Favorite TV Show(s)

[jamo]

"Always Sunny" and "Workaholics." I'm 33 going on 12.

"Workaholics" did have an episode all about a dinosaur named Reptar, so.... :-)

[iacas]

Originally Posted by jamo

"Workaholics" did have an episode all about a dinosaur named Reptar, so....

That reminded me of Rugrats. That was called "Reptar" there too right?

[jamo]

That reminded me of Rugrats. That was called "Reptar" there too right?

Yup. In the episode they even said something like "that was a total Tommy move," or thereabouts. [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co8PISaHuPM[/VIDEO]

[nevets88]

My new favorite under-appreciated show. Just recently noticed it available on demand via iTunes/Amazon.

[luck box]

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

Television begins and ends with The Wire. Season 4 in particular is a masterpiece.

Its fan-base is comprised of people with legitimate attention spans who read books regularly. If you don't fall into this population, don't even bother. The writers spoon feed you nothing.

You said it perfectly.  This is the best season of the best show that has ever been on TV.  I had a hard time getting into The Wire the first time I watched season 1 episode 1 due to the writers throwing me into a world I thought I understood, but truely had no idea.  Once you get past episode 4 (the first episode with Omar) you will be hooked.

[JetFan1983]

Originally Posted by luck box

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

Television begins and ends with The Wire. Season 4 in particular is a masterpiece.

Its fan-base is comprised of people with legitimate attention spans who read books regularly. If you don't fall into this population, don't even bother. The writers spoon feed you nothing.

You said it perfectly.  This is the best season of the best show that has ever been on TV.  I had a hard time getting into The Wire the first time I watched season 1 episode 1 due to the writers throwing me into a world I thought I understood, but truely had no idea.  Once you get past episode 4 (the first episode with Omar) you will be hooked.

Haha, thanks. I love the complexities in that show. I'm sure film students could write endless dissertations on all of them.

And just to prove to everyone I'm not pretentious for saying that original statement, I really loved this joke from Family Guy this season (even though FG has been pretty crappy this year):

[newtogolf]

Started watching Monday Mornings on TNT, it's been a pretty solid show.  Combination of ER and House, but the way they take the doctors to task on how they handle cases is really  interesting.  Intermingled between the doctors getting ripped to shreds by the Chief of Staff and diagnostics is a little bit of soap opera but I usually just fast forward through that stuff.

[nevets88]

The Americans. This show is just killing it.

[luck box]

Haha, thanks. I love the complexities in that show. I'm sure film students could write endless dissertations on all of them. And just to prove to everyone I'm not pretentious for saying that original statement, I really loved this joke from Family Guy this season (even though FG has been pretty crappy this year):

Hahaha - that's gold Jerry! It is so cool watching someone's first reaction to the show and even better when they get deep in it (I.e. Bodie's performance in the series 4 finale) "I don't know about cards, uh, but I believe these .45's beat a full house"

[iacas]

Watched every episode of The Wire.

Regretted wasting the time in the end.

Sorry. I think the show is the type of show people say they like because everyone else said they like it.

[jamo]

The first few episodes of Nathan For You have caused me to laugh out loud more than most shows. It's kind of "stupid" comedy, but there's something about the guy that makes me laugh.

[luck box]

Watched every episode of The Wire. Regretted wasting the time in the end. Sorry. I think the show is the type of show people say they like because everyone else said they like it. :-D

I think it is one of those shows you have to watch with someone else and watching more than two at a time is difficult. Seinfeld and Modern Family are up there for comedies. Also having two MILFs in one show helps.

[JetFan1983]

Originally Posted by iacas

Watched every episode of The Wire.

Regretted wasting the time in the end.

Sorry. I think the show is the type of show people say they like because everyone else said they like it.

I completely understand this sentiment. I mean, I think ultimately when it comes to anything we "buy a ticket for," the bottom line is "am I entertained?" That's why the Wire isn't the perfect show, because it entertains a very, very small niche of people.

I think without season four, I don't like the Wire nearly as much as I do. Season two lulls significantly in terms of pacing, as do all the seasons frankly, and I think the audience in the general sense is left wondering where the payoff is. For me, it was season four, where I felt the entire story came together and everything finally reached its climax.

But season five had its muddled moments, story wise, as well. But when its all said and done, its to me really a masterpiece study of the city of Baltimore in the early 2000s. I think when you can see a city's problems up close like that, and as realistically as that, the show carries enormous weight in the grand scheme of shows simply because most shows just aren't that ambitious nor successful in terms of trying to do the same thing. So in that regard, the show was a major success. I think though it might have been elevated to the next level in terms of more mass appeal had they added a veteran writer who understood that, ultimately, the question to be asked was "is this entertaining enough?" Purest may disagree, and of course, you all know I loved the show, but I'm just using a hyper critical eye here. I'm not saying the show needed "more gun battles" or whatever, but simply turning the entertainment dial up a notch or two for the sake of the audience investing time into the show would have IMO been a prudent idea. The writing strength of David Simon and Ed Burns is truth, honestly, realism, and experience of having lived through a lot of what the show explores. So I think throwing in a writer whose strength is knowing how to purely entertain people would have been a magical grouping.

In terms of "everyone liking it," though, I think that's incorrect because I've tried to get friends and family to watch it and to this day, no one has liked it . They all say they got bored very quickly. To date, I only have three friends total with which I can talk about the show.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

But season five had its muddled moments, story wise, as well. But when its all said and done, its to me really a masterpiece study of the city of Baltimore in the early 2000s.

I think perhaps you have to live in a big city or something to care about it more. I've lived in some moderately sized cities (never really "in the city" per se), and I don't ever really think about drug lords or crimes, etc. It's not a part of my life. It's not something to which I can relate at all.

[nevets88]

I've watched of all of David Simon's shows - Treme and Generation Kill as well and "The Wire" as it was being broadcasted. I can see why it's not everyone's cup of tea - it's more slice of life oriented and Simon drops you in a world that he assumes you already know much about. Another aspect of "The Wire" that I love is the writing and the language. Turning on the subtitles and figuring out what means what, like re-up. There are many scenes I can't forget - like Snoop buying the nail gun, Michael and Bodie on chess, Bunk and McNulty just saying the F word in the crime scene. "That money over there, some of that ought to be mine."

The acting was good too. Stringer Bell has been in a number big budget movies, McNulty was pretty good in "The Hour" and Carcetti is in "Game of Thrones", plus Lance Reddick.

[podunker]

Best Shows Of All Time for me!

OLDER SHOWS

Dexter

Breaking Bad

Sopranos

The Wire

Parenthood

Coach

King of Queens

Everybody Loves Raymond

NEWER SHOWS

Homeland

House of Cards (Netflix)

Boss

Justified

Raising Hope

Walking Dead

Game of Thrones

[sherman51]

Although I didn't dig through the whole thread, I'm surprised at the lacks of props for Sons of Anarchy. Awesome show!

[achadha7]

Hustle Breaking bad The wire Sopranos King of queens Justified The good wife Shameless The shield Deadwood Sons of anarchy Suits Modern family Dexter Everybody loves raymond Treme