I’ve got plenty of Great Dramas in my Netflix queue – Top of the Lake, Ripper Street, Orange Is the New Black – but sometimes I just want to veg and be entertained. Think chick flicks in serial form. I’ve liked Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars, plus British period pieces like Cranford, Lark Rise to Candleford, House of Elliot. Or non-period, like Doc Martin. Recently watched Drop Dead Diva, which is a wee bit stupider than I prefer.
What do you recommend?
I’ve just started watching Franklin and Bash, which is a lawyer show slightly less silly, and slightly more sexist, than Drop Dead Diva.
I also highly recommend Psych.
AV Club article on tv shows to watch.
If you’ve not seen the United States of Tara yet, you should - but it’s kind of heavy.
I thought Bomb Girls was horrible, but it is period drama and it does have the right amount of weight to it. Call the Midwife is good and has the right amount of weight to it. I’ve been told by many, many people that if I gave Friday Night Lights a chance, that I’d love it even though I don’t care at all about football.
Football is the vehicle for angst. Lots of angst. It’s good.
I’ve got Psych in the queue – maybe I’ll try that next, thanks for the rec.
Sexism tends to irritate me out of my enjoyment, so I dunno about Franklin and Bash.
Thanks, amarinth – I’d actually seen the AV Club article, but most of the shows on it are not yet available on Netflix streaming, which has enough stuff on it that I don’t want to buy a show on spec. (I definitely want to check out Orphan Black at some point, though – I hear the lead actress is amazing.)
I also have Call the Midwife in my queue – and, like you, have had Friday Night Lights recommended too many times to count. Since I like Kyle whatshisface and Connie Britton, though, I may have to succumb at some point.
Keep the recs coming, everyone!
Royal Pains?
That’s one I enjoy.
Orange is the New Black might actually fill what you are looking for. For a prison show it’s surprisingly light and fluffy.
Orange Is The New Black was great and since we’re only one season deep you can catch up in, oh, about a week.
Also, since you already know you have some interest in it, Psych. It’s a serial/procedural show so understand what’s going on after the first few episodes and then if you catch a rerun on TV you can watch it and not have to worry about missing anything or spoiling too much. There’s a few story arcs that run seasons or the series, but if you spoil them, it’s not the end of the world and the show is so good, it’s still very much worth watching. One of my employees is currently on his 4th run through it.
Something really interesting with that show is that you can actually see how much extra money the network is throwing at them each season. The acting gets better. The makeup, hair and wardrobe gets better, all of a sudden one year the transition shots (between scenes) got better (don’t know if they bought them or shot them). Psych really seems to be USA’s baby.
They also must spend a ton on editing as the intro changes with almost every episode and the swap up the music for special episodes.
I think I might watch it again now that I just talked it up so much.
Oh, and if you like 90’s sitcoms, they spend a good chunk of their time referencing them.
Did not realize that – I thought it was more angsty. Hm, maybe I’ll check that out.
Another thing in my queue is Merlin – I love love love the character of Merlin in most incarnations. (The Sam Neill miniseries of a dozen years ago is a fave.) Has anyone seen that?
No, it’s essentially a comedy/dramedy.
I would also recommend Psych and Royal Pains. They are both fun.
I’ll also add another vote for Friday Night Lights. It’s definitely worth watching. There’s one really weak plot arc/season (fans of the show will know what I’m talking about) but overall the show is very good.
Have you seen the series Camelot? Netflix has it on DVD, but not streaming.
The Merlin character is, IMO the best thing about it, and I really enjoy the choices they made in bringing the old myths to life. Sadly, they only made one season.
Yeah, and it was worse than weak. That said, it’s worth pushing through that really bad plot line to get to the very strong later seasons. I’ll pile on with a vote for FNL too.
I’m currently enjoying Spaced. Love the cast, love the premise, love the silliness of it all. One of the few shows that has had me laughing out loud recently.
I just finished re-watching this tonight. It’s great too.
Have you tried Weeds?
No idea if it’s on Netflix or not, but have you seen Foyle’s War?
Or how about some Young Ones reruns?
Started watching Psych tonight – that’s doing nicely, thanks.
I’ll be adding some of these others to the queue, though.
I think Portlandia is hilarious, but it’s one of those shows people either love or hate.
I second the Portlandia suggestion. And agree that you’ll either love it or hate it. I love it, my wife hates it.
Another funny one is “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Juvenile, crass, crude, sexist, and hilarious.