Recommend us some TV series?

[firecat]

The OH and I recently finished re-watching Babylon 5 and finished watching the fourth season of Heroes. He informed me that our Netflix queue was getting a little thin on series and said I could suggest up to five series to put on the queue.

So what should we watch?


Captions or subtitles required. (Sadly many BBC series don't have them.) We prefer shows that actually end. Reasons we have bounced off some shows: too silly, too much like real life, don't care about or like any of the characters, inexcusable sexism (don't ask how we managed to get hooked on Heroes). We are impatient so we have to like the show within the first episode or two. (Don't ask how we managed to get hooked on Babylon 5.)


On the queue already:
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Being Human
Big Bang Theory
Black Jack
Boondocks
Gankutsuo
Ken Burns' Jazz
Life on Mars
Playing Shakespeare
Samurai Champloo
Terminator: Sarah Connor
The Wire
Trigun


Series we've liked:
As Time Goes By
Barchester Chronicles
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop (anime)
Firefly
Genshiken (anime)
Ghost in the Shell (anime)
Hellsing (anime)
Heroes
Kaze no Yojimbo (anime)
Last Exile (anime)
Princess Nine (anime)
Red Dwarf
Star Trek:TOS (but none of the later ones)


Series we tried and didn't like:
Beauty and the Beast (inexcusable sexism)
Bleach (anime—doesn't actually end)
Dr Who (Tom Baker version—too silly)
Kamichu (anime—too silly)
Princess Tutu (anime—too silly)
Six Feet Under (didn't care about the characters)
Stargate SG-1 (inexcusable sexism)
Vicar of Dibley (too much like real life)


Series the OH has vetoed:
Battlestar Galactica
Dr Who (any version)
Lost

Comments

[emceeaich]

Veronica Mars (1st Season): smart protagonist, lots of interesting hooks, it's a murder mystery

[torachan]

Arrested Development and Better Off Ted are two of my favorite shows ever. Both are comedies and both are short (Arrested Development got three seasons before being cancelled and Better Off Ted got two).

[jae]

Ummm...if Vicar of Dibley is too much like real life, you should probably steer well clear of the Wire!

-J

[flippac]

I dunno, The Wire's awfully optimistic sometimes.


:p

[firecat]

Are they similar? :-)

(I avoid most sim/god computer games because they are too much like real life, but I adore The Sims, because it's not.)

[flippac]

Farscape? Try to keep multiple levels of interpretation going at once though, especially in relation to other shows :-) The 2-part pilot's mostly exposition of course, but the one immediately after's a nice take on the standard "we are the aliens" SF show plot. Cracky in a good way, some incredible female characters, lots of fun on lots of levels. Oh, and messes with tropes like there's no tomorrow and comes off better for it.

</fan>

[sauscony]

I second this. I'm biased because it's my favorite show ever. I also think you might like it since you like Babylon 5 and Firefly though.

As for anime, I recommend Fullmetal Alchemist- both the original and Brotherhood. The first one was made before the manga finished, so it goes off in a different direction, but now that the manga is done, the second show follows it much more closely. Both shows end and the first one has a movie- I think there's a movie being made for the second show too. They don't go on forever like Bleach and there's no filler episodes.

Middleman

[cheshyre]

A recent short-lived TV series based on a comic book. Concept a bit like Men in Black (secret agency protecting humanity from things the rest of us shouldn't know about). Funny as all get-out and regularly passes the Bechdel test.

[bientot]

One of the best series nobody ever saw is The Book of Daniel. Unfortunately it was untimely ripp'd from the airwaves - only 8 episodes were made, of which only 4 actually aired. A brilliant cast you'll recognize from other shows, amazing writing and characters, by turns funny, painful, heartwarming, iconoclastic... I loved it so much and was distraught when it was cancelled (due to complaints from conservative Christians, apparently).

Another undeservedly obscure series is John From Cincinatti, also full of actors you'll recognize from lots of other work, brought to you by the people behind Deadwood. I like to say that John is about surfing in the same way that Deadwood is about mining...quirky, deeply weird and intriguing, and (IMHO) brilliant.

re: Recommend us some TV series?

