Recommend a TV show!

[mousme]

Okay, so I'm looking to (slowly) increase my library of DVDs, specifically TV shows. All the television I get at home is what I see on DVD, so I'm looking for recommendations from my LJ friends. You guys have similar tastes, or at least tastes that overlap with mine. :)

Here's the kind of thing I like:

-drama
-crime/detection
-fantasy
-science fiction

Basically it has to be fiction (I am not a fan of reality shows, news shows, etc. I like documentaries but not enough to own most of them). I am looking for well-written, well-paced shows. Plot and characterization is key. :)

So. Recommendations?

:::ETA:::

The show need not be current, but it does need to be available on DVD.

Comments

[chasingthenuns.livejournal.com]

six feet under.

[grimmwire.livejournal.com]

Aeon Flux -- My fave SF show, and one of the best animated shows. Serious WTF territory.

Homicide: Life on the Street -- Best. Cop. Show. Evar.

The Prisoner -- Best. Damn. TV. Show. Evar. Period.

[swestrup]

Yeah, The Prisoner was great. It was sort-of a sequel to "Secret Agent Man" which wasn't nearly as good.

[wolflady26.livejournal.com]

The shows I love right now are:

Prison Break. This show is really amazing. It ends nearly every episode on a cliff hanger, without making the audience feel jerked around.

The IT Crowd. Hysterical, especially for nerds and nerd lovers.

Dexter. It's a show about a psychotic mass murderer with a heart of gold. Seriously, it's great.

It's Always Sunny in Philadephia. A show about four or five incredibly self-centered people that still manages to be roll on the floor funny.

The Gilmore Girls. Just ended, but it had a good run. The early episodes are particularly great.

House: Gripping, cool, sarcastic.

CSI: Las Vegas. Awesome.

Battlestar Galactica. Also awesome.

Two and a Half Men. Smart and funny.

How I Met Your Mother. Incredibly smart and incredibly funny. It starts off slow, though. You've got to get at least halfway through the first season before giving up.

Rescue Me. This show is about a bunch of incredibly flawed people, who also happen to be heroes. And I don't mean flawed in the cute Hollywood sense of the whore with the heart of gold, but rather in the heavily alcoholic, making horrible decisions, seriously broken sense - and yet, I still have so much sympathy for the characters.

Friday Night Lights. I never thought I'd like a show about a high school football team. I was totally wrong.

Medium. Really good, and quite "real" for a show with such a strong supernatural element.

These are shows that I like a lot, but are missing that indescribable "thing" that makes a show really amazing.

Eureka: Fun and quirky.

Heroes. Not perfect, but fun anyway.

Burn Notice. Just getting underway, and hasn't quite hit its stride, but it has a lot of potential. And a really hot chicky.

The 4400. The first few seasons were barely tolerable, but around the third season it got pretty cool. Each season changes, yet stays true to the storyline, which is good storytelling.

[swestrup]

I have to agree with Eureka, House and Heroes. I never did manage to get into The 4400.

[joenotcharles.livejournal.com]

American Gothic - just be sure to check Wikipedia for the correct order to watch them in, because the DVD's are packaged in broadcast order, which was all mucked up.

Batman: The Animated Series. Justice League/Justice League Unlimited.

You can collect Doctor Who for your entire life, and not be finished, of course.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, I was going to say Batman also ;)

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Ooh, American Gothic! I remember watching that when it was on TV. Good stuff. Did they ever produce more than one season, though?

[rowen26.livejournal.com]

I seem to only like most shows that get cancelled ...

Dead Like Me : Two seasons. Cancelled before everything is resolved. But very amusing dark humour (it deals with Grim Reapers, after all.)

Wonderfalls : Only one season, sadly.

Carnivale : Shaky in the first season, but so awesome and creepy during the second ... once they knew they go cancelled. Don't look for anything to get resolved, but still worth the look.

