Top 7 Favorite TV Series

[melkathi]

I'm going to look into the wire. Doesn't sound like my kind of show necessarily, but I keep an open mind about these things.

 

I was a bit hesitant about the show at first. And I must confess it took me a few episodes until I could remember who is who. In the end though I watched all 5 seasons and (mostly) loved it. Though at the end I wanted to punch McNulty.

Let us know what you think.

[Sensuki]

I think even McNulty wanted to punch McNulty

 

What didn't you like about it melkathi ?

Edited November 1, 2012 by Sensuki

[melkathi]

I think even McNulty wanted to punch McNulty

 

What didn't you like about it melkathi ?

 

I know someone in real life who I was very much reminded of by Ziggy in season 2. While I am one of those people who like season 2 quite a lot, that character really got on my nerves.

Season 5 McNulty annoys me... a lot. He, his actions, it all just rubs me the wrong way. I still think its a good season and a good ending to the show, but it is the one season I did not watch a second time - I know he'll annoy me again

You know, one of those instances when you fully recognize somethign as really good and of quality, but on a personal level it just is off.

 

What I can't decide is which my favourid season is: 1, 3 or 4.

[Sensuki]

I think even McNulty wanted to punch McNulty

 

What didn't you like about it melkathi ?

 

I know someone in real life who I was very much reminded of by Ziggy in season 2. While I am one of those people who like season 2 quite a lot, that character really got on my nerves.

Season 5 McNulty annoys me... a lot. He, his actions, it all just rubs me the wrong way. I still think its a good season and a good ending to the show, but it is the one season I did not watch a second time - I know he'll annoy me again

You know, one of those instances when you fully recognize somethign as really good and of quality, but on a personal level it just is off.

 

What I can't decide is which my favourid season is: 1, 3 or 4.

 

I think I felt the same way about Season 5 for a while, but when I watched it again it was fine. Some of the best stuff happens in that season, particularly involving Bubbles and Clay Davis and over time, I have come to really like McNulty in season 5, if you just pay attention to the emotion of his character throughout the season, it's quite incredible actually ... his facial expressions in general are just bang on - that undercurrent of disgust about what he's doing. Think about it this way though, McNulty is supposed to piss people off in that season, and you actually felt something from watching him do it ... that's pretty rare. The Johnny Weeks character reminds me of the douchebag boyfriend of one of my internet friends (looks very similar in the face) and that makes that actor annoying for me - so I can kind of see where you're coming from there ... but hey at least that makes it realistic

 

Season 2 is probably the 'hardest' to get into, and the slowest building but I think it's one of the better ones too actually. I had a friend that LOVED season 1 but he couldn't get through 30 minutes of Season 2 Episode 1 (whereas I loved it). But I can understand where you're coming from if you just get pissed off by Ziggy. Have you seen Generation Kill ? James Ransone plays a pretty sweet character in that show actually haha.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Sensuki

[Pope]

The Wire had the best finale of any series ever.

[kirottu]

The Wire had the best finale of any series ever.

 

Cowboy Bepop has the best finale of any series ever.

[Gorgon]

The Wire is like an episode of Law & Order on steroids. Throw in some New Jack City for good measure.

 

Actually it's nothing like a Law and Order episode. I wouldn't say that's a very good comparison. The only similarity is it has Detectives in it some of the time. If you were going to compare it to an episodical show, Homicide: Life on the Street would be the closest, because there's way more character projection than Law and Order, which is bone dry in comparison.

 

The character John Munch from Law and Order: SVU is actually originally from Homicide: Life on the Street, same character, same actor. However his Law and Order version is _NOTHING_ like his Homicide: Life on the Street version, he essentially becomes a paper-cut out.

 

Definitely give it a go Cantousent, give it a few episodes before deciding if you're into it or not (minimum 4 imo), as it's a show that builds over time.

Law and order, in addition to being quite boring is one of those tigthly segmented weekly shows. There's always the visit to the coroner, always the tribulations of the public prosecutor, insert random office banter etc.nothing ever changes. Like NCIS really.

 

The wire, although it's a cop show, has much more true to life characters, even if some are a bit over the top. Homicide was better in every sense and would not be a terrible comparison.

