Must Watch Series

[Buehler445]

All this talk about series, how network TV Sucks, and how hard it is to find quality shows, and some excellent shows that fly under the radar, I need a comprehensive review of all the series I need to see.

For good entertainment, I would be willing to buy DVD sets. But I've recently picked up HBOGO by kiping it from my parents, and recently got Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Here is a listing of shows that I currently own or have seen all the episodes of. If it isn't on the list, just assume I haven't seen it.

Spoiler!

Great Shows – Must See
Game of Thrones
Mad Men
Longmire
Burn Notice
House
Spartacus
House of Cards
Justified
True Detective
Breaking Bad
The Assets
The Wire
Sherlock (BBC)
The Americans
The Walking Dead
Deadwood
Netflix: Daredevil
Jack Taylor
Luther
Bosch

Good shows
Travelers
Ozark
The Leftovers
Conviction
Medici
The Last Kingdom
Firefly
Dollhouse
The Good Wife
Hell on Wheels
Big Bang Theory
Falling Skies
Suits
White Collar
Agents of SHIELD
Arrow
Boss
Rome
Orange is the New Black
Orphan Black
The Knick
Goliath (Amazon)
Iron Fist
Show Me a Hero
Hell on Wheels
Shooter

Mediocre
Robin Hood (BBC)
Vikings
How I met your Mother
Scrubs
Chuck
That 70's Show
Top Gear
Graceland
Hung (HBO)
Gotham
Conviction


Crap
Camelot
Top Shot
Defiance
Legends of Tomorrow

Here is a listing of shows that I'm currently watching

Spoiler!

Great


Good
Boardwalk Empire
Westworld

Mediocre

Crap

Here is a listing of shows on my list to watch (mostly due to this thread)

Spoiler!

The Sopranos
24
Fargo (missed getting it on the DVR )
Band of Brothers
The Pacific
The Comeback
6 Feet Under
John Adams
Battlestar Glactica
Friday Night Lights

I work a ****ton, so it is hard for me catch a series while it is on to get it on the DVR, but I recognize the entertainment value and am willing to go after the Must See shows. Accordingly, I'm not necessarily looking for anything that is still running. I'm up for watching stuff that has run its course.

So what say you, Planet? Which shows should I see?

UPDATED for the shows I've seen recently.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

I was geared up to pulling the trigger on Paramount+ for this purpose. But the early reviews deterred me. The trailer also looked really . . . fantastical, or exaggerated.

I'm very willing to be persuaded to jump in.

I've caught a couple more episodes, and I gotta reiterate and amplify my high estimation of Goode as Evans. Might be the best thing I've seen on television in years.

Nobody is bad or distracting. I won't spoil how some of the characters you'll be familiar with are portrayed or by whom [other than what you can see in a trailer], but they play it pretty low-key and straightforward, not a lot of caricatures [unless you count some of the actual Mafioso being portrayed]

Teller doesn't exactly embody Ruddy, but unless you are a complete geek, he's not someone whose persona is established for you anyway. Probably most people watching don't even know who Ruddy is beforehand. And Teller is fine in the role as written, even if it isn't an exact replication of the actual personality. And Ruddy himself, at 90-something, was intimately involved in the production, so I doubt he would let Teller's portrayal of his own self ring false, at least to his own vision of himself in that time.

It's tough for me to divorce my love for the subject matter and my enjoyment of seeing it dramatized. There are other narrative paths this could have taken or other aspects that could have been more the center of attention, but it's a pretty darn good tale just as a story, and all the moreso for it being based in fact.

[Pepe Silvia]

Too bad I don't have any streaming services, seems like a lot of good shows are on Paramount, Apple Tv, and HBO max.

The Offer is definitely up my alley, I would watch it in a second if I could. And as a bonus it has Juno Temple.

[BigBeauford]

What have they done to Barry. Why are the showrunners all of a sudden afraid to play in the universe they created. Some of these bits are brutally unfunny. And they've completely sidelined Hank.

[Pepe Silvia]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

What have they done to Barry. Why are the showrunners all of a sudden afraid to play in the universe they created. Some of these bits are brutally unfunny. And they've completely sidelined Hank.

That’s what they do. They get you hooked on a great show but after a few seasons it turns pc and they start pushing their agendas down your throat. And that is always the beginning of the end. They did it to The Sopranos, they did it to Shameless, and they will do it to Barry and every other show in existence.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by PackerinMo

That’s what they do. They get you hooked on a great show but after a few seasons it turns pc and they start pushing their agendas down your throat. And that is always the beginning of the end. They did it to The Sopranos, they did it to Shameless, and they will do it to Barry and every other show in existence.

