Share TV series you have discovered and love

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Maybe this already exists here in the Cafe. But I’d like to compare takes on various TV series. We seem to be in something of a golden age of TV!</p>

<p>We love **Bored To Death<a href=“canceled,%20darn%20it!”>/b</a>, **Breaking Bad<a href=“of%20course”>/b</a>, Homeland<a href=“of%20course”>/b</a> but also some silly ones like ** Terra Nova, Supernatural.</p>

<p>Just watched the premier for American Horror Story which has gotten a fair amount of praise and we could barely stand to watch it all the way through. Not because it was scary but because it was so very lousy. Formulaic, stupid, nonsensical. Made me sad to see Jessica Lange stoop to something so bad. Same producers as Glee, another stupid series (imo) but at least entertaining.</p>

2

<p>I agree, SH! I have started to indulge in a nightly viewing of something via Netflix or Amazon. My DH loves news shows, but I need a little fiction in my life to distract me. </p>

<p>I love Homeland, The Good Wife (great clothing on the women), Damages, and of course Mad Men and Downton Abbey.</p>

3

<p>The neighbors love The Walking Dead but I’ve never watched it.( or plan to)
They also prefer Guns & Roses to Pearl Jam, so I don’t take their suggestions seriously. :wink:
I am the only one I know ( except my H) who watches 30Rock.
I think it is so hilarious. :smiley:
The most recent episode featured Tony Bennett!
I also watch New Girl, Homeland,Justified, Major Crimes - used to watch Glee, but not this season.
Also sometimes watch Call the Midwife & am waiting for new Downton Abbey, Sherlock & Doc Martin.</p>

4

<p>For our fun shows, we have good luck with USA and TNT networks. Burn Notice, Suits, White Collar are all fun. FX has blessed us with Sons of Anarchy (Hamlet in an outlaw biker club) and Justified. Both of those are worth watching past episodes. </p>

<p>Grimm is a nice show for Supernatural fans, as it seems to get better where Supernatural is struggling this season to define the story arc. </p>

<p>We also love Game of Thrones on HBO.</p>

<p>For comedy we are fans of Key & Peele.</p>

5

<p>Archer. Funniest show on TV</p>

6

<p>We have several TV shows we watch (recorded) on a regular basis. Justified is, by far, our favorite!</p>

7

<p>We love Game of Thrones and Walking Dead which is surprisingly good for a show with zombies. We also love Modern Family. I watch Call the Midwife, Archer and Grimm on Hulu.</p>

8

<p>I watched the entire series of The Wire on dvd this year. It’s an amazing show and widely considered the best series ever on tv. I used to think that that title went to The West Wing, but I’d have to qualify TWW now as the best on network tv. </p>

<p>David Simon, the genius behind The Wire, also does Treme which is another fabulous ensemble cable drama. Terrific writing, talented and accomplished actors to bring the words to life, and another unvarnished look at an American city, this time New Orleans. The Wire was set and filmed in Baltimore.</p>

<p>Continuing with great cable shows, the season 3 finale of Boardwalk Empire is tonight. A period piece set in ~1920s and a look at prohibition, the rise of Atlantic City, with the inclusion of many actual people who lived at that time. Beautiful attention to detail, excellent acting, and historical interest.</p>

<p>Dexter continues to be a favorite in our house, as the series winds down. Again, strong acting, especially from Michael C. Hall, who has grown tremendously from his days as David on Six Feet Under. </p>

<p>Looking forward to the return of Nurse Jackie and also Veep in the new year.</p>

<p>On network tv, for pure entertainment we enjoy Revenge. We also watch The Good Wife, although it has really deteriorated since Seasons 1 & 2. Their levels of believability are similar. :wink: I think the best show on network tv at the moment is Person of Interest. Anything that stars Michael Emerson is bound to be good, and with an interesting premise, a good central cast, and an excellent mix of drama and humor, it’s fun.</p>