[Moose]

In no particular order:

 

Dark Place

The Armando Iannucci Show

Farscape

Red Dwarf

TNG

Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker period)

Twin Peaks

[Hurlshort]

You guys have really weird opinions of Law & Order. Thankfully for me they don't reflect the views of the general public, as it was an immensely popular series that went 20 seasons and has spawned extremely popular spin-offs. Criminal Intent is my favorite, and SVU is a close second, although it can be hard to watch.

 

I'm enjoying The Wire tremendously, but I fail to see how it is insulting to compare it to one of the longest running crime dramas ever created.

[Raithe]

Heh, maybe we should start the list of "favourite tv shows that were cancelled before they could go anywhere"...

 

Although I think we've fairly covered Firefly already with these lists. +

[Maedhros]

The wire, although it's a cop show, has much more true to life characters, even if some are a bit over the top. Homicide was better in every sense and would not be a terrible comparison.

 

Pretty much anything David Simon touches turns to gold. The Wire, Homicide (based on his book), Generation Kill, Treme, The Corner...all very good.

[Gfted1]

Modern Family (literally makes me lol)

Two and a Half Men (not as good without Sheen but still ok)

Anger Management

Walking Dead (never watched it until recently but its growing on me)

Family Guy

Ridiculousness

Survivor

[Sensuki]

You guys have really weird opinions of Law & Order. Thankfully for me they don't reflect the views of the general public, as it was an immensely popular series that went 20 seasons and has spawned extremely popular spin-offs. Criminal Intent is my favorite, and SVU is a close second, although it can be hard to watch.

 

I'm enjoying The Wire tremendously, but I fail to see how it is insulting to compare it to one of the longest running crime dramas ever created.

 

The reason Law and Order is so successful and popular is because there are lots, lots more people who just want to sit down in front of the TV and zone out compared to those that actually want to be intellectually stimulated. Law and Order is designed so that any person can sit down and watch an episode and they don't have to know what happened in any of the other episodes before. It's not very dark and there's never an 'unsolved case', the detectives always win. There's no swearing, no controversy, it's politically correct. It's a feel good show.

 

The size of the viewing audience is significantly reduced when you need to watch every episode to be able to understand what's happening (hard for people who just watch TV, and don't necessarily have access to 'On Demand' or Torrents), when a show is pessimistic and reminds people of the real world, that bad things do happen to good people and no justice is served, when you chuck in the swearing, the grittiness and of course, the majority cast of black people. I have a friend from the UK who isn't interested in watching the show simply because he doesn't give a fig for african american culture. It's also a show that doesn't really rely on hooks or cliffhangers. The first episode is essentially, a bunch of people sitting around talking for an hour, and something happens right at the end (but off screen). I know quite a few people that simply haven't been able to get through episode 1 because nothing happened.

 

It's not comfort TV and it's not for people with short attention spans.

 

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Comfort TV. For the majority of people, that's what a good TV show is. But ever since I started watching more challenging shows (Carnivale was the first show I watched that was 'next level') I've never looked back.

 

(Also if you like SVU, and are a fan of Richard Belzer (John Munch) you should check out Homcide: Life on the Street, his character is way more awesome in that show, actually has a personality)

Edited November 2, 2012 by Sensuki

[Hurlshort]

The reason Law and Order is so successful and popular is because there are lots, lots more people who just want to sit down in front of the TV and zone out compared to those that actually want to be intellectually stimulated. Law and Order is designed so that any person can sit down and watch an episode and they don't have to know what happened in any of the other episodes before. It's not very dark and there's never an 'unsolved case', the detectives always win. There's no swearing, no controversy, it's politically correct. It's a feel good show.

 

 

I completely agree with the first part of your sentence. It is comfortable that you can watch any episode of Law and Order and not be confused about the cast and plot progression.

 

As for it not being very dark, I disagree quite a bit. There are extremely disturbing storylines in all the L&O series, although SVU tends to take the cake. The Wire is great because i doesn't hold anything back, but I also don't mind a show that uses some subtlety, which network television obviously dictates.

 

Also I've seen quite a few Law and Order episodes that don't end on a happy note. Hung juries, lesser charges, etc. I'm three seasons into The Wire and the first two seasons have actually wrapped up pretty nicely at the end, so I don't see a huge difference in terms of verdicts. The big difference might be that corruption within the police force is rarely a storyline in L&O, while it is front and center in The Wire. But I still think there are plenty of favorable comparisons between the two shows.

[Amentep]

Heh, maybe we should start the list of "favourite tv shows that were cancelled before they could go anywhere"...

