Television Show Recommendations

[BelleGirl]

Did you watch it in English or dubbed? I don't know how good the Dutch dubbing is, but here in Germany the dubbed version of HIMYM is close to being unwatchable since so many subtle and intelligent jokes can't be translated and only the obvious comedy remains.

But I can totally understand if it isn't your cup of tea. I never liked Friends one bit and just don't get why everybody likes that show so much.

In The Netherlands foreign shows are never dubbed unless they are strictly for children. I'm glad about that, for how else can you find out what the real voice of any actor is? Not to mention that you can learn from these shows how a foreign language is pronounced.

But even with subtitles you have the problem that many subtle and intelligent jokes will be missed by those relying on these subtitles, for they often cannot be translated properly. Apart from that, subtitles are often full of errors like uncompleted sentences, misspelling and words left out (yes, sometimes it's for lack of space , but hardly always).
Anyway, I might try watching HIMYM again. It's on every weekday.

[PeterPanfan]

I have a request that hopefully some members (aka Netty) could answer:

I've recently gotten into British TV shows, and am really enjoying myself.

So far I've seen:

The first series of Doctor Who (well, the "new" first series)
The first series of Skins
And the first episode of Hex

I'll be continuing all of them, needless to say.

But what other British shows do you recommend? I really like shows with supernatural themes (Hex and Doctor Who), but I also love comedy (Coupling looks good) and drama (Skins), so really anything, lol.

Any help (from anyone) is appreciated!

[littlefuzzy]

I know mostly comedy and sci-fi, so:
Red Dwarf - sci-fi
Monty Python's Flying Circus (of course)
Fawlty Towers - John Cleese from Monty Python
Black Books - fun show about a bookstore owner
Green Wing - a hospital show kind of like Scrubs (well, not really but still)
Benny Hill - gets raunchy, but funny
Bean - Rowan Atkinson
Black Adder - I haven't seen it myself, but it's more Rowan Atkinson
Are You Being Served? - fun sitcom set in a department store

[2099net]

Well, Britain doesn't normally "do" sci-fi or supernatural. Not really.

However;

If you like Doctor Who, watch S2 then start on Torchwood (you must see Children of Earth - the miniseries which was S3 of Torchwood) and possibly think about The Sarah Jane Adventures - the latter is obviously written for and aimed at children but I'll think you'll notice a huge difference between that and typical children's shows in the US.

LittleFuzzy has done some good Comedy recommendations; of his list I'll definitely second Green Wing which simply cannot be described in any shape or form. It has to be seen and experienced, such is its structure.

I'll also add The League of Gentlemen which is absolutely superb. The first two series are a cross between a sketch show with re-occuring characters and a proper story; in that each series has a overall plot with a beginning, middle and end. It's also darkly funny - sometimes too dark for some. Most people dislike the Christmas Special and Series Three as the sketch format was dropped in favour of telling more complete stories. But personally I think these are the best work. (It helps if you have a basic knowledge of British horror films of the 1970's too).

Also S1 of Nighty Night is just as superb and just as dark. You really will feel guilty for laughing, and guilty for liking the main character Jill so much because she's a total bitch. They made a second series but you can tell the story was basically done and its far from successful, they should have just left it as it was.

Going back to older stuff, there's Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge and the spin-off I'm Alan Partridge which I believe our esteemed Luke will support, and BlackAdder (although skip BlackAdder 1 as its not as good and watch it after watching the superior BlackAdder 2, BlackAdder 3 (my personal favourite series) and BlackAdder 4. If nothing else, you'll see Dr House in a new light.

[dvdjunkie]

There are a lot of television shows that haven't been mentioned here, but partly it is because we are so spread out around the world. I noticed shows being listed that I (personally) have never heard of much less watched. So with that in mind, my suggestions may fall on those who don't live in the US or Canada. Also those of you with DVR's or TiVO can really capitalize on watching some of the shows that are on at the same time.

