TV Binge Watching

[jjb1970]

I suspect I'm not the only one watching a lot more TV than normal at the moment (between building plastic kits, catching up on DIY jobs and working from home), I thought I'd offer a few recommendations in case people haven't seen any of these:

 

- Parks and Recreation, available on Amazon Prime with no extra charge, one of the best TV sit-coms of all time in my opinion. Wonderful characters and humour which mixes classic relationship type humour with satire, it is about the local government parks and recreation department of a small American city. There is a genuine warmth to it all and the standards of writing, production and acting are extremely high. Ron Swanson is an awesome character, wonderful stuff. 

 

- The Expanse, a science fiction series set in a future where humans have colonised Mars and built settlements in the Asteroid belt and outer planets. The season opens with the Solar system in a cold war type situation between Earth and Mars, which both exploiting those who live in the belt and outer planets then develops from there. The story is complex and multi-layered and is one of the few sci-fi shows which genuinely defies expectation and keeps you thinking about what is happening, avoiding spoon feeding people with a simple story. Excellent acting and production values too, I'm struggling to think of any sci-fi show that is anything like as good. Available on Amazon Prime with no extra charge. Many people find the first episode or two to be a bit slow burning but if you stick with it the story just sucks people in and is compelling. Quite violent and adult themed so not one for children.

 

- Person of Interest, this starts as a fairly conventional shoot'em up type show but evolves into a sort of sci-fi show about artificial intelligence and is one of the best AI themed shows I've seen. Excellent acting talent and pretty much movie standard production values, although there is an over all story arch each show in the early seasons is sort of stand alone, although later on it becomes a serial type show. It's available to buy on Amazon Prime but we bought the disc box set and are going through it again.

 

-Picard, I thought the Star Trek franchise had become almost like a self parody of itself, very tired and cliched (although I did enjoy the re-boot movies) so had low expectations for Picard. However it is very good, darker, grittier and more violent than older Trek shows, t's not very child friendly (well, not for younger children anyway). Many TNG characters return (played by the same actors) and the writing, production and writing standards are excellent, pretty much movie standard production values. The series is a serial and episodes all form part of an over arching story, well worth a watch. On Amazon Prime with no extra charge.

 

If people haven't seen the above and are looking for something a bit different (I've also been working through my complete Dad's Army, Bottom and Fawlty Towers disc sets) I recommend having a look.

[Jeff Smith]

I can't say I'm a fan of Parks and Recreation, or any US comedy come to that.

 

On Amazon Prime (the US has different shows to the UK) The Expanse is excellent, as is The Man in the High Castle for an alternative history story.  Sex Education is fun and a third series is in the works.  Picard is not available on Prime here.

[jjb1970]

The Man in the High Castle is a great show, although I thought things slipped a bit in the final season. Probably the best alternative history story of any, although it is also a kind of sci-fi too. Wonderful acting and movie standards of production. Very different from the book but superbly done.

[jjb1970]

Thinking of The Man in the High Castle, I think the thing that altered the final season was killing off Tagomi. He was one of the shows only sympathetic characters and was a kind of moral compass for it all. When he left it changed the whole feel of the show. Although it is all relative and season 4 was still superior TV.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

54 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

...The Expanse, a science fiction series set in a future where humans have colonised Mars and built settlements in the Asteroid belt and outer planets. The season opens with the Solar system in a cold war type situation between Earth and Mars, which both exploiting those who live in the belt and outer planets then develops from there. The story is complex and multi-layered and is one of the few sci-fi shows which genuinely defies expectation and keeps you thinking about what is happening, avoiding spoon feeding people with a simple story...

Sounds like some of Asimov's earlier short stories? Any attribution to 'inspired by < insert author(s)> ?

[Jeff Smith]

The Expanse is actually closely based on books by James S A Corey.  Seasons 1 and 2 follows the first book Laviathan Wakes.

 

If you are short of reading matter and enjoy alternative history try the Twilight of the Gods trilogy by Christopher G Nuttall.  It assumes Hitler and Churchill made peace and Hitler basically kept Europe.  And the US did not enter the war.  It is set in 1985.

