I rarely watch television shows I really love live these days. The obvious exception is Torchwood as I'm rarely out on a Sunday evening and it is a nice finish to the weekend; and X-Factor as it's (moderately) fun before partying on Saturdays.
Last week I finished watching downloads of Hotel Babylon. I didn't really know much about the show but was aware of the book on which it was based. But it was perfect TV viewing. Tamzin Outwaite and Max Beesley were great leads and the whole thing was very glossy and perfectly conjured up the images of 5* hotels. Plus having Craig Kelly on screen is never a bad thing. Plus on the go I have Love Film sending me DVDs of Shakespeare and Chaucer Retold as anything with Billie or Sarah Parish in it is good right?
So what to watch now? I'm currently enjoying season 3 of best show evah Veronica Mars (ok possibly 2nd to Angel, I can't decide) and looking forward to the second series of Life On Mars. Plus someone has recommended Bones and the first episode of Jam and Jerusalem was alright. But other than that I'm pretty lost. Can you help?
Shows I like: Angel, Veronica Mars, (new) Doctor Who, Buffy, Torchwood, Life On Mars, Hotel Babylon, Blackpool, Casanova, Peep Show, *cough* Hollyoaks *cough*, Beauty and The Geek (USA s1), Ally McBeal (s1-3), Frasier, Lead Balloon, Red Dwarf, anything involving Gordon Ramsay, X-Files, SatC, Allo Allo, Goodnight Sweetheart, The Brittas Empire (i'm not sure i'd like these last three now i'm not 13 though), Dead Like Me, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Eerie Indiana, Spooks (s1-2). OK I'm rambling now.
Shows that have passed me by with little interest: Lost, Desperate Housewives, Dawson's Creek, The OC (I've never watched this, but probably should have - too late now), 24, Party of Five, anything involving fake alien faces
Shows I think I should try: Firefly, Ugly Betty, Alias
So any ideas? I think things like The Wire would be a bit too intense and I don't think I can handle trying to catch up on a decade of The West Wing or Sopranos. Should I watch The L Word, QaF USA, Nip/Tuck, Charmed, Smallville or will these be too hard to catch up to date on? What's the new Matthew Perry show like? Why is Eamonn Holmes presenting a show in America? I'll watch more of How I Met Your Mother if it happens to be on, but what's Till Death like? What about Heroes?
Please help me people of the world, especially you, Jack, Graham and Sizemore. Merci
I thought you were a top-flight international superstar DJ? Surely you don't have time for TV any more?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Voss can fill you in on Smallville, I've never looked at it. I would also recommend Alias; it's quite compelling at the start, but gets so frustrating at the end as none of it makes any sense, it goes nowhere, and gets more and more impausible. Maybe you could just watch the first series, but it's dangerous.
So what I would suggest is as follows:
A couple of US sci-fi teen shows that you might dig. Kyle XY and Jake 2.0. Kyle was a minor hit this summer on ABC family, but was quite racy in parts, although I suspect this will be less good as time goes on. Jake 2.0 had one half-season and was cancelled before it really got going but has some good moments.
From the UK, see if you can grab Not Going Out. This is a deceptively clever little comedy from Andrew Collins (yep, himoff Radio 6) and Lee Mack which takes a very spartan setting and injects it with a double dose of puns and one-liners.
Lastly, I've been saying this for years, but check out House with Hugh Laurie. It's got Hugh Laurie with an American accent: SoaS! Remember, it's not actually a medical drama, it's a mystery show. Start with Season 1, there's not too much continuity, but some of the best episodes are early on. Oh, and it's very very funny in places too.
The new Matthew Perry show is Studio 60, and it's worth a go. Smallville is to be avoided if implausability is a problem for you.
ReplyDeleteThe absolute must-see is Heroes. It's excellent. And no fake alien faces.
big love is worth the time...it starts off slow but it's klassy trash.
ReplyDeleteand L-word is pretty funny. though very uneven. lots of eye candy and they get the bands, sleater-kinney and the organ on the last series.
ReplyDeleteBoston Legal. All the stinging dialogue, bravura monologues, clever plotting and funny cartoonish characters of Ally McBeal, but without Ally McBeal. Instead of her it has the best comedy double act on TV, James Spader (yum! I'm told) and the great William Shatner. Season one on DVD now, not as good as season two but pretty damn good. Features Rhona Mitra, oddly.
ReplyDeleteI can second the comments on The L Word, Boston Legal and the underrated Not Going Out.
ReplyDeleteBut really you can't miss Gilmore Girls. The premise sounds hokey -- young for her age mother and teenage daughter are best friends -- but it's just amazing. Like The West Wing, every forty-five minute episode is a brilliantly crafted piece of art (at least in the early seasons) with funny, quick fire dialogue and always surprising storytelling.
You must do Firefly. And Alias. And if you haven't been there yet Spaced (which has a clubbing episode I suspect you'll love). Also if you can get hold of a copy, My So-Called Life which has the dna for all subsequent teen shows
Of course I've done Spaced! Damn me for forgetting to mention it. It's awesome. And I watched My So Called Life back in the day but it'd be fun to watch again!
ReplyDeleteWow you guys have been busy. I don't know how I'm going to fit it all in now.
Mega thanks!!
I'm surprised nobody’s recommended Firefly to you. It’s a brilliant little series sadly dumped by Fox. If you like your Sci-Fi diamonds rough, you'll love this. Slick repartee, cryingly funny moments of innuendo and lovely saw-grass backing music, that adds a real flavour to the frontier like style of a little Firefly class transport called ‘Serenity’ and her crew scratching a living, legal or otherwise, out in the ‘verse’. Good fun if you want to step away from the every day.
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