What TV series do you like?

[Tyson]

tyort sorry to hear about your marriage. hopefully you've found some resolution.

Thanks David.  It's a sucky thing to go through, for a whole mess of reasons.  But there are some silver linings, especially re: art.  For example, The Leftovers would never have had the resonance with me before, but now it does.  In music, I've also had certain jazz artists' work open up to me in ways that was not possible before.  For example, I always hated Miles Davis before, he just sounded like he was sort of noodling around in front of the band.  But now I hear the pain, loneliness and heartbreak contained within his tone.  Man, it's crazy to hear him wail that stuff into the night. 

[GuitarStv]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

[SunnyDays]

Current favorites are The Good Fight (spin off of The Good Wife) and Mary Kills People, which just had the series finale.  Both are very on-topic right now, with the former dealing a lot with the whole Trump fiasco and the latter with medically assisted suicide, which has become legal here in Canada.  Both are somewhat dark, but also very funny in places.

[lookingforadelorean]

(I did it! I did it! I made it to the Off Topic posting minimum!)

Derry Girls has been so much fun. DH and I are about to wrap up the 2nd season, and I'm laughing out loud during every episode.

On my own, I started The Mindy Project. Love it. It's silly, but perfect for times where I'm folding laundry or washing dishes.

[Nick_Miller]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

We just finished it, and upon reflection, I think I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. The guys who play Butcher and Homelander absolutely steal the show; both were perfectly cast. I know there is comic book material behind the show, but I also know the show runners made changes for the TV series, so they can pretty much take the storyline anywhere based on the ending.

[TVRodriguez]

(I did it! I did it! I made it to the Off Topic posting minimum!)

Derry Girls has been so much fun. DH and I are about to wrap up the 2nd season, and I'm laughing out loud during every episode.

On my own, I started The Mindy Project. Love it. It's silly, but perfect for times where I'm folding laundry or washing dishes.

I LOVE Derry Girls.  I binged the first season, but I'm trying to space out the second season because I want the joy of it to last longer.

[lookingforadelorean]

(I did it! I did it! I made it to the Off Topic posting minimum!)

Derry Girls has been so much fun. DH and I are about to wrap up the 2nd season, and I'm laughing out loud during every episode.

On my own, I started The Mindy Project. Love it. It's silly, but perfect for times where I'm folding laundry or washing dishes.

I LOVE Derry Girls.  I binged the first season, but I'm trying to space out the second season because I want the joy of it to last longer.

It has made me want to learn more about the IRA, too. I feel like I remember all the music and fashion from that era, but I wasn't paying much attention to international politics in the 90's.

[GuitarStv]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

We just finished it, and upon reflection, I think I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. The guys who play Butcher and Homelander absolutely steal the show; both were perfectly cast. I know there is comic book material behind the show, but I also know the show runners made changes for the TV series, so they can pretty much take the storyline anywhere based on the ending.

I think most of the characters were well cast . . . with the exception of Hughie.  The guy they got for the role just didn't work IMHO.  And FFS, they had Simon Pegg in the show already.  How hard could it have been to convince the man that the character was based on to play him?

[ketchup]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

We just finished it, and upon reflection, I think I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. The guys who play Butcher and Homelander absolutely steal the show; both were perfectly cast. I know there is comic book material behind the show, but I also know the show runners made changes for the TV series, so they can pretty much take the storyline anywhere based on the ending.

I think most of the characters were well cast . . . with the exception of Hughie.  The guy they got for the role just didn't work IMHO.  And FFS, they had Simon Pegg in the show already.  How hard could it have been to convince the man that the character was based on to play him?

Well, that's all I needed to know.  I guess I'm watching The Boys next.

[By the River]

Watched The Pursuit on netflix this weekend.  Similar to Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown show but with a free market focus.  Pretty good. 

[Nick_Miller]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

We just finished it, and upon reflection, I think I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. The guys who play Butcher and Homelander absolutely steal the show; both were perfectly cast. I know there is comic book material behind the show, but I also know the show runners made changes for the TV series, so they can pretty much take the storyline anywhere based on the ending.

I think most of the characters were well cast . . . with the exception of Hughie.  The guy they got for the role just didn't work IMHO.  And FFS, they had Simon Pegg in the show already.  How hard could it have been to convince the man that the character was based on to play him?

Well, that's all I needed to know.  I guess I'm watching The Boys next.

Warning, Simon has a VERY small part!! Do NOT watch it expecting to see much of him. I mean like maybe a minute of screen time per episode.

