Comments on: Enable my television problem

Question: Enable my television problem

murfed13 — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:51:29 -0800

Please help me find new great television dramas!

Itching for some new tv. Can you help?

Here's what I love:
The Wire
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
Six Feet Under
Downton Abbey

Here's what I like (not love):
Buffy
Firefly
Lost
Sherlock (on BBC)
X-Files
Dexter

Here's What I tried to watch but could not get into:
Friday Night Lights (stopped at end of season 2)
Battlestar Galactica (muddled through 5 or 6 episodes)
West Wing (same)
The Sopranos (saw a few eps out of order, might try again)
Boardwalk Empire (two or three eps)
Twin Peaks (same)

Here's what I watch but resent watching:
Walking Dead
The Killing

I don't know if there's any pattern to the shows I like (other than them being so freaking good). If you do spot a pattern, enlighten me. But most of all, I want suggestions for shows that are so engrossing they beg to be devoured in a binge of tv watching.

By: gaspode

gaspode — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:54:18 -0800

Homeland.

By: Garm

Garm — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:55:35 -0800

Life

By: tooloudinhere

tooloudinhere — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:57:04 -0800

Shameless. It's on Showtime.

By: Etrigan

Etrigan — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:01:46 -0800

If you liked Friday Night Lights' first season and didn't like the second, I urge you to go back to it. Season 2 was a severe dip (thanks to, of course, network interference) that was largely corrected in the later seasons. Plus they're only 13 episodes each.

Also, I think Jericho would fit comfortably in your Like section and is only 29 episodes total.

By: shoesietart

shoesietart — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:03:09 -0800

Take a look at British stuff, Misfits, Wire in the Blood, Torchwood, Waking the Dead.

By: jillithd

jillithd — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:14:35 -0800

Saving Grace.

By: brujita

brujita — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:15:39 -0800

Treme

By: backwards guitar

backwards guitar — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:16:39 -0800

Deadwood

By: pink_gorilla

pink_gorilla — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:18:10 -0800

The British version of Life On Mars was pretty awesome.

Plus how about True Blood? It's by the same guy as Six Feet Under.

By: lalex

lalex — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:18:23 -0800

The Good Wife.

By: justonegirl

justonegirl — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:26:47 -0800

Oz!

By: Wordwoman

Wordwoman — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:32:50 -0800

Damages

By: goodbyewaffles

goodbyewaffles — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:35:55 -0800

Seconding Jericho, which is great. (The first season is great, anyway.)

If you liked Buffy watch Angel!

I've been watching the BBC's Robin Hood lately, which actually reminds me a lot of Firefly - it's a great adventure series, deeply anachronistic but extremely entertaining - the same kind of humor that's in Firefly, I think.

Or Pushing Daisies? A little more magic than the things you love, but about the same amount as in the things you like :)

By: Bron

Bron — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:45:27 -0800

+1 on Life

Some older stuff worth checking out:
Homicide: Life on the Street (based on the book by David Simon)
Crime Story
Wiseguy

Don't know if you go in for therapy porn, but you might find In Treatment interesting.

Oh, and Weeds is pretty good. Nice, short epidsodes (~20 min); you get on a roll with that show, you'll be popping them down like candy. Also, the music they pick is often awesome, always interesting.

By: Cuke

Cuke — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:51:06 -0800

I just finished watching season 1 of Misfits. It's fun, a bit creepy at times, very watchable, solid acting and lots of laughs.

By: rmd1023

rmd1023 — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:13:34 -0800

Yeah, the British show "Waking the Dead"

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:21:39 -0800

State of Play (the BBC miniseries.)

By: acheekymonkey

acheekymonkey — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:35:36 -0800

Lots of great ones here already, most of which I agree with like The Good Wife, Homeland and Damages. I would give Sopranos another try. It's pretty great. I would add:
Justified
Suits
Grimm
Veronica Mars
Revenge (a guilty pleasure because it's inspired by Count of Monte Cristo)

They aren't top tier like The Wire or Six Feet Under, but might hold you over between your favorite great shows. I also couldn't get into West Wing, later Friday Night Lights, Twin Peaks and Battlestar, so our taste have some overlap.

By: onlyconnect

onlyconnect — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:48:03 -0800

If you loved The Wire you should really check out the British detective series Luther (available on Netflix Instant), which stars Idris Elba. I love of the same shows you do and really love this show.

By: lemniskate

lemniskate — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:18:01 -0800

Sons of Anarchy.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:24:18 -0800

I don't really have any suggestions, other than to say that Angel is pretty bad...I'm a huge Buffy fan but I can't even really get in to Angel.

By: signondiego

signondiego — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:33:58 -0800

Homeland and Sons of Anarchy are incredible television. White Collar is too, but that might not be up your alley.

By: visual mechanic

visual mechanic — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:49:12 -0800

I'm not seeing Game of Thrones yet, but that's excellent.

By: SciGuy

SciGuy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:56:15 -0800

Shameless is awesome. Really enjoying Entourage right now. Stick with it through a few episodes. It starts out slow.

By: Narrative Priorities

Narrative Priorities — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:10:13 -0800

The Good Wife.

(Oh god, that show, and the things it does to my heart...)

By: Margalo Epps

Margalo Epps — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:28:56 -0800

Homeland and Justified seem like they fit the tone of your favorite shows best.

