Topic: List of the Very Best TV Shows

[Citizen Skeptic]

Did anyone mention The Prisoner? Loved that show.

Great show. I watched it when it first ran and it was totally addicting.

[Ajzzz]

Going to give The Killing a bash. Anyone have an opinion as to whether it belongs on this list?

The American version is really good, haven't seen the Danish version yet because I don't think I could handle watching three Danish shows all at once.

...

I loved Pushing Daisies as well, not to mention Dead Like Me (the connection is Brad Fuller)...
For that matter, Homicide: Life on the Streets (also created by David Simon, who did The Wire and Treme)...

Loved Homicide: Life on the Streets, especially the earlier seasons, especially Bayliss and Pembleton. Treme has great acting and dialogue but it's boring, in the same way Deadwood could be, but much worse. Never seen a minute of Pushing Daisies but Dead Like Me was constantly hilarious, preferred the first season, and the movie was utter shit.

[Johnny Slick]

Yeah, I wasn't a massive fan of the movie either, although I liked it because it had (most of) the characters I liked. No Mandy Patinkin was an issue. And I totally agree with Pembleton/Bayliss being the key to the show. Really, for me it goes down to I think seasons 4 and 5 (where the other 2 guys whose names escape me were chasing Luther Mahoney and they had the guy in filming the documentary). Maybe that was seasons 3 and 4. Still, the first couple were okay, and I never really got into it once they flipped the cast around and for that matter when they turned Pembleton into a soap opera (the downside of having a character-driven show, I guess).

[Skeptress]

Needed this thread though I think, recommend me what to watch next was close.

And I had something to recommend and now it's gone.  I'll go through the thread and see if my memory is jogged.

[Skeptress]

Pushing Daises, this show is worth watching for the sets and fashion alone!
Firefly
MASH (though watching it in Korea had hilarious unintended consequences)
Monk
Whose Line is it Anyway
Animaniacs
X-Files
Dr Who
United States of Tara
Parks and Rec
The Prisoner

 

[Plastique]

I need to watch The Wire all the way through

Oh yes you do. Well deserved reputation.

[James]

MASH (though watching it in Korea had hilarious unintended consequences)

Now I'm curious as to what these consequences were?  Care to enlighten?

[seamas]

Pushing Daises, this show is worth watching for the sets and fashion alone!

I would agree. It's about the only thing  about it worth watching.
I watched for about 3 episodes.  They blew all their budget on the look and got a great looking show.

[Plastique]

Enjoying The Killing.

And I've come to the conclusion that I just don't care that much about comedic TV shows at this point in my life. Good drama is utterly gripping to me, comedy is entertaining for as long as I can remain undistracted.

[DeanMorrison]

Star Trek TNG & Deep Space 9
Game of Thrones
Flight of the Conchords
Lost (in spite of its ending, it kept me gripped for the whole of the series)
Community

[Citizen Skeptic]

MASH (though watching it in Korea had hilarious unintended consequences)

Now I'm curious as to what these consequences were?  Care to enlighten?

I was surprised to see re-runs of Hogans Heroes dubbed in German in Germany.

[341gerbig]

My favourite comedies:
#1

This show seems to switch styles every episode, a gun-slinger wild west episode, and action episode, an animated episode, a classic sitcom episode, a mystery investigation episode etc, and all the different episodes seem to work well, they all seem well done as both an ownage and a parody of the theme/style they are reproducing.

Plus the attention to detail/Easter eggs are mind blowing, such as this easter egg that takes two seasons to pay off:

Community Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

#2


The comedian CK Louis was asked if he would consider doing a tv show, and he agreed, but only if he had full creative control. He then went on to display one of the best dark comedy tv shows ever created IMO. It follows CK as he takes care of his kids, dates, and tours with his stand-up act.

It is so well done, I can only sing its praises. He deals with dark dark issues in the show, yet he does it in such a way that it leaves you smiling in the end. It is a masterpiece.

[Plastique]

The Killing is excellent. Just saw the last of the first season; why were people so pissed about it?

[Shadow Of A Doubt]

The Killing is excellent. Just saw the last of the first season; why were people so pissed about it?

Well I think I watched the second season (of the Danish version, apparently there's an American remake?) not the first, but I didn't think it quite got the balance right between the emotional "our characters are real" scenes and the "whodunnit?" bits, and they lost control of the plot towards the end. The ending was both predictable from a couple episodes out, and irritating.

(click to show/hide)

Yeah so Sarah Lund got shot like eleventy billion times but, of course, she doesn't die

I mean, there was a lot good about it and if you'd asked me during the first 3/4 of the series I would have raved about it. I just get disappointed when a show gets me to invest in the characters and the realism, only to end up with a it's-cool-but-don't-think-about-it-too-much ending reminiscent of a 90 minute Hollywood action flick.

I would really recommend the French show Spiral (Engranages literally means Gears!) especially the first two series.

[Plastique]

The Killing is excellent. Just saw the last of the first season; why were people so pissed about it?

Well I think I watched the second season (of the Danish version, apparently there's an American remake?) not the first, but I didn't think it quite got the balance right between the emotional "our characters are real" scenes and the "whodunnit?" bits, and they lost control of the plot towards the end. The ending was both predictable from a couple episodes out, and irritating.

(click to show/hide)

Yeah so Sarah Lund got shot like eleventy billion times but, of course, she doesn't die

I mean, there was a lot good about it and if you'd asked me during the first 3/4 of the series I would have raved about it. I just get disappointed when a show gets me to invest in the characters and the realism, only to end up with a it's-cool-but-don't-think-about-it-too-much ending reminiscent of a 90 minute Hollywood action flick.

I would really recommend the French show Spiral (Engranages literally means Gears!) especially the first two series.

Ah. I'm watching the US version, and your spoiler made no sense at all, maybe that's got something to do with it.

Nope, just checked Wiki, and here's what it said:

The first season finale was met with negative reviews from a number of critics. The Los Angeles Times called it "one of the most frustrating finales in TV history", with Alan Sepinwall of HitFix.com calling the end "insulting". Finally, Maureen Ryan of AOL TV said the finale "killed off any interest I had in ever watching the show again." "[The show] began last spring looking like the smartest, most stylish pilot in years," complained Heather Havrilevsky in The New York Times Magazine. "Fast-forward to the finale, in which we learn that what we've been watching is actually a 26-hour-long episode of Law & Order, and we're only halfway through it."

Gotta say, I just don't agree, and thought the season finale was fine.

Gears, huh. I'll check it out. Have to admit, while not a deal breaker, subtitles are a big turn off.