Your favorite shows over the past twenty years. (1 Viewer)

TravisR · Aug 25, 2021

BobO'Link said:
Deadwood (R+) - I really wanted more when it ended.

When I rewatch Deadwood, I always end up thinking "I knew how good this was but it's somehow even better than I thought it was."

greenscreened · Sep 20, 2021

Walter Kittel said:
...

7 - House - ... (The conflict between House and Det. Tritter (David Morse) in Season 3 was one of the highlights of the series.)

I agree about the actual conflict, and also the consequences that followed because of it and having to finally deal with his Vicodin habit, in the following episodes (and seasons as well?).
I thought Morse was a good choice for the part.

I also liked the conflict between House (and the rest of the team) and Martha Masters that was introduced in the season 7 Office Politics episode, which is somewhere in my top ten episodes of the series.
I'll have to revisit the other eps with her, as I haven't seen them in years, to see how long the actual conflict lasted and how they all dealt with it.

Interestingly, Tamblyn said her character is based on her real-life best friend, who is a med student and whose real name is Martha Masters.
In fact, they made her sign a release that she wouldn't sue Fox, according to Wiki.

Sam Favate · Sep 20, 2021

It’s been a great two decades for TV. About a year ago, a friend and i were talking about Absence of Malice, the 1981 movie with Paul Newman and Sally Field. He said, “Where did the audience for this kind of movie go? They haven’t made anything like this in decades.” And I said, they went to TV, which has become smarter and has better writing than most movies. Back in ‘81, your choices were the movies or The Love Boat.”

Anyway, favorite shows 2000-2021:
The Sopranos
Futurama
The Wire (possibly the best show in TV history)
The West Wing
The Gilmore Girls
Star Trek Enterprise (I found the whole series worthwhile upon rewatching, and season 4 is as good as Star Trek ever was)
Battlestar Galactica
The Clone Wars
30 Rock
Mad Men
Parks and Recreation
Game of Thrones
Downtown Abbey
Hell on Wheels
Agents of Shield
Agent Carter
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Daredevil
The Man in the High Castle
Jessica Jones
The Crown
Luke Cage
Stranger Things
Legion
The Defenders
The Punisher
The Mandalorian
Watchmen
Star Trek: Picard
WandaVision
Superman and Lois

TravisR · Sep 20, 2021

Sam Favate said:
The Wire (possibly the best show in TV history)

If you get a chance, check out some of David Simon and his associates' other series and mini-series. They're all worth watching and one or two aren't even as depressing as The Wire. :laugh:

Purple Wig · Sep 20, 2021

My preference is for pre-1980 TV in general, but here are 10 shows from the last 20 years I liked enough that I would rewatch them.

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Arrested Development
Eastbound & Down
House M.D.
Doc Martin
The Office
Treme
Party Down
Monk
Enlightened

krisamarin · Sep 30, 2021

Here's my top 5 list in no particular order!

1. Game of Thrones
2. Breaking Bad
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Peaky Blinders
5. Friends

Josh Steinberg · Oct 1, 2021

jcroy said:
(This is a more general question about one's show choices).

When it comes to your top favorite shows, do you find there is a pattern to them (besides nostalgia) ?

If you look at my list from earlier in the thread (I just took a peek to make sure I was remembering it correctly), there isn’t a huge pattern. Some are completely serialized, some are almost entirely episodic, some are in the middle. Some were long running shows that stayed past their prime, others disappeared too quickly, some ended at the right moment. The genres differ, but aren’t incompatible. Nostalgia alone can’t explain it; you have to like something in the first place before you can become nostalgic for it.

I think it’s something more intangible. Engagement. Immersion. Suspension of disbelief. It’s one of those things that’s hard to explain and even harder to fake. The politics and conspiracies of “24” are completely ludicrous on the face of it, but the performance from Kiefer Sutherland makes Jack Bauer such a believable creation that it gives credibility to everything else. Political operatives don’t walk and talk in perfect syncopated beats like on “The West Wing,” but the show’s recreation of the White House and the people that populate it is so sincerely done that I accept what happens within it as real.

