Which of these programmes should I embrace?

kraggy

..in the form of a boxset.

The only 2 series I have ever watched in my life are This Life (90's) and Damages season 1 last year.

Both of these I thoroughly enjoyed but I am very fussy and so have very little patience when it comes to tv series and lose interest straight away. This is why I have followed just these 2 in all my years.

So folks, which of these boxsets should I buy to get into the programme? These are all I can think of at present so may add more later.

Here goes:

The Sopranos
The Wire
Prison Break
The West Wing
Shameless
Grey's Anatomy
Dirty Sexy Money
Brothers and Sisters
Six Feet Under
Twin Peaks

So guys, which should I watch? And have you any other suggestions?

If it helps, I like drama in relationships and between people as happend in bucket loads in This Life and less into detective/CSI/investigative programmes.

They're all I can think of right now. Maybe I'm missing something...(by the way not into supernatural/not believable stuff/Lost/that kind of thing either).

Thanks for reading.

K.

seanybiker

shameless is excellent. Funny as fook.

SoupyNorman

You cant go wrong with The Sopranos, you just cant.

GalwayGunner

The Wire is one of the most compelling programs ever to be on tv.

A friend of mine was telling me about it for years and didn't listen to him - only started watching it a couple of months ago and raced through the boxsets - it really is just brilliant - couldn't recommend it more.

As a second choice I'd go with West Wing.

bigeasyeah

The Sopranos.

Kiith

The West Wing is, by a country mile, the best thing on that list. Watch it right now!

hussey

Sopranos
West wing

brettmirl

The West Wing - fantastic. Watch it NOW!

Grey's Anatomy & Brothers and Sisters - for a good mix of drama and comedy.

Dirty Sexy Money - its a bit to soap opera for me, despite having a great cast.

Not seen any of the rest on your list.

Basq

Not another one of these "recommend me some shows" threads.. should have just pleased everyone - replied with 'The Wire... nuff said' and closed it!

Regarding your list so far:

The Sopranos
The Wire
Prison Break (first season was great, 2nd was pretty good, 3rd and 4th woeful)
The West Wing
Shameless (not my thing but people do love it)
Grey's Anatomy (watchable fluff.. but not worthwhile!)
Dirty Sexy Money (tired "soap opera-ish" storylines and performances)
Brothers and Sisters (see Grey's Anatomy comment! )
Six Feet Under
Twin Peaks

Out of all you've listed, I'd personally go for The Wire, Six Feet Under and The West Wing... closely following by The Sopranos.

Taltos

Why not go for Boston Legal.
Some great exchanges here between Denny (Shatner) & Alan (yer man from Stargate the movie)..
Wonderful to see the characters grow over the seasons - and even better to witness their almost weekly attacks on how the US admin has been changing.

L31mr0d

The Wire
The West Wing
The Sopranos

Maybe consider Dexter also.

waraf

1 The Sopranos
2 The Wire
3 The West Wing

in that order

all six seasons of The Sopranos (brand new) on ebay now for 50 GBP + P&P. You can't go wrong

greendom

The Sopranos by a country mile

The Wire is excellent too but the Sopranos is no 1 for me

One you haven't mentioned and might like to consider is House.

The first couple of Seasons of Six Feet Under was excellent but it faded badly after that

Auvers

The Sopranos (GET IT NOW)
The Wire (GET IT NOW)
Prison Break (rubbish get OZ instead)
The West Wing (cant comment but heard nothing but good things)
Shameless (cant comment)
Grey's Anatomy (for the ladies only)
Dirty Sexy Money (cant comment)
Brothers and Sisters (for the ladies only)
Six Feet Under (Get It)
Twin Peaks (Get It)

as for other shows try

Weeds
Breaking Bad
Dexter

Mr E

I'm at the midway point in the Shield (half way through season 4) and I love it.

GenghisCon

The fact that no one has mentioned Battlestar Galactica (the re-imagined one) yet is something astounding. Dot be put off by the sci-fi aspect. The cast is top notch and the characters develop in a very compelling manner as the series progresses. Its genre means it has a great capacity to deal with themes that would be too close to the bone for a more mainstream show. See the start of season 3 for one of the most daring analogies for the war on terror shown on Television. Oh and robots blow things up.

Morgans

I find it hard to believe those who have advised anything other than The Wire have watched The Wire.

It is that good. So good, its ruined TV drama for me. Start from The Wire and work backwards.

brettmirl

Taltos wrote: »

Why not go for Boston Legal.
Some great exchanges here between Denny (Shatner) & Alan (yer man from Stargate the movie)..
Wonderful to see the characters grow over the seasons - and even better to witness their almost weekly attacks on how the US admin has been changing.

Yep, def add Boston Legal to your list. Especially seasons 1, 2 + 3.

PullMyFinger!

The West Wing is the best TV show of all time.


Bar none.


