As far as network OTA tv shows currently running, my BFF says The Good Wife is one of the best shows ever written and never misses an episode. The shows I keep up with are Grimm, Castle, and Elementary.
The rest of what I’ve been watching is mostly on Netflix (right now I’m going between Criminal Minds, Haven, the West Wing and Bones), but I’ll catch Colbert Report, the Daily Show, and the Tonight Show on Hulu when I have a whimsy for those.
Netflix also has all the Star Trek’s.
I think the best thing about Netflix is no commercials.
To clarify, the Super Bowl has been the most watched program of the year for decades, and nothing else is remotely close. Certainly not other sporting events. Second place is a dogfight between the Oscars and the rest of the NFL playoff games, with around a third of the viewership of the Super Bowl. (35-40 million vs 115 million.)
The other sports’ championships (World Series, Final 4, NBA Finals) are more in the “popular tv show” level, with around 15 million viewers.
That’s another bunch that I could start watching some day - I’ve only caught a few Bones in my day, and I liked it.
Orphan Black. Even people without a TV are watching Orphan Black.
I also enjoy Game of Thrones, the Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Dowton Abbey, Outlander, The Daily Show. And South Park, because I’m thoroughly immature.
I can’t think of the last time I watched a show on regular network TV, though. Any time I flip past, it seems to be showing “The Biggest Loser Voice Surviving A Great Race” or something.
Very high quality shows currently being produced, imho:
-Game of Thrones
-The Americans
-Hannibal
-Fargo
-Community
-Orphan Black
-The Daily Show
-This Week Tonight with John Oliver
Of those, only Hannibal is on a broadcast network, I believe (now that Community’s next season is being produced by Yahoo).
But that’s a collection of VERY high quality shows, in a variety of genres. It’s hard to see why there wouldn’t be something for everyone there. And Breaking Bad was better than any of them, but just recently ended.
“There’s nothing on TV but reality crap” is one of those statements that people make fairly often that is pretty much flat out provably false.
My DVR is constantly full, I’m always unable to record things and have to look them up on On Demand, and I’m watching programs all the time.
It’s all a matter of taste. There’s plenty on to watch.
And I haven’t watched sitcoms in years.
Although I did just give up on Graceland (from USA) - I decided it was just to dark and bleak.
From competition (“reality”) shows, I like
America’s Got Talent (NBC) - I got into this a couple seasons ago, and I’m hooked (they just wrapped a season).
Face Off (SyFy) - fun to watch movie make up show.
The Voice (NBC) - just kicked off Season 7, with Pharrell and Gwen Stephani as judges this season.
American Ninja Warrior - the editing sucks, but the challenge itself is a very tough obstacle course, and the competitors all have a strong spirit of camaraderie. The atmosphere is all about cheering everyone on to do their best, no trash talking and the like. They just wrapped their season.
For scripted dramas
Covert Affairs (USA) - spy show, will be back this fall.
Legends (can’t remember, cable) - spy show about an FBI agent who does a lot of undercover work, and there’s a deep mystery about his identity. This one breaks the episodic convention of wrapping up plots on the hour. They set up cliffhangers, then resolve them 20 minutes into the next episode, and do other weird things like that.
The fall season is just starting up, so there’s a bunch of stuff coming on new and a bunch of returning favorites, like
Agents of SHIELD
Then there are science shows on PBS, like Nova, Secrets of the Dead, and any number of new things getting kicked off like
Sex in the Wild - how different animals reproduce. They did elephants, kangaroos, and dolphins and killer whales.
And now there are a string of magic programs on TV, including
Penn & Teller: Fool Us - shot in the UK a couple years ago, rebroadcast on WB. It’s over now, but it was neat.
Wizard Wars - Penn & Teller judge a selection of new magicians competing by taking three everyday ordinary objects and creating a magic show out of them in a limited amount of time. Two teams compete, the winners of that round compete against the in-house “wizards”. If they do a better job, they win $10,000. So far, something like 4 of 6 shows have gone to the challengers winning.
Supernatural
SUITS
Major Crimes
Criminal Minds
That’s about it…
I think the problem is that the tv paradigm has wildly shifted, and people are not understanding that. If I turn on my tv this evening and flip channels, I will probably see about 95% crap. At the same time, I have so much quality tv to watch that I can’t keep up with it.
My DVR is pretty full myself - I tend to record at least one scripted show every evening (aside from Saturdays). And they are ALL network TV (since I don’t have cable) - though I do watch some cable shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
These are some of the shows I watch (and love) on a weekly basis: Sleepy Hollow, Brooklyn 99, New Girl, Modern Family (ok, the love for that has diminished), Nashville, Grimm, Downton Abbey, etc. Added to that are some network dramas I haven’t got into yet, but Netflix has them and I’m tempted: The Good Wife and Scandal. And then the cable shows - Game of Thrones & Veep from HBO (have to get on Blu-ray), The Americans & Orphan Black (through Amazon Prime), Mad Men, Adventure Time (both through purchase on Amazon Instant). And then streaming only shows: Community (now on Yahoo), House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Arrested Development, Knights of Sidonia (on Netflix).
Yeah, it goes on and on…