“C.S.I.” worked for me when William Peterson led the cast and his character was allowed space to actually investigate and process information; where other characters might launch into expositional soliloquies, Peterson’s Grissom was comfortable in silence, comfortable thinking to himself before speaking. The show stopped working as well for me when Ted Danson came in because Danson was being written to explain rather than investigate. The writing didn’t let him fully disappear into a character like the writing for Peterson (or the leads of the other shows I mentioned) did.

I think that’s the commonality - that whatever the worldview of the show is, it’s constructed in a way that makes it seem complete and that follows it’s own internal rules. When I think of those shows I like most, I stop seeing actors on sets and just see real people living their lives. Shows that create and sustain that illusion tend to stick around with me. Shows that puncture that illusion for me tend not to stick.

jcroy · Oct 2, 2021

Josh Steinberg said:
I think it’s something more intangible. Engagement. Immersion. Suspension of disbelief. It’s one of those things that’s hard to explain and even harder to fake. The politics and conspiracies of “24” are completely ludicrous on the face of it, but the performance from Kiefer Sutherland makes Jack Bauer such a believable creation that it gives credibility to everything else. Political operatives don’t walk and talk in perfect syncopated beats like on “The West Wing,” but the show’s recreation of the White House and the people that populate it is so sincerely done that I accept what happens within it as real.

....

I think that’s the commonality - that whatever the worldview of the show is, it’s constructed in a way that makes it seem complete and that follows it’s own internal rules. When I think of those shows I like most, I stop seeing actors on sets and just see real people living their lives. Shows that create and sustain that illusion tend to stick around with me. Shows that puncture that illusion for me tend not to stick.

Thinking about this more, the biggest reason why I find a lot of science fiction tv shows (or movies) end up being really disappointing for me, is that I have an extremely hard time "suspending disbelief" no matter how hard I "try to think" otherwise. For example, such as a lot of the "technobabble" and crazy "word salad" explanations for future-tech stuff in the Star Trek and Stargate franchises.

To a lesser extent, I also find it very difficult to "suspend disbelief" when it comes to how computer hacking is portrayed in many tv shows and movies. Very few tv/movie writers ever get it right. For example, such as how cracking passwords is portrayed is extremely inaccurate.

Usually if something highly technical doesn't pass the "laugh test" / "giggle test", my "suspension of disbelief" is immediately shattered. After that if I continue to watch, I largely just think of it as a comedy + action movie or tv show of the popcorn variety. (ie. Most of the time, it becomes something disposable which I end up only watching once or twice).

jcroy · Oct 2, 2021

With all that being said, I've found it was easier to "suspend disbelief" when it comes to tv shows/movies in niches where I have no expert (or quasi-expert) knowledge in.

I strongly suspect this ^ is the primary reason why I continued to watch shows like the NCIS franchise, Magnum PI, SWAT, Criminal Minds, etc .... and further back in the time stuff like Cold Case, Without a Trace, The Closer, The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, Suits, etc ... I don't have much knowledge of the military, spy/intelligence agencies, law enforcement, legal professions, etc ...

Though I wouldn't be surprised if folks who have expert knowledge of the military, law enforcement, legal professions, etc ... cringe at how their niches are portrayed on these same television shows.

jcroy · Oct 2, 2021

jcroy said:
Usually if something highly technical doesn't pass the "laugh test" / "giggle test", my "suspension of disbelief" is immediately shattered. After that if I continue to watch, I largely just think of it as a comedy + action movie or tv show of the popcorn variety. (ie. Most of the time, it becomes something disposable which I end up only watching once or twice).

For example, one show which quickly became a "comedy + action" show for me was the MacGyver reboot. A lot of the crazy ad-hoc devices and computer hacking, immediately triggered my laugh/gag reflex that I couldn't suspend any disbelief after the first few episodes.

