What are some movies/books/music that you read about on the SDMB that were pleasant surprises?
Watership Down.
I was really dubious about The Wire, because I’m not usually a fan of cop shows, but since other Dopers couldn’t stop talking about how amazing it is, I decided to give it a try.
Now I’m one of those Dopers who can’t stop talking about how amazing it is. 
Best. Show. EVER.
I’m enjoying *The Brothers K *right now because a number of people raved about it in a recent “5 Favorite Books” thread.
Tough question. I get an awful lot of recommendations here. Most recently: Ken Grimwood’s Replay, the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, and My Losing Season, by Pat Conroy (recommended by Elendil’s Heir).
There have been a lot of books over the years – one that I totally loved that I probably never would have even heard of otherwise is David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.
I got my questionable content adiction from a post here
The Gone-Away World was really good.
The constant barrage of threads inspired me to give Lost a try.
[obvious]
World War Z
[/obvious]
I got in on BSG based on people’s reactions to the miniseries.
Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. So good.
I watched Firefly, Buffy and Angel because of all the raving on the SDMB. I would never have thought I would love a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I also thought I was bored with high fantasy until I was convinced to read the Song of Ice & Fire books.
I’m still resisting The Wire, because I think I am bored with cop shows.
Oh, a bunch of stuff - a bunch of books on history, science, specific events and trivia. Lots of music - most recently digging into an old 60’s blues/rock CD called Super Session - a CD I have circled for years.
Dopers provide a good kick in the pants, you know?
Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. I raved about it so much my wife bought me every other book he’s written for Christmas.
It’s not a book, movie, or music, but a doper convinced me I needed to incorporate deadlifting into my strength training routine.
Jared Diamond’s “Guns Germs and Steel”. (And I’m reading “Collapse” right now, though that one was recommended by a friend IRL who I don’t think knew that I’ve read GG&S.)
Mark Kurlansky’s “Salt: A World History”.
Richard Russo’s “Straight Man”.
Probably the Song of Ice and Fire books – I think this is where I heard about them. They were good while they lasted but I stopped after the third one and really don’t have much interest in getting back into it.
I went to buy a copy of “The Gone-Away World” last week but didn’t feel like plopping down $25 for a hardcover copy. I’ll probably wait until it’s out in paperback, but I do have every intention of reading it.
This place is what got me into comics. Until 2 years ago I had never read one:
Watchmen
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Astonishing X-Men
In Books:
The Dark Tower series
Dune
Richard Dawkins, but only his scientific books not his witnessing rants.
TV/Film:
Firefly and Serenity
MST3K
Games:
City of Heroes
Eve Oline
Office Space. I will be forever grateful for that one.
Dopers’ recommendations have been very costly, but well worth the investment.
HBO’s *Deadwood *comes readily to mind; not having cable at the time, I would never have tried it if not for Dopers’ recommendations. I Netflixed it, then bought it.
Like many others, *Firefly *was a Doper recommendation, which I Netflixed, then bought it and Serenity. That led me to try *Buffy *(loved it, but didn’t buy it) and *Angel *(of which I just watched the final episode of season 3 last night).
Book-wise, I am glad I heeded recommendations to try (and buy) the books of Mary Roach, including Stiff, Spook, and Bonk.
Richard Cheese - thank you, whoever you were!
Smiles modestly. (Glad I could finally return the favor, after all the recommendations you’ve given me over the years.)
I definitely need to mention Marley23 by name – he emailed me (this was before we had PM) and insisted I check out Derek Trucks. I’m not sure what about what I’d said about what music made him know that I would join that particular cult, but I absolutely have – he is quite possibly my favorite guitarist ever, and I am moderately knowlegable (for a non-musician) about good guitar.