The Official, Long Awaited, TV Shows Thread

I thought Homeland was pretty good (three seasons I think). I loved Orphan Black, gave me a strong early Buffy vibe but with a very different subject matter. It just kept being fresh and surprising. I watched almost all of Sons of Anarchy but it is almost too depressing now - everything I thought was exaggerated in the show turns out to be a watered down version of what happened with MCs in reality. Orange is the new Black being almost biographic was even more surprising and I quite enjoyed it, but am over it no and not really want to watch the third season. I never watched the Vampire Diaries as that seemed to Buffy as Charmed was to ... Buffy? But The Originals is actually really quite good, quite enjoying that. I also really liked Daredevil. Everyone probably knows that House of Cards is good. I also really like Rita, a Danish series about a schoolteacher.

Penny Dreadful I thought was rather badly written the first season, unfitting of the mostly really great cast, and some of its gore just made me look away, but the second season is actually really much better!
 
I think I gave up on Sons of Anarchy after series 4 or thereabouts. Just got too ridiculous and melodramatic for me and there were some unspeakably bad Irish accents in that show!

Another show which started well but jumped the shark after a couple of seasons was Justified. I think Marshal Givens must have had a bad guy bodycount in treble figures by the time I stopped watching!
 
Justified was really good the first two seasons, which are the only two I watched (only watch on Netflix). Thanks for the heads up.
 
I think I gave up on Sons of Anarchy after series 4 or thereabouts. Just got too ridiculous and melodramatic for me and there were some unspeakably bad Irish accents in that show!

Another show which started well but jumped the shark after a couple of seasons was Justified. I think Marshal Givens must have had a bad guy bodycount in treble figures by the time I stopped watching!

It's true that SoA goes kinda over the top for 1 or 2 season (I believe 4 and 5) but 6 and especially 7 are very good. The same goes for Justified. 1 or 2 poor seasons to finish of with 1 or 2 strong season. I think this is the case for almost all long running series. I finished watching Mad Men today and that series has the exact same problem. 1 or 2 weaker seasons in the middle to finish off with 2 good seasons.

I can recommend anyone to watch Sons of Anarchy, Justified and Mad Men. Just bite through those poorer seasons, its not like they are that bad. If you want to see bad try watching Under the Dome :LOL:
 
I'm surprised no one commented about The Americans it was an absolutely fantastic series

Was that another one of those brilliant BBC Series that was utterly ruined by an Americanization adaptation?
 
It's another FX (Fox cable channel in the US) series (Justified, SoA, etc.), so generally high quality (writing, acting, production). I think it's original, though it's getting tough to sort through all the new Cold War spy dramas. It's about two Russian spies posing as a married couple in '60s America and doing spy stuffs under everyone's noses, especially the FBI's. It's really good. Right up there with Mad Men and Justified.

Jewel in the Crown is a notch above all those. I was lucky to catch it in HD on PBS recently. It's a kick to see a young Tywin Lannister, and a shock to see an older Harry Kumar in Homeland S4.
 
I'm surprised no one commented about The Americans it was an absolutely fantastic series

I actually tried the first episode, but it didn't hook me. I also tried Blacklist, but after a few episodes, it turned out to not be very interesting to me (there are so many shows about ugly people already). Maybe I'll try again later.
 
I've just watched "The Last Place on Earth", a 7 episode british TV mini-series from 1985 depicting the Amundsen and Scott antarctic expeditions and their famous race to the south pole. It's old but I recommend it for those who like this sort of thing. The first 2 episodes are slower as plot and characters are introduced, but they arrive in Antarctica on episode 3. It's on youtube, netflix, amazon, etc.
 
TV I've really enjoyed watching in the last couple of years. The pattern for me is to not watch anything until prompted by being sick and tired of people telling me it's fantastic. Works out well, despite spoilers!

True Detective Season 1 (oh. my. god. possibly the best TV series I've ever seen)
True Detective Season 2 (airing now, not as good as s1 but building to a very satisfying crescendo just like s1 did, and the acting, setting and cinematography is fantastic)
The Affair Season 1 (the chemistry between Noah and Allison is electric)
The Blacklist Season 1 (James Spader knocks it out of the park. The rest is a little ropey, but it's very enjoyable, very watchable TV on the whole)
Game of Thrones (didn't start watching it until s4 was airing because I didn't see the fuss, then caught an episode....binge watched the lot to catch up; loved s5)
Breaking Bad (didn't start watching it until it had almost finished completely airing; binge watched, cried like a baby at the final episode after getting so invested in Walt and Jesse's relationship)

In all likelihood I'll watch Daredevil, Better Call Saul and maybe Mad Men in the next year or so. Every now and again I revisit The Sopranos and Band of Brothers, both of which are overdue a return. Notable shows I've never seen or got anywhere near completion with, which I regret: The Wire, The Walking Dead, Twin Peaks, Farscape. Please add to my list and tell me what I must see.
 
I really enjoyed Weeds. To be a bit more specific: I really enjoyed Weeds So1 through So3. Fourth season is kind of alright as well (could never fully get on with the tonal shift, though), and after that it got pretty stupid. No biggie, though. So3 ends on bitter sweet note that's basically perfect. If you just stop there all's good.
 
Been keeping up with true detective season 2 and as mentioned it's living up to its name as it had really really big shoes to fill after what those 2 did with the first season. Stellar acting throughout and keeps you gripped. Really surprised by Vince Vaughn but it's great to see him shine in a different role for once though some of his mannerisms are a bit annoying.

Speaking of fantastic TV shows with great acting, I've been going through house of cards and just about finished season 2. Really enjoying kevin spacey and the storyline they've created.
 
Well, I thought I'd finally throw my current favorite in. Please note, I don't watch much in the way of TV as I have neither the time nor the inclination for most of them.

Gravity Falls.

Yes, a cartoon, but a surprisingly engaging and intelligent one that doesn't rely on controversy, politics, stupidity, or profanity. Very refreshing in this day and age.

Forbes magazine (yes a business magazine) actually had a very nice write up on it today (http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/08/27/gravity-falls-is-the-best-show-on-television/ ).

If you haven't seen it yet, you might be pleasantly surprised. If you have children and haven't seen it yet, shame on you! :)

Regards,
SB
 
Yeah our family loves Gravity Falls, one of the best cartoons released in a long time.
 
Heh, I guess one trend seems to be that a lot of shows that start out great tend to become less interesting as time goes on. Kinda hard to get invested in new stuff when you can expect it to disappoint at some point later on...
 
So tonight seems to be the start of a lot of new series or seasons on PrimeTV in the US. I have the dvr set to record a few of them, even if I'm expecting the shows to be cancelled after 6 episodes or before they hit the full front 10 episodes.

Tonight I dont know how Minority Report or Blindspot will be.
 
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