[betonica]

It's not yet available on Netflix (although you can save it) - but I recommend Sherlock: Series 1 (three slightly-short-movie-length episodes). We just watched it and it was excellent (perhaps someone got it off hulu or something - I don't know where we found it). Set in modern London but retaining (and gaining) some excellent personality / interplay stuff. Sherlock homes is _really_ _outrageously_ obnoxious. And it works, quite well. The first episode is the best, but the other two are fine.

I've seen some episodes of Dead Like Me that I didn't expect to like, but did. And I watch "Charmed" but really, so far there's only one episode that was excellent - it's somewhere in the first season and set in China Town; I forget what it's called.

Hm. I really don't watch much in the way of telly - never having owned one. Animaniacs is probably too silly for you, although it's got some nice biting satire in the way that Saturday morning cartoons can, when they're good. It's a good way to relieve stress, what with things being blown up and anvils dropping and such, and the main characters are totally, completely unflappable, which really helps when you're feeling downtrodden or harassed.

I've watched four seasons of NCIS and got hooked on many of the characters (and annoyed by a few, but that's okay for contrast). Some day I'll get back to it and watch the remaining three seasons.

For anime, a favorite here is Howl's Moving Castle. And I can't remember if I've watched Princess Mononoke, but I know my housemates think highly of that one, too. (Neither are series, though.)

I haven't actually watched much of anything that you have, so I can't say as I know whether these recommendations would do for you. Hopefully you'll glean something you like from them.

Re: Recommend us some TV series?

[betonica]

Oh - I don't know whether any of them have captions. Except probably the anime wasn't in English anyway? (How can I have forgotten these things?). I notice that someone over in lj has recommended Animaniacs and someone else has recommended Sherlock, too. Sherlock is great. I hope they do more.

[wired]

West Wing! It's like an idealized AU. Also beautifully captioned.

[eagle]

Seconded. It's a great series. I also liked both of the other Sorkin series and think Sports Night may be the best of all three (the other being Studio 60, which gets mixed reviews). You don't need to be interested in sports to like Sports Night, although very occasionally it helps.

Sports Night has an annoying and off-putting laugh track that they thankfully drop in the second season, since the show didn't need it at all.

[laughingrat]

Father Ted, maybe? I was going to recommend Vicar of Dibley, since I just discovered it and am really enjoying Dawn French, but I see it was a previous loser. :)

[flarenut]

If you don't know it, try the canadian semi-cop-show Da Vinci's Inquest. The pacing and characterization are so radically different from US cop shows. Almost everyone is treated with some kind of respect. (And as a bonus that may not be useful for you, you get to see everyone who's anyone in canada-shot scifi acting in real roles.)

[sev]

I don't know what's available on netflix, but since we have similar tastes in tv & similar requirements for captions I thought I'd give you my list:

Depending on why Doctor Who ended up in the veto list, you might or might not like Torchwood. It's a Doctor Who spinoff, but the target audience is adults instead of kids. It's less silly (but still funny) and way more sexy.

Farscape has been mentioned; I watched the first season and some of the second and gave up because I couldn't care about the characters enough. I'd give it another try if I really needed something to watch, given how many people who like it also like other things I like. :) You may like it just fine, if your lists of things that are annoying is different than mine.

I'm actually watching Stargate:SG-1 right now. Sort of. I'm watching the ones that are rated at 3-1/2 stars or more (out of five) on gateworld.net, which turns out to be a decent measure -- some of the episodes in the early parts are *terrible*, and it's nice to be able to skip those. The good ones are good enough that I'm actively looking forward to watching them. The first season isn't subtitled but subsequent seasons are (on Hulu; I assumed that this mirrored the dvds but I actually don't know that for sure). I was able to make my way through the first season because they use a Really Big Hammer to get all their points across so if I didn't understand what they said the first time, it was nearly guaranteed that they'd say it again. Fortunately, the writing got better after the first season, so now I'm actually relying on the subtitles again.

