So here’s an idea. Let’s recommend each other TV shows.
The rules: everyone’s seen Game of Thrones, Daredevil, The Wire. Either we’ve seen it or we already know it’s great. Let’s try and recommend a few that get a little less love in general, or shows that are underrated!
My recommendations…
Deadwood
Most people know about this, but I still feel like more people should be watching this.
The Jinx
I recommended this when discussed documentaries, but this HBO series still haunts me to this day. It’s must-watch stuff.
Nashville
Terrible, soap opera style stuff that I watch with my wife. She loves it, and I’ve been dragged into the abyss.
Puffin Rock
This is the absolute best children’s show ever. Made by the people behind Song of the Sea.
I’ve got nothing else. What about you?
Comments
125 responses to “Off Topic: Recommend A TV Show”
Brooklyn Nine Nine.
Parks and Recreation.
Community.
Community.
So much YES!!!
I’ve been watching Sense8. It explores the concept of a small scale human hive mind. Written by the Wachowskis.
Love it so much
I watched the first couple of episodes and really wanted to be doing something else the whole time. I was quite interested by the concept, but was really unimpressed. Does it get better?
It definitely starts slow, but it fully ramps up around the 4th episode.
Yes. Once they start becoming integrated in each other’s lives it gets equal parts interesting and badass.
The first 2 episodes are a bit of a slog, it gets better.
no, i was like you and you wont enjoy it. i listened to the fans who told me to let it develop – and it does – but it if you’re unimpressed now it wont change your mind. the show had so much potential but netflix really dropped the ball here.
“Humans” drama about synthetic people living among us, British, started on abc2 last night (repeat tonight).
It is a remake of a Swedish series called “Real Humans”, which I have not seen but which is also supposed to be really good.
Also has the girl who played Jen in the IT crowd, love her acting
Fringe. Not exactly new, but I only sat down and watched the entire series a year or so ago, loved it. John Noble is brilliant, and I stopped looking at Joshua Jackson as just ‘the Dawson’s Creek guy’ after. Highly recommended.
EDIT: Also Penny Dreadful! Love it. Props to @labrys for reminding me.
I watched the first season when it came out. Loved it, but lost interest waiting for season 2. It’s on US Netflix, so I should really jump back in!
You should! Entire series is 100 episodes, so it’s a bit to watch, but definitely worth it.
It changes a bit over time, especially between one and two, but I think overall the changes were good/natural.
Very minor spoiler you probably could have predicted:
The only thing that annoyed me was that I really liked the way they didn’t force a romantic relationship between them early on, but in the second season they went down that path. It didn’t ruin the show and it didn’t feel forced but I was really into the idea that they weren’t in love with each other. On the plus side they did it well and actually explored the idea rather than spending three seasons stalling on their first kiss.Mad Dogs season 1 is good, season 2 not so much. But watch season one.
Ballers or Battlebots (although Battlebots is now finished.)
Is Ballers any good ? i’ve heard good things as per reviews but haven’t actually talked to anyone htat’s watched it
yeah it is quite good, about halfway through the eps that have come out and am really enjoying it, but i have a soft spot for these types of sports shows.
In the Flesh, an amazingly good BBC production where a selection of the dead come back to life and have to integrate back into their family and societal lives.
Really low key and great stuff.
and so many tears!
+1 to this!
Sufferers of Partially Deceased Syndrome trying to integrate back to a society where they may have killed someone’s friend or relative in their ‘untreated state’. The premise alone is fantastic.
Black Mirror
Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place
Nathan Barley
Black Mirror is so good
If you like Dark Place check out Man to Man with Dean Learner. It’s Dean Learner from Dark Place’s late night talk show. Worth it just for the Bitch Killer trailer.
Will do, cheers
Awesome! I will definitely check that out. I really enjoyed Dark Place.
The Leftovers and Sense8.
Also Mark if you like Connie Bitton in Nashville, check out her superior other show Friday Night Lights!
Garfunkel and Oates. Only 8 episodes, but still great.
There’s a show title which that’s just ripe with possibilities! Where might one find this show?
Lol, probably best bet is through the shady, criminal world of torrents…
Happy Scrappy Hero Pup.
Happy scrappy!
He really loves it.
Clearly.
Rick and Morty.. .not for kids but epicly funny.
Kill joys and Dark Matter, both are new and kinda lame… but i like that.
Rick and Morty makes my coffee come out my nose. I still can’t decide if this or Archer is my fave animated show at the moment.