So here goes:

Army Wives - now in its fourth season and already signed for seasons five and six. Produced by the same company that has given us "Criminal Minds", "Grey's Anatomy", and "Private Practice" among others, this is one of the best written shows on television today. Lifetime Network has enjoyed the popularity of this show by giving it a Prime Time of Sunday night at 10 p.m. Eastern time and reruns it during the week at various other times.

Flash Point - currently running its Third season on US television and this show keeps on getting better and better. Hope that CBS options this show for a full-time slot soon.

Miami Medical - This short-lived show on CBS was not given a fair chance to show its potential, and I think after the Season Finale two weeks ago, there are people, like me, who are actually going to miss this show.

Some other favorites of mine include some that have been previously mentioned:

Lie To Me
Bones
House
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Challenge
Iron Chef Kitchen
Chopped
White Collar
Royal Pains
Burn Notice
Leverage
In Plain Sight

[PeterPanfan]

Wow, thanks littlefuzzy and Netty!

From that list, Netty, I've added all of those to my Netflix queue. I'll update once I've watched them!

[ajmrowland]

well, since Smallville's already on your list, that leaves me with a series I just got into.

Total Drama: a cartoon that succeeds on a number of levels. One of which is that it hilariously spoofs reality game shows with colorful characters and tongue-in-cheek humor. secondly, it actually succeeds in being as easily addicting as an actual reality tv game show. the first two seasons-Total Drama Island, and Total Drama Action-are available on itunes(and the former on DVD and other services) and the third season, Total Drama World Tour, is airing now on Cartoon Network-except for Canada where it's on TeleToon.

terriffic show!

also, if this has been posted before forgive me, Malcolm in the Middle, Everybody Hates Chris, and Huge are all funny in their own ways.

[Escapay]

But what other British shows do you recommend? I really like shows with supernatural themes (Hex and Doctor Who), but I also love comedy (Coupling looks good) and drama (Skins), so really anything, lol.

Netty and littlefuzzy already mentioned some shows, but here's more:

"Absolutely Fabulous" (Comedy) - because it is.

"The Catherine Tate Show" (Sketch Comedy) - when you get around to "The Runaway Bride" in "Doctor Who", then later on Series 4, you'll meet Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate. It's amazing to see how she can handle both serious drama (Doctor Who) and sketch comedy (her show).

"Extras" (Comedy) - Ricky Gervais and Ashley Jensen as extras, with a celebrity guest star (usually parodying themselves) in every episode. The feature-length series finale is excellent as well.

"Father Ted" (Comedy) - priests can be funny!

"Garth Marenghi's Darkplace" (SciFi/Comedy) - I don't quite know how to explain it. It's best viewed without knowing at all what you're going in to.

"The Inbetweeners" (Comedy) - a rather raunchy look at high school through the eyes of four teenage boys, one of whom has a MILF for a mom.

"Merlin" (Supernatural) - 'nuff said.

"My Family" (Comedy) - run-of-the-mill sitcom starring Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker. It's harmless and forgettable, but at least something to watch.

"Sapphire and Steel" (SciFi) - it's a bit slow moving and the storylines are sometimes damn-near-impossible to follow. But it's quite an atmospheric series that has great performances by David McCallum and Joanna Lumley.

"Spaced" (Comedy) - if you like Simon Pegg, you'll love "Spaced".

"Spooks" (Action/Espionage) - in the US it's called "MI-5" and it's not a comedy or scifi or supernatural show, but it's still quite good.

albert

[Goliath]

@ PeterPanFan:

An excellent British comedy (it has been mentioned before) is Fawlty Towers. Normally I'm not a big fan of British comedy, but I thought this show was hilarious. With only 12 episodes ever made, there's no weak one. This was made back in the days when John Cleese was still funny --although 'funny' is an understatement.

Other shows I would recommend:

Frasier: it has already ended in 2004, but its comedy, storylines and characters are timeless. While holding the record Emmy wins and receiving wide critical acclaim, this sitcom never became as massively popular as Friends, which also ran from 1993-2004. Frasier is definitly the superior sitcom.

