I like seeing a group evolve and form good friendships. I also like sci fi and weirdness. For these reasons, two of my favorite shows are The Expanse and Severance. In both, by the end, I felt like I was “part of the team” in some way.
What are a couple of your favorites? What kind of itch do they scratch?
Didn’t see it mentioned yet so i’ll shout out:
Devs.
Super super good sci-fi mystery series relating to quantum theory that introduced some … moral quandaries that stick with you. I dont see it talked about much but I really enjoyed it. Nick Offerman plays the main “bad guy” and it was a jarring but refreshing role change, kinda like John Goodman in the second cloverfield movie. God Damn he killed it.
I also loved Devs. Great soundtrack too.
I’ve just caught up with Slow Horses. The main character is played by Gary Oldman in top form. He’s a spy, so decrepit and filthy you can almost smell him. He runs an outpost of British intelligence from a filthy, decrepit office staffed by a bunch of fuck-ups. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in ages. Lots of character development, back stories, car chases, bloodshed, even a tiny splash of romance. It’s on its 4th series, so I’m very late to the game. Probably because I don’t have Apple+.
The books are great
The X-Files because childhood and Gillian Anderson.
Star Trek TNG because childhood and Gates McFadden.
My favorite shows are the shows I can binge over and over and over and they’re still tons of fun, with enough complexity and depth to still reveal something new after dozens of viewings.
In no particular order:
The Orville
Psych
Community
Bob’s Burgers
Archer
Eureka
Rick & Morty
Home Movies
Warehouse 13
Joe Pera Talks With You
Also, my wife and I watch Friends together a lot.Honorable mention:
Continuum
Gravity Falls
Roswell (yeah it was from my time)So nice to see another Eureka/Warehouse 13 fan. Those shows are like perfect comfort food to me.
Nice!
The Magicians. It’s like a more mature and dark Harry Potter/Chronicles of Narnia crossover. It has really good character development and isn’t afraid to have fun with things like musical numbers and self aware plotlines. The first season is the weakest of the bunch, but it’s still pretty good. So give it a chance past then if you are still on the fence.
Have you read the books? And if so, how does it compare? At least with the books I added a touch of Catcher in the Rye to HP & Narnia to describe it. Because really, Quintin can be a moody little git a lot of the time.
I read the books and lined them up The show deviates from the books and should be considered “inspired by” That said, the show is made by people who also truly loved the books and characters, and they did a great job making an adaptation
I’ve not read the books, but that does describe Q decently, though I think the show probably toned it down a bit from things I hear others say.
It’s Always Sunny and Bob’s Burgers are standouts for me, along with a lot of this thread.
I guess I’d categorize them both as shows where every character, however minor, contributes perfectly to the hilarity and overall vibe of the show. Really, any show with great chemistry/cohesion and ownership of the characters, where you couldn’t change a single thing to make it better. Psych and Futurama are a couple mentioned that fit the bill. Others are on the tip of my tongue but not coming to me. Oh, King of the Hill!
The best thing about IASIP and Bob’s Burgers is there isn’t a single off/bad episode in the first like 12 and 5 seasons, respectively. I stopped keeping up with both at some point when I was up to date and waiting. There’s not really a bad episode in any of those shows.
What I really like about Bob’s Burgers is how they record all together and have a lot of fast quipping and reactive energy.
Oh, and Archer! At least until things really switched up.
Upon repeated viewings I’m enjoying the Archer coma seasons more and more!
Bob’s Burgers’ biggest appeal is it’s a family that all love each other and don’t treat one-another badly. I know it sounds corny but it really does have a much bigger appeal than on animated shows where they do the opposite.
I was recently watching Archer again, so I’ll have to see how the later seasons hit this time around. It’s one of those shows I’ve watched multiple times over (all the shows I mentioned are, honestly) and it seemed to fall off, but I might have just been finally burnt out lol.
And that’s a good point about Bob’s Burgers. It’s always pretty wholesome. I almost forgot about all the songs, too. They’re so good!
Awesome songs! So many great ones.
I like seeing a group evolve and form good friendships.
Reply, 1988
It is a Korean drama where each episode focuses on a different character, all living on the same street in Seoul in 1988. I recommend it to everyone as my favourite show but especially for your preference described above. You feel each character’s struggles and successes. The way the show develops the characters through their relationships with their families and friends is outstanding.
