Need an engrossing show to keep my mind off the current madness

Mantis Toboggan

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Bosch or Justified

Both of these didn't do it for me, granted only watched 5 or 6 episodes but there's too much good stuff out there to be persisting with it.

The likes or Ozark, Mindhunter or Chernobyl are different gravy.

Zak Flaps

Just finished season 2 of Succession. Best series I've seen for a while.
Superb writing and acting. Very funny in spots.

+1 for Fargo....looking forward to season 4.

Killing Eve is very good for a while but at season 3, I'm finding it is running out of ideas.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Fleabag! I thought that was wonderful. So funny.

ShineOn7

Zak Flaps wrote: »

+1 for Fargo....looking forward to season 4.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Fleabag! I thought that was wonderful. So funny.

Loved seasons 1 and 2 of Fargo but switched off season 3 after a few mins, I need to try it again

Just had a look at Fleabag's Wiki page there and it looks impressive reviews and awards wise. A BBC 3 show winning two major Golden Globes is no small feat, I'm surprised I've never heard of it

Wombatman

HBO did two seasons on a show called Carnivàle in the mid noughties. Off beat. Really enjoyed it.

Mad Men

Deadwood

then watch Mad Men again.

Zak Flaps

ShineOn7 wrote: »

Loved seasons 1 and 2 of Fargo but switched off season 3 after a few mins, I need to try it again

Just had a look at Fleabag's Wiki page there and it looks impressive reviews and awards wise. A BBC 3 show winning two major Golden Globes is no small feat, I'm surprised I've never heard of it

Seasons 1 and 2 of Fargo are better than 3 in my opinion.

Yes Fleabag won loads of awards and deservedly so. It's writer and star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is extremely talented.
Only 2 short seasons so you'll fly through it.

Zak Flaps

ShineOn7 wrote: »

Loved seasons 1 and 2 of Fargo but switched off season 3 after a few mins, I need to try it again

Just had a look at Fleabag's Wiki page there and it looks impressive reviews and awards wise. A BBC 3 show winning two major Golden Globes is no small feat, I'm surprised I've never heard of it

Seasons 1 and 2 of Fargo are better than 3 in my opinion.

Yes Fleabag won loads of awards and deservedly so. It's writer and star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is extremely talented.
Only 2 short seasons so you'll fly through it.

blackwrx

Wombatman wrote: »

HBO did two seasons on a show called in the mid noughties. Off beat. Really enjoyed it.

Mad Men

Deadwood

then watch Mad Men again.

Thought I was the only one who watched Carnivale. Excellent show. Really wished it could have gone on for a few more seasons.

Lundstram

Ozark is a fantastic watch.

CastorTroy

blackwrx wrote: »

Thought I was the only one who watched Carnivale. Excellent show. Really wished it could have gone on for a few more seasons.

It was a great series and there were plans for 6 seasons consisting of 3 2-season arcs.
So at least they got a full arc.

The_Honeybadger

Nearly finished season 2 of Succession, it’s excellent. Much more entertaining and engaging than Billions which has a similar theme.

Might try Ozark after that

ShineOn7

Lundstram wrote: »

Ozark is a fantastic watch.

No.

No, it's not.

It's actually terrible

And I've tried it twice

if you can find it ZeroZeroZero is a very good 8 episode one-off global drug-transport saga from the mafia in Italy to the cartels in Mexico and the transport routes through Africa in-between

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8332438/

Homelander

If you're a Breaking Bad fan Ozark is surprisingly similar in a lot of ways and it moves at a very fast pace across all 3 available seasons. Far fetched, but great performances, good characters, plenty of violence and no end of twists and scheming.

If you like balls to the wall action, Banshee is probably the 'best in class' as far as I'm concerned. It's outrageously far fetched but the insane action scenes, brutal violence and amazing characters just make it so good. Possibly my favourite TV show of all time and had a solid end season.

If you're more into drama/thriller territory, Homeland is excellent and just wrapped up it's 8th and final season very well also - it's a show that reacts to what's happening in the world around it, and the later seasons are quite unique with their own sense of identity. Same characters, but almost like a different show at times, in a positive way.

The Last Kingdom, to me, is like a better version of Vikings - not that Vikings is bad, I enjoy it, but The Last Kingdom really trims the fat and has excellent pacing. First season is good, but from the 2nd season onward it's really excellent, full of brutal battle scenes. Probably closer to a hybrid of Game of Thrones and Vikings.

If you're into historical drama, it's almost impossible to beat Boardwalk Empire. An astoundingly violent look at gangs in 1920's America with incredible production values. It's centered on one man - slightly reminiscent of Soprano's in that sense, though it's far more wide ranging than that show and a hell of a lot bloodier.

Catch 22 was a pretty decent mini-series I watched lately - it's not spectacular, but I really enjoyed it because it offered something very different. It's a production that focuses on US bomber crews operating in Italy in 1943 - visually it's an excellent watch and the acting is pretty good too. It's not a huge investment, as it's only six episodes or so.

Staying with WW2, Man in the High Castle is a great piece of alternative history that explores a reality where the Germans and Japanese defeated the United States. Very slick production, wrap-up season wasn't as strong as it could have been but the overall journey is pretty interesting and that 'what if' question is endlessly intriguing.

The Deuce is another HBO home-run, a really graphic but fascinating look at the rise of prostitution and pornography in New York in the 1970's with an absolutely amazing cast. One of my favourite HBO productions of the last few years.

