Flipping Through Channels-Next, Next, Next...Oh Wait, That Looks Cool!

September 15, 2012 11:40 PM

What are some of your favourite drama television shows that focus on character development rather than settings and storylines reated to to the emergency room, court room, etc..?

I'm kind of picky when it comes to watching dramas although I like watching Parenthood which falls into the "comedy-drama" genres of television shows (at least according to Wikipedia). I like it because it focuses on character development and relationships and not on other aspects like the ER or court room.

I have a difficult time getting into drama television shows, primarily because of how long the episodes are and how short my attention span is.

I think Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Wire, etc.. all sound like great dramas, but I just have a difficult time sitting through shows and films that are not sitcoms/comedies. But, I'd love to be able watch these types of shows because they are what I would consider "sophisticated" types of dramas with great storylines or so I have been told.

With that being said, what are some of your favourite drama television shows that focus on character development rather than the emergency room, court room, etc..? I'm looking for shows that are easy to get into rather than shows that take a couple of episodes to get into...

posted by livinglearning to media & arts (36 answers total)

Downton Abbey!
posted by désoeuvrée at 11:55 PM on September 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Battlestar Galactica has the best character development of any show I've watched. It's sci-fi, but almost the entire focus is on the characters, their relationships with one another and how that effects the varied and horrifying perils that they're thrown into on a regular basis. It's very much a political drama, but the people are ALWAYS at the forefront. I'm not sure if it'll grab you in the first episode(s); it's got a miniseries at the beginning that has to be there in order to introduce all of the 10 billion characters, but it hooked me pretty fast.

It's also okay to not be into "sophisticated" shows. Different people are hooked by different things.
posted by NoraReed at 12:02 AM on September 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Six Feet Under is all about character development. But I wouldn't say it is easy to "get into" although it certainly is compelling.
posted by teamnap at 12:03 AM on September 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Men of a Certain Age.
posted by bongo_x at 12:05 AM on September 16, 2012

Friday Night Lights
Mad Men
posted by k8t at 12:06 AM on September 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Friday Night Lights is awesome. Centers around Football, but is about so much more than that. My wife and I have no interest whatsoever in football and got incredibly invested in the show. To the point where we stalled on watching the last few episodes for 3-4 months because we didn't want it to be over.

Also Sports Night, The West Wing, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, all Aaron Sorkin creations are excellent. Studio 60 might be my favorite, if I had to pick one.
posted by mgr at 12:07 AM on September 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

You didn't say you watched Breaking Bad, but I highly suggest watching it! The transformation of the main character, Walter White, is is the textbook definition of character development. Like you am normally a comedy show person, so luckily there are lighter, funnier moments mixed in with the drama.
posted by littlesq at 12:09 AM on September 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Homicide: Life on the Street. The prototypical anti-cop show, which laid the groundwork for The Corner and The Wire.
posted by CommonSense at 12:16 AM on September 16, 2012

Seconding Men of a Certain Age and Sports Night, and adding Terriers (which only got one season but maybe a movie). All of them as well as Breaking Bad combine pathos and humor in a really good way, although BB's humor is pretty dark at times.

You mentioned short attention span - there are a couple of British dramas that do something I've never seen on American TV. They focus on a location and all the people in it - so episode 1 is about, say, Susie and Mike's marriage breaking up, and episode 2 is about their neighbor Dave whose little brother has run away from home. They are Clocking Off (only one season available on DVD) and The Street (by Jimmy McGovern, box set on DVD). As far as I know you'll need a region-free DVD player to watch either of them.
posted by Angharad at 12:32 AM on September 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Have you tried Gilmore Girls? The episodes rarely focus on anybody other than the two main characters & their relationship. There's a bit of comedy in it all, but not really in a sitcom way.
posted by knile at 1:05 AM on September 16, 2012 [7 favorites]

If you like short comedy shows and are looking for something character-driven, check out Louie, starring Louie C.K. It's hilarious but also quite poignant at times.

The first season of Breaking Bad was more darkly comedic than subsequent seasons, where shit got really real.

Friday Night Lights is also a great suggestion, provided you can ignore a certain weird murder plot that randomly happened.

I had to watch The Wire with subtitles in order to gain some facility with all the slang and drug language, but it's one of the best shows I've ever seen.