[jjb1970]

The Expanse is based on the books by James S A Corey, which is actually a pen name for two writers working collaboratively.  The TV version follows the books pretty closely although some characters are changed.

[Steamport Southport]

7 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

I can't say I'm a fan of Parks and Recreation, or any US comedy come to that.

 

 

 

I tried it a few times after very fervent recommendations. Just couldn't get in to it.

 

US comedy can be very good though, unfortunately most is terrible. For every good one there is a hundred Everyone Loves Raymond's.

 

Then again, this is the country that made Mrs Browns Boys. 

 

 

 

Jason

[jjb1970]

I think Sturgeon's law (90% of everything is rubbish) is particularly apt for TV, there really isn't that much really good TV and most is forgettable filler material. This is true for US TV comedy, but I find the golden nuggets are extremely good.  Friends has suffered a bit from over exposure but it was a brilliantly written show. Seinfeld was brilliant as is Larry David's Curb your Enthusiasm. I also have a soft spot for Frasier. And if we include animation the South Park is brilliant,  and older seasons of The Simpson's (although that one lost it at some point).

 

At one time comedy was something the BBC did really well but now most of their comedy seems to be panel type shows of people sneering at just about everyone else. I used to enjoy Have I Got News For You but got turned off by the smugness after a while.

[Rugd1022]

I find I enjoy some of the US output more than others, I love Frasier as it's so well written and acted, Law & Order SVU is a staple which I never tire of watching but some of the other more recent US crime shows leave me cold, I can dip into NCIS occasionally and liked Person Of Interest though. Having watched a lot of the British stuff like The Sweeney, The Professionals etc so many times now I've started going back to some of the older US series of my youth, I've just finished watching The Invaders which despite the early Star Trek style special effects is well made and quite creepy in places, just as I remember it when it shown on BBC2 back in the '70s. I'm now half way into the first series of Starsky & Hutch which I'm enjoying for the cars, clothes and scuzzy Los Angeles locations as much as anything else, next up I'll probably watch The Rockford Files.

 

Being in an American 'mood' last night I watched Quentin Tarantino's film 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood', it's very long and slow but worth staying with. The look of the film is pretty much a love letter to the late '60s period in California and Tarantino plays with history a little with regard to Charles Manson's family of hippy kids attack on Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring in their Cielo Drive home, the street scenes are beautifully done with so much period detail you really need to watch it more than once to absorb it all. Like much of QT's output it does wander a bit here and there but it still works as a film.... the cinematography alone is well worth your time...

 

 

 

 

[Ohmisterporter]

Only have Freesat at the moment so there is a limited selection of programmes. I like NCIS but get a little tired of the format being samey every time. eg.

"We are looking for the bad guy"

Clicketty click on the computer.

"He is driving his car past this building right now".

"Pick him up".

OK, I may have over simplified but you get the idea.

I tried watching Friends but couldn't get into it. Too much speak your lines, wait for laughter. Speak your lines, wait for laughter. Repeat.

I do like Frasier though. 

 

[John Harris]

"Tales From The Loop" on Amazon Prime is interesting, set in a version of 60s America, but with access to some hi-tech, so sci-fi to an extent.

 

It's based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, but transposed to rural America from Sweden.

 

jh

[Ben B]

One American series I got into recently was "Community". Set in a community college in the states and focussing on a mixed-age study group, it's pretty funny from the get-go but really hits its stride in the second half of season 1. Tails a bit by the last season as some regulars leave, but even then it was a good show. Captured the intelligent/nerd humour way better than "Big Bang Theory" in my opinion, and also has a nice meta/self awareness.  It's on 4 on demand at the moment.

 

An older one if you can find it is the remake of "Battlestar Galactica". Clever, dark, pulls you in... another one which tails towards the end as the writers seem to struggle tying the plot up, but the first couple of seasons were great. 

[big jim]

Just binge watched ‘After life’ wasn’t what I expected at all, I Thought it was an American series but no, set in the UK with a cast of familiar faces.