Another one of my favourites in recent years was Quarry - it was cancelled after one season but thankfully it works perfectly well as a stand-alone mini-series so is easy to recommend. It's a violent, gritty crime-drama centered on a Vietnam veteran who drifts into a life of crime when he returns home in the mid 1970's, when public opinion has turned overwhelmingly against the war.

Other honorable mentions - Westworld, Gangs of London, Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders, Stranger Things, Chernobyl, Black Mirror, Big Little Lies, The Terror, The Leftovers, Godless, Fargo, True Detective, Penny Dreadful.

These are all based on shows I watch, or have watched that I'd genuinely consider binge-friendly.

Rows Grower

ShineOn7 wrote: »

No.

No, it's not.

It's actually terrible

And I've tried it twice

Why would you try it twice?

Did you expect it to go from terrible to fantastic?

It's a brilliant show in my opinion and all of my friends I discuss Netflix with think so too. You are the first person I've heard of that didn't think it was great.

Mantis Toboggan

Ah yeah Ozark is excellent, first few episodes I was a bit iffy but it continually gets better as it goes along. Season 3 being the best so far.

ShineOn7

Rows Grower wrote: »

Why would you try it twice?

Did you expect it to go from terrible to fantastic?

It's a brilliant show in my opinion and all of my friends I discuss Netflix with think so too. You are the first person I've heard of that didn't think it was great.

I tried the first 4/5 episodes twice (with a few months in between tries) simply because of all the hype it had surrounding it

The hype was wrong and the show is awful shíte. Hype is very easily manufactured by marketeers these days with social media hive mind thinking among their many tricks

I now tend to think for myself with film and TV shows, as opposed to watching something because others are, but if the show floats your boat then good for you

It's just not for me

killbillvol2

ShineOn7 wrote: »

I now tend to think for myself with film and TV shows, as opposed to watching something because others are,

So you started a thread to ask others to recommend something...

naughto

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

Nearly finished season 2 of Succession, it’s excellent. Much more entertaining and engaging than Billions which has a similar theme.

Might try Ozark after that

Succession is brilliant one of the best tv shows in a long time.
Gangs of London is very good would definitely recommend it

CosmicFool

ShineOn7 wrote: »

I tried the first 4/5 episodes twice (with a few months in between tries) simply because of all the hype it had surrounding it

The hype was wrong and the show is awful shíte. Hype is very easily manufactured by marketeers these days with social media hive mind thinking among their many tricks

I now tend to think for myself with film and TV shows, as opposed to watching something because others are, but if the show floats your boat then good for you

It's just not for me

Why did you start a thread asking for opinions on shows to watch if you can think for yourself regarding choosing films and TV shows to watch? It doesn't make sense.

ShineOn7

killbillvol2 wrote: »

So you started a thread to ask others to recommend something...

CosmicFool wrote: »

Why did you start a thread asking for opinions on shows to watch if you can think for yourself regarding choosing films and TV shows to watch? It doesn't make sense.

The Black Oil

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Bloodline

scoobydude wrote: »

Brilliant show, but the second half of the last season is pure muck

Yeah, good show. Thought pretty much all of the final season was poor, though. Strangely, Netflix seem to have pulled most of the original trailers from its Youtube account, and whilst there are still recaps, etc, the trailers are largely on third party channels. Maybe Netflix do this after a show finishes.

ShineOn7

Tried Billions again after two excellent seasons of Succession. A bad idea



Succession is a far superior show. Damian Lewis is just a poor actor

Doctors room ghost

Treme is v good

ixoy

ShineOn7 wrote: »

Tried Billions again after two excellent seasons of Succession. A bad idea

I enjoy 'Billions' but I see it as trashy TV whereas 'Succession' is much smarter. Most shows won't live up to it but think of it like having a hamburger after a good steak.

ShineOn7

Going to give The Last Dance a go as it's handy on Netflix after I swore off all Netflix "documentaries". Apparently this one actually has a lot of truth in it

urgelgru

Mentioned "Shtisel" in another thread but I'll pop it here too because it's definitely one of the most unexpectedly engrossing shows I've seen in years. It's an Israeli show about an ultra Orthodox family living in Jerusalem.

I can't even explain why I found it so good but I watched two seasons over the bank holiday weekend and normally I struggle with subtitled shows because I like to multitask .

Apparently it looked like it was dead in the water after two seasons and there was some issue with a writers strike as well. But it picked up a following after going on Netflix and they were about to start shooting season 3 this month. D'OH!

On the flip side I started watching the Medici show on Netflix and I'm finding it engrossing because it's so terrible and I keep waiting for the next clunky line of dialogue to tell me what the Pope is up to.

urgelgru

ShineOn7 wrote: »

Going to give The Last Dance a go as it's handy on Netflix after I swore off all Netflix "documentaries". Apparently this one actually has a lot of truth in it

I find American sports a bit OTT but like watching docs about them for some reason. Really enjoying the Last Dance.

joe40

Might have been mentioned earlier but Fargo the TV show is brilliant, in my opinion.

Murt10

Don't know if it was previously mentioned but The Good Wife sounds like its right up your street.

weemcd

I don't think anyone has mentioned The Leftovers here yet. The last truly engrossing show I watched.

Shout out to The Deuce - one of the most tasteful endings to a show I've ever seen.

Also True Detective season 1 is the best thing I've ever seen, I've easily watched it through five times now. Seasons 2 & 3 aren't for everyone, but they have their moments.