My wife and I had breakfast with a friend this weekend, and the talk turned to TV–mostly between my wife and our friend.
Finally my friend asked me, Do you watch anything on TV?
Long, silent pause.
I can’t recall the last time I sat on the couch and just watched something on TV. Three weeks ago? Four?
So, anything I should check out? Is Ted Lasso really that good?
Discuss.
Shows I like.
The Bear.
What We Do in the Shadows.
On Patrol: Live (bonus they patrol like half of Florida. You should recognize some of it)
Various Star Wars properties.
Tacoma FD (though they aren't getting another season)
Futurama
I'm sure there's other stuff but I can't remember.
Derry Girls - Netflix - hilarious, but there are only 3 seasons
The Repair Shop - YouTube - many seasons available; great background TV
CHEF - Tubi, I think - this is an '80s/'90s show but we've recently been re-watching them
Father Ted - Freevee - see comment about CHEF above
What We Do In The Shadows - Hulu - I think you know about this; it's 80% hilarious and 20% cringe; solid, but not up to par with the original movie
Mystic Britain - Smithsonian Channel; unfortunately only 2 seasons
Cunk On Earth - Netflix - a spot-on parody of shows like Mystic Britain
[edit]
My Name Is Earl - Hulu - DW recently watched through the whole run of this, and I watched a few hours of it with her. We did not faithfully watch this when it was originally on, but it was funnier than I remember it being
MOM - ? (watched when we still had cable; probably available on Hulu) - I'll watch Allison Janney in just about anything; this had high points and low points and a few super-annoying characters (most of which got written out); overall a comedy but spends a lot of time on serious issues
[edit 2]
The Last Kingdom - Netflix - In the same vein as Vikings; set in proto-England of the 9th century; maybe actually better than GOT and most (not all) of the likable characters live; 5 seasons adds up to a lot of episodes plus there is a final movie to bring it all home
Speaking of which,
Firefly - The CW - You have seen Firefly, right?
Resident Alien - Netflix - I'll watch Alan Tudyk in anything; unfortunately only 2 of 3 seasons is available without further subscription
I liked Ted Lasso. It was nice to see a positive show, which doesn't happen very often these days.
We've also liked Poker Face. If you like Columbo-esque shows, I think you'll like this too.
Arcane - Netflix - It has no right to be good. It is one of the best shows I've ever seen.
I will second The Bear, Cunk on Earth, and What We Do in the Shadows.
The Great British Baking Show is our tv "comfort food".
I've been watching Taskmaster lately. British humour is great with gummies.
Ted Lasso is so damned good. If you need a pick-me-up, you need to watch 2-3 episodes of that (usually 1, but there are a few depressing ones)
Apple TV has some good stuff. I hate/loved Severance so much I watched it a several times.
Also: https://deadline.com/2024/06/briana-middleton-neuromancer-apple-tv-1235986115/
On Patrol: Live is pretty fun to watch because I'll either recognize something near the office in Daytona Beach or something close to father-in-law's house since I'm a stone's throw away from Volusia County.
I'll also second Taskmaster, The Bear and just about any of the recent Star Wars series.
Great suggestions in here. I'll add some shows not mentioned so far, some may not be running currently because I don't watch TV on TV, but they're recent:
The Boys
For All Mankind (I hear Season 4 is a shark jump, but I just finished Season 3 and it's been good so far)
The Orville
Star Trek: Lower Decks. Most of the recent Treks are at least decent, but I haven't been able to look at Picard again after an early Season 3 episode that I consider one of the worst entries to Trek canon.
If you like What We Do in the Shadows, also see Our Flag Means Death. Hilarious, shame it was canceled recently.
In reply to Mndsm :
Fun fact, the writer I follow for advice/motivation for screenwriting, Michael Jamin, plays a pretty big role in getting episodes for Tacoma FD written.
He's worked on a bunch of other stuff and is a great resource (in my opinion) for anyone hoping to break into Hollywood.
Didn't or isn't Tacoma FD doing a movie soon?
