About a month ago, I was home sick for about a week. Daytime TV being what it is, I stumbled across Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns on FX. I was lucky and this was the first episode where Buffy first gets to Sunnydale. Now, I had friends and such who used to watch this show religously…and I teased them about it, religously. On the surface this show just looked stupid, and I refused any attempts to make it watch it.
Well I was wrong. From the first episode this show just hooked me. I still think some of the fighting and demons are kinda silly, but the writting and story lines have just kept me watching. I actually laugh out loud at this show. It just might be one of the best I have ever watched.
I have actually gone out and bought all 7 seasons on DVD, as I didnt feel like watiing on FX. I am now on Season 5, and it just keeps getting better!
So what the hell else am I missing out there?? Im not a HUGE TV fan, simply because I see most shows as junk…but hell, I was wrong about Buffy, what else could I be wrong about??
So give me some good shows to check out, either new, or on DVD. My Buffy DVD’s will run out soon and I will need something else to escape to!
Well, Angel, of course, the other Jossverse show, as well as Firefly, his space western, which is by far the best thing he’s ever done even though it’s only 13 episodes, not that I’m bitter about it.
Other good TV on DVD right now:
Farscape (only really picks up about 2/3 of the way through the first season, so stick with it)
Arrested Development
Futurama
There are tons of them. I keep finding shows I ignored and when they are on at 2AM I discover they are really good. My latest is Scrubs which I only watched because I loved Garden State.
I second Angel and Firefly. I had bizarre prejudices against Angel and Firefly despite my love for BtVS, and I deeply regret all the weeks and months wasted when I wasn’t watching them–so start now! The first four seasons of Angel are on DVD–it also airs on TNT week nights at 5. Right now, it’s about half-way through S2. *Firefly is on DVD as well and the movie version, Serenity, will be out in September.
Also, if you aren’t watching Deadwood, Carnivale, The Shield, and Nip/Tuck you should check those out. FX is rerunning The Shield and Nip/Tuck right now, HBO is rerunning Carnivale, and Deadwood should be out on DVD soon. The first season (and the second season of the Shield) of all of them are on DVD except Deadwood.
on show that totally flew under my radar was strangers with candy. it’s being shown intermittantly on comedy central. paul dinello, stephen colbert, and amy sedaris are pure genius. that show’s sense of humor is perfectly suited to me.
and like someone else said, arrested behavior.
and curb your enthusiasm, if you have hbo.
i couldn’t get into scrubs, though. there’s always a lesson at the end. i hate that. i guess strangers with candy always has a lesson, but it’s always wrong.
oh yeah, i forgot about deadwood. i was very pleasantly suprised by that show. i usually avoid westerns, but deadwood is just amazing.
speaking of hbo, if you haven’t watched the sopranos (i guess if you’ve been under a rock for the last half decade) start watching the early seasons on dvd. i didn’t get hbo until about 2 years ago, and i could never get into the sopranos because of the number of characters and backstory i missed. hbo re-ran (is that a word?) all of the episodes, i think they’re probably almost done with the last season at this point, so that advice is pretty worthless. but you can rent or buy them. the acting is tremendous, all of the actors can convey so much with just their eyes or body language. it’s hard to say that a storyline is subtle when the soprano family is decimating the population of new jersey, but some of it is. sure, your mom may have not tried to have you murdered, but i think we can all see a little of our own mother in tony’s.
Reno 9/11 is way better than you think it is. I paid no attention to its existence for the whole first season, and now I think it is one of the funniest shows on TV.
As far as current shows, Veronica Mars is supposed to be pretty good.
The Venture Brothers on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim is great and only promises to get better. If it gets a second season, that is. The decision to renew will be made next month. But if you’ve ever watched Johnny Quest–or any adventure cartoons at all, for that matter–then you’ll laugh your ass off.
Second the motion. I’m a huuuuuge *Buffy * fan, and when I watched Babylon 5 I discovered I liked it better. The first season is tough to plow through, but it picks up toward the end and it’s full steam ahead for the next 4 seasons. Don’t just skip to Season 2 though; you’ll be glad for the context and character development later.
i watch veronica mars. it’s decent. i think i just like the girl who plays veronica, though. she’s pretty cute. they have a couple interesting and/or funny characters on the show.
I’m a big fan of most of the shows mentioned so far, so maybe my taste will line up for you: If you’ve never seen Homicide: Life on the Street, I think it’s the best cop show ever to air on television. Yes, even better than Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. Well, I should clarify, it starts to go downhill in the last season or two as the network starts monkeying with it to try to inflate the ratings, but until then it’s friggin’ amazing. If you haven’t seen it, you should go back and check it out. One caveat: You Must start at the beginning.
Whoever mentioned Strangers With Candy - yes. It’s off-the-wall hilarious.
Also, check out Freaks and Geeks. It only ran for 18 episodes but you can buy all of them in one amazingly wonderful boxed set. Anyone that has seen the show will tell you how good it is. You just fall in love with the characters. And after you buy the boxed set, you will forever be disappointed by other DVD box sets because there will never be another with as many extras (GOOD extras, too) than Freaks and Geeks.