And @GuitarStv , I was surprised to find out that Pegg was the model for Hughie. I mean, it would change everything having a mousey-looking middle-aged guy in that role. Romance with you know who would obviously be out. I guess it could have worked, but I'm also guessing the powers-that-be wanted some 20-something romance possibilities to pull in a bigger demographic.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

I feel like there should be a better term for this genre, like Watchmen (gritty, conflicted) + Kick-ass (vulnerable to the 'real world') = "flawed Hero".  They aren't plain old anti-heroes, but certainly not superheroes. 

[lookingforadelorean]

We watched the first episode of The Boys last night. Whoa. I hope the rest of the series is as good as the first hour!

[GuitarStv]

The Boys is a fun superhero show, based on a fun comic.

We just finished it, and upon reflection, I think I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. The guys who play Butcher and Homelander absolutely steal the show; both were perfectly cast. I know there is comic book material behind the show, but I also know the show runners made changes for the TV series, so they can pretty much take the storyline anywhere based on the ending.

I think most of the characters were well cast . . . with the exception of Hughie.  The guy they got for the role just didn't work IMHO.  And FFS, they had Simon Pegg in the show already.  How hard could it have been to convince the man that the character was based on to play him?

Well, that's all I needed to know.  I guess I'm watching The Boys next.

Warning, Simon has a VERY small part!! Do NOT watch it expecting to see much of him. I mean like maybe a minute of screen time per episode.

And @GuitarStv , I was surprised to find out that Pegg was the model for Hughie. I mean, it would change everything having a mousey-looking middle-aged guy in that role. Romance with you know who would obviously be out. I guess it could have worked, but I'm also guessing the powers-that-be wanted some 20-something romance possibilities to pull in a bigger demographic.

The comic was written in '06 . . . so Pegg wasn't as middle aged then.  But this is how Hughie is supposed to look:



It's just weird.  Other than Butcher having a beard, everyone is cast really well besides Hughie.

[charis]

There were a lot of rich cultural subthemes in season 3 of stranger things, such as the 80's music, cultural references such as the jazzercise studio, the way the mall was the teenage social center. Also, the series highlighted the US - Soviet cold war.

The show is best when it's suspenseful, character driven fantasy-scifi-horror with a vaguely X-files feel.  The third season made a bunch of unusual missteps for the series:
- Kept the kids apart for 90% of the season for some unknown reason so we didn't get the fun banter/dialogue from the earlier seasons
- Focused on 80s nostalgia in place of plot
- Action movie CG monsters were over-done
- Too much painfully bad 'young love' tripe
- Half-baked invasion of the body snatchers thing (which could have been awesome if more build up and payoff had happened with this but felt rushed and cartoonish)
- Half-baked Russian invasion subplot (which, again, could have been awesome with more build up and payoff but felt rushed and cartoonish)
- No suspense of any kind


I enjoyed the first two seasons because of a tight and well written character driven plot*.  The 80s schlock was a fun backdrop, not the reason to watch.



*Notable exception was the chunk of the second season with L and the lost kids subplot that totally went nowhere . . .

Finally finished season 3 and have to strongly (and respectfully) disagree with most of these points.  I thought the season had great depth in plot and character development and more emotional weight than the prior seasons.  It's just as good as season 1 in my mind.  The suspense is different, naturally, and there are certainly some missteps (particularly with the Joyce and Will characters and holes in the Russian story line) but overall excellent. 

[DavidAnnArbor]

Yes I agree with you Charis.  Season 3 felt like a cultural/thematic mashup.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I think Season 3 tried way too hard to tie in the July 4th release.  Attacking the giant monster with fireworks was ridiculous, even for Midwestern teenagers.

[DavidAnnArbor]

I noticed Season 6 of  "The Hundred" was just made available on Netflix.

I really enjoyed this sci fi show about a dystopian future.

[Tyson]

I noticed Season 6 of  "The Hundred" was just made available on Netflix.

I really enjoyed this sci fi show about a dystopian future.

I started watching it with my daughter (she's 12) and was shocked at some of the very advanced themes and ideas in the show.  Clearly it's aimed at a teenage audience, but even so, it's smart and well done. 

[OtherJen]

The last season of Jane the Virgin is now on Netflix. I’m waiting until I have enough time to do it justice.

It’s totally a telenovela, but it’s fun, and colorful, and well-written and very enjoyable.

[DavidAnnArbor]

I also love Jane the Virgin but somehow I got distracted from it. Maybe it was Season 3 or 4.

Because the plot gets very complicated I'm not sure at what point I should return back to it.

I'm also enjoying Jessica Jones, very good.

[OtherJen]

I also love Jane the Virgin but somehow I got distracted from it. Maybe it was Season 3 or 4.

Because the plot gets very complicated I'm not sure at what point I should return back to it.