By: Under the Sea

Under the Sea — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:46:37 -0800

band of brothers
rome
girls
game of thrones (you have to make it past a cringeworthy 1st season 3rd or 4th episode but its worth it)
deadwood
true blood (you might find this cringeworthy in parts too)

By: shinynewnick

shinynewnick — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:51:10 -0800

Pretty similar list to my own (including the resentful watching of Walking Dead and The Killing - I didn't give Killing past episode two of the second season, and glad I stopped. God, the anger).

From the suggestions, definitely Homeland. DO NOT START IN SEASON TWO. GO DIRECTLY TO PILOT.

Justified is quite good, and a nice mix of long story arcs woven in standalone episodes.

My wife loves Sons of Anarchy. Very good show, just not one I've had the time to dig into completely.

OZ from HBO is a testament to the amazing things you can do in a long series - major characters come and go, though I will warn it is severely brutal at times.

And don't bother with True Blood. You'll add it to your resentful watching list past season two, if not season one. Sigh. But I still watch it.

By: CrazyLemonade

CrazyLemonade — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 22:15:56 -0800

Veronica Mars. Everyone I've ever convinced to watch it loved it.

By: raw sugar

raw sugar — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 22:30:51 -0800

Luther

By: humph

humph — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:51:37 -0800

The Killing - do you mean the US version or the original Danish version, Forbrydelsen? Because that is in my list of top three best ever television series. I'd love to add Mad Men and Six Feet Under to that list but they're shown uncaptioned here on Sky tv so haven't yet had a chance to see them.

If you develop a liking for Scandinavian dramas, you should also try Those Who Kill (very dark) and The Bridge.

Seconding The Good Wife and Luther (the Alice Morgan character still gives me the chills) and adding Nurse Jackie and The Big C - strong female characters, brilliant writing and acting - unmissable.

I don't know if this is available in the US but the Australian drama Winners & Losers is a sweet comedy drama focusing on the lives and families of 4 young women who win the lottery. The perfect antidote to all that dark US/Scandi drama.

By: comealongpole

comealongpole — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:04:21 -0800

Borgen is an excellent, excellent glossy Danish political drama.
The Shadow Line is a British seven-part crime series with stellar pacing, acting and cast.
Seconding The Bridge. It starts off a little generic-seeming, but sucks you in.

By: Faintdreams

Faintdreams — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 02:51:25 -0800

I'd recommend 'House of Lies' it has a fantastic ensemble cast - led by Don Cheadle - is contemporary drama and was recently renewed for a second season.

All the shows you listed as 'love' have complex interpersonal relationships. House of Lies has that in large quantities.

Also the dialogue is often so sharp and caustic it causes me to snort liquids outta my nose.

I no longer eat nor drink whilst watching this show.

By: faustdick

faustdick — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 03:15:07 -0800

Cracker - British, good acting, riveting characters

La Piovra or "The Octopus" - long-running Italian mafia drama, spooky, good writing

Dead Like Me - quirky, magical, sentimental, creates its own universe

Wonderfalls - by the same creator as "Dead Like Me", same magical realism, short-lived but good quality

Plus you should give Twin Peaks another try!

By: MinusCelsius

MinusCelsius — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:01:19 -0800

More votes for Oz, Rome and Game of Thrones.

Depending on what you resent about Walking Dead, you may want to try Falling Skies. It has the post apocalypse survival setting, but the characters aren't nearly as annoying as in Walking Dead.

Depending on your tolerance for violence, Spartacus Blood & Sand/Gods of the Arena/Vengeance (and the upcoming final season War of the Damned).

By: h00py

h00py — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:15:24 -0800

Enlightened starring Laura Dern.

By: h00py

h00py — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:17:45 -0800

The Slap, for some Australian suburban drama.

By: Ruthless Bunny

Ruthless Bunny — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 06:05:59 -0800

Of the things in the new season:

Call the Midwife, it just started on Masterpiece Theatre and it's AWESOME!

Sherlock, there are two seasons, eight episodes, but the two most recent are absolutely mesmerizing.

Here's what NOT to watch, and I'm SO bummed about it. Although I'm recording tonight's show, because the pilot is always the throw away episode. BUT, the first one was just terrible.

Elementary.

By: JaneL

JaneL — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:23:03 -0800

The Good Wife
Justified
Once Upon A Time
Game of Thrones
Sherlock
Veronica Mars

By: K.P.

K.P. — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 04:58:04 -0800

If you do spot a pattern, enlighten me.

The only pattern I see is consistent up and down the list--there's almost nothing with a realistic, normal-ish everyday scenario. Everything is set in the past/future, has fantasy elements, or involves murderers/mobsters/cops/the White House except for 6FU and FNL. Working in a funeral home might be miles away from a typical MeFite's dayjob, but it's closer to that than being a homicide detective or the Oval Office. The shows may have great dialogue and be largely character-driven (instead of all plot with 2D characters), but there is no thirtysomething, Brothers & Sisters, ER or My So Called Life.

I'll suggest Millennium, This Life, Queer as Folk (original UK version), and 24.

By: Kazimirovna

Kazimirovna — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:12:41 -0800

Inspector Montalbano
The Kingdom I and II (Danish, very early Lars (von) Triers, hilarious)

By: jcm

jcm — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:59:29 -0800

check out The Thick of It. It's utterly brilliant. It's satire but works very well as drama too.
And it might just teach you how to swear like a scotsman.