+ 1 for Rick and Morty. Never heard of the show until I saw their couch gag on the Simpsons, and immediatly watched the whole 1st season of it. but yeh, definitely not for kiddies
It may have just gotten cancelled, but Hannibal is my favourite show on TV at the moment and well worth watching.
Season 1 starts as what seems like a “serial killer of the week” style show, but once it establishes the characters it drops it and is just excellent.
And probably the best looking TV show on at the moment.
+1 for the prettiest show on TV right now. Sad it got cancelled. Need to catch up on about the last 3 episodes from this season, but I found S3 got a little too….. arty-farty for my tastes though. The first two seasons had a really nice balance between the abstract and everything else, but S3 felt like it went a bit too far with the whole imagery thing. But – I’ve only seen the first 4 (?) episodes of S3, so can’t comment on recent eps.
Season 3 is essentially split in 2 parts. Episodes 1-7 dealing with the events of the end of season 2 and 8-13 focus on the Red Dragon storyline.
The payoff for the slowburn of start of season 3 though is fucking outstanding.
Yeah, need to get back on it! I blame Daredevil for being awesome and distracting me.
Oh yeah, Daredevil was rad. I accidentally the whole season in a day.
I’ve fought the urge to do that. Kind of been watching an episode or two a day. I feel guilty demolishing a season of anything in a day.
You’re a stronger person than I, Nef.
Wanting to get into this show. Should I watch all the movies first? I’ve only seen Silence of the Lambs.
That’s probably the best scenario to be in.
Season 1 and 2 are relatively standalone from the other films/novels. There are nods here and there (mostly seeing stuff mentioned in later books happen), but that’s about it. Season 3 incorporates minor elements from Hannibal Rising, major plot points from Hannibal (replacing Clarice Starling with Will Graham) and the last few episodes from season 3 is Red Dragon.
How did I forget Hannibal
Grey’s Anatomy I guess?
Same with you an Nashville. My girlfriend loves it. It’s actually ok to listen to in the background while I’m on the computer.
Recently started X-Files again. Still holds up.
Brooklyn Nine Nine is funny as hell as is community but I would take a bet that most people reading kotaku know about those 2. I would have to absolutely agree with Puffin Rock being great, but don’t know about best ever, I’ve recently watched a Tom and Jerry episode and was laughing hysterically and I loved the fact that Tom and Jerry wasn’t trying to teach me anything. I actually Hate that every cartoon of the last decade has a lesson to be learned theme. I will stop my rant here as it will spiral uncontrollably otherwise.
In terms of what I watch regularly
Anime
Full Metal Alchemist – Action Adventure with a bit of philosophy
Sword art online – Action Adventure
TV
Marco Polo
The 100 – (1 grudge I have against this show is that everything appears so intense but if you look at what’s happening it isn’t actually a tense situation)
Older TV
Heroes – Just season 1
Out of curiosity, do I need to have seen the original Full Metal Alchemist series to watch Brotherhood? I’ve got an easy option to watch all of Brotherhood, but not so much for the original series.
Na … Just watch brotherhood. I haven’t seen the original but brotherhood covers everything nicely.
I am going to say it… True Detective Season 2.
It is just so good.
It’s not doing it for me, sadly. I’m liking it okay, but it doesn’t have the same impact as the first season. Though that shoot out in the street was amazing.
Octonauts all the way.
I really love(d) “Psych”, which doesn’t often get a tonne of love. It was only briefly aired over here.
I also just got done with “Farscape”, which has always flown just under the radar. Pretty good for TV sci-fi.
Arrow/Flash. First half of season 1 of Arrow is a bit of a slog but once you are past that, things really pick up.
The Knick. Clive Owen is a surgeon in the early 1900s with a nasty cocaine habit. A show about the relentless march forward of technology.
Entire series is directed by Steven Soderbergh. It’s so good
Sounds good, will investigate
The Knick is excellent
Mr Robot even though I have only seen the first one and a half episodes.
Fantastically shot with a great music score.
Main character seems really interesting and it is involves hacking without the typical over-the-top Hollywood hacking style.
Also Penny Dreadful season two has been as great as season 1 so far.
Really love it.
Oh yes! Penny Dreadful. Can’t believe I forgot that. Just finished watching the second season the other week. Fantastic show.
My wife and I are just catching up with season 2 now since we watch it on Foxtel and they took ages to air season 2.
Also my wife’s been busy with new job and study,
But now we get through an episode and check the time and see if we can sneak another one in before bed. 🙂
So good!
Hearing great things about Mr Robot and will wait until I can get all of season 1 in one hit.
