TV Series - Your Favorites & Recommendations

[Cato]

Is that true? I always heard that Lynch was less involved in the second season.

From what I have read, "Bob" was an impromptu addition, and the backward-talking dancing dwarf was Lynch's idea, which did not intrigue the audience at all.

[milk]

From what I have read, "Bob" was an impromptu addition, and the backward-talking dancing dwarf was Lynch's idea, which did not intrigue the audience at all.

I'll have to re-watch it, but there's this to consider also, from wikpedia:

The network insisted that Lynch and Frost reveal who the killer of Laura Palmer was prematurely, which they begrudgingly agreed to do.[71] Lynch felt that agreeing to do so is one of his biggest professional regrets.[72] Following the revealing of the murderer and the series' move from Thursday to Saturday night, Twin Peaks continued for several more episodes, but was cancelled following a ratings drop. Lynch, who disliked the direction that the writers and directors took in the previous episodes, directed the final episode. He ended the season on a cliffhanger, later stating that "that's not the ending. That's the ending that people were stuck with."

[Ken B]

The Larry Sanders Show

Another great one.

[milk]

The Larry Sanders Show

Yeah, that's a brilliant show.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

House M.D., Simpsons, Mythbusters, South Park, Futurama, Big bang theory, Survivor.

Funny thing how House actually makes me laugh more than probably any other show yet it is not even a comedy. I think the latter seasons became little too depressing, though.

[vandermolen]

Borgen
Downton Abbey

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Not a series, but a documentary (now on Netflix) called Somm--which follows a group of friends studying their asses off to pass the Master Sommelier exam. This is a ridiculously difficult test of wine knowledge, blind tasting prowess, and serving skill. Over the last 40 years there have only been 170 or so Master Sommeliers in the world. Fascinating stuff if you have any interest in wine.

[Brian]

Forgot to mention Veep!

Not a series, but a documentary (now on Netflix) called Somm--which follows a group of friends studying their asses off to pass the Master Sommelier exam. This is a ridiculously difficult test of wine knowledge, blind tasting prowess, and serving skill. Over the last 40 years there have only been 170 or so Master Sommeliers in the world. Fascinating stuff if you have any interest in wine.

Thanks, will watch this soon.

[Daverz]

You really should be listening to music, but among recent boob tube fare I'll recommend The Knick, a hospital drama that takes place in 1900. 

Also, the Wallander series with Krister Henriksson, a police procedural set in Ystad, Sweden.   

[Karl Henning]

Anyone love the 80s incarnation of The Twilight Zone?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

My recent favorites are fairly conventional, but in something of an order (with 1 being my favorite), here goes:
1. Mad Men
2. The Wire
3. Breaking Bad
(These first three are just astoundingly good, IMHO).

I agree with this. Some critics say we're currently in a Golden Age of TV. If so, it's because of these shows.

I'd put Breaking Bad first. If you binge-watch it, you realize it's actually a 5-act Shakespearean tragedy stretched out over 5 seasons. They could have called it The Tragedy of Walter White. Also, what is rare for TV, it's visually interesting, almost cinematic in effect.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but I've recently enjoyed House of Cards (the American one), and some of The Good Wife, the latter for its focus on the circus of corruption that is Chicago politics.

Oh, and I like to watch Seinfeld reruns before I go to bed.

[The new erato]

I have currently been bowled over by True Detective.

[North Star]

I agree with this. Some critics say we're currently in a Golden Age of TV. If so, it's because of these shows.

Their influence, no doubt. But we're not anymore in the age of The Wire (2002-08).

[NorthNYMark]

I agree with this. Some critics say we're currently in a Golden Age of TV. If so, it's because of these shows.

I'd put Breaking Bad first. If you binge-watch it, you realize it's actually a 5-act Shakespearean tragedy stretched out over 5 seasons. They could have called it The Tragedy of Walter White. Also, what is rare for TV, it's visually interesting, almost cinematic in effect.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but I've recently enjoyed House of Cards (the American one), and some of The Good Wife, the latter for its focus on the circus of corruption that is Chicago politics.

Oh, and I like to watch Seinfeld reruns before I go to bed.

I have yet to see the Good Wife, but if you are interested in shows about corrupt Chicago politics, I would highly recommend Boss, with Kelsey Grammer as the mayor.  It's similar in many ways to House of Cards, but in a Chicago setting--only lasted a season or two, but might make for some good binge viewing if you haven't seen it.

[North Star]

I have yet to see the Good Wife, but if you are interested in shows about corrupt Chicago politics, I would highly recommend Boss, with Kelsey Grammer as the mayor.  It's similar in many ways to House of Cards, but in a Chicago setting--only lasted a season or two, but might make for some good binge viewing if you haven't seen it.

Boss was great, although I only saw one season of it, IIRC.

[Karl Henning]

I've evolved considerably viz. Night Gallery.  As I think about it, my own history with the matter is peculiar.

I am not sure that I had ever actually watched any of The Twilight Zone;  but I had absorbed the awed respect for the show which generally surrounded me.  The only Night Gallery story I had seen when growing up was "The Caterpillar," which made a powerful impression;  nevertheless (again, probably by absorption), I had somehow 'acquired' the opinion that, as a series, Night Gallery is but a weak shadow of The Twilight Zone.