I'm also enjoying Jessica Jones, very good.

Maybe start at the beginning of season 4 and watch the recap. A lot happened during that season.

Jessica Jones was very good. I liked season 3 better than season 2.

[OtherJen]

We just finished season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale. Wow, THAT is how to do a season finale.

[ketchup]

Coworker finally relented to my demands and started watching The Expanse, and is loving it.

Everyone should watch The Expanse.  Season 4 drops on Amazon in December.

[soccerluvof4]

I watched the Netflix Documentary The Staircase. If your not familiar with the case I would watch it. It was addictive and powerful and really makes you wonder about some of the injustices in our legal system.

[iris lily]

Oooooh, I loved The Leftovers. I was a big Lost fan, too.

Thanks you guys. DH and I are now into watching
The Leftovers so it will be a while before I drop HBO. We were fans of Lost.

[Milizard]

We just got done catching up and watched the series finale of Legion. I'm still not exactly sure what all happened on that show, but I loved the weirdness/philosophy of it.

[DavidAnnArbor]

I am watching season 1 of Legion, and I'm somewhat overwhelmed by it.

[Tyson]

I am watching season 1 of Legion, and I'm somewhat overwhelmed by it.

Love that show.  It's one of those shows that stands or falls based on the lead performance.  Man, Dan Stevens puts on an acting clinic on there.  He is flat out amazing. 

[SaucyAussie]

I just spent a few days in Oxford - had a great time hunting down some of the Morse/Endeavour locations!

[StarBright]

We just got done catching up and watched the series finale of Legion. I'm still not exactly sure what all happened on that show, but I loved the weirdness/philosophy of it.

I think the production design on Legion is stunning and I found it deeply unsettling (which I believe is the point) and I really enjoyed the first season. But the second season lost me.

[OtherJen]

Husband and I are on the second part of Ken Burns' "Vietnam" (Netflix). This is absolutely fascinating, as we are mid-70s babies who grew up in the shadow of that war and at the tail end of the Cold War but knew so little about the world forces that led up to US involvement.

We're at the point in the documentary corresponding to when my best friend's parents would have been kids in Vietnam (they fled to a Thai refugee camp with my then-toddler friend in the late 70s). I can't imagine what it must have been like to grow up there, at that time.

[TVRodriguez]

I just spent a few days in Oxford - had a great time hunting down some of the Morse/Endeavour locations!

Oh that sounds like fun! 

[Noodle]

Started watching "Playing House" on Amazon Prime and highly recommend it. It's a dramedy about two female best friends (late 30s, I think) who move in together when one, who is pregnant, discovers that her husband is cheating on her. They have many ridiculous adventures. It's very warm and funny--it reminds me a bit of "Gilmore Girls" (in that it's set in a small town with lots of characters) but is not nearly as twee. I heard it recommended on NPR several years ago and have never been able to find it on streaming until now--I think it was originally broadcast on USA but for some reason only recently crossed over to streaming.

[lizzzi]

(I did it! I did it! I made it to the Off Topic posting minimum!)

Derry Girls has been so much fun. DH and I are about to wrap up the 2nd season, and I'm laughing out loud during every episode.

On my own, I started The Mindy Project. Love it. It's silly, but perfect for times where I'm folding laundry or washing dishes.

I LOVE Derry Girls.  I binged the first season, but I'm trying to space out the second season because I want the joy of it to last longer.

It has made me want to learn more about the IRA, too. I feel like I remember all the music and fashion from that era, but I wasn't paying much attention to international politics in the 90's.

Derry Girls is a riot--silly and stupid a lot, but will make you laugh out loud. The accents can be pretty hard to understand, but I found during season 1 that after one hard-to-get episode I could get the accent in my ear and comprehend most of it. The same thing happened when I started watching season 2. So stick with it--it may be unintelligible at first, but the more you listen, the more the words fall into place and you can understand. Just one example of how thick the accent is: The word "flyer" is not referring to an airline pilot. "Flyer" is how they say "flower."

[TVRodriguez]

(I did it! I did it! I made it to the Off Topic posting minimum!)

Derry Girls has been so much fun. DH and I are about to wrap up the 2nd season, and I'm laughing out loud during every episode.

On my own, I started The Mindy Project. Love it. It's silly, but perfect for times where I'm folding laundry or washing dishes.

I LOVE Derry Girls.  I binged the first season, but I'm trying to space out the second season because I want the joy of it to last longer.

It has made me want to learn more about the IRA, too. I feel like I remember all the music and fashion from that era, but I wasn't paying much attention to international politics in the 90's.