My partner and I gobbled up the first two seasons of True Blood. It's a bit violent and not always as thoughtful as it thinks it is regarding characterizations of women and people of color but for mainstream tv it's done a really good job.

The most-modern-realistic show I've enjoyed lately has been Leverage. One of my favorite movie genres is "the perfect heist" -- Leverage is that, in series form. I find it extremely satisfying despite my preference for science fiction. I stopped watching because streaming from the network's website was excruciating (despite good captioning) due to stupid technology that I think was supposed to keep us from trying to skip the advertisements. Now that it's out on DVD I'm likely going to pick it back up again.

[firecat]

Very helpful, thanks!

[tedesson]

Deadwood - this may still only be on physical media
The Wire - ditto
Eureka - I like the premise, the characters, and the setting. Sometimes the plots piss me off. Often charming and funny.
Bones - a super smart, (what ever the correct phrase is for high functioning socially oblivious geek) female main character, who I adore, surrounded by smart in different ways characters. High grossness. I like it even though there are sharks circling.
Sports Night - if you like Sorkin, you'll like this, even though it's about sports, just for the writing. His pre-west wing effort.
Leverage - the pilot and first several episodes are wonderful. The rest of the series is good, just not wonderful.

[mamatiger.livejournal.com]

You watched *all* of Heroes? Wow. That's dedication.

Recommendation: watch Fringe! It might take a bit to grow on you, but John Noble is just a revelation as Walter Bishop. It's been unbelievably awesome this season. (Being Human, UK version, is awesome also, no clue how the USA version will turn out.)

Nikita probably isn't on Netflix yet, and is exceptionally silly, but it passes the Bechdel test in spades every week, and Maggie Q is tres adorable.

If it's avoiding sexism you want, you can't do much better than The Closer. The recent season eps featuring Kyra Sedgwick facing off against Mary "President Roslin" McDonnell -- oh, my. It would be a spoiler to explain why their relationship is so exceptionally awesome though.

(I adored Beauty and the Beast, mostly because of Ron Perlman's performance. They did eventually get over the "rescue Catherine every week" plot device. It is however pretty dated by this point, and the bizarre decision to [redacted spoiler] ruined it for me anyway, George RR Martin or no George RR Martin.)

[firecat]

Thanks!

I liked Beauty and the Beast too but the OH didn't. I know what the spoiler is.

[miz-geek.livejournal.com]

How about Farscape and Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

[yarram.livejournal.com]

Farscape = I am still bitter all these years later that they cancelled it.

[yarram.livejournal.com]

For silly kiddie stuff that has nuggets of teen- and adult-level humor, Animaniacs can be fun. It's in my own queue for bit of college-days nostalgia.

[firecat]

Thanks! We do have Pinky and the Brain on our queue. We tried Animaniacs a while back but the OH says that the characters remind him of obnoxious kids in high school so he doesn't like it.

[elainegrey.livejournal.com]

In the past year we've been engaged with MI-5 (spies), Wire in the Blood (profiler), and Waking the Dead (police procedural on cold cases). Currently we're watching the intense eight episode Pillars of the Earth, set in 12th century England.

I think i've enjoyed the British contemporary police procedurals because they have been more unpredictable due to the cultural gap. But oh, my. There's still an issue with Catholics.


ETA: I'm pretty sure the first three have subtitles: we were getting the DVDs and if we forgot the subtitles in the beginning, we had to turn them on pretty quickly thanks to the British accent.

[firecat]

Thanks! I knew about MI-5 and I'm glad to get a recommendation for it.

I guess neither of us would be particularly upset by anti-Catholic stuff.

[elainegrey.livejournal.com]

What do you mean by "shows that actually end." Each episode is self contained? Each episode resolves the immediate story arc, but an arc continues? No cliff hangers?

[firecat]

I mean "show has a story arc that resolves in less than, say, 60 episodes."

We gave up on Bleach because it has 240 episodes and counting.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

NUMB3RS and Eureka are both very good; they're still ongoing, so I don't know whether they'll actually come to an end or not.