Futurama: I don't know how you feel about animated shows, but give this one a chance. So many sci-fi geek references and crazy future in the year 3000.

The Muppet Show: Season two is out, with all the crazyness you expect from the Muppets.

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

I'm led to understand that Carnivale was always intended to be viewed in two-season story arcs. They had three in mind, for a total of six seasons. Naturally, (like Deadwood) anything with a specific series-spanning story arc winds up cancelled partway through.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I adored Dead Like Me. I was so sad when they cancelled it. Plus, Mandy Patinkin!

I hear you on only liking shows that get cancelled. Boo.

I never did get into Futurama. The humour is too sporadic for my taste. It does have its moments, however. I just don't like it enough to buy it. :)

I keep forgetting about the Muppet Show. I shall have to look into that.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Brisco County Jr! - I am sure I have told you about this before. Bruce campbell! Western! Also time travel! Plus associated zaniness! Not a high quality show but it is campy fun.

Profit. A show the word wasn't ready for, alas. Although a full season was made, it was never fully aired. You can buy it. The basic premise is that the protagonist is evil corporate guy who wants to control everything. Also he sleeps with his trailer trash stepmom, who is played by Lisa Blount. made in the mid 90's, so some of the technology is kind of laughable by today's standards.

American Gothic. Gary Cole is the devil... and Sheriff of a sleepy South Carolina Town of Trinty. Never let your conscience be your guide. he is trying to corrupt a kid (his own bastard), who is protected by various people including his dead sister's angel.

Avatar: the last Airbender. Okay, so it is a kid's cartoon. But it is good, the second season especially presents a lot of complex character development, plus the animation is well done, and a lot of the martial arts stuff they do is strongly grounded in real forms.

I can't think of anything else that is available on DVD, alas...

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

Definitely second both American Gothic (though Universal, bastards that they are, burned the DVDs with the shows in the order they aired, rather than the order they're intended to be viewed, which causes some switching of discs if you're watching them in the 'right' order) and Avatar, because for a 'kid's show' it's remarkably complex in terms of characterization.

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

ROME (historical drama)
Carnivale (historical fantasy/horro)
Supernatural (modern occult investigation)
Deadwood (historical drama)
Entourage (modern dramedy about Hollywood)

Pretty much everything HBO does, really. Bastards.

I have these available for viewing should you wish to sample before purchase.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I am still kicking myself for not picking up the first season of Supernatural when it was on sale for $19. I have yet to find it for under $30 or $35 these days.

I have seen the first two seasons of Deadwood, and am enthralled. However, the price tag is a wee bit steep these days. I am still waffling about it.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Should have sent you home with Slings & Arrows season 3! We'll add it to the growing stack of Stuff To Send Away With Phnee Next Monday..

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Argh! I totally forgot too.

[sultrysong.livejournal.com]

I'm working my way through Season 3 of The Shield right now. Gritty and violent, but good good shit. Also, Michael Chiklis. There's also always the L-Word.

[gats.livejournal.com]

I recommend Heroes, Wonderfalls, Dr Who, Buffy, Angel, Eureka, Dead like me, the first season of Six feet under (What little I saw of the second season sucked. I hear it picked up again in season three), The West Wing, Brisco County, Jack of All Trades.

[joane.livejournal.com]

My current procedural fixation is Criminal Minds - it's FBI profilers hunting down serial killers. Some of the episodes are really intense (the one on last week, for instance) came close to giving me nightmares), but the writing is consistently tight, the acting is fabulous, and the twists catch me offguard all the time. It's got Mandy Patinkin starring in the first two seasons, though he left the show over the summer. I have minor things for Dr. Reid and Agent Morgan, though for totally different reasons. I suspect Agent Garcia is much more your type. ;)

I liked the first season of Medium very much, but it started to get limp after that. Numb3rs is a fun FBI show, with the 'unique twist' being a supergenius mathematician who helps them solve the crimes, but it's nowhere near as good as Criminal Minds.