I believe it’s a 10 ep season and they are up to ep 7 this week so not too long to wait. 🙂
A show that few people seem to talk about: Penny Dreadful
Horror/drama created by John Logan and produced by Sam Mendes. Logan wrote the likes of Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Hugo and Skyfall and Mendes directed Skyfall and American Beauty.
Stars Josh Hartnett, Eva Green, Timothy Dalton and Billie Piper.
From Wikipedia:
The title refers to the penny dreadfuls, a type of 19th-century cheap British fiction publication with lurid and sensational subject matter. The series draws upon many characters from 19th-century Irish and British fiction, including Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mina Harker and Abraham Van Helsing from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Victor Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Did I mention it stars Eva Green?
Eva Green! *flails*
EDIT: Also, Josh Hartnett. I’m a totally straight dude, but if I suddenly wasn’t anymore, it’d totally be Josh Hartnett’s fault.
is it just me or did season 2 take it from being a little weird to totally fucking strange?
Best kids show – Dirtgirl World.
Amazing!
I believe this is sarcasm but even so it should never have been voiced. It makes me cringe and want to cry and hurl and then I get enormous flashes of rage where I’m quite certain I could incinerate anything with a glare.
Just how her mouth moves, it’s an uncanny evil thing.
I agree. That show is creepy!
Lulz nah man – what about the stunt bugs?! So awesome!
Nah ive got a bit of a crush on her – shes the bomb and her songs are the best of any kids show!
Seriously that show embodies everything that anyone has ever said was wrong with the ABC.
Bizarre leftist agrarian propaganda dressed up as a poor man’s mulligrubs with two dimensional characters that live in the uncanny valley
Whoever is continually green lighting this horror show needs to be hauled in front of a senate committee to explain their thought process to the taxpayer…
dark matter – made by the stargate devs
+1 for humans and mr robot
Penny Dreadful and Black Sails
Black Sails really escalated in the last season. It started out being fairly light and almost a bit cheesy and then got super intense. I really love it.
+1 Black Sails!
Season 2 picked it up a gear, and like GoT you kind of need someone sitting next to you who knows every character for the first season. So much going on, and the story gets deeper, better and more complex!
Plus if you pirate it, it doesn’t have the same guilty edge to it. Yarr.
Also, you need someone to explain that the Book-keeper/Quartermaster is actually a different actor in the second season, so as not to spend the entire first episode thinking you are going mad.
Madeline
Halfway thru the 2nd season of BoJack Horseman. Really good!
Agreed. First episode didn’t catch me but gosh it’s so well written. An animated Dramedy.
Bojack Horseman!
Starts out as just a funny cartoon, but takes a dark turn pretty quickly. Very, very funny but very human and sad at times. Great cast of Will Arnett, Aaron Paul and Alison Brie *swoon*
Also some great guest stars like Ricky Gervais and various SNL people. Highly recommended and it’s on Netflix.
Silicon Valley is amazing.
+1
Vikings! How can no one have mentioned Vikings yet!!! Absolute most favourite show on tv.
Serangoon Road is also great if you are looking for a period drama set somewhere else than jolly old England.
Just totally legally acquired S03 of Vikings because I was too late for TV and Netflix doesn’t have it. First 3 EPs never got me, tried the show twice before getting hooked, but now I’m all in 🙂
THE SHIELD. Cannot recommend this more highly. Vic Mackey is the single most compelling anti-hero of all time, and the entire supporting cast is beyond amazing. The writing is stellar, deeply nuanced and layered, and the show has one of TV’s best endings ever.
I have lots of faves, but The Shield is the one I recommend for everyone.
Penny Dreadful and True Detective have already been mentioned but also check out Halt and Catch Fire for a great view of the 80’s and the beginning of the non IBM computers. Highly recommended
Bojack Horseman, it is a TV series where you stare into the void known as Hollywood.
Over the Garden Wall – a short, fun but pretty dark cartoon series made for the Cartoon Network. I think it only has 10 eps but it’s great stuff.
Orphan Black – Clones, clones everywhere. 3 seasons ready to binge on.
Dark Matter – Bit like Firefly\Farscape. Halfway through 1st season
Banshee – Small town sheriff’s identity is assumed by a conman. Love it.
Suits – Guy with photographic memory accidentally gets job a top law firm after narrowly escaping drug bust. (I’m not doing it justice; just watch the first episode, OK?)
+1 suits
I was wondering if someone was going to mention Orphan Black! Such a top show, and Tatiana Maslany is fantastic as…well, everyone.