Sherlock is serious crack, but it's brand-new (only 3 episodes out AFAIK); if you can handle the idea of an AU contemporary Sherlock Holmes, I'd say it's worth a try.

I'd recommend Bones, except that it went completely off the rails after 2½ seasons. However, the first 2 seasons each have a fairly complete internal story arc.

I have no idea whether any of these have captioning or not.

[firecat]

Thanks! Especially for explaining about Bones. I saw a bit of one episode and really didn't like it and wondered why people raved about it. Maybe I saw something after the 2d season.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

I'd recommend Farscape. There's some silliness, but it's not all silly, and takes a deep dive toward dark in later seasons that pulled me right along, even through some excessive somethingness.

Am curious as to why the OH vetoed Battlestar Galactica (unless it was the original series, in which case I completely understand.)

BTW, I loved Gankutsuo

One series that I kept watching even though I didn't think I was liking it (or maybe was just thinking it wasn't the kind of think I like) was Utawarerumono so I'd recommend giving that a try as something that was enjoyable enough and managed to carry me from episode to episode and thus might do the same for other. But it seems it's no longer available on Netflix instant watching and for some reason they don't have the DVD--it's now listed as one of the items available for saving.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Just realized I don't know if Farscape has captioning or not.

[selki.livejournal.com]

I really liked Homefront, set just after WWII in Ohio. I don't know if it was captioned. Grappled with racism, classism, union struggles, McCarthyism, sexism, had characters I cared about, light moments, and serious eye candy. 2 seasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homefront_%28U.S._TV_series%29
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101121/

[sophy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so sad BSG is vetoed. :(

Is the note about Star Trek to mean you don't want to watch any of the other series or just haven't yet? If you're up for them, I highly recommend Star Trek: Voyager, especially if you like good character studies and kick ass female leads.

I'd give a Buffy rec, but you most assuredly won't really like it until at least season two, if not even later. But it really is worth it for the later seasons if you could force yourself to get through them.

Seconding the rec for Fringe. Also, if you like spy shows at all, you might like Alias.

Don't know about captioning or subtitles for any of them, so you'd have to check that out.

[firecat]

Star Trek: I liked TNG and DS9 (I didn't see all the episodes of DS9), but the OH didn't like them.

I wanted to like Voyager but didn't (I saw 3 or 4 episodes, I think).

[pachamama.livejournal.com]

For sheer goofy sci-fi-spy fluff, Chuck (though one story arc tends to lead directly into the next)

My daughter just introduced me to The Gilmore Girls -- we're midway through season 2 and like it very well so far.

There's a British series I love called Outnumbered. It is only partially scripted, with huge chunks of really funny improvisational stuff.

[pachamama.livejournal.com]

oh and it's been recommended already, but Numb3rs is good

[phoenixpdx.livejournal.com]

We don't have broadcast, cable or satellite TV and so we only watch series via Netflix based on recommendations. Here are some we've really enjoyed.

We're currently loving Castle (Nathan Fillion in ANYthing, just about...or for that matter, NOT in anything (fans self)). It took 2 episodes for the ensemble dynamics to kick in but they did and did well. Homicide police procedural, with interpersonal dynamics. Mind, we are still on season 1. No clue how it goes beyond this.

Also recommend Foyle's War, a British miniseries based in WWII Hastings (on the English Channel), about a detective who investigates murders while Hitler bombs England. VERY well scripted, historically quite accurate, and very well acted.

We are deeply enjoying West Wing, ER, and Babylon 5, all based on recommendations from people we trust.

We plan to watch anything Ken Burns has made that we haven't yet seen.

For mind candy, we've enjoyed Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, and Deadliest Catch.

We tried, but did not like: ST:TNG, Six Feet Under (I just wanted to slap all the characters silly and tell them to Grow UP), Bones, NUMB3RS, Grey's Anatomy, and any number of others.

[firecat]

This is very helpful! It sounds like y'all and we have similar tastes, based on your enjoyment of Ken Burns and B5, and your dislike of ST:TNG and Six Feet Under (EXACTLY).