# Recommend me a TV series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884 "2007-02-05T03:56:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/1 "2007-02-05T03:56:55Z")
I need suggestions of TV series on DVD to distract me while I’m exercising. But I’m not a TV watcher so I have no idea what might be interesting. It needs to be 40 to 60 minutes per episode. However it also has to satisfy whatever parental lock they use at the gym, so most of the good hour-long premium cable stuff is out (it wouldn’t even allow ‘Firefly’ or ‘Battlestar Galactica’, forget about ‘The Sopranos’. So I just finished Season 2 of ‘Lost’, I lost interest in ‘24’ early in season 3. Please suggest me something good along those lines, rentable from Netflix, and tell me why you think it’s good. Vintage/retro stuff is also fair game. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/2 "2007-02-05T04:05:30Z")
_Buffy_ leads the list. Then try _Angel_. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/3 "2007-02-05T04:06:03Z")
[MacGyver](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088559/). Because it teaches valuable lessons: you can save the world from a vast acid spill if you have a chocolate bar; Budapest, Burma and Brazil all look a lot like Southern California; chicks are good to have around, because their purses contain things like mirrors which you can use to reroute lasers; all villains have an accent; and, perhaps most importantly, Richard Dean Anderson has a mullet! Seriously, though, they’re pretty good for working out since there tends to be less talking and more action. Plus, like I said, Richard Dean Anderson with a mullet! ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/4 "2007-02-05T16:01:37Z")
How about Doctor WHO both old and new ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/5 "2007-02-05T16:03:46Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] I need suggestions of TV series on DVD to distract me while I’m exercising. But I’m not a TV watcher so I have no idea what might be interesting. It needs to be 40 to 60 minutes per episode. However it also has to satisfy whatever parental lock they use at the gym, so most of the good hour-long premium cable stuff is out (it wouldn’t even allow ‘Firefly’ or ‘Battlestar Galactica’, forget about ‘The Sopranos’. So I just finished Season 2 of ‘Lost’, I lost interest in ‘24’ early in season 3. Please suggest me something good along those lines, rentable from Netflix, and tell me why you think it’s good. Vintage/retro stuff is also fair game. Thanks in advance. [/QUOTE] House. Definitely House. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/6 "2007-02-05T16:09:19Z")
_Murder One_. Best TV show ever. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/7 "2007-02-05T16:54:02Z")
_Law & Order_. It’s fun, the dialogue is good, the cast is great, it doesn’t require too much concentration to follow, it’s so formulatic that you can time your workout to the plot developments, and you’ll never, ever run out of episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/8 "2007-02-05T16:56:16Z")
24 is okay but no Firefly? Seriously? I second Law & Order since most episodes will keep you working hard 'til you find out what happens in the end. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/9 "2007-02-05T18:32:54Z")
Can you give us an idea of what kinds of things you’re generally interested in? And can you devote your full concentration while exercising or do you want something fun but not fully engrossing? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/10 "2007-02-05T22:32:07Z")
Space 1999 The Prisnor Secret Agent Men from U.N.C.L.E ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/11 "2007-02-05T22:37:26Z")
“Supernatural” is one of my favorite weekly workout shows. It’s along the lines of the X-Files, which is good too if you haven’t seen it. Have you seen the British version of “The Office”? If not, then start with that one and move on to the U.S. version after that (they’re half an hour but why not do two at a time?). ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/12 "2007-02-05T23:37:43Z")
I did this very thing with “The Sopranos”, and you can get 6 season ons DVD as wee speak. Other TV: The 4400 Seinfeld X-Files Deadwood Six Feet Under MtM ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/13 "2007-02-05T23:44:21Z")
1. West Wing 2. Law and Order 3. Murder One ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/14 "2007-02-06T01:21:36Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] _Murder One_. Best TV show ever. [/QUOTE] I SO agree with that!! Season one of Alias was good. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/15 "2007-02-06T01:30:27Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] Season one of Alias was good. [/QUOTE] Coincidentally I have just started exercising with Alias on the home TV. Perfect for this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/16 "2007-02-06T02:31:47Z")
Farscape. One of the best shows that didn’t get noticed until too late. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/17 "2007-02-06T02:32:46Z")
Thanks guys, some good suggestions. I’m thinking about House, Murder One, and maybe Law and Order. We’ll see how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/18 "2007-02-06T05:10:20Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] Thanks guys, some good suggestions. I’m thinking about House, Murder One, and maybe Law and Order. We’ll see how it goes. [/QUOTE] If you get L&O, make sure you order a season with Jerry Orbach in it (we’re talking over 10 seasons, here, so that shouldn’t be a problem). ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/19 "2007-02-06T06:49:11Z")
\*House \*and _Veronica Mars_ would probably serve well to distract you during a workout. Both are serialized dramas that have well constructed investigative/detective style plot arcs within each episode, so everything that happens is important to the episode, important to the series, or just for comedic effect. In terms of retro stuff: _American Dreams_ was about a Catholic family in 1960’s Philadelphia; _Freaks and Geeks_ focused on, well, the freaks and geeks of a high school just outside of Detroit in 1980. I thought both were great shows, but I’m not sure either would be my first choice to watch if I were stuck on treadmill or stationary bike. If you’ve never been a TV watcher, it’d be worth a look at some of the more popular sitcoms of the past: Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld, 3rd Rock From The Sun, etc. They’re only 20 minutes each, but if you set the disc to “Play All Episodes” you should be able to get through two without having to reset the DVD player. Best of all, you use so little of your brain watching them you’ll finish your workout feeling both invigorated and as if you just took a 40 minute nap. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884/20 "2007-02-06T07:39:08Z")
\*Six feet under \* and _Weeds_ are both fantastic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-tv-series/390884.md?page=2)