 

Although I think we've fairly covered Firefly already with these lists. +

 

As much as I liked Firefly, my "Favorite TV show cancelled before it could go anywhere" would be The Others. NBC midseason replacement, part of the Profiler/Pretender block on Saturdays. Pulled in decent ratings but NBC decided to can the entire nights scripted shows in favor of Vince MacMahon's XFL show.

 

Only had half a season before being cancelled, and to make matters worse ended with a cliffhanger which appeared to kill all of the main cast!

[Gorgon]

The police aren't corrupt in The Wire. They do the job they are given by politicians who want immediate results, so they deliver and juice the stats to keep their jobs. It's more of a systemic situation. Everybody who wants to succeed has to cheat to get there. Like winning the Tour de France

[Raithe]

I have to admit, they do seem partial to cancelling series that are built around an arcing story..

John Doe was a series that was close to my heart. And again, that ended on a particular cliffhanger and they cancelled it before answering any questions in a 2nd season.

Threshold, similar.

Odyssey 5.. boom, killed on a cliffhanger.

Defying Gravity.. yet again, major story arcs in progression, and they kill it.

 

For the non-story arcing but quite decent series.. Breaking In. Fox let it run for a chunk of episodes then cancelled it. Only to bring it back the next year, let it run 5 shows, then cancelled it once more..

[Sensuki]

I'm three seasons into The Wire and the first two seasons have actually wrapped up pretty nicely at the end, so I don't see a huge difference in terms of verdicts.

 

The Wire isn't just about the Police though, I thought Season 2 in particular was an absolute tragedy. Season 4 as well.

 

Law and Order might have some 'dark tales' in it, but the show itself is not thematically dark or pessimistic, YMMV.

[Hurlshort]

I definitely agree that The Wire is a better show, the long term character development has been some of the best I've seen.

[Leferd]

DRAMA:

Sportsnight

The West Wing

Firefly

Freaks and Geeks

Rome

Band of Brothers

Star Trek:TNG

 

COMEDY

Undeclared

Seinfeld

Arrested Development

Futurama

The Simpsons

Looney Tunes

M*A*S*H

 

VARIETY

The Daily Show

Jeopardy

Survivor

Win Ben Stein's Money

The State (The Barry Lutz Show aka "Monkey Torture" -best sketch ever)

The Muppet Show

Iron Chef (Japanese version with American dubbing and with the theme of Backdraft)

 

Game of Thrones seems to be getting a lot of love. I don't get it. I am watching the show more out of obligation to the source material then anything else. It's a good show but some thing are off putting:

 

-sexposition

-language doesn't seem authentic (see Rome or Deadwood for beautiful use of language)

-costume design -where is the heraldry and pomp? Colors are too bland. Armor design is ick. They should reference The Hedge Knight comics as a visual guide.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Leferd

[Labadal]

Soprano's

Entourage

Boardwalk Empire

Game of Thrones

Friends

Fresh Pirnce in Bel Air

Oz

[Flouride]

I might enjoy Game of Thrones more if it wasn't for the book series. It's just that much better as a book series.

[Labadal]

I might enjoy Game of Thrones more if it wasn't for the book series. It's just that much better as a book series.

 

Agreed that the books are better, but that goes for any book that gets a movie or show. The problem with the GoT show isn't that it's bad, it's the fact that each season needs more episodes. 15-20 instead of 10. They jump over so many things you want to see if you have read the book. This is not such a big problem for newcomers.

[LadyCrimson]

I liked GoT's 1st season. It kinda lost me early in the 2nd season tho, and I still haven't watched the last half of that. At some point I think someone here told me that the stuff re: the Wall wasn't even written about in the books yet, and I lost interest...that was the only thing (outside of Peter D.'s performance) that I cared about.

[Gorth]

Heh, maybe we should start the list of "favourite tv shows that were cancelled before they could go anywhere"...

 

Although I think we've fairly covered Firefly already with these lists. +

 

As much as I liked Firefly, my "Favorite TV show cancelled before it could go anywhere" would be The Others. NBC midseason replacement, part of the Profiler/Pretender block on Saturdays. Pulled in decent ratings but NBC decided to can the entire nights scripted shows in favor of Vince MacMahon's XFL show.

 

Only had half a season before being cancelled, and to make matters worse ended with a cliffhanger which appeared to kill all of the main cast!

I would have loved to see at least one more season of both Sarah Connor Chronicles and Caprica.