That's mainly because of the writing, which was superb. It takes its audience seriously, and doesn't shy away from referencing things or using word-plays the mass audience may not familiar with. Also, with American sitcoms, I was used to the action/storyline being 'stopped' to make a joke, then another joke, resume story, stop, joke etc. Frasier integrates the jokes as part of the storyline. Characters don't stop to make sarcastic oneliners, but embed them in the dialogue. Speaking of characters: I've never seen such well rounded-out characters in a sitcom. Unlike most sitcoms, Frasier and his family don't each have one or two characteristics, but they're rounded characters, which makes it easy for the audience to care about them.

[carolinakid]

I Love Lucy
Gilligan's Island
Leave It To Beaver
The Lucy Show
Petticoat Junction
Freaks and Geeks
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
Oz
True Blood
Rome
The Tudors
Will & Grace
Queer As Folk
Noah's Arc
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Sordid Lives: A Black Comedy About White Trash
Glee
Sex And The City
Dark Shadows

[BelleGirl]

Frasier: it has already ended in 2004, but its comedy, storylines and characters are timeless. While holding the record Emmy wins and receiving wide critical acclaim, this sitcom never became as massively popular as Friends, which also ran from 1993-2004. Frasier is definitly the superior sitcom.

That's mainly because of the writing, which was superb. It takes its audience seriously, and doesn't shy away from referencing things or using word-plays the mass audience may not familiar with. Also, with American sitcoms, I was used to the action/storyline being 'stopped' to make a joke, then another joke, resume story, stop, joke etc. Frasier integrates the jokes as part of the storyline. Characters don't stop to make sarcastic oneliners, but embed them in the dialogue. Speaking of characters: I've never seen such well rounded-out characters in a sitcom. Unlike most sitcoms, Frasier and his family don't each have one or two characteristics, but they're rounded characters, which makes it easy for the audience to care about them.

Absolutely agree about Frasier. In this sitcom al the comedy flows 'naturally' from the dialogues and situation, so that you 'believe' it all could really happen that way in real life. (like the sitcom it was derived from, Cheers)So many comedies look very unnatural and forced, and also make the mistake of casting only handsome twenty/thirthy somethings in the major parts.

I quite like the sitcom Everybody loves Raymond and used to have fun watching Dharma and Greg

As for drama/crime, I'm all into Dexter now, and my 'supernatural' series of the moment is Fringe
Unfortunately, Dexter is not on TV presently (waiting for season 4) and only reruns of Fringe are shown now.

I 'm also eagerly awaiting the return of Medium

Who else likes to watch the TV-shows I mentioned?

[Margos]

I will second the nomination of Red Dwarf by litlefuzzy. I mean, Monty Python is a timeless classic, it goes without saying. But Red Dwarf is a relatively obsure (in the states, at least) gem. It's been a while since I've seen it, but last time I checked, most of the episodes are on YouTube. I will say, though, the 8 seasons vary greatly in how the plot is handled, in characters, and in quality. The 8th was sort of a dissapointment, IMHO, but still, I would give the whole series a try.

[PeterPanfan]

Thank you Scaps, Margos, and Goliath!

[Widdi]

One amazing british comedy I've yet to see mentioned is Keeping Up Apperances. A local station runs it for two hours a night and anytime I get a chance to stay up from 2 am till 4 am I watch and I wake everyone in a two mile radius with my laughter.

[Margos]

One amazing british comedy I've yet to see mentioned is Keeping Up Apperances. A local station runs it for two hours a night and anytime I get a chance to stay up from 2 am till 4 am I watch and I wake everyone in a two mile radius with my laughter.

OMG! I used to watch this all the time with my grandma when I was a little girl! I used to call it "The Hyacinth Show," for some reason, and my favorite quote was always, "Daddy's standing in horse manure again!"