Watch that

JPA

Six Feet Under is the best programme to deal with relationships and the one you'd probably like best.

Did anyone read the post??

SoupyNorman

PullMyFinger! wrote: »

The West Wing is the best TV show of all time.


Bar none.


Watch that

You could increase the font to 72 and it would still be false.

tvnutz

basquille wrote: »

Not another one of these "recommend me some shows" threads.. should have just pleased everyone - replied with 'The Wire... nuff said' and closed it! .

The Wire...nuff said.

Tis true...

joes girls

im goin to get the wire it sounds so good.....

try fringe....i loves it......

meditraitor

The wire
The west wing
Shameless
The sopranos
The shield

In that order

If your looking for some 90s stuff try and get your hands on American Gothic, class

Basq

I'm amazed at the lack of 'Six Feet Under' nods put forward so far..

Sure, the latter seasons may not have been good but did you see the "non-Aaron Sorkin" seasons of 'The West Wing'? :eek:

PullMyFinger!

basquille wrote: »

I'm amazed at the lack of 'Six Feet Under' nods put forward so far..

Sure, the latter seasons may not have been good but did you see the "non-Aaron Sorkin" seasons of 'The West Wing'? :eek:

I did, and although Season 5 is an absolute struggle to get through, Seasons 6 and 7 go from good to great again.

The first 2 seasons are the most perfect TV Ive ever seen, there's no doubting Sorkin's influence is missed from seasons 5-7. But Debora Cahn's episodes (when Aaron left) are just as laugh out loud funny and steller.

PullMyFinger!

tvnutz wrote: »

The Wire...nuff said.

Tis true...

Getting Season 1 right now from the cousins to give it another shot.

I stopped after 7 or 8 episodes the last time. It was good but it didnt live upto the hype I read on here about it.

Time to give it another go, this time for a full season (as I believe its the only way to watch it).

ixoy

The Wire is the best? True that.

I think 'The Sopranos' is over-rated myself so I'd also plump for:
'The Shield' - maintains its very high quality for all seven seasons

'The West Wing' - witty and smart. Yes it sometimes flagged post-Sorkin but it picked up in S6 (have yet to watch S7).

'Twin Peaks' - S1 is great. S2 has a good beginning and end but a very weak middle. Still worth watching as it's pretty revolutionary and made by a mad man.

'Oz' - Forget your Prison Break. Oz is a proper prison and you only get out of it in a body bag. Some amazing characters in that and you'll never watch Peter Parkman's boss in 'Spiderman' in the same light again. Ever.

'Babylon 5' - Yeah so it's sci-fi. It's also the most tightly-written and best plotted of them all. Sure BSG re-imagined is great too, but B5 shows what you get when you know what you're doing from the very first episode and carefully plot your way to it over 4/5 years.

kmick

1.The Wire
2.The Sopranos
3.BSG

All good in their own way Norris.

mewso

I'd add a vote for The Wire. I loved West Wing but it took a while for me to get used to the characters unrealistic ability to throw out witty replies in nano-seconds. Every conversation is lightning quick and witty. Enjoyable but not very real.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Oz & The Sopranos.
Shameless is also great, but on a different level altogether.

pickarooney

Ignore the tiresome fanboys and don't go anywhere near The Wire. If you've no patience, this is the last thing you should be looking at.

Watch Chuck instead. Nobody can hate Chuck.

JPA

pickarooney wrote: »

Ignore the tiresome fanboys and don't go anywhere near The Wire. If you've no patience, this is the last thing you should be looking at.

Watch Chuck instead. Nobody can hate Chuck.

I love The Wire but the OP said they don't have much patience and prefer a program with good relationship storylines. The Wire is the opposite of this. I agree you should stay away.
Six Feet Under deals with relationships the best I would say.

Basq

Oh God yes... Chuck is fantastic!

Criminally under-rated this side of the pond!

Bondvillain

1- The West Wing (Seasons 1 thru 4 are amongst the best television ever produced anywhere. 5 and 6 lost their way somewhat, but are still eminently watchable, and the final season is almost back to its best. )

2- The Sopranos . Just damn good television.

As for Prison break, go for it, but only do it in these stages -

A) Watch season 1. Marvel at its cleverness, good performances and addictive qualities.
Watch season 2. Enjoy the flight of fancy taken by the writers.
C) Watch "Stir Crazy" instead of seasons 3 and 4. Pretend Gene Wilder is Michael and Richard Prior is Lincoln. They wrap it up much better than the PB team did.

That's the only way to enjoy Prison break.

Morgans

The Wire is out so because of the OPs requirements. I am going to say this don a tin helmet and not check the forum for a while due to the flak I will undoubtedly get, but my other half went through the boxsets of Gilmore Girls a while back, and while I spent half the time throwing my eyes to heaven, after a while i found it far more tolerable than several on the OPs list. Its surprisingly well written, with good charaters, and seems to fit the OPs requirements. Anyway, best keep the head down after that.