Joe Pera Talks With You
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Pera_Talks_with_You
https://www.adultswim.com/videos/joe-pera-talks-with-you
https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Pera-Talks-With-You/dp/B0B75L86ZG/
I was pretty bummed when it got canceled because it really got me through some hard times. What’s there holds up beautifully, however.
It starts off as a Mr. Rogers type vehicle that quickly veers off into strangeness. Joes propensity to talk to the camera like Mr. Rogers, and his propensity to explain human emotions by relating them to scientific ideas like the formation of rocks made this show weirdly comforting for me. It’s also just plain goofy.
It also includes Conner O’Malley in the cast and as one of the writers. O’Malley is like if BBC documentarian Adam Curtis instead made David Lynch-esque experimental comedy. He was on a few episodes of Detroiters with Tim Robinson and is in a handful of I Think You Should Leave sketches (in my opinion, most notably in “Honk if you’re horny”). For being such a strange guy, he wrote some of the most heartfelt stuff in Joe Pera.
Joes voice is extremely calming to me, and his timing and delivery genuinely kill me. I’ve had very few comedians that had me crying over something genuinely sweet and sad and then be able to make laugh a few moments later.
I hear people describe shows like Ted Lasso as “kind television” and I think Joe Pera Talks With You fits in that same niche. It’s very loving and doesn’t seem to really put anyone down and shows off a quiet, beautiful Michigan community. Despite not being from Marquette, originally, Joe has a lot of love for the area, it’s clear.
This sounds wonderful.
Such a fantastic show, killed in its prime:(
iCarly
The Leftovers. If I were to ever put together a top 10 list of personal favorites, this would be at the top then in a distant second I could start ranking the rest. I love how fully realized its concepts were. I love how it stuck true to its convictions right up to the end. I love the mashup of science fiction and fantasy and grief and contemporary life. I love the beautiful Max Richter score. For a show that starts pretty bleak in the first few episodes you really feel the love and warmth by the end of the series and the discovery of inner piece.
I always like to add this caveat to anyone jumping in, the first half of season one can be tough. Episode 3 is a good taste of what the show is at its best and episode 6 is one of the best in the series and the point where most people are fully hooked.
I’ve been wanting to watch it and your comment makes me want to see it even more.
I don’t live in the US anymore and Max doesn’t have English subtitles for some of their shows in my region, which is pretty annoying. Including for the Leftovers! That’s why I’ve been putting off seeing it. Haha. Ugh. It’s funny because I check it again every once in a while to see if there are English subtitles, which is how bad I wanna see the show.
Avatar The Last Airbender. An animated series with a complete story arch that takes place in a unique world. The characters are very relatable and have great development over time, even the villians are better than what most shows have. The animation is sophisticated in the way it is used to help tell the story, and the story is wonderful, it hooks you in from the intro:
“*Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.”
Hell, the villains have more character development than protagonists in other shows.
Also Uncle Iroh, it possibly the greatest male role model in TV.
Amen to Uncle Iron. I legit teared up when he had his short in Ba Sing Se.
Leaves from the Vine is the most “try not to cry, cry a lot” moment in any show for me.
This show truly deserves all the praise. My older brother used to watch it back in its time, and I couldn’t understand how a 30-ish year old could watch cartoons like that.
15 years passed and someone recommends it. One day, while recovering from some cold in bed, I put Avatar out of boredom, some days after that recommendation. Damn. First couple of chapters are not very strong, but enough to keep digging. As these are short episodes, it really doesn’t matter. But the ending of the first season? That is art.
Batman: The Animated Series
Unique art style (it was drawn on black paper), excellent writing, excellent voice acting.
Batman: TAS was and is dope. The entire DCAU is the best adaptation of comic books to date. There’s a reason Alan Moore was happy to give his approval to For the Man Who Has Everything.
Shout out to Dwayne McDuffie too. Passed too soon.
Inequivocal yes! Grew up with Batman:TAS.
Expanse was great. Firefly was also great. A good series about relationships was NightSky, sort of a slower paced show about an elderly couple with a hint of SCI-FI.
If you liked The Expanse, check out For All Mankind.
It feels almost like a prequel, set a couple of hundred years before the events in the series.
Came here to make sure For All Mankind was mentioned. I had so much fun watching this.
Thanks
Thanks
Futurama!
Farscape. Always farscape.