I found the first two seasons of Deadwood to be hilarious in a darkly violent sort of way, and I wish the last season had never happened.

Band of Brothers is an amazing miniseries that follows one particular company through WWII from the invasion of Normandy to their arrival at Hitler's Eagle's Nest.
posted by xyzzy at 1:12 AM on September 16, 2012

I think you might like Being Erica. It is about a woman in her early thirties who believes her past mistakes have caused her to be where she is now (underemployed, single, unpublished), and now feels like a failure as she compares herself to her seemingly more successful best friend and younger sister, both of whom seem to have it all--career, relationship, happiness. She meets a man, Dr. Tom, who claims to be able to help her through his unconventional therapy method--which involves sending her back to the past where she thinks it all went wrong, to give her a chance to fix things.

The show is funny and has many comedic moments, but the underlying premise is more thoughtful than just being a running gag. You need to suspend disbelief, but if you are willing to do that, it is a very engaging show right from the beginning.

It certainly has the potential for cheesiness, but the actor who plays Erica is very likable and the dialogue is well-written. Even though each episode features a set piece where Erica is sent back to the past, the focus is really on developing her as a character and exploring her relationships with her friends and family.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:16 AM on September 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

I really like Battlestar Galactica for the character development, and think Game of Thrones has great character development as well.
posted by spunweb at 1:37 AM on September 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's a bit dated but "Oz" might be what you are looking for. It is about a correctional facility / prison and its merry band of inmates.
posted by KMB at 1:38 AM on September 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Give mad men a try. depressing but immersive
posted by victory_laser at 2:11 AM on September 16, 2012

Damages-Addictive plot wise, but also the ultimate focus on the relationship and character development of the two main characters.
posted by snufkin5 at 2:29 AM on September 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Just seconding Six Feet Under. I'm only about six episodes in and I'm already so immersed in all the characters' various struggles.

I used to feel the same way as you, until I got hooked simultaneously by Dexter and LOST. Both fall out of your criteria but I find that if you get used to the rhythms and conventions of tv dramas they're a lot less intimidating (and instead of struggling with attention span I began to watch any old thing on the off-chance that it would eventually turn inspired). This actually changed my outlook on art and entertainment in a lot of ways.

I'm also currently watching Awkward. on MTV (half-hour teen comedy) and its surprisingly poignant at times, does show some growth. And I've recently been watching Weeds, which is also a half-hour comedy (and focuses on the lead character's pot dealing business) but the characters are... characters.
posted by stoneandstar at 3:54 AM on September 16, 2012

I really enjoyed The Killing - Who Killed Rosie Larsen because of the characters. I enjoyed the story/mystery/drama - especially knowing it was wrapping up in two seasons.

If you're into subtitles, oh gosh, I simply adored the Korean tv show, City Hunter. So much fun. The characters were great. It did take me 1 1/2 episodes to get hooked.
posted by Sassyfras at 7:43 AM on September 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thirding Battlestar Galactica. I spent the whole thing with my jaw on the floor while the writers took these people we already liked/loved/hated and spun them around in completely plausible yet astonishing ways. There isn't really any such thing as a minor character, by the end. Everyone gets some compelling character development.

Admittedly it's set in a space war, but the overall themes of the show and each episode have more to do with human matters; what morality is and who the 'good guys' are, how much people can take before they break, what love is etc. It's very pacey- the set-up of people having to work their personal dramas and tragedies between the constant pressure of being at war (and losing a lot of chances to talk to one another and work things out along the way) makes it a good show for those of us with short attention spans.
posted by pickingupsticks at 7:57 AM on September 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Love My Way is a few years old but it's an excellent Australian show which ran for three seasons. Great character portrayals and realistic life stories but be warned, there is a pretty devastating thing which happens.
posted by h00py at 8:03 AM on September 16, 2012

Seconding Oz. I was surprised how well the character development works.
Same for the (remake) of BBC's Survivors, though it is only two seasons and ends in a cliffhanger.
posted by MinusCelsius at 8:12 AM on September 16, 2012

LOST, especially the first two seasons.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:13 AM on September 16, 2012