Failing that, the first two seasons of The West Wing are very good. Of course, its not an either/or situation.

Basq

Morgans wrote: »

but my other half went through the boxsets of Gilmore Girls a while back, and while I spent half the time throwing my eyes to heaven, after a while i found it far more tolerable than several on the OPs list. Its surprisingly well written, with good charaters, and seems to fit the OPs requirements. Anyway, best keep the head down after that.

No flak from me... I personally think it's an incredibly well-written show.

Have praised it numerous times in the past: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=52314135&postcount=11

People criticise it due to the quick dialogue but it's brillantly written.. in it's early seasons particularly but it was definitely axed at the right time. The dialogue had gotten a bit hackneyed and tired with the Sherman-Palladino's abandoned it.

Auvers

kraggy wrote: »

If it helps, I like drama in relationships and between people as happend in bucket loads in This Life

if you like relationship drama look no further than Madmen tis a fantastic show

Dave!

The Sopranos is just perfection tbh... Can't go wrong with it.

However the West Wing is also class. Great writing, interesting stories, great character development, etc. As mentioned though, it's not very gritty or believeable. If you can cast that aside though and just appreciate the dialogue then you'll like it.

They'd be my two choices. Special mention for Rescue Me and the Shield also.

discobeaker

Twin Peaks is just amazing! The first season is so so good. Just starting on season 2 now and i cant wait. Maybe also check out Teachers and if your after some comedy check out Peep Show and Curb your enthusiam. Both are hilarious

ChumpStain

Deadwood and Carnivale, different from most things on tv and top notch, albeit odd characters in both.

Just watch the Wire, there's alot of hype but shows garner hype for a reason and it has every reason to be considered one of the best shows ever. The characters aren't your standard tv ones, every character has their weakness and strengths but the progression of both plot and character over the 5 series is just unreal. Your patience WILL be rewarded.

seanybiker

Taltos wrote: »

Why not go for Boston Legal.
Some great exchanges here between Denny (Shatner) & Alan (yer man from Stargate the movie)..
Wonderful to see the characters grow over the seasons - and even better to witness their almost weekly attacks on how the US admin has been changing.

I was just about to mention that. I only started watching it a few months ago and its fooking hilarious.
Must download buy the boxsets and watch em all.

tvnutz

pickarooney wrote: »

Ignore the tiresome fanboys and don't go anywhere near The Wire. If you've no patience, this is the last thing you should be looking at.

Watch Chuck instead. Nobody can hate Chuck.

Didn't like it,just couldn't get into it.

kraggy

Wow, thanks for the replies guys

Didn't expect to come back here and see such much enthusiasm so all the comments are much appreciated.

Have read through them all and have taken on board what you all have said and have also had a think and realised that I do have an affinity for things political (e.g. Frost/Nixon, JFK, The Insider) so The West Wing is definitely going to have to be given a go.

Also, Six Feet Under seems attractive from some of you have said. I know I said I like relationships and drama but hope it's not wishy washy like Party of Five (remember that?!)

Still feel funny about The Wire. Caught one episode of it before and it didn't rock my world so will need more time to think about that. The same applies to the Sopranos. Maybe I will borrow season 1 off someone before buying the whole thing.

And think Shameless might be my wildcard entrant. I like wacky and by all accounts, it certainly is that.

Thanks again folks, some great advice

PullMyFinger!

Bondvillain wrote: »

C) Watch "Stir Crazy" instead of seasons 3 and 4. Pretend Gene Wilder is Michael and Richard Prior is Lincoln. They wrap it up much better than the PB team did.

Genius

Why didnt I think of that?!

♠Jay♠

Twin Peaks hasn't got much of a mention, so here goes my pitch:

If you enjoy doppelgangers, dancing dwarfs, references to tibet, giants, david duchovny in drag, fish in percolators, a hilariously sarcastic forensic expert and all kinds of crazy stuff you will not see on television ever again, watch it.

I loved it.

bigeasyeah

If you dont watch The Sopranos Im sending Paulie Walnuts round your place.

Agent Smith

Mr E wrote: »

I'm at the midway point in the Shield (half way through season 4) and I love it.

Stick with it



it just gets oh so so Good


Shameless is good. been thinking about getting the west wing, anyone know where its cheap?

Mr.Lizard

Watch the Wire first and then follow it up with Generation Kill.

All the other shows you mention I've either not seen or have deteriorating levels of qualty (Twin Peaks) or generally just become repetitive the further they they go along (ie Sopranos).

Dave!

Generation Kill any good, Senor Lizard? I downloaded legally acquired a few episodes but haven't gotten around to watching it yet

Queen-Mise

24 has anyone mentioned it.

Start with day 1. Its utterly addictive.

Im watching day 2 at the moment. Its excellent.

For the female greys anatomy and brothers and sisters are good. Greys especially