What TV shows are a cut above the rest, and why?

Neamos said:
Could you please elaborate on this? Do you have [a friend with] a medical degree and are annoyed at the mistakes
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That's just the thing, I don't need a medical degree to notice how idiotic hospital shows are. It is always filled with idiotic dialogue, weird analysis and odd jumping-to-conclusions that I hope to Frith doesn't happen in real hospitals.

Besides, the whole hospitale genre, much like SciFi drama (Star Trek, Firefly), are just soaps in semi-intelligent wrappings. And I really don't need soaps, not even if they're trying to make it look like something else.

Hugh Laurie, though.

darkyrex said:
I will finish that series, asap.
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No one will ever finish the series. It was written for 6 seasons, but was cancelled after 2, leaving a lot of plotstrings untied. There've been a lot of petitions to HBO to pick it up again and HBO does tend to want to see series through to the end, so maybe they'll pick it up again, but so far nada.
 
There is a reason it's called escapist fiction. When I want something with weight, I'll read a book.

I watched most of Now and Again. I thought it was very soap-operaish and entirely filled with angst and cheese. In particular, I'm thinking of the episode in which they threw the hero out of an airplane in a bright white suit, to see what would happen when he hit a "force field" at high speed. Why it was vital to bounce people off force fields to measure their effectiveness was not a path the writers chose to explore. Instead, the hero's daughter saw him fall in his bright suit and assumed he was an angel. Now that's writing!

I like Hugh Laurie quite a bit. Loved him in "Black Adder". I liked Scrubs when it first came out, but now I feel as if every new episode is a recycled hash of previous greatness.

I loved both Carnivale and Deadwood. Great writing and interesting premises.

I also love 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force', but I am forced to hide my love from my wife, who will heap scorn upon me for "that stupid talking sandwich show." As if 'Grey's Anatomy' is any more enriching...
 
JohnnyEgo said:
There is a reason it's called escapist fiction. When I want something with weight, I'll read a book.
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And when I want a soap, I'll watch a soap. I don't need no space soap opera.

JohnnyEgo said:
I watched most of Now and Again. I thought it was very soap-operaish and entirely filled with angst and cheese. In particular, I'm thinking of the episode in which they threw the hero out of an airplane in a bright white suit, to see what would happen when he hit a "force field" at high speed. Why it was vital to bounce people off force fields to measure their effectiveness was not a path the writers chose to explore. Instead, the hero's daughter saw him fall in his bright suit and assumed he was an angel. Now that's writing!
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The methods of moving the plot forward are indeed the show's weakness.

JohnnyEgo said:
I also love 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force'.
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ATHF is pretty good.
 
xdarkyrex said:
Also- Dead Like Me was cute, in the same way as Scrubs, but with better writing, but it got cut short just like Carnivale.
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Oh man, I forgot Dead Like Me! Any show that opens with someone getting killed by a toilet seat is A-class in my book.

Didn't like the main character much (too much "ooh, look at me, I've got pouty lips!" for me), but I always love Mandy Patinkin. He carries the show, for me.

Incredibly original, though, and I have a soft spot for originality.
 
Lost is my favorite show to date. The mystery of the island, the story behind the characters, and the fact that they have a story arc set in place with a beginning and end really makes me look forward to the next many many seasons. I totaly agree that some of the episodes are dumb but you get that in every show.

I also really enjoy Journeyman. It is a cool premise with enough mystery thrown in to keep it interesting.

The thing I like most about it, however, is how supportive the family is of eachother. I hated the show War at Home because it was all about being mean to your family. And while I do like Scrubs, even though they are mean to eachother, it is nice to see a show were people stick together and try to understand eachother.

On the animated side of things, I like Fosters Home for imagery Friends and Avatar. That is right, I'll own up to the fact that I enjoy those shows even though they are marketed to the 6-11 age range.

Fosters is a great show because it is a character driven cartoon where each of the imaginary friends has a distinct personality and does a pretty good job of being humorous.

Avatar is the same way, some what funny but very character driven. I think the effort the writers and artists put into to the 4 nations distinct styles makes it worthy of a watch in and of itself.

I recommend both shows to people with children. Or even people like me who are easily entertained.
 