What did they push in Sopranos?

I haven’t watched the other 2

[Pepe Silvia]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

What did they push in Sopranos?

I haven’t watched the other 2

They started pushing the gay agenda. During the final season it was revealed that Vito (who was Tonys biggest earner) was a homosexual. Don't get me wrong it was a very interesting twist to the plot but they carried on with it for wayyyy too long, they wasted almost all of season 6 on it. It reached a point where it got so gay that many of my friends actually quit watching it even though the series was coming to an end anyway.

This was the scene that ended up being the final straw in most fans eyes.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by PackerinMo

They started pushing the gay agenda. During the final season it was revealed that Vito (who was Tonys biggest earner) was a homosexual. Don't get me wrong it was a very interesting twist to the plot but they carried on with it for wayyyy too long, they wasted almost all of season 6 on it. It reached a point where it got so gay that many of my friends actually quit watching it even though the series was coming to an end anyway.

This was the scene that ended up being the final straw in most fans eyes.

Yeah. It was weird. But so was a bunch of the shit they spent a mountain of time on with AJ, and some various other shit.

It didn’t stand out to me.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

[Some of these bits are brutally unfunny.

Oh, c'mon

Handoff!!
What?!?!

might be the hardest I've laughed in months.

And the Medusa punch-up job description communicated by facial expressions was pretty hilarious too

Curious if you're part of that Coen hating crowd, because this whole episode was pretty much a tribute to the comedy of the Coens.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Oh, c'mon

Handoff!!
What?!?!

might be the hardest I've laughed in months.

And the Medusa punch-up job description communicated by facial expressions was pretty hilarious too

Curious if you're part of that Coen hating crowd, because this whole episode was pretty much a tribute to the comedy of the Coens.

"She more of a Yeahhhhh, not a uh-huh"....

I love the Coens Brothers.

I watched this because it was "hitman goes to acting school, hijinks ensue". Now I have to watch side characters I don't give a shit about, and every time Barry is on the screen, you aren't allowed to enjoy it.

[Coochie liquor]

I don’t remember who recommended Queen of the South, but god damn that shit is FIRE. Literally kicks into high gear from the beginning and it hasn’t let up yet. Almost done with season 1. Show is awesome. Big up yuhself, whoever recommended it to me!

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

"She more of a Yeahhhhh, not a uh-huh"....

I love the Coens Brothers.

I watched this because it was "hitman goes to acting school, hijinks ensue". Now I have to watch side characters I don't give a shit about, and every time Barry is on the screen, you aren't allowed to enjoy it.

See, I enjoy the industry satire at least as much.

And the incessant inventiveness of the deus ex machina around everything, showing the arbitrariness of the universe.

And people being pulled to better avenues in their life, then succumbing to their base nature. [Hank with the Beignet store, Fuches with the hot chicks with goats constantly swooning over him].

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

See, I enjoy the industry satire at least as much.

And the incessant inventiveness of the deus ex machina around everything, showing the arbitrariness of the universe.

And people being pulled to better avenues in their life, then succumbing to their base nature. [Hank with the Beignet store, Fuches with the hot chicks with goats constantly swooning over him].

I know you are a sucker for the industry satire (see Bojack Horseman). I just can't help like feeling Rian Johnson got ahold of my beloved show and made changes I don't like.

[Pepe Silvia]

That chick doing the uh huh and yeah yeah is Beck Bennett’s wife. She is quite attractive.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

I know you are a sucker for the industry satire (see Bojack Horseman). I just can't help like feeling Rian Johnson got ahold of my beloved show and made changes I don't like.

I'm more a sucker for efficient and biting satire, and snappy lines with a good comedic ear, . . . It just so happens that often the best satirists and line-puncher-uppers are in 'the industry' so their most biting and snappy stuff comes from personal experience.

Kind of like how Hal Needham films had the best stunt work.

[Pepe Silvia]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

"She more of a Yeahhhhh, not a uh-huh"....

I love the Coens Brothers.

I watched this because it was "hitman goes to acting school, hijinks ensue". Now I have to watch side characters I don't give a shit about, and every time Barry is on the screen, you aren't allowed to enjoy it.

Just relax and have a Beignet by Mitch.