I also quite enjoy House, which is far more about the characters - and watching Hugh Laurie play a misanthropic bastard - than it is about the medical situations.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I really liked Criminal Minds, but I hear Mandy Patinkin quit, which would be my main reason for watching. Do you know if they managed to keep the show together in spite of his leaving?

And yes, Hugh Laurie as misanthropic bastard is awesome. :D

Is Stargate: Atlantis worth shelling out money for? I just picked up Stargate: SG1 Seasons 7 and 8, and am rediscovering why I love the show so much.

[sultrysong.livejournal.com]

OH OH OH! I don't know whether you can get it on DVD, but if you can download, beg, borrow, steal, whatever, you've gotta check out a little BBC production called Manchild. It's like ... Sex in the City with 50-year-old men, only HILARIOUS.

Plus: Anthony Stewart Head!

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I never liked Sex in the City, but Anthony Stewart Head is always a good incentive to watch a show. :D

[karine.livejournal.com]

I'll add my suggestion of something that wsn't named yet: Dead Zone, with Anthony Michael Hall (the geeky kid from 16 Candles all growed up). It's based off the Stephen King novel. There's a story arc each season with a back plot that crops up every once in a while, and several episodes can work well as standalones (they don't touch the main plotline much, if at all). I've got the DVDs if you want to borrow them -- seasons 1 and 2. My mom has 3, 4 and 5 right now.

I also have Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck and Gargoyles...

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I really enjoyed what little I saw of the Dead Zone. I will gladly borrow them from you if you're willing!

[walkerofrohan.livejournal.com]

In all lack of seriousness... Wonder Woman! 3 seasons of Linda Carter in all her amazonian glory! Season 1 was set in WWII, but for season 2 and 3 they accelerated it to "modern" times (which is the 70s)... while keeping the same actor for Steve Trevor (as the original Steve Trevor's son).
Season 1 also had the glorious slow motion spins... *drooooollll*
Haven't gotten to season 3 yet, but season 1 is my favourite so far.

I was also a big fan of Due South. Not so much of a fan of the new actor they got for Ray, but he grew on me. Unfortunately the DVDs they have released are complete and utter shit so do not buy them under any circumstances. They are so badly encoded I couldn't get them to work 100% of the time on any of three DVD players I had at the time. You would miss the whole opening of a show (you know, where they set up the whole plot of the episode), and have to endure that blocky crap showing up on the screen. Replaced my season 1 once before seeing the comments on the web that everyone was having problems with it. Apparently it's damn near impossible to get a fully working season 2 either, and I gave up after that. Really too bad, cause the show definitely had charm.

I also agree with someone's above recommendation of the Justice League series. Particularly season 1 of Justice League Unlimited, which runs for a complete story arc, and things that happen in the first episode are directly related to what happens in the last. The original Justice League episodes were great because they almost always made every story a two parter (which means you get more character development, and it's not all smash bang pow!). Season 2 of JLU was not fantastic, but worth seeing, since it's the last of the WB DC stuff.

[kimberly-a.livejournal.com]

You might like "The Dresden Files," since it's crime/detection and fantasy. I liked it quite a bit.

[swestrup]

How could I forget: Greg The Bunny!

Oh, and they only ever made one season of Wizards and Warriors, but I loved it. I think its out on DVD, if you can find it.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

Avatar- The Last Airbender. Gotta watch season one, but two is better and three looks to rock on. Even my wife likes it. Gilmore Girls too.

[prolixfootle.livejournal.com]

La Femme Nikita - Peta Wilson is amazing. And the British version of Coupling is hilarious.

[meallanmouse.livejournal.com]

I totally support the Avatar The Last Airbender recommendations.

Fortier is a good series (Quebec shot series) too, if you like crime type police series with hefty storytelling. Totally worth getting and decently priced too, all five seasons should be out now.

[meallanmouse.livejournal.com]

Dead Like Me Seasons 1 & 2 are out and you'd like that series too, I suspect!