what TV series should i begin?

breaking bad

sunny in philly

ilx says Unopened Boxsets that I liked the look of from the Pilot: The ILX Television 51 Show Countdown Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what was the last one?

there is a lot of male nudity in Oz

Sunny

I voted for 6FU even though I've still never seen the last season and have no idea how it ends.

Note: I don't think 6FU is the *best* show in this list, but it's really easy to get hooked on in marathon form.

no you guys, breaking bad, really

breaking bad or mad men would be the most rewarding of these

sunny in philadelphia and weeds seem overrated to me, judging on what i've seen of them.

have no idea how it ends.

With Sia.

i'd rank them like: west wing > lost > deadwood > justified > breaking bad > the shield > mad men > (haven't really watched always sunny or oz or dexter) >>>>> six feet under >>>>>>>>>>>>>> weeds

six feet under is great great if you only watch the first two or two and half seasons so I would rule that out if you have options like bb or mm

now i've looked back, ilx says mad men.

just watch season 6 of lost

Sunny, cuz there's nary a trace of self-importance. All the others wear it strong, whether it's earned (sometimes) or not (often).

that was then, but then breaking bad also beat mad men in a poll, the future is breaking bad xp

h8ted six feet under fyi. none of the characters were likable. it was a show about selfish and sad people doing bad things to each other.

The West Wing has a great pilot and is a horrible slog after that point. I have nothing negative to say about the others (well Lost kind of got stupid in the later season but there were still some awesome fakeouts).

Voted Oz because I love L&O

i'd say watch mad men but every few episodes sneak in an episode of always sunny.

If I might suggest an "other," Dead Like Me was great fun for its two seasons. Never NEVER watch its follow-up film though.

RE: Johnny Fever's last post.

Also, Alf.

I always meant to watch Oz some day, also True Blood. Voting for Oz.

what ~sort of thing~ are you in the mood for?

unnecessary question

Terriers!

i dunno what i'm in the mood for

i'm leaning towards west wing but i wary of getting sucked into a show that supposedly sucks for like half of its existence

If I might suggest an "other," Dead Like Me was great fun for its two seasons. Never NEVER watch its follow-up film though.

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, March 6, 2011 11:06 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

love Bryan Fuller but Dead Like Me was his weakest show, Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies both way better imo

gonna assume you've seen community

wonderfalls was bonkers, loved it.

i just finished watching the whole run of West Wing not long ago and imo it sags in the middle but a lot of the 2nd half is totally good and worthwhile, if not on par with the early seasons

then toss out 6fu and lost too xxxxp

Ugh, don't even dare with Lost. 6 years of stout devoteeism, even buying myself a Dharma t-shirt.... for the most shit finale in all television. The show's infrastructure, it's pulling power, lies in what the mystery behind the island is... you get vague, illogical explanations that seem to only cite magic (Harry Potter's universe is more coherent!)as the reason behind everything. If you do choose to invest 3782084273 hours into one of the biggest disappointments of your foreseeable life, I didn't really spoil much. If the spoiler were even worthy of a tag.

Mad Men is my second favorite show next to Buffy. Breaking Bad's pretty great as well but I just have this complete lack of interest in continuing it beyond the first season. Oz is pretty great, but like Lost, gets worse with each consecutive season.

i haven't seen any of these either except for an episode or two

my picks would be
oz
deadwood
mad men

Terriers still doesn't have confirmed deal for DVD release (although as of a couple weeks ago reports were optimistic)

gonna assume you've seen community

― mookieproof, Sunday, March 6, 2011 11:12 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

yeah i don't really fuck w/ it

i'm very 'journey not the destination' with Lost, have the DVDs of the first 5 seasons and will probably give them to my kid someday and tell him to just watch those and not bother with 6

i think i'm gonna watch oz eventually but i'm coming off the wire so i think i'm gonna put it off

watch the first two seasons of deadwood -- the best thing on the list. alternatively iasip is hilarious and mad men is the best drama on right now and if you catch up you can watch it when the new season airs which is no small thing. west wing sorkin seasons are great too.

