I’m almost done with season 7 of The West Wing via Netflix. My usual pattern is to watch a season, catch up on a few movies, watch another season, etc.; so it has taken me about nine months to watch the whole series.
I’m trying to decide what to watch next. It should be well-written, and interesting. I like shows that have multiple-episode story arcs and measurable character development. I’m not interested in anything terribly gritty (say, Oz) but dark humor is fine. I also like shows that are quirky. Short-lived series are good, too, and won’t take me as long to get through.
My coworkers have helped me come up with this list:
House
The Wire
The Sopranos
Homicide: Life on the Street
Firefly
Babylon 5
Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Lost
X-files
*I know Buffy is beloved, and I probably would have gotten into it 10 years ago, but I feel like at this point in my life I’m a little, um, old for it.
So, Dopers, any other suggestions? Or which of these do you think I should go with?
Venture Brothers. Well-written, interesting, some multiple-episode story arcs (some episodes are self-contained), dark humor, and…quirky is a hell of an understatement. It’s animated (basically Jonny Quest on crack), not live action, but so very not for kids.
I almost never watch TV, especially after the demise of “Homicide: Life on the Street”. So, I’ll just weigh in on behalf of that one.
Oh, what about Hill Street Blues? I never really saw it when it was on TV, but I’ve seen it since (on PBS, of all places, and on tape), and it’s darned good.
The Wire has been described as a televised novel. Like a good novel, it can take awhile to get into it. You won’t immediately recognize the characters as types – they will surprise you, but it won’t be surprise for the sake of surprise.
Unlike bad novels, there won’t be cliffhangers at the end of chapters, or fakey build-ups like those that keep us coming back after commercial breaks in normal TV shows.
One of the catch-phrases for The Wire is “Everything matters”. Actions or words that seem throwaway in episode one will have repercussions in episode ten.
The thing is, I don’t know if Netflix is the way to go for The Wire. If it grabs you, you’ll want to own it. I’ve watched the first three seasons three times, some episodes four or five times. I always find something relevant that I didn’t notice before.
I’ve made it sound boring, haven’t I? It’s anything but.
Scrubs. And if you think you’re too old for Buffy, then maybe Angel? You’ll miss out on a bit, not being familiar with background info, but it’s a lot more dark and adult/mature.
Hmm, I had forgotten about Rome, that is a good suggestion. And one of my coworkers was very strong on The Wire, too, AuntiePam.
Weeds is not a bad idea, except that I don’t get HBO or Showtime or whatever network it’s on, so once I’m done with the seasons that are on DVD I’ll have to wait for future seasons to come out. It’s okay if it’s a show I can start watching in real time when I catch up (I did that with Battlestar Galactica) but I don’t want to get stuck while the show is still going on. I’m assuming Rome is finished, or is that not right?
Oh, I meant to comment that Hill Street Blues has crossed my mind, too, as well as St. Elsewhere which I watched a bit as kid but have forgotten almost completely now.
I strongly recommend the UK show Coupling. The first three seasons are comedy genius and the 4th season was very good. As it is British this is only 28 episodes on 4 discs.
Another good show to get on Netflix is Dead Like Me. It was created by the genius currently Pushing Daisies.
You might really enjoy the first 4 seasons of Northern Exposure if you did not watch this great show when it was on. It is a fish out of water story about a young Jewish doctor from NYC fresh out of residency stuck in middle of nowhere Alaska in a town called Cicely and its quirky residents.
Coupling is great. It manages to be hilarious, sexy, and sweet at the same time. On the surface, it might look like the British Friends, but whereas Friends made me want to gouge out my eyes, I loved Coupling.
I’ll second “Rome.” I loved it too. Of course, not as much as I loved “The Sopranos” so I’m going to have to go ahead and suggest you watch that one, too!
It took me two months to finish The West Wing. Now I’m two seasons deep into Deadwood. I want to watch Buffy, but at eight seasons it looks daunting.
If you haven’t seen The Wire or The Sopranos, please do. They are in a separate league of TV shows from the rest of the pack. I had no idea TV shows could get so good until I saw these two.
I would say that The Wire is more consistent with good episodes than The Sopranos is, but I still hold that the best episodes of The Sopranos are the best episodes on television.
Then there is Firefly. Only 14 episodes, but I haven’t seen anything better ever aired on Network TV. If you like Sci-fi action and well developed characters, you won’t regret watching this one.
I would start off with The Sopranos first. It will change your opinion of how TV is supposed to be done.
I’m working on Slings and Arrows myself, but a similar warning about its potential addictiveness is in order; I can see myself buying it, because I wanna see it again. And again. And again.
It’s also only three seasons, 18 episodes in all; how many do you require to feel like you’ve watched an entire “series”?