I'll second it though, great show.
The bear was good, got a little weird in the latest season, but still good.
We're getting ready to watch the Wire again because of a lack of new shows worth watching.
Also got the youngster started watching Alf, which is great
I've been watching re-runs of Northern Exposure and Hill Street Blues. So much better than any of the new programs. Also I viewed the entire set of videos about Big Red the modified 69 Camaro. You know they were good even though it was not about a Mustang.
First and third seasons of Ted Lasso were great. Second season they made a weird decision to take the positive, upbeat, fish out of water story and turn it into a heavy drama. All of the joy was sucked out of it, they wouldn't even show you when the team scored a point, you were supposed to be suffering. Luckily it wound its way out of that.
Resident Alien was a lot of fun. The side characters really get developed. You can buy the third season on Youtube when you burn through what Netflix offers.
I really enjoy Brassic but it can get a bit heavy at times. Think of it as if Guy Ritchie made a series about a bunch of incompetent small town thieves. We are still being shorted two or three seasons in the US.
The missus and I watch at least an episode of the Miss Fisher mysteries a night. An Australian "Cozy Mystery" set in the 20's with one of the most distractingly pretty leads I have ever seen.
Ghosts. The original UK show. I know nothing about the US version/atrocity. It is my favorite TV show of all time. It is so wonderfully crafted. So much love and care went into each character and story.
I really enjoyed Fallout, I felt they got the general vibe of the games perfect.
King of the Hill also holds up really well.
Battle Bots is just as cool as I remember as a kid, except more violent now.
Slow Horses on Apple TV is excellent and seasons are short (new season coming up in September).
New season of The Bear is out on Hulu!
Edit: Whoops, I'm late with The Bear. But I also really enjoy Alone. It's a reality show where contestants compete to stay sane and healthy in the wilderness alone for as long as possible.
My wife and I finished Fallout and even though we didnt play the games we really enjoyed the show.
I will also add another vote for Taskmaster.
The first season of The Bear was really good, this reminded me I need to watch more of it.
Ditched cable around 2015. I streamed an episode of Season One of Reacher two nights ago. Other than that, I watch DVD's I borrow from the library or ones that I already own. Sorry, I can't help you much.
If it isn't sports, I don't watch regular TV. When I do, I tend to find myself drawn to gritty K-dramas and telenovelas. Don't judge. 
The Bear is amazing, and my wife I both really liked Shogun, which aired in the spring. Both are on Hulu, which also has Letterkenny and it's spinoff, Shorsey, if you're into Canadian Humour, which I am.
Over on Amazon, Fallout was a lot of fun, and The Boys is in season 4 now and is still as violent, insane, inappropriate, hilarious, and biting as ever.
Cobra Kai is coming back for it's final season soon on Netflix, and while I can't actually defend it as a GOOD show, it is an entertaining one, especially if you are of a certain age and grew up with the Karate Kid movies.
And of course you have House of the Dragon over on HBO, with it's usual mix of action, palace intrigue, fantasy elements, and a healthy dose of incest. Also on HBO (well, Max) is Hacks, a brilliant comedy about an older comedienne who hires a Gen Z writer and all their personality clashes and such.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
I'll have to check out Hacks. The premise sounds right up my alley.
The last thing I watched that was really good was The Gentlemen on Netflix.
Aaron_King said:The last thing I watched that was really good was The Gentlemen on Netflix.
I enjoyed that, too. Guy Ritchie doing British gangsters is usually pretty good.
Sarah Young said:New season of The Bear is out on Hulu!
Edit: Whoops, I'm late with The Bear. But I also really enjoy Alone. It's a reality show where contestants compete to stay sane and healthy in the wilderness alone for as long as possible.
Thanks for reminding me. I loved watching that before cutting off cable TV. It can be steamed for free here:
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:Aaron_King said:The last thing I watched that was really good was The Gentlemen on Netflix.
I enjoyed that, too. Guy Ritchie doing British gangsters is usually pretty good.
I didn't realize there was a TV series now. I loved the movie.
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