24 and Lie to Me are both available on Netflix Instant. The SO and I can’t decide what to watch next.
So, tell us what we should!
Here’s what we like on TV right now: Mad Men, 30 Rock, Community, Parks & Recreation, Outsourced, It’s Always Sunny, The League, the Tudors (only in season 2)
Here’s what we’ve liked in the past: Fawlty Towers, Vicar of Dibley, Yes Minister/PM, Waiting for God, Weeds (first 3-4 seasons), Futurama, Arrested Development, Cowboy Bebop
I see lots of the shows are comedy-heavy, but our movies trend to drama/thriller.
Both 24 and Lie To Me are rated 4.5’s for us in Netflix. 24 is recommended because of “Firefly: The Complete Series, Arrested Development: Season 1 and Battlestar Galactica: Season 1” I hated what I saw of Firefly and I’ve never watched Battlestar Galactica.
Lie to Me is recommended based on “30 Rock, Burn Notice, Fringe” I’ve only seen 30 Rock.
Lie to Me seems like it’d be easier to jump into because it’s much newer. Also, 24 is 8 seasons long; that’s a helluva time commitment.
They are both excellent shows. The thing with 24 is each episode follows on from the last, and you would quickly lose the plot if you missed one. Lie to Me eps are more stand alone (though there is some story line progression through the seasons.) If you just want to watch an episode here and there as you have time then I would probably plump for Lie to Me. If you have time to watch an episode every day or 3 then 24 would be my choice.
24 has eight seasons but you only need to watch the first four to get the entire “story” of the complete run. Those four seasons are also awesome and Lie To Me never did it for me.
Season 8 spoiler:
I think it’s telling that season 8 ended exactly the same as season 4. Almost as if the writers were admitting they ran out of ideas years ago and were trying to go back to their perfect ending.
I couldn’t stand Lie to Me because the conceit of the show and its formula makes CSI look like gritty documentary. Roth made it barely watchable for me for as long as my wife’s interest was held by it, but it bothered me that the resolution was never any more satisfying than “A wizard did it.” An interesting set-up, and then “I know you’re lying because you touched your ear just then.” Cut to overproduced insert of an ear being touched in black-and-white and slow-motion from four different angles.
24 isn’t any more plausible, but it’s more enjoyable because the plot can be engaging. (Though I didn’t watch past the fifth season.) The first season is some of the best TV ever.
Actually I just looked again and 24 was rated a 4.9 and Lie to Me a 4.4. Hmmm.
I like what One And Only Wanderers said about pacing. Lie to Me is more attractive in that sense. I don’t want to get sucked in like mad with 24, but if it’s only 4-5 seasons worth, then it might not be so bad. I wasn’t really ready for the long haul of 8 seasons, but I guess it’s more like the Office - I watch 4-5 seasons but it appears that it’ll have a shelf life of at least 7. No real resolution/clarity, but still enjoyable.
Larry Mudd, it sounds like you really hated Lie to ME. How many episodes did you watch? Can you tell me which shows that I listed that you like, or which ones you’ve disliked?
I’ve seen the first two seasons of Lie to Me. The show follows a formula and gets boring really fast. There are only two good actors on that show, Tim Roth and the girl who plays his daughter. The main cast is mediocre, and some of the guest actors are terrible.
The first two seasons of 24 is really some of the best TV out there. I would watch 24 for the first four seasons. After that they just start recycling plot points. The rating you’re getting isn’t as high as it could have been if they just rated the first two seasons.
Meh, I’m disliked for an assortment of other things and opinions. I suppose Firefly is only in the middle of the list
I’m really thankful for the feedback in the thread. It seems like going with 24 will be good, and I’m not so worried about investing 8 seasons’ worth of time. 2-4 sounds much more reasonable. I think I’ll still give Lie to Me a chance down the road (but not expect much). 24 seems to have won out for the immediate future.
I also hated Firefly, but loved Battlestar Galactica. I’d go with 24, each season stands alone, so it isn’t like you must watch all eight or anything. The first season of 24 really is completely addictive.
24 is television crack. I got into it on DVD after the first couple of seasons, and it’d be 2 am on a worknight, I’d have watched three of the four episodes on the DVD I had, and I’d be unable to sleep until I watched the fourth. But by the fifth season, I stopped watching with a few episodes left - it had run out of gas. If you step back and look at things closely, the plot twists don’t necessarily make sense, but it grabs you by the throat and runs so fast you never really take the time to analyze closely.
The first season of 24 was watched as fast as we could queue 'em up. My husband continued with the series, and is really enjoying it, but i just couldn’t get into it after everyone had been kidnapped the first five times.
We watched the first season in its entirety and the first couple of the second season. For me, I could get through it because Tim Roth is fun to watch - but my problem was that I never found any of the episodic plots engaging at all, because there’s no proper puzzle in it - just “Here’s a variety of shifty characters.” pad pad pad pad pad “…and the culprit is X.” It’s a lot like the old Dragnet radio shows in that way - no real dramatic tension or satisfying resolution. Also, too much in the realm of fantasy to work as a procedural. (24 wasn’t exactly documentary, but it was so OTT that it didn’t seem to matter, and at least the broad strokes like divisions of government were attended to.)
I like Mad Men*, 30 Rock, Fawlty Towers*, Vicar of Dibley, Yes Minister/PM, Weeds, (only watched first season, wife found it too stressful to continue…) Futurama*, Arrested Development*, Cowboy Bebop
Haven’t seen: Community, Parks & Recreation, Outsourced, It’s Always Sunny, The League, the Tudors, Waiting for God. There’s nothing on your lists that I question for quality, and asterisked titles are among all-time faves.
Going against the crowd, I thought 24 was terrible. It did nothing for me and is one of the few shows that I was pleased when it ended. I was sick of the ads.
Lie To Me I find to be more interesting, though not a must watch. But between the two choices, it’s my definite pick.
Gotcha. Lie to Me is definitely far down the list then. Of the stuff you haven’t watched, you should really watch Parks & Rec if you can. It’s very, very good. Season 1 & 2 are available on Netflix streaming, too.
You should watch Carnivale. Of course, everybody should watch Carnivale, so we can get a discussion going about it here. It’s got such an incredibly rich mythology and great drama and woeful flaws and inadequacies that there’s plenty to talk about!
Anybody? sigh
At least watch the opening credits and see if they don’t suck you in.
Hey thanks! If you’re hesitant on Parks & Recreation because of Amy Poehler, she’s almost nothing like her SNL characters. She seems to have absorbed a lot from hubby Will Arnett. Also, it has a lot of new drop dead funny people, like Nick Offerman, previously best known for being married to Megan Mullally (Karen on Will & Grace) and Rashida Jones from the Office.
Lie to Me is like House MD. Every episode is more or less the same. After you’ve seen a couple episodes, there’s no point in watching anymore.
Parks & Rec seems to be split right down the middle in viewer opinion. Some people around these parts act like it’s the most brilliant comedy since Arrested Development. However, in reality, it blows donkey balls.
It’s got such an incredibly rich mythology and great drama and woeful flaws and inadequacies that there’s plenty to talk about!