I just signed up for Netflix. Suggest to me some good TV shows to start.

Cafe Society
1

So I finally signed up with Netflix. I had no idea they had the wide selection that they do. They seem to have just about every DVD ever put out so far, with the exception of strictly adult ones. And talk about your TV shows! Just about every television show I can think of are having their seasons being popped out in a row every few months.

Now me, I wasn’t a big TV watcher for a long period of my life. Not that I had no interest, I just never really found the time.

But not that I’ve got Netflix and some free time, I figure here’s my chance to catch up on shows I hear about people talking about all the time and going crazy over and being addicted to. Because really, having the chance to catch shows I’ve never even seen one episode of, from the first episode and in order, that’s too good to resist! There’s so many to choose from and I already know some shows I’m going to start witnout a doubt. Lost, 24, House, Numb3rs, Desperate Housewives, The 1400 and Angel top the list.

Already I’ve started with That 70s Show.

Before two weeks ago, I hadn’t seen one episode of those hilarious series. Today I’m already finished with season one and halfway into season two.

Anyway, the point of this topic is, what are other shows I should start? At the rate I’m going (I’m on the 7 at a time plan and finish a disc a day, usually), I’m going to be finished with my “Must Start Watching And Watch All Seasons Out So Far” list in about 2 or 3 months.

There’s so many shows out there that I’ve heard of but never watched. What are some other good ones?
For the record, I like comedy, suspense, thriller, horror. Not so much sports or political things.

I know I’d like 24 even though it has some political elements to it, but the thriller part of it sorta overrides that. But shows like The West Wing I’d have no interest in.

I also don’t like drama too much, unless there’s something thrown in to make it exciting or like a way I listed above. Law and Order, NYPD Blue, ER, stuff that like I wouldn’t like.

I also don’t tend to like sci-fi stuff like Battlestar Galactica or Stargate.

Basically, if it’s a Comedy or Thriller/Suspense/Action/Horror type show, I’d give it a try.
So what should I start? King of Queens? Mad About You? Everyone Loves Raymond? How about Friends or Buffy the Vampire Slayer? X-files? OZ? Dead Like Me? How about Six Feet Under or The Sopranos? Or maybe Prison Break or My Name is Earl.

I’m serious when I say I’ve never seen any of these shows. There’s so many. And they all sound good.

Tell me what I should watch.

2

Trailer Park Boys

Trust me on this. Lo-fi, hysterical single camera comedy from Newfoundland. Pure genius.

3

Goddamn it. Nova Scotia, not Newfoundland.

4

Damn. I was going to recommend HBO’s Deadwood. It doesn’t fit into any of those categories though.

I’m interested to see if anyone has horror TV recommendations. I was really psyched for Showtime’s Masters of Horror series, but it was a big disappointment.

For comedy, how about My Name is Earl and The Office (both the US and UK versions), and Arrested Development?

5

You mentioned *Buffy *and Angel and I highly recommend them both, but you should start watching *Buffy *first. *Angel *was a spinoff that started at the beginning of Buffy’s 4th season, and there are several crossovers during *BtVS *Season 4 and 5 (*Angel *Seasons 1 & 2).

Homicide: Life on the Street is excellent.

6

One of my favorites is Scrubs…so it’s worth a look if you like some random comedy…

Brendon

7

I’ve been catching up on Monk, which seems to fall within your parameters. I would second the nomination for Deadwood, although it really tailed off in the second season. The British version of The Office was great.

I see that Six Feet Under is on your list. I really enjoyed the show, but it mostly became drama, with some black comedy, after a while, so you might not like it that much.

I’m also trying to catch up on Curb Your Enthusiasm - another great show.

8

Since you mentioned Buffy and Angel, I’ll suggest Joss Whedon’s other show, Firefly. Yes, it’s technically science fiction, but that’s more the background for the stories. They avoid pulling out sci-fi gobbledegook in the last five minutes to solve their dillemmas, unlike all too many other shows. The writing, dialog and characters are top-notch.

Other great shows:

Freaks and Geeks
Undeclared
Dead Like Me
Greg the Bunny
the Simpsons
Family Guy
American Dad
South Park
Futurama

9

We have been going through all 5 seasons of Babylon 5 on our Netflix list.

10

Presumably because of its political aspect?

Try Sorkin’s first big network show, Sports Night. Behind the scenes at a prime time sports news show, a la Sportscenter. It’s easy on the sports, and because Sorkin didn’t have much clout yet, fairly easy on the moralizing. It’s just clever, intelligent, character-driven comedy. And at only two seasons, it won’t take you too long to get through it :frowning:

11

Try the following:

Wonderfalls
Veronica Mars
The Wire
Firefly

I had never seen a single episode of any of these shows before getting them on Netflix. Now I love each of them.

12

Ned and Stacey

13

forgot to say that Ned and Stacey is a pretty good sitcom from the mid nineties

14

Sopranos is pretty badass.

Scrubs rules.

The first 4 seasons of CSI were great.

I miss Sports Night, good show.

15

The TV shows currently in my queue:

Fawlty Towers (British Comedy)
Highlander (Fantasy Swordfighting Immortal action)
La Femme Nikita (Sexy Spy Asskicking action)
Quantum Leap (A man traveling through time, hoping to set right what once went wrong)
Queer as Folk (Gay themed drama)
West Wing (which you’ve already ruled out)
Lost (which is on your list)
Drawn Together (off-color adult cartoon)
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (far more innocent cartoon)

And in my immediate vicinity:

Sports Night
Family Guy
The Critic
Futurama

16

You’ll probably enjoy Frasier (and Cheers if you never saw that). And Father Ted, probably the best show about three priests on an island off the coast of Ireland.

17

Alias. Season 4 was godawful and Season 5 pretty lame. But Seasons 1, 2, and 3 were kickass.

18

I dunno: it sorta fits into suspense and horror, although not so much with the supernatural elements. There’s some pretty horrific stuff in that show, as well as some fantastic suspense. And it’s the best show I’ve seen, I think.

Rome is similarly gruesome-good fun.

The Office (British version) is terribly painful comedy, great stuff. The American version is good, I think, but I’ve only seen the first season, and it didn’t stick with me the way the British version did.

Daniel