[Goliath]

Absolutely agree about Frasier. In this sitcom al the comedy flows 'naturally' from the dialogues and situation, so that you 'believe' it all could really happen that way in real life. (like the sitcom it was derived from, Cheers)

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with what you said about Cheers. I thought that was a very average, traditional, clichéd sitcom, that worked on the premise I described before: story, joke, another joke, story continues, another joke etc. The action stops for a character to make a joke or deliver a one-liner. Not that Cheers is a bad show or that it isn't funny... but it's, in my opinion, a whole different show from Frasier.

[BelleGirl]

Absolutely agree about Frasier. In this sitcom al the comedy flows 'naturally' from the dialogues and situation, so that you 'believe' it all could really happen that way in real life. (like the sitcom it was derived from, Cheers)

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with what you said about Cheers. I thought that was a very average, traditional, clichéd sitcom, that worked on the premise I described before: story, joke, another joke, story continues, another joke etc. The action stops for a character to make a joke or deliver a one-liner. Not that Cheers is a bad show or that it isn't funny... but it's, in my opinion, a whole different show from Frasier.

Strange, Cheers never seemed to me a show in which they 'stop for a joke'. To me the jokes were an integral part of the characters that were making them, and I think Cheers had some very funny characters, all with their own particularities. Frasier and Cheers do at least have one thing in common except the character of Frasier and his (ex) wife Lillith: that's the 'gimmick' of the person who is always talked about but never seen. In Cheers it's Vera, the wife of Norm, in Frasier it's Maris, Niles' (ex-)wife
By the way, I saw two episodes of Frasier yesterday on Comedy Central. I Already knew them but they were still funny.

[2099net]

Strange, Cheers never seemed to me a show in which they 'stop for a joke'. To me the jokes were an integral part of the characters that were making them, and I think Cheers had some very funny characters, all with their own particularities. Frasier and Cheers do at least have one thing in common except the character of Frasier and his (ex) wife Lillith: that's the 'gimmick' of the person who is always talked about but never seen. In Cheers it's Vera, the wife of Norm, in Frasier it's Maris, Niles' (ex-)wife
By the way, I saw two episodes of Frasier yesterday on Comedy Central. I Already knew them but they were still funny.

Which is hardly original or unique: Dad's Army has Mrs Mainwaring, Hi-Di-Hi has Joe Maplin & Ms Cathcart, Minder has 'Er Indoors, Rumpole of the Bailey has She Who Must Be Obeyed, Reggie Perrin his Mother In Law (seeing a Hippopotamus doesn't count )... ; all character's spoken about with dread and all characters how although unseen helped shape the plots.

[BelleGirl]

Strange, Cheers never seemed to me a show in which they 'stop for a joke'. To me the jokes were an integral part of the characters that were making them, and I think Cheers had some very funny characters, all with their own particularities. Frasier and Cheers do at least have one thing in common except the character of Frasier and his (ex) wife Lillith: that's the 'gimmick' of the person who is always talked about but never seen. In Cheers it's Vera, the wife of Norm, in Frasier it's Maris, Niles' (ex-)wife
By the way, I saw two episodes of Frasier yesterday on Comedy Central. I Already knew them but they were still funny.

Which is hardly original or unique: Dad's Army has Mrs Mainwaring, Hi-Di-Hi has Joe Maplin & Ms Cathcart, Minder has 'Er Indoors, Rumpole of the Bailey has She Who Must Be Obeyed, Reggie Perrin his Mother In Law (seeing a Hippopotamus doesn't count )... ; all character's spoken about with dread and all characters how although unseen helped shape the plots.

Sure, I know.

[dvdjunkie]

What is with everyone mentioning shows that are no longer on television and can only be seen in reruns or DVD-on-TV sets? There have been a lot of shows that are on today that are just as good as those "oldies" that all of you have mentioned.

Is this thread about old television shows, or new ones? That's all I need to know. And why all the love for reruns, or shows that haven't been on television in first-run for years?

Just curious.