Need a new TV show, with previous suggestions

May 28, 2016 7:46 PM

Know of any good drama-ish TV series that are great to dive into?

My wife is needing a new TV show to watch. Something in the drama-ish genre would be preferable. Her previous favorites were:

- Parenthood
- The Good Wife
- The Americans
- Fargo
- Downton Abbey
- Homeland
- Once Upon a Time

That's a hodgepodge of the best shows on TV and some normal broadcast TV hits. We don't have cable or follow TV much, so what is she missing? There have to be a few out there she's glossed over or hasn't even heard of.

posted by sanka to Media & Arts (47 answers total)

Call the Midwife.
Dexter (Darker than most other stuff, but you do list Fargo).
Criminal Minds or Law and Order
Boston Legal
Star Trek (any version)
House
Big Love
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:56 PM on May 28, 2016

I just finished The Path on Hulu. It was slow at times, but the slowness makes sense once you finish it.
İ also really like Orphan Black.
posted by k8t at 8:01 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

We loved Borgen--Danish political drama, believe it or not.
posted by whitewall at 8:04 PM on May 28, 2016 [9 favorites]

Mr. Robot.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:05 PM on May 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

Togetherness just ended, but it's a pretty great two seasons.
posted by rhizome at 8:11 PM on May 28, 2016

Outlander.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:15 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Leverage
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Homicide
Sherlock
Sense8
posted by wintersweet at 8:18 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Happy Valley. Police/domestic drama featuring a criminal scheme that gets out of hand a la Fargo. Second season was recently released in the US on Netflix; Emily Nussbaum wrote a good review of the first season a while back.
posted by bcwinters at 8:21 PM on May 28, 2016 [5 favorites]

Orphan Black
Catastrophe
Broad City
Fresh Off The Boat (widely different from any of your others or any suggestions here, but it's so, so good. Probably one of the best sitcoms on right now, hands down the best network family sitcom.)
My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Game Of Thrones? Though I feel like surely you have heard about this show and if you're not watching it, it's for Reasons.
posted by Sara C. at 8:24 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also has she ever seen Happy Endings? Happy Endings is great and on Hulu.
posted by Sara C. at 8:25 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Brothers and Sisters is great if she likes Parenthood, plus it stars Matthew Rhys from the Americans
also:
Felicity
Gilmore Girls
Revenge
posted by Clustercuss at 8:33 PM on May 28, 2016

House of Cards (suffer through s3, s4 makes up for it)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Boston Legal yes!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:34 PM on May 28, 2016

Forgot to mention Orange Is The New Black, because it's been part of my annual calendar of TV for at least three seasons now.
posted by Sara C. at 8:42 PM on May 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

Sounds like she would like Netflix's Bloodline. Season two was just released.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:43 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oh yeah, orange is the New Black for sure. I didn't suggest Kimmy Schmidt because it's a comedy and you said you wanted dramas, but if you're open to comedies, I second that.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:52 PM on May 28, 2016

catastrophe
elementary
scandal
how to get away with murder
posted by nadawi at 8:56 PM on May 28, 2016

Person of Interest. First four seasons are on netflix; it's wrapping up its last season now. So good.
posted by rtha at 9:01 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Elementary might be a bit light on story compared to some of your examples, but the chemistry and refreshing lack of will-they-won't-they stuff between co-stars Jonny Miller and Lucy Liu make it one of the most enjoyable procedurals I've seen in a long time. It gets a bit deeper plot-wise as it goes along too.
posted by Lorin at 9:04 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Being Erica. Though the last season went a little nuts with the product placement.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:16 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Seconding Bloodline on Netflix. Also on Netflix is Rectify.
posted by tomjoadsghost at 9:30 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

I would heartily recommend/second all of the following:

- The West Wing (overall such an outstanding series, great dialogue, awesome characters)
- Orange is the New Black (brilliant show)
- House of Cards (brilliant show, but as said up-thread, suffer through S3 for S4)
- Elementary (fun show)
- Sherlock (fun in a different way than Elementary)
- Being Erica (occasionally cheesy, requires some suspension of disbelief, but enjoyable)
- Grey's Anatomy (still going strong)
- Scandal (compelling for the most part)
posted by juliebug at 10:03 PM on May 28, 2016

Manhattan: 2 seasons about the scientists and their families who worked on the Manhattan project.

The 100: it's less unlikely than Once Upon a Time, and once you get past the 4th episode, has killer narrative momentum.
posted by suelac at 11:12 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Peaky Blinders is set in the same period as late Downton Abbey but life is a fair amount grimmer in crime ridden Birmingham (the original, not Alabama). And all the better for it.

Line of Duty season 3 is easily the most exciting and best written thing on tv this year and the first two seasons were also very good.
posted by biffa at 11:23 PM on May 28, 2016

Friday Night Lights! (yes, it's about football, but it's so much more than that. Great family relationships like Parenthood and amazing sense of place.)
posted by wsquared at 11:44 PM on May 28, 2016 [6 favorites]

Revenge has lots of drama, but it can be slightly ridiculous. (If you wife doesn't mind ridiculous amounts of drama, how about Desperate Housewives? Grey's Anatomy? Or even Pretty Little Liars. Or maybe not...)
Gilmore Girls is great and I think she may like it if she loved Parenthood for the family dynamics and Lauren Graham. It doesn't have that much drama, though, it's pretty feel good.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 12:15 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I get the feeling she likes shows that create a really solid world and have a distinct tone. Some lesser known ones that did that for me are:
The Leftovers
The Killing/ Broadchurch/ Top of the Lake (mysteries)
Justified
Terriers
Battle Creek- more quirky, kind of a 90s throwback show.
She might like The Walking Dead too. I'm not usually a big fan of zombies but it's surprisingly compelling if you enjoy watching people argue.
posted by fshgrl at 2:23 AM on May 29, 2016 [4 favorites]

I came in here to recommend West Wing, mentioned above, so I'll second it. It's a great show, engaging characters, compelling stories, totally worth the watch. If your wife like the Good Wife, I think she'll enjoy the West Wing. Different subject matter, but the shows just feel like kindred spirits.