Josh Steinberg · Oct 2, 2021

I think we all have different thresholds for suspension of disbelief but for me, whether or not that’s the way things work in real life doesn’t affect it. I buy into fantastical premises like Star Trek, and overly reductive portrayals of real science, like on CSI. For me, the suspension of disbelief comes from how convincing the combination of writing, design and acting come together to sell whatever illusion is being offered. 24 would be ridiculous with any other actor - they tried a spin-off and it didn’t work - but Kiefer Sutherland makes me believe. He doesn’t have to convince me that the show’s conspiracies and politics are even remote plausible - what he does is convince me that it’s real for his character, and that is what makes it real for me.

TravisR · Oct 2, 2021

Josh Steinberg said:
I think we all have different thresholds for suspension of disbelief but for me, whether or not that’s the way things work in real life doesn’t affect it. I buy into fantastical premises like Star Trek, and overly reductive portrayals of real science, like on CSI. For me, the suspension of disbelief comes from how convincing the combination of writing, design and acting come together to sell whatever illusion is being offered. 24 would be ridiculous with any other actor - they tried a spin-off and it didn’t work - but Kiefer Sutherland makes me believe. He doesn’t have to convince me that the show’s conspiracies and politics are even remote plausible - what he does is convince me that it’s real for his character, and that is what makes it real for me.

With the craziness of the world in the last few years, some aspects of 24 that were off the wall 15 years ago now seem downright prescient. :laugh:

jcroy · Oct 2, 2021

TravisR said:
With the craziness of the world in the last few years, some aspects of 24 that were off the wall 15 years ago now seem downright prescient.

For that matter, quite a lot of tech/hacking stuff which would have been considered laughable and/or paranoid 15-20+ years ago, is now today completely mundane and no laughing matter anymore. This became very visible after the snowden revelations.

For example, the sort of surveillance depicted in the early-mid 2010s CBS network tv show "Person of Interest", is very mundane nowadays and no longer "science fiction".

jcroy · Oct 2, 2021

(Without getting heavily into poltics).

For example as a consequence, nowadays the only way to achieve any sense of "privacy" of yesteryear (like 15-20+ years ago) is that you have to literally "hide in plain sight" today. As "paradoxical" this may sound.

krisamarin · Oct 6, 2021

My top 5 in no particular order:

1. Modern Family
2. Breaking Bad
3. Peaky Blinders
4. The Crown
5. Black-ish

Kevin Hewell · Oct 9, 2021

I've been hearing so many good things about "The Crown" but I haven't watched it yet.

Wiseguy · Oct 23, 2021

TravisR said:
I still watch each new episode and can get a solid laugh or two out of nearly every episode but there's no question in my mind that the show's best episodes were in the '90s. However, if you look at younger fans, you can see people citing episodes from the 2000's or 2010's as when the best episodes of the show were done. They're completely wrong but you do see it.

I still think it's pointless to compare current episodes of The Simpsons to past episodes. In most series, the earlier episodes would be better. Instead, compare current episodes to current episodes of other sitcoms (live-action or animated). I still think current episodes are wittier and more humorous than most live-action sitcoms which I find completely unfunny (more stupid than humorous), even those that many people (including here) fairly drool over. I won't mention any titles, but I have never heard what people think is so funny, just that it is funny. So, I will continue to watch The Simpsons and ignore those other programs.

Wiseguy · Oct 23, 2021

Using a strict 2000 premiere or later, the top 5 (in alphabetical order):

The Carmichael Show
Elementary
Hawaii Five-0
Mom
24

I generally don't find much outside of broadcast TV that interests me, regardless of the quality. Other programs I liked included House, M.D. and The Mentalist but those self-destructed before they ended (I did not like the musical-chairs approach to the doctors on House; the conclusion of The Mentalist was so bad it ruined the legacy of the whole series). If The West Wing had premiered one year later it would have been included, but that series also did a musical-chairs shake-up in the final seasons that I did not care for.