Besides Mad Men, what else should I be trying this year? Or what old shows should I get on DVD?
Oh, and specifically what do you think of Sons of Anarchy? My wife’s friend says it’s great; my son says it’s awful.
Get the first five seasons of “Rescue Me” on DVD, watch #6 on TV when it repeats; the series finale is scheduled for September 11, 2011.
The Shield.
Breaking Bad, most definitely.
The Fuckin’ Jerk Hour
It’s a little-known HBO series depicting the lives of a bunch of fuckin’ jerks. They spend a lot of their time having head-butting contests and going to bars.
Deadwood.
Here’s your winner.
In the later seasons, HBO cut it down to a half hour and renamed it Entourage.
Most certainly, The Shield!
Also:
Dexter
Six Feet Under
Rome
Deadwood
Spartacus (Showtime series)
Gay men should never miss an episode of Queer As Folk.
As far as Sons Of Anarchy - we watched about three episodes and hated it. Maybe it gets better, and I know there are fans, but it annoyed the hell out of me.
I disagree with the shield. While it’s good, it’s not up to the level of cohesiveness in the series mentioned by the OP.
I’m seconding Deadwood and Breaking Bad.
I would agree with Breaking Bad without doubt, and having finished series 5 of Six Feet Under in a seven hour stint yesterday - that too. Oh my.
MiM
Come back and let us know how you liked the series finale - easily the best series finales of all time!
Again, Breaking Bad and Deadwood. Along with The Wire these would make up my top 3 best series.
Dexter’s pretty good, but has to be taken only half seriously. Sons of Anarchy is ‘ok’ I can certainly see how someone could think it was awful, and possibly great if you’re really into the subject matter. I find the acting and scripts to be generally mediocre with some episodes that are fantastic and some that are terrible.
I can get behind Rome & Breaking Bad. I haven’t seen Deadwood. The Corner is also a mini-series produced by The Wire gang that you’d probably like.
Justified on FX is terrific. The guy who played the sheriff on Deadwood now plays a deputy U.S. marshal in contemporary Kentucky, taking on rednecks, meth traffickers and Klansmen.
Another recommendation for **The Shield **(don’t listen to the naysayers ;)).
**Sons of Anarchy **took a while to grow on me through Season 1, but the second season with Henry Rollins as the bad guy, is a must-see.
Ditto for Breaking Bad and Justified, and Rescue Me except for season five – I think that’s the season where everyone wanted to get in Tommy’s pants. There wasn’t nearly enough firehouse in S5. Just skip 5 and start up with 6, which is mostly awesome, and the women in Tommy’s pants are down to two.
I’d add Nip/Tuck, but stop after the Carver mystery is solved.
Deadwood seems unnecessarily florid and overblown to me now, but that’s after watching The Wire several times.
I actually missed 5 because I kept forgetting it was on.
Thanks for all the responses. Definitely some helpful suggestions here which I will look into further. I already bookmarked the page.
As it turns out I also heard about Boardwalk Empire yesterday so I watched that last night. Looks like it’s off to a good start, but hard to tell from a first episode.
Yes it was astonishing really. Never anticipated it and bears repeated viewings. I’m welling up as I type.
Enjoy these treats ahead Plan B.
MiM