For a lesser known show, I'll recommend The Guardian. It stars Simon Baker before he became the Mentalist. it got cancelled after three seasons, but I really liked it. I don't know why it didn't get more recognition. It's a law firm style show, so again, probably would work for your wife based on her enjoyment of the Good Wife.

I'll also second Person of Interest.

If your wife likes mysteries, I can highly recommend Broadchurch (UK version, not US) as well as BBC's Sherlock.

And as a certified member of the Cannibal Club, I can't help but recommend Hannibal. Depending on your wife's tolerance for murder tableau's and cannibalism, this may not fit, but it really is so amazingly well done.

These are all available on Netflix streaming (US) except for the Guardian which appears to available on Hulu Plus and Hannibal which is available on Amazon Prime.
posted by litera scripta manet at 2:32 AM on May 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've been enjoying IZombie. More of a dramedy, but very good characters and some impressive work by the lead actress Rose McIver, seeing as she takes on a different character every week (depending on whose brain she eats). I think you can catch the entire run so far on Hulu.

Nthing Person of Interest.

Seconding some others: Terriers and Justified. Both are awesome.
posted by elendil71 at 4:22 AM on May 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

The Fosters is kinda like Parenthood. It's on Netflix in Canada; they just added the third season. Has anyone recommended Suits yet?
posted by sevenyearlurk at 5:25 AM on May 29, 2016

Six Feet Under
posted by dbiedny at 5:37 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Madam Secretary

Longmire
posted by zinon at 6:12 AM on May 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

Nthing Justified, Sherlock, and Dexter (but stop at the end of season 4 of Dexter, trust me). Hannibal (another nth) is fantastic, artsy, and gory, but not (mostly) gory like The Walking Dead (if that's a problem).
posted by getawaysticks at 6:30 AM on May 29, 2016

I don't have cable either, so I check a lot of DVD sets out from the library. Last week I was really enjoying a season of Good Wife and I just picked up another season of Homeland. In between I enjoyed Newsroom, which I recommend, even though I know that Aaron Sorkin is not everyone's jam.
posted by puddledork at 6:39 AM on May 29, 2016

Gilmore Girls
Orange Is the New Black
The West Wing
And definitely above all, Friday Night Lights. It's done by the same team that made Parenthood, and I'm sure she'll like it.

In general, that's what you should do more of when trying to find new shows, find out who's behind the camera on your favorites. It will almost never steer you wrong.
posted by terilou at 7:03 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Friday Night Lights!!!!!!!!
posted by ChuraChura at 7:24 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Jane the Virgin.
nthing Orphan Black and Friday Night Lights.
posted by minsies at 8:10 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

It seems an unlikely choice, until you start watching it. Rita, a sub-titled Danish program about a teacher with three seasons on Netflix is truly unique and absorbing.
posted by uncaken at 8:33 AM on May 29, 2016 [4 favorites]

Grimm, maybe, or Sleepy Hollow? I'm just now watching The Newsroom and love it.
posted by runningwithscissors at 9:03 AM on May 29, 2016

We've been enjoying Halt and Catch Fire (sort of like Mad Men but about computers in the early 80s). Can't agree with Friday Night Lights enough. I also liked Masters of Sex (Josh Charles shows up in later seasons). West Wing (follow along with the excellent West Wing Weekly podcast!). I also really enjoyed In Plain Sight.
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:31 AM on May 29, 2016

Oh, yes, I'll nth Friday Night Lights. And don't be put off by it if you're not a fan of football. It's just a really great drama with great characters. Oh, and it's also on Netflix streaming!
posted by litera scripta manet at 12:39 PM on May 29, 2016

Please Catastrophe!
posted by heavenknows at 1:34 PM on May 29, 2016

Occupied. So good. Don't be thrown off by the subtitles -- it's about half in English.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:14 PM on May 29, 2016

It's old, now, but I can't recommend it highly enough: Deadwood. It's set in a gold mining town in the 1800s. I went into it with hesitations. I did not think I was going to like it.

It may be the best thing I've ever watched on TV. The language and writing are superb. The character development was a revelation. I learned something real, I think, about evil and good and the surprising path from one to the other.

Did your wife like The Wire? I liked The Wire. This is better than The Wire.
posted by kaymac at 6:40 PM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

For family dynamics and relationships check out Casual. For sexy intrigue with multiple identities try The Catch. Each have only one season completed, so it's easy to play catch-up.
posted by sardonyx at 7:10 PM on May 29, 2016

Absolutely love "The Americans" on FX. You should check it out from the beginning!
posted by punkrockrat at 7:38 PM on May 29, 2016

Nth-Ing Friday Night Lights
posted by TheShadowKnows at 8:53 PM on May 29, 2016

[distant hoofbeats growing louder]

[a speck on the horizon growing larger]

[horse screeches to a halt]

[the rider dismounts and you see that it is tel3path. she extends a hand to you, that hand is holding a furled document on parchment. She bows to you, gets back on the horse, which rears up and gallops away into the distance]

You unfurl the document. It reads:

HANNIBAL

EVERYONE ELSE: That was unexpected.
posted by tel3path at 10:17 AM on May 30, 2016