<p>Oh, and yes, The Amazing Race, of course.</p>

9

<p>I mostly watched TV with my youngest kid so I have her taste. </p>

<p>That would be Gilmore Girls, which I think can be absolutely marvelous. Amy Sherman Palladino. </p>

<p>Another is Dead Like Me, a 2 season series on I think Showtime. Weird black comedy that follows a dead girl - and her dead work friends, including Mandy Patinkin. She’s a “reaper”, meaning she’s a dead person assigned to pull the souls out of people, ideally just before they’re killed in some painful way. But they have to live like people, meaning they have real jobs and real lives though they’re dead. And they meet every morning at the Waffle House to get their assignments. </p>

<p>If you haven’t watched Mad Men, do that. The new season starts in March.</p>

<p>Of the reality shows, I only watch Top Chef. It’s very well produced. My wife watches Real Housewives of NJ, which has a sort of train-wreck appeal and which does successfully involve actual emotions more than the other RH series (which are on interminably at the gym). </p>

<p>I think the early seasons of Castle were well written cop procedural stuff with intricate plots. The show is up and down now and, of course, has become focused on the “super villain” storylines that all shows get sucked into.</p>

<p>My kid and I also used to watch House. We’d bet on the form of bodily fluid discharge: projectile vomiting, bleeding from the eyes, etc. The show went downhill in the later years.</p>

<p>And of course the Gil Grissom era CSI. Terrifically well plotted. Intentionally non-heroic. By that I mean Bill Peterson was always part of the crew and underacted but when Laurence Fishburne replaced him the show became about him and some idiotic superkiller quest. Ruined it. CSI did the serial killer thing better than other shows. The Blue Paint Killer, for example, or the Miniature Killer: no super abilities, no omniscience, just quirky, interesting villains without big star turns.</p>

10

<p>Copper from BBC America. Don’t know if it will be renewed yet, but I am hoping. </p>

<p>And we DVR everything. Cant stand the amount of time commercials consume these days.
Pause and Fast Forward are your best friends.</p>

11

<p>H and I watched 2 episodes of Breaking Bad and bailed on it. D told me I wouldn’t like it and she was right.</p>

<p>We watch Revenge, Good Wife, Law & Order SVU, Blue Bloods, Flashpoint, Nashville, Chicago Fire, Grey’s (me only) and loved Mad Men.</p>

12

<p>The Hour - BBC America.
White Chapel - BBC America
Midsomer Murders - PBS
Sherlock - PBS
New Girl
Perception</p>

13

<p>Love The Mentalist. Also watch many of the housewives, although I could watch live action at one of the local homeowner assoc meetIngs:(</p>

14

<p>I am a late commer to NCIS. Although it follows a predictable format I really enjoy the characters. I will say in its ten year run the characters haven’t grown much. But I still love it.</p>

15

<p>Addicted to Walking Dead- I don’t know why as it is kind of a Zombie Soap Opera. We all watch Modern Family, were watching New Girl but it got too weird. Loved American Horror Story last season, but only got thru half of the new season premier and then tried another episode- it isn’t scary, or well written this season, just really kind of sick and VERY poorly written this year. My son and I started watching Chicago Fire together- he loves it and anytime I can get a 17 year old to do anything with me, I go for it. I also really like Grimm. My husband is a Fringe addict but I gave up on it.</p>

16

<p>Oh also like Perception and Major Crimes, but both are on hiatus.</p>

17

<p>DH and I really liked The Newsroom on HBO. I also like Elementary.</p>

18

<p>Nurse Jackie
The Big C
The Hour
Call the Midwife
The Newsroom
Girls
I really miss In Treatment, with Gabriel Byrne.
And yes, The Wire is the best-written show that’s ever been on TV (I used to think it was the Sopranos).</p>

19

<p>Our new favorite is B!tchin Kitchen on the Cooking Channel (sorry, that’s the actual title, but with an “i”). Hilarious.</p>

<p>I can’t wait till Downton Abbey starts up again in January.</p>

20

<p>Game of Thrones! Luck (only ran for one season-but very good), Boardwalk Empire,Enlightenment</p>