Sons of Anarchy, Ray Donovan, Carnivale, Damages (same creators as Bloodline on Netflix but with Rose Byrne and Glenn Close), Better Call Saul, Weeds, Deadwood, Mad Men — if you haven’t seen it yet. I’ll echo DC and say Friday Night Lights. Made me so interested in American Sportsball I plan on following it this year.
And all the Netflix shows are excellent, of course.
Review with Forrest MacNeil.
It’s based off an old Australian TV series, but it’s the funniest show I have seen in a long, LONG time. A guy reviews life experiences that people suggest to him, and he has to stick with it no matter how much it destroys his life. It’s absolutely amazing.
Season two just premiered last week!
I’m surprised no-ones mentioned it yet but Gravity Falls (easy enough to binge watch in a day or so) which is basically Twin Peaks if it was a cartoon for teens, though it starts to get oddly dark quite fast.
Wet Hot American Summer the series just released on Netflix is worth a watch if you enjoyed the original movie or just want to see Paul Rudd doing Paul Rudd things.
And Rick and Morty, but that’s a given if you’re an air breathing citizen of the planet.
Actually quite liking 12 Monkeys (the series) at the moment. Season 1 is currently showing on SBS.
Recommended The Knick on Twitter yesterday. Recommending it again today. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be watching this show.
No.
Reason.
Sons of Anarchy. Defiance. Hannibal. House of Cards.
Lotsa stuff 🙂
Misfits – it’s very silly but dark and very watchable (and has Iwan Rheon before he became Ramsay Bolton).
+1 for Misfits, it’s Skins (another great show!) crossed with Heroes.
It loses it when the bulk of the original cast are gone. I quit watching in the final season, but I do intend to go back and watch the rest on Netflix purely for completion’s sake.
Fargo season 1, probably not underrated but not yet mentioned.
Watched the first 2 episodes of My Wet Hot Summer: First Day of Camp last night, never seen the movie (which it’s a prequel to) but it’s kinda funny if only to see all these 30-something famous actors trying to play as 16 or 17 year old counselors! Also it has H. Jon Benjamin from Archer and Bob’s Burgers as Mitch in what must be the first thing I’ve ever seen him do live action in!
The Bold and the Beautiful
Anything on the TV for more than 25 years must be good right?
*tumbleweed rolls by*
The Bill lasted from 1983 to 2010, so yes!
Vikings
mr. pickles, its a adult swim animation show about a demonic dog possessed by the devil who loves killing people and his kid owner doesn’t know SERIOUSLY WATCH THIS NOW!!!
Most of my recommendations have already been recommended lol, but on the reality TV front –
Wahlburgers – Follows the not well known Wahlburg sibling Paul and his chain of restaurants. Also lots of nods to the real life Entourage (eg the Real Johnny Drama sounds just like his hollywood counterpart)
Banged Up / Locked Up Abroad – Ex-criminals & drug mules who spend some time in foreign prisons recount their experiences. I’m a sucker for these shows.
Man vs Food / Man Finds Food – About a dude travelling around the US taking on all possible food challenges, u can see him gradually get fatter by the end of the season lol. Man Finds Food is different, where he goes around trying to find secret off the menu items at different restaurants.
Fresh off the boat, Masters of Sex, Orange is the New Black etc etc
Fringe!
Here we go…
The Bill – best police drama ever made. Combine your love of everything British with characters that you’ll love or love to hate. Brilliant!
Dad’s Army – premiered in 1968 but still relevant today. Relive the story of the Home Guard, Britain’s last line of defence against the Jerries during WWII. Join Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson, Corporal “They Don’t Like It Up ‘Em’ Jones and Private “Stupid Boy” Pike as they bring back the war years.
Operation Good Guys – If The Bill is the best police drama, then OGG is the best police comedy. David Gillespie plays Detective Inspector Beach, a bumbling, cross-dressing “Raging Pig”, who is not so ably assisted by show creator Ray Burdis as Detective Sergeant Raymond Ash. Beach and the team get up to some hilarious capers in this fly-on-the-wall docu-comedy.
North Square – Peter McLeish is the Machiavellian chief clerk to North Square chambers. A Leeds barristers’ set specialising in criminal defence. Written by Peter Mofatt, creator of Criminal Justice and Silk, this short-lived and criminally under-rated series showcases the trials and tribulations of a set of barristers at the criminal bar as well as in their private lives. Join Rupert Penry-Jones, Kevin McKidd and many others as they fight for justice and brush shoulders with troubled characters as well as the criminal fraternity.