 

 typical Ricky gervais comedy, laughing one minute, sharp intake of breath the next and crying the next, not seen anything as good as this since he did ‘derek’ if you don’t mind a bit of strong swearing then give it a try

 

My youngest who’s now 10 has got into the simpsons and is downloading lots of the older episodes to the sky box, nice to see some of those again too

mod course no binge watch thread would be complete without “tiger king” with joe exotic which my wife loves, I don’t get it myself having seen a couple of episodes, she also loves ru-Paul’s drag race which admittedly does have its moments! 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by big jim

[Jeff Smith]

As some of you probably know, Public Television in the US shows a lot of UK period and drama series under the Masterpiece Theatre and Masterpiece Mystery banners, usually on Sunday evenings.  If you financially contribute to your local station you can access these programmes on a streaming app, sometimes ahead of the scheduled broadcast.  We recently watched Beecham House, a very lavish drama series set in India during the time when the East India Trading Company had a bigger private army than the British Army.  Anyway, we enjoyed the series, it had a cliff hanger at the end so we immediately looked for when the sequel series will be available and low and behold it has been cancelled.  This is not the first series we have watched like this.  Actually The Expanse was cancelled but then luckily picked up by Amazon.  It does annoy me that some shows are made with cliffhangers without certainty about the sequel.

[Allegheny1600]

Hmmm, probably a bit risque for a lot of folks but we're nearing the end of "Trailer Park Boys" on Netflix. This is very definitely an "adult" themed series with frequent references to drugs, alcohol, sex and violence but we find it extremely funny.

My wife is very choosy so most "cops" type shows are out, rom-coms and daft stuff is way out too.

If you could appreciate TPB, you might like "Brickleberry" (Youtube only, sadly) and or "Paradise PD", simply hilarious animated comedies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickleberry

NOT for the faint hearted!

[montyburns56]

If you like your comic book TV shows there's The Boys on Amazon Prime. It's based on the concept that a corporation basically owns the superheroes and that the superheroes themselves aren't quite as clean cut and heroic as you might expect. It is more adult than your typical Marvel fare, but it also has a lot of black humour in it as well.

 

 

[big jim]

1 hour ago, Allegheny1600 said:

Hmmm, probably a bit risque for a lot of folks but we're nearing the end of "Trailer Park Boys" on Netflix. This is very definitely an "adult" themed series with frequent references to drugs, alcohol, sex and violence but we find it extremely funny.

My wife is very choosy so most "cops" type shows are out, rom-coms and daft stuff is way out too.

If you could appreciate TPB, you might like "Brickleberry" (Youtube only, sadly) and or "Paradise PD", simply hilarious animated comedies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickleberry

NOT for the faint hearted!

 

couldnt get into Brickleberry at all but trailer park boys is awesome!

 

we have a static caravan on a ‘trailer park’ we have great fun seeing various characters on site, my youngest is ‘bubbles’ The eldest is ‘Ricky’ my wife is ‘Julian’ (never without a drink) The entertainment manager is ‘Jim’ his entertainment staff are ‘Cory and Trevor’ and I’m ‘Randy’!

 

 

 

 

[gordon s]

Very gentle humour and interesting to see the characters develop. We enjoyed Schitts Creek as a filler. Just 30 mins each episode. Made a change from Breaking Bad and similar programmes.

 

Nothing offensive. Reminded me of Cheers....

[Jeff Smith]

Schitt$ Creek (Canada), Fleabag and Ozarks have been raved over by the critics over here.  Personally I don't like any of those.

[jjb1970]

I've got my Larry David box set out, Curb your Enthusiasm is comic genius.  

[Tony Davis]

Just finished watching five series of "Amdani" on S4C clic, it's based on a book about a women's rugby team in North Wales. Quite old now, but great fun.

[Jeff Smith]

Mozart in the Jungle on Amazon is fun and features the British actress Lola Kirke.

[steve1]

Binge watching isn't for me. Couldn't take sitting in front of the box for anything longer than a sporting fixture (F1, footy, etc) or a decent film. Endless episodes of a any programme, even one I like, would do me in.

 

steve

[Ian J.]

I'm currently working through my Farscape DVDs (also available on Amazon Prime I believe). It's first season is over twenty years old now, and the Henson puppet system is showing its age compared to modern CGI. Some episodes are beyond daft, and some just didn't have the necessary budget to pull off their intent with puppets or animatronics that fall well below believable, but I still enjoy it, especially the Crichton/Aaryn relationship.