The American TV Drama Thread

redspoony

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Ok, thanks to the caf I have started watching a few fine shows, Dexter and Breaking Bad among them. I also catch things very late. I read a thread about Justified, only to discover that the season was winding up on Five USA. Same with Sons of Anarchy.

Now, there can't be much debate that US drama is as good as it gets, but I always seem to catch on late.

Perhaps we could use this thread as a "heads up" for new series that are due to come on TV, or indeed, what to avoid.

I'm sure it will benefit a fair few people here!
 
Not to watch - Jericho, Journeyman, Numb3rs, Fringe.

To watch - The Sopranos, The Wire, The Shield, Arrested Development, True Blood, Entourage, Nip/Tuck, Six Feet Under, LOST, 30 Rock, House, Weeds, Scrubs, Dexter, Brotherhood, Californication, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, Hung*, Bored To Death*, Prison Break (the first 2 seasons only), Rome, Heroes (season 1 only), 24 (the first 4 seasons only), One Tree Hill :nervous:, Mad Men, Dirty Sexy Money :nervous:.

I've not watched - Deadwood, Carnivàle, Justified, and Sons Of Anarchy, myself, but I've only heard good things about them. But I also heard good things about Breaking Bad, and its first season (the only one I've watched yet) was not all that IMVHO (to be fair to it, the writer's strike ended it before it was planned, and fecked it up).

*Could be skipped, nothing great to see here.
 
I cannot recommend The West Wing enough....likewise with Entourage (get past the first season and I promise you, you will love it)..

The Shield = awesomeness..


I don't know if they can be considered drama but....the mini series of Band of Brothers, and The Pacific are a MUST WATCH.
 
Nice one Corrado.

I won some vouchers at work and took a punt on the first season of Fringe and so far am really enjoying it.

Some of the ones you have recommended I've seen and wasn't too keen on - True Blood, Heroes and Scrubs. You nailed most of them though.

Deadwood is very good, and you can pick up the boxsets relatively cheaply now. Worth it just for the amount of times Lovejoy says "cnut".
 
Avoid? - Everything that's NBC/Fox/ABC/CBS related that isn't Modern Family*, Chuck*, Friday Night Lights*, and The Office*.

Shows to watch though...

The West Wing
The Sopranos
The Larry Sanders Show
Twin Peaks
The Wire
Generation Kill
The Shield
The X-Files
Seinfeld
Curb Your Enthusiasm*
Hill Street Blues
Freaks and Geeks
Undeclared
My So-Called Life
Deadwood
Pushing Daisies
Firefly
NewsRadio
Sports Night
Homicide: Life on the Street
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia*
Six Feet Under
True Blood*
Mad Men*
Eastbound & Down*
Treme*


*= Still going. Don't blame me for not naming many shows that are still going, it's just that they don't make that much great shows anymore, HBO tries it's best to carry a country of awfulness. Also I don't give many shows a chance anymore, I don't really have the time, but garbage like Heroes, FlashForward and Prison Break is what it's all about now, gimmicks and stuff. No real intelligence.

Boardwalk Empire with Buscemi in and Scorsese directing starts in the winter on HBO, while next year they also have a series with Sean Bean from the Ice and Fire book series-epic fantasy stuff, with another show with Dustin Hoffman starring and Michael Mann/David Milch involved about gambling so all good there. Oh yeah and then theres The Walking Dead, which has the awesome Andrew Lincoln in the lead role, apparently the comics are great, so that should be one to look out for also.
 
Is that the season with Robocop as the epic heel?

I really do wish they didn't kill him, they show desperately needed a new Nina-type villain character, who knew Jack and was smart, he was just that, then they just killed him. Such a waste.
 
These are all the TV shows I have seen every single episode of...and the ones in bold are the ones I highly highly recommend..



The Pacific,
Modern Family,
The West Wing,
Band of Brothers,
The Shield,
Peep Show,
30 Rock,
Community,
Entourage,
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia,
Breaking Bad,
Californication,
24,
Friends,
Seinfeld,
Scrubs,
House,
Curb Your Enthusiasm,
Becker,
The Office (UK)
The Office (US)
The Big Bang Theory,
Boston Legal,
How I Met Your Mother,
Two and a Half Men,
Weeds,
Rules of Engagement,
Extras
The Wire,
Shark
 
There doesn't seem to be many great dramas coming out at the moment. The Walking Dead could be good (it's going to have an initial 6 episode run), Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones are the 2 big new HBO shows, and David Milch (Deadwood) has just had a new series about horse racing greenlit. Rubicon might be worth watching, the pilot is 'available' and it's only the 3rd drama by AMC who's first 2 were Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
 
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