I never really mentioned this anywhere but I was in a rite aid last week and saw a seinfeld version of Clue

there's prob no way i'm watching lost, i just put it in there for the hell of it

mad men

love Bryan Fuller but Dead Like Me was his weakest show, Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies both way better imo

Never saw Wonderfalls. Meant to when it was one, and have meant to since it went off. Pushing Daisies was far too cutesy for me, though.

one of the weapons is the Big Salad

maybe I have mentioned it

i've been watching oz lately. in fact, watching an episode right now. it's brutal, but tonally so weird. i think if the theme interests you, you should check it out. but don't expect much. it's definitely from a pre-Sopranos world.

'george at the soup nazi's....with hand'

I discussed this somewhere before (maybe on ILX, actually) and discovered there was a tipping point about three episodes in where a whole ton of folk went "nah, not for me".

breaking bad is only overrated because everything awesome is overrated.
it's the cost of being awesome.
better to have eggs over-awesome than rotten eggs (e.g. two and a half eggs or dharma and greggs)

I really can't say enough good things about the Showtime series "Shameless"...love it.

I only watched the first episode of Breaking Bad, and while I thought it was good, the subject matter ... is just not that compelling to me for some reason? I can't seem to make myself watch more episodes.

need a reason? danny trejo, yo. danny trejo.

So, if I can hijack this thread for a second:

Parks and Rec vs. Community?

I've seen a few (early) episodes of the former, which were amusing, but I've been hearing great things about the latter lately.

I slightly prefer Parks.

They're both really good. Parks and Rec really takes off in s2 so you could probably just start there. P&R is a little more consistent, Community has higher highs IMO.

im considering magnum PI when my current journey through the larry sanders seasons is over. i definitely want to see breaking bad tho.

i kinda trolled the Breaking Bad thread already about this, but basically thought that season 1 was good (but ran out of steam a little toward the end), then something about the first few episodes of season 2 totally turned me off and i've yet to finish it.

the 2nd season has my fav episodes in it, although they're later on. i came to a screeching halt w/ the episode that entirely took place in the meth cooking lab. couldnt force myself to watch it

been watching the larry sanders show myself, a+ lols

and for ppl wary of mad men i think it helps to realize that the show gets much better as it goes, that you start to get a feel for what theyre trying to do. early on it feels like its just reveling in the reactionariness of the period ( i never got jhoshea's snap judgement that it was amazing ... seemed outright offensive at first)

Parks and Rec vs. Community?

I like them both.

P&R is more character-based. There's a very good spirit to the show and I find myself missing the individual characters at the season's end (reminds me of Freaks & Geeks a little in this regard).

Community is more silly and absurd, but generates more laughs per minute.

jaymc watch Community, seriously, i think it's the best comedy on tv right now

watch one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community, then one episode of P&R, then one episode of Community.

i kinda trolled the Breaking Bad thread already about this, but basically thought that season 1 was good (but ran out of steam a little toward the end), then something about the first few episodes of season 2 totally turned me off and i've yet to finish it.

― JaySeanLilWayne (some dude), Tuesday, March 8, 2011 10:24 PM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah exactly the same here

lol wth, exact same situation ^

it was just like... "hm... this again"

breaking bad brings the funny more consistently than community, but there are more episodes of community and you don't have to watch them in order.

I thought the first season of Breaking Bad was unpleasant and fairly pointless. Don't think I'll be bothering with #2.

how can a tv show not be pointless?

idk maybe just like read a book though

"pointless" in this context probably doesn't mean so much lacks an overarching thesis or isn't important in the grand scheme of things as it means that for some people there doesn't feel to be much motivation to keep watching, in terms of entertainment value or dramatic or comedic payoff

I think "unpleasant" is the key descriptor as to why people really stop watching BB. There was some discussion on a BB thread about how many of us watch it alone because or significant others find it too stressful/gross/depressing.

sorry - "our" significant others

roseanne is one of the best ever

agreed on Roseanne

I would like to go back and try to watch those last seasons at some point. I hated them at the time and probably will still hate them, but they are also sort of audacious.

how can a tv show not be pointless?

― iatee

a tv show can be rewarding just like a book can't it? I felt no emotional attachment to BB.

well everyone's kind of a jerk in that show. except maybe Combo.

