My wife’s and my preferred TV watching is what I’ll call dramedies - hourlong shows, w/ several characters and clever dialogue. We just finished Suits. A couple of other shows we enjoyed recently were Psych and Boston Legal. West Wing and The Good Wife would be another good example. And Buffy, Angel, and Firefly are pretty much the gold standards.
We also enjoy dramas - in the Masterpiece Theater vein, but we don’t like excessive blood/violence, preachiness, suspense, etc.
When we find a show we like, we really like it if it had a decent run, so we can binge it for a while.
I’ve been enjoying “Alone Together”, [Two millennial misfits strike up a platonic friendship in order to navigate life in vain and status-obsessed Los Angeles]
It’s target audience is obviously for 20-somethings. But I find the dialog clever enough to keep me interested.
I think the original “dramedy” was Lou Grant, back in the late '70s. When it first came on, TVGuide described it as “comedy,” then a “drama,” and finally settled on “comedy/drama.” The term “dramedy” was coined soon afterward.
Depending on your definition of “excessive violence”, I’d recommend Fargo. The first two seasons are among the finest TV ever made in my opinion. The third season is good, but doesn’t hit the heights of the others. I haven’t seen the recent fourth season because it hasn’t reached the UK yet.
Will make a list of the others! Also going to rent The Good Fight from the library. BTW, we have Netflix and Prime, and a pretty good selection at the library.
Keep the suggestions coming. We’ve been watching WAY too much TV!
It is weird trying to find shows that fit into the sweet spots of TWO people. My wife is a little less tolerant of creepiness/gore than I. And some shows start off OK, but then run out of steam.
We enjoyed Grace and Frankie, and Better Call Saul (but not Breaking Bad).
I’ll second White Collar, in that it’s a weird hybrid of detective show/police procedural along with heist/art thief. Maybe it’s a bit silly at times, but it’s well acted- Bomer is great, and DeKay is consistently underrated in everything he’s in. Willie Garson is a hoot as well.
I would suggest The Sopranos, depending on where you draw that drama/comedy line, but it’s fairly dark and violent. Funny as hell sometimes though.
Murdoch Mysteries
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (I never got into this one, but it’s often listed with Murdoch Mysteries – a lot of people like both.)
Super Girl
Black Lightning
The New Legends of Monkey (2 seasons on Netflix)
The Good Place (1/2 hour shows, but fits, I think)
Parks and Recreation (same)
Call the Midwife
Wynonna Earp
If you liked Psych, I suspect you’d like Monk (129 episodes). Also, there’s a more recent Belgian series with English subtitles available on the PBS streaming service called Professor T. It’s similar to Monk in many ways, but different enough, and amusing enough, to be worth watching. There are 39 episodes, and apparently no more will be made.
Dead Like Me was somewhat uneven in quality, but very good. Unfortunately there are only 29 episodes. Conceptually similar is Pushing Daisies which is also worth watching, but only 22 episodes were made before it was cancelled.
It’s been a long time since I saw an episode of Northern Exposure or Picket Fences, but they fit the description and I remember both fondly.