Derry Girls is a riot--silly and stupid a lot, but will make you laugh out loud. The accents can be pretty hard to understand, but I found during season 1 that after one hard-to-get episode I could get the accent in my ear and comprehend most of it. The same thing happened when I started watching season 2. So stick with it--it may be unintelligible at first, but the more you listen, the more the words fall into place and you can understand. Just one example of how thick the accent is: The word "flyer" is not referring to an airline pilot. "Flyer" is how they say "flower."

Flyer for flower sounds about right.  And their "now" sounds more like Nye (like Bill Nye the Science Guy).  Really great show!

[SaucyAussie]

I've run out of things to watch so I'm rewatching some classics. 

Started with The Wire, still great 17 years later, and maybe even more relevant today.

Now onto the the underrated Brotherhood, inspired by William and Whitey Bulger.

[WhiteTrashCash]

Just started watching "The Boys" and it's magnificent. Just a really fantastic show. I love all the digs at Marvel and Disney. The cast is terrific. Particularly Karl Urban. I've watched the first two episodes so far and it's been a lot of fun so far.

[lookingforadelorean]

Re: The Boys. I only just found out that Hughie is played by Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid’s son. I can see it now that I know it.

[Luke Warm]

we just finished season 1 of poldark. it started off kinda lame but it had a powerful ending.
fleabag was pretty funny but kinda vulgar.

[iris lily]

Just as I am canceling Netflix, I ran across a wonderful series called
The Great
Interior design Challenge,  A British show.

It is wonderful because it takes place in historic, interesting venues. The three designers who are new each episode have designed in a fishermens cottages, and medieval buildings,  a Victorian rowhouses, beach huts, etc. I love these buildings. I hate the designers who do things like tear off original wainscoting, Paint original pine floors. Paint masonry. Ugh, a pox on them.

I will have to hurry and watch about 10 episodes by tomorrow midnight when my subscription runs out.

If Netflix truly had a decent algorithm for recommending TV shows it would have shown this to me earlier. Or maybe it was saving it till the last minute to get me to re-up my subscription.

[SaucyAussie]

I recently noticed that the first season of Billions was available on Amazon Prime.

Lots of investment talk and some good advice from Damian Lewis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky6wBYQl0yc

[lookingforadelorean]

We really need something good to follow The Boys. I enjoyed that series way more than I was expecting to! Suggestions?

[Tyson]

I recently noticed that the first season of Billions was available on Amazon Prime.

Lots of investment talk and some good advice from Damian Lewis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky6wBYQl0yc

Love Billions.  Seeing Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti go at it, head to head is a lot of fun (and intense!).  The show is also very cool in that they have a deep knowledge of excellent films, and they'll do little shout outs like the last episode is a great homage to the Coppola/Hackman movie "The Conversation".  Love that stuff.

[GuitarStv]

We really need something good to follow The Boys. I enjoyed that series way more than I was expecting to! Suggestions?

Since you seem to like dark comedy type shows based on comic books . . . you could give Happy! a go.

[DavidAnnArbor]

As if I needed yet another show to watch, I've started watching The OA on Netflix. Very unusual sci fi show. I had only watched part of the first episode awhile back, and wasn't that interested in it. But then I read an LA Times article about how fans of the show went on a hunger strike when Netflix dropped the show after the 2nd season. One fan was in fact a tv writer herself.
So I gave the show a 2nd try and the plot definitely improved and captured my interest.

[WhiteTrashCash]

Five episodes into "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" on Amazon Prime and I'm digging it. It's a great show to watch if you love stand-up comedy and 1950s American culture. There is a lot of foul language and a brief scene with nudity though, so not for kids.

[OtherJen]

We just finished season 1 of “The Good Place.” What a fun, well-written show! My husband doesn’t always like sitcoms but he’s a fan of this one.

[GuitarStv]

We just finished season 1 of “The Good Place.” What a fun, well-written show! My husband doesn’t always like sitcoms but he’s a fan of this one.

Loved the first season of that show.  The second and third kinda changed the premise that was so entertaining and lost a good chunk of the fun of the show unfortunately.  Still good, but not as good.

[SaucyAussie]

I recently noticed that the first season of Billions was available on Amazon Prime.

Lots of investment talk and some good advice from Damian Lewis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky6wBYQl0yc

Love Billions.  Seeing Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti go at it, head to head is a lot of fun (and intense!).  The show is also very cool in that they have a deep knowledge of excellent films, and they'll do little shout outs like the last episode is a great homage to the Coppola/Hackman movie "The Conversation".  Love that stuff.

I'm glad you mentioned the movie connection.  I'm on the lookout for them now, and caught a Chinatown reference last night.