BB is one of those shows that certainly is hard to watch sometimes but i cant help but respect it for accomplishing what it does even if i can pick at individual parts

just can't see how you could watch BB and not form anyyyy emotional attachment to walter's fate

not to mention Jesse!

i wouldn't say i have zero attachment, but the character not so much unsympathetic as kind of impossible to understand a lot of the time. also one of the first things you learn about him in the show is that he's doomed and his days are numbered, so i kinda feel like i'm just watching to see what happens while he runs out the clock.

it's easy to understand Walter -- he's a baaaad dude pretending to be a good guy. (Jesse is the good guy pretending to be a bad guy)
ticking death clock is OK for Statham, why not Cranston?

Crank is fun but i don't know if i actually care about the character

just can't see how you could watch BB and not form anyyyy emotional attachment to walter's fate

― iatee, Tuesday, March 8, 2011 7:57 PM (43 minutes ago) Bookmark

It's his fate following the television serial format that's the problem. The predictability and quirky feeling that comes with buying another Breaking Bad box-set to see how this dude handles his upcoming death... maybe it's not the believability it affects, but the relevance. It just doesn't feel pressing so long as you're watching it. Am I making sense?

it's like... Tune In Next Season: He Aint Ded Yet!!

but that's not what the show is trying to do, it's not 'cancer patient is gonna die, so sad'. cancer allows him to not give a shit about mortality, it drives the plot, but it's not what the show's about.

yeah the more u guys explain your position on this the more o_O im getting tbh

BB rules

i probably ruined all my cred w/ the suit shorts but i still think that 'it's always sunny' is the one that j0rdan is most likely to really love

generation kill is rad tho

i wouldn't say i have zero attachment, but the character not so much unsympathetic as kind of impossible to understand a lot of the time.

I don't get this at all, walter's one of the most clearly + cleverly sketched characters on TV. tightly wound brilliant guy who backed down from real achievement for domestic bliss is faced with his own mortality and starts acting crazy - it's a midlife crisis but with everything on 10.

I will say that there is a something cipher-like about walter, but that's in keeping with his character (smart antisocial guy) and also makes him (and the show) unpredictable.

generation kill was great, band of brothers excellent, the pacific...meh

he's not acting crazy so much as revealing his true nature. it's like they're "breaking" his shell and find the inside is "bad"
in flashbacks prior to the breakdown you can see hints of his evil being suppressed, and the heisenberg costume is his true face, a ruthless devil in a black hat.

sorry, i started watching breaking bad concurrently with L O S T

i probably ruined all my cred w/ the suit shorts but i still think that 'it's always sunny' is the one that j0rdan is most likely to really love

generation kill is rad tho

― millions now eating will never diet (Lamp), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 2:20 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol -- i've seen some eps of 'it's always sunny' on TV and i thought it was p funny

he's not acting crazy so much as revealing his true nature. it's like they're "breaking" his shell and find the inside is "bad"
in flashbacks prior to the breakdown you can see hints of his evil being suppressed, and the heisenberg costume is his true face, a ruthless devil in a black hat.

― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, March 9, 2011 3:13 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark

this point is debatable - c/r any flashback where walter is portrayed as evil, think it has more to do with how his personality reacts to the stress of his current situation i.e. not well

i never read 'breaking bad' as meaning they're breaking him open and finding bad. more like anyone can break good or break bad and lately he's been breaking bad. and also, he's breaking (falling apart). how badly is he breaking? he's breaking bad.

fwiw

Q. What exactly does the title of your show mean, anyway?

A. Honestly, when I named our show “Breaking Bad” I thought everyone was aware of this bit of slang, and it turns out nobody is except for the people in my hometown. But to break bad, when I was growing up, was to raise hell. “Jim was down at the bar the other weekend, and he got really drunk and he really broke bad. He totaled his car.” The show might as well have been named “Raising Hell,” but it would have sounded like a Clive Barker thing. A detective who sends people to hell or something.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/arts/television/01Itzk.html

If we're picking random ones that are awesome and brit, try finding Simon Munnery's 2001 sketch series Attention Scum! - it hasn't got a DVD release but there's a TV rip floating around. It's the funniest stupidest cleverest oddist show I've seen and fans of the sillier side of Python need to see it.

"A detective who sends people to hell or something."

I swear I've seen at least two unrelated shows with this premise.