One Foot In The Grave – Victor “I don’t believe it” Meldrew has just taken early retirement after being replaced by a box. He is constantly battling against everything that life throws at him and getting caught up in tragi-comic situations that are truly “un-be-lievable!” Long suffering wife Margaret, neighbours Patrick and Pippa, and the inimitable Mrs Warboys make up the rest of the stellar cast.
Other mentions:
– Silk
– Inuyasha
– Slayers (Lina Inverse!)
– Blackadder
– Black Books
– Spaced
Shaun the sheep and Pingu, both very funny with the occasional bit of adult humour…
At the moment I want to skin curious George alive and derail Thomas and his mates.
I can tolerate Curious George (which is good because Mr 4 adores it), but I can’t stand the wiggles and the Emma spinoff. 😛
Have to say, Mr Maker is a fun show to watch. It’s like Pinterest for kids – full of stuff you know you’ll NEVER make! 😉
Yeah the kids adore Mr Maker, breeds creativity I reckon. I’ve found they mimic Curious Georges coo-ing, rather than talking, plus he gets up to mischief all the time with little to no consequence. That being said my 5 year old can identify every species in Octonauts and if it’s not the TV we are bargaining with iPad, specifically Netflix access. 🙂
For whatever reason, I’ve been finding myself getting into Steven Universe.
It’s just so darn enjoyable.
The Strain: Manhattan hit by a vampire outbreak. Pretty dark. It’s worth it just to see the Vampire SWAT team. Those guys are badass. Season 2 has just started.
Sense8: 8 people get to mind hop into each other. Takes a few episode before it starts to make sense.
Bloodlines: A dark family drama. Seriously Ben Mendalson is just awesome in this. But then he’s been nominated for a bunch of awards for his role.
Glitch: Australian show similar to The Returned only surprisingly more sinister. This is well worth the watch. Brilliant acting.
Wet Hot American Summer: It starts great, only to get more absurd towards the end. It’s basically an 8 episode montage to 80’s movies with glaring on purpose plot holes. It’s the little things and attention to detail on this show which makes it worth the watch.
Gravity Falls!!!
It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen a disney animated cartoon that was this good (phineas and ferb was garbage imo), and the second season is already shaping up to be just as good as the first.
Wet Hot American Summer: Everything I wanted it to be and so much more. Well worth it (but maybe watch the movie first)
Childrens Hospital: The guy who made WHAS made this with Rob Corrdry in 2008 (it’s an Adult Swim show) and it’s just as weird and insane but amazing. It’s set in a Childrens Hospital in Brazil except for when they’re not in Brazil but they’re definitely in Brazil. (I even have a “Property of Childrens Hospital Brazil” tshirt!)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force/Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1/Aqua TV Show Show/ATFH Forever: In its final season, another AS show but it’s awesome. Animated comedy about a milkshake, fries, and meatball. So stupid, but it’s awesome.
Party Down: Few years old now but it’s pretty awesome. Bunch of actors/writers who can’t find work working at a catering company.
Suits: The first 3 seasons at least are well worth watching.
Brickleberry: Recently cancelled, but a really weird, mostly funny animated show on Comedy Central.
I’ve just watched two seasons of “The Thick of It” on Netflix. It’s brilliant – like a British “The West Wing”, only with more funny and inept characters and more swearing. Peter Capaldi (Dr Who) is in it, and he’s absolutely fantastic.
Halt and Catch Fire – Madmen for the elder geeks. Set in the 80’s it stylishly chronicles the clone PC revolution.
Veep – better then you think. Very dry and critical at the same time.
Bullshit by Penn and Teller – a bit dated now but gives a different perspective on modern society.
Golden Girls – watch it as an adult and you’ll realise it’s brilliance and how ahead of it’s time it was.
Gaki No Tsukai – Search the net for subbed episode of this Japanese comedy show. Funnier than a lot of western stuff.
The Last Ship
Dominion
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Bojack Horseman, man
all the miserable characters have made me look at myself
it’s fantastic and I don’t want to wait a whole year
I’ve been watching The 100 on netflix. It’s a teenage post-apocalyptic thing, and it’s tacky and fun. And amusingly, the two leads are from Home and Away and Neighbours! Go aussie kids!
The Legacy, recently of SBS – A Danish family ripped apart by their mother’s will.
Episodes – Matt Leblanc playing Matt Leblanc as the straight guy in a fish-out-of-water comedy about a pair of British screenwriters in Hollywood.
Utopia – from Channel 4 (UK). A group of strangers find themselves in possession of an unpublished manuscript for a graphic novel…
+1 for Black Mirror – another gem from C4.