Nthing Friday Night Lights. Also look at Enlightened, which is pretty much all character based, following Laura Dern's character's bumpy road, as she tries to drag people along on her journey.
posted by essexjan at 8:34 AM on September 16, 2012

Fourthing Battlestar Galactica. And MY GOD does the first episode of the miniseries hook you in. NOTHING has more character-exposing cataclysmic twists & turns.
posted by feral_goldfish at 8:53 AM on September 16, 2012

Seconding Game of Thrones. The problem you lay out is that sophisticated character-development things are too dragged out to hold your attention, so here's the solution: what makes GoT sophisticated, and how it develops character, is its rapid shuttling between very different people in very different parts of a complex interconnected story. (The author was annoyed by how too many fantasy plots let you just identify with one 'good' character and disregard the others whose interests and viewpoints run contrary to theirs.) Each perspective is fascinating, but the jumps between them are what make it genius. The first episode is 63 minutes, but I promise you will NOT be bored.
posted by feral_goldfish at 9:08 AM on September 16, 2012

tl;dr: watching Game of Thrones is like having a master channel-surfer flip the channels for you, and thereby create an epic.

An epic in which everyone's world gets turned upside down, so that villains reveal heroic facets, badasses turn coward, and you find yourself sympathizing with and rooting for the characters you'd started out loving to hate. Which rules are made to be broken, and which ones are moral lifelines? All we know for sure is that winter is coming -- but then even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
posted by feral_goldfish at 9:28 AM on September 16, 2012

Cougar Town
Northern Exposure
Being Erica (mentioned up thread)
Wilfred
Peep Show
posted by willnot at 9:33 AM on September 16, 2012

The Killing does have great acting and well-developed characters. Also consider The United States of Tara, which is all about the family of a woman with multiple personalities.
posted by salvia at 9:49 AM on September 16, 2012

I watched the Wire when it first aired, and, while it was really good, I do feel like it took four or five episodes to get the point where it became compelling, and a couple of the seasons seemed to drag. One of my friends recently started watching it and almost gave up on it during the first few episodes (but ending up loving it).

Breaking Bad, on the other hand, was one of those shows that made me immediately want to watch the next episode. I feel like it's a much easier show to get into.

I also liked The Shield. It's a cop show, but not a procedural, and there's a "Holy crap!" moment in the first episode that made me want to keep watching.

My partner and I also found Homeland completely addicting. I think we watched three episodes all in a row, and he's not usually the type that can spend that long watching TV.

You might find some good recommendations in this previous question that I asked about shows that are absorbing and exciting enough to help distract me while exercising indoors. Some of the shows that I listed as examples could probably be called procedurals (with a "mystery of the week" (or "monster of the week", as the case may be)), but most of them lean toward having season-long story arcs and a lot of character development. Most of the shows recommended fit that mold, as well.
posted by amarynth at 10:11 AM on September 16, 2012

Seconding Downton Abbey and also Louie.
posted by Lobster Garden at 10:18 AM on September 16, 2012

Suits and Fairly Legal (especially season 2) on USA Network are a lot like Parenthood - more character than plot, and interesting characters. Suits is definitely coming back; not sure about Fairly Legal. But both are available on streaming and DVD.

Also Life with Damien Lewis. And PBS's Sherlock. Each episode is 90 minutes long, which is a stretch for short attention spans, but very much worth it.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:14 PM on September 16, 2012

Justified! You should all watch Justified! It focuses on a federal marshall in Kentucky, but it is extremely smart, occasionally very funny, and has superb writing.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:07 PM on September 16, 2012

The West Wing! It's witty, and it's more about the characters who happen to work in government rather than being a politics procedural.
posted by Weeping_angel at 3:16 PM on September 16, 2012

What you might like about Men of a Certain Age is that it has a certain "Breaking Away" quality to it. No guns, absolutely minimal violence, and yet, every now and then some type of "gentle" physical confrontation erupts, usually with comic results.
posted by MenofACertainAgeFan at 4:46 PM on September 16, 2012

Gilmore Girls is my all time favorite show and it's quite hard to find anything else like it.

Also, I like Six Feet Under.
posted by eq21 at 8:26 PM on September 16, 2012

Enlightened, starring Laura Dern, is excellent.
posted by h00py at 5:25 AM on September 26, 2012