Having at last seen all of the original Twilight Zone (and much of it twice now), I do not find any of the praise of the series too lavish.  Perhaps I was a 'soft touch' here, but even the comparatively weaker episodes do not inspire any derision from me.  I also read Scott Zicree's splendidly informative book (in which he shows, probably becomingly, a journalistic impartiality, and he calls some episodes poor with a readiness which may strike some as oddly harsh, for a fellow whose overall tone is greatly laudatory . . . but I suppose that shields him from the charge of hagiography).  In a late chapter of that book, he briefly chronicles Serling's life after Twilight Zone, and while the brace of paragraphs on Night Gallery might require a dose of salt, the fact of Serling's dissatisfaction with not commanding artistic control of the series, and his eventual disenchantment with the project tended to color my view as I approached Night Gallery.

However, I was keen to revisit "The Caterpillar," at the least.

Probably I started out with the 2-DVD set of Season Three which is available at the BPL.  Probably I watched "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes" first, which I liked very well right off, partly because the cast included John Astin (I suppose);  I was curious about a story which had both Vincent Price and Bill Bixby in the case, "The Return of the Sorcerer" – probably not genuinely bad, but I had the feeling of a B-movie vignette;  and, curious to see Leonard Nimoy in this context, I watched "She'll Be Company for You," a story to which I do not think I was fair, that first time of watching.

Then (because I should need to return the DVD to the Library), I targeted the four stories of Season Three with scripts by Serling.  Two are based on stories by other authors:  "Something in the Woodwork" (which I think very good, indeed), and "You Can Come Up Now, Mrs Millikan" (which I thought one of a piece with some relatively clumsy attempts at humor).  Two seem to be purely original scripts:  "Rare Objects," which is good (could have served as a Twilight Zone episode, in the character of the story, I mean);  and "Finnegan's Flight" . . . which I wanted to like better than I did, as it rejoined Burgess Meredith and Serling, but there was something a little sour about the development of the plot.  (Probably, I should give it a fresh viewing).  And with that bit of cherry-picking done, I returned Season Three only partly watched, indeed only a minority.

Season Two, I began with revisiting "The Caterpillar," which I think I have praised earlier.  Then, I set myself to watching the entirety of Season Two in order.  While the odd Jack Laird miniature is trite enough, a kind of "slapstick Gothic," that it tends to lower the tone, most of what I saw was very well done, and some of it as good as (or even better than) the top tier of The Twilight Zone.  (In Jack Laird's defense – as a writer, I mean, for clearly he was important to the series as its producer – "I'll Never Leave You – Ever" rises above the level of his typical "blackout" sketches.)

So, I went back to view the rest of Season Three, and (to be sure) I found that in my haste, I had missed out on some of the best stories of that season ("The Other Way Out," "The Ring With the Red Velvet Ropes," "Death on a Barge," "Whisper," e.g.)

And here I've started in on Season One – or, properly speaking, I have now watched the three stories from the pilot, all of them (of course, since he was the one pitching the show) Serling scripts:  "The Cemetery," with a scoundrelly Roddy McDowall;  "Eyes," featuring one of the last appearances by Joan Crawford (and Tom Bosley in an interestingly 'against-type' role:  and "Escape Route," the latest in a number of Serling "revenge fantasies" against surviving Nazis.  (I mean, obviously there ought to be, to have been, justice done to them;  but I don't feel comfortable being implicated in a wish to make them suffer cruelly, as retribution.  Is it artistically satisfying?  I find myself wondering if this third story is as good as the first two.)

[Ken B]

Karl I have vague memories of actual TZ episodes -- I was a bit young for them -- but it's hard to overestimate the influence the show had on *ahem* those of us of a certain age. A very real effect on the imagination and tastes and attitudes, far greater than the rest of TV. Only Monty Python looms larger.
I need to watch more of it ....

[Jay F]

Transparent. It's not actually on TV. You can watch it for free with a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, or if you already subscribe to Amazon Prime.

It's the best series I've seen all year. Or maybe in many years. You can watch the pilot for free before deciding on Prime.

http://smile.amazon.com/Rollin/dp/B00I3MOT0Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1413838172&sr=1-1&keywords=transparent

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I have yet to see the Good Wife, but if you are interested in shows about corrupt Chicago politics, I would highly recommend Boss, with Kelsey Grammer as the mayor. 

Thanks for the rec, I'll look for it.

I've evolved considerably viz. Night Gallery.  As I think about it, my own history with the matter is peculiar.

I have fond memories of Night Gallery, which was on when I was a kid. However, only two episodes are etched in my memory. One stars Godfrey Cambridge as a comedian who sells his soul to the Devil so he can make people laugh (this episode was directed by none other than Steven Spielberg). The other was about a boy who can see the future, and what he sees...well, I won't spoil it. The first episode was funny/sad and the second was quite chilling.

My vague recollection is that Night Gallery had better production values than Twilight Zone, and was more oriented towards horror than science fiction.

[Jay F]

I have yet to see the Good Wife, but if you are interested in shows about corrupt Chicago politics, I would highly recommend Boss, with Kelsey Grammer as the mayor.  It's similar in many ways to House of Cards, but in a Chicago setting--only lasted a season or two, but might make for some good binge viewing if you haven't seen it.

The Good Wife is a good enough way to spend an hour on Sunday, or the day after if football went long, but it's really a silly program, verging on soap opera, in which crazy is normal. I liked Boss and House of Cards a whole lot more. What I like most about The Good Wife are its cast (Juliana Margulies, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski, Matthew Goode, Matt Czuchry, Zach Grenier, Carrie Preston), and what an attractive-looking program it is. It's not satisfying drama, however.