I like the dystopic touche of the Avatar world and the ships of the fire nation. :>
 
I like House, it's pretty much the only show I watch on a regular basis.



johnnyEgo said:
I liked Scrubs when it first came out, but now I feel as if every new episode is a recycled hash of previous greatness.
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I feel the exact same way, they just...got old.
 
Thrawn said:
The thing I like most about it, however, is how supportive the family is of eachother.
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I'm not sure I can agree with holding that as some kind of standard for a show's quality.

As for Avatar, I catch fragments of that show on some mornings. It looks like it's fun, though I can't really discern a plot through the fragmentary viewing.
 
I find House amusing, and so I kind of like it. It's just plain impossible to take the man seriusly after having seen Black Adder.

I generally just see nature programs or historical documentaries, etc. I just have two channels to choose from, so that's about everything that is interesting.
 
Kahgan said:
I find House amusing, and so I kind of like it. It's just plain impossible to take the man seriusly after having seen Black Adder.

I generally just see nature programs or historical documentaries, etc. I just have two channels to choose from, so that's about everything that is interesting.
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I have zero channels to choose from.
(internet :wink: )
 
I watch ahelluvalot of TV, of the most recent picks there's Lost, Firefly, Rome, Prison Break, Dexter, Deadwood and Jericho.
To start with the great: Rome, Lost, Firefly and Dexter are must-sees and full of awesome. End of story.

I lost my interest in Deadwood somewhere around the the second season, but it's still pretty good cowboy action and you'll never get used to seeing Timothy Olyphant without a mustache and hat ever again.
Jericho had a bunch of uninteresting characters and bad actors to form the moat around the cool setting and interesting plot, which was a damn shame.
Prison Break has simply gone downhill since the first season (which wasn't even that good) and now we're stuck with endless close-ups of the lead character with his never changing 'squinting' look on his face.

I also really like the animated series craze that The Simpsons kinda started.
The awesome: Duckman, Invader Zim, South Park, The Boondocks, Futurama.
Drawn Together was fun for a while, but just got worse and worse until it exploded into outright awful in the third season.
King of the Hill was pretty good, but not really my taste to be honest.
I also watch American Dad and Family Guy but the writing seems to hover somewhere between lame and stupid, so probably not the best picks.

I saved the best for last. British awesomeness follows:
The Young Ones, Bottom, Monty Python, Blackadder and Red Dwarf.
You should all run to your local DVD pusher and buy 'em right now.
(and Spaced is pretty good too, go for it if you liked Shaun of the Dead)
 
I do have to confess that I am a closet science-fiction fan. Give me something with lasers and space ships and sexy female aliens, and I'm good for hours. I've got Kafka and Thoreau on the bookshelf (I wish I could invent a time machine where I could travel back to the 1800s and kick Thoreau in the nuts for 'Walden'), but there will always be a secret place in my heart for a good Sci-Fi series. I think it comes from being young and impressionable when "Star Wars" first came out.

The last really great one, aside from Firefly, being Farscape.

On an unrelated note, I thought 'Dead like Me' was great as well.

Edit: Loved Red Dwarf as well. Particularly the cat. One of the best episodes was the battle at the robotic theme park, with Jesus and Elvis vs. Hitler.
 
Do any of you remember (perhaps even like) Total Recall 2070? I loved it when I was younger. I um...acquired all the episodes about a year ago and was disappointed, because now it looks kind of mediocre. The Blade Runner-like setting is great, but it' just...too sci-fi for me and a bit fast-paced, far-fetched. It throws all the typical sci-fi stuff right in your face. I like the title sequence more than the series itself :D.
 
Lexx said:
I like the dystopic touche of the Avatar world and the ships of the fire nation. :>
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If you think the ships are cool, you should have seen the tanks they pulled out in one of the episodes. Just down right cool. Very much fits the firenation and like all of the "magic moves" of the series it just makes sense.

As for no discernable plot from catching fragments, I can tell you there is a very interesting story behind most everything. Some episodes don't advance the plot much but most of the follow the Avatar trying to master all four schools of magic, so to speak.

There is also the price of the evil fire nation who has to catch the Avatar to regain his honor but he is also a fairly likeable character.

And then the pirates that keep coming back, and Jet who is a reoccurring character.

Anyway, if you get a chance, catch a few episodes in a row. I agree with Lex, the theme is perfect and even the magic is "believable".
 
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