barrels." It goes with "Snatch", a similar mind-set film, featuring Brad Pitt as a verbally challenged boxer and Jason Statham currently getting a lotta Work as a villan turning in a reasonably comic performance. "Rock and Rolla" a third Guy Ritchie film in this area wasn't so funny....but I digress.

If you think you can't be funny about islamist terrorism, take a look at the British film "Four lions", which is about a group of incompetents who decide that they'll hit the London Olympics, I think it was. Funny, but really thought-provoking. Yes I know this is a thread about television shows, but in my defence I did see the film on television...

I guess I lived in a hole as far as TV, and missed some good shows.

Just found Californication. And along with Aquarius am becoming a bit of a David Duchovny fan. I did not know he did anything after X Files.

"You're just an analog guy in a digital world."

I forgot a series that has many insights for an American Political season....."the Newsroom" it is full of valuable glimpses of how the "Main Stream Media" works, or doesn't for the benefit of the American Voter. It is also useful for public broadcasters like PBS doing their underfunded best for Americans. Do set up the USA equivalent of the Radio Australia, the BBC and the CBC...you really need facts.

I am about half way through Wentworth. It is intense, and deals with some current issues.

I tried Orange is the new black. Just did not really like it.

Wentworth. Another excellent Australian show.

ETA
Bea is bad ass.

The Honorable Woman. Netflix.

A definite must see.

#68
And curiously prescient...

New Season, new recommendations! "Travellers", a very interesting take on time travel...being Canadian (homer!, I know...) it relies on good writing and performances rather than on special effects..still good.
the enigmatic and very engaging "Westworld" not your father's version!
For fans of the flintlock gunfight...Frontier" on Discovery, a sensational, but interesting take on the fur trade and the First Nations! I think "Frontier will be more fun in the summer....just something about seeing yet more snow at the moment..
And "the Expanse" and "Orphan Black" will be back soon!"

I've been enjoying People of Earth on TBS. My sense of humor is of the Weekly World News variety apparently.