Poll: Which TV show to watch next?

[Sp3ratus]

So, I just finished watching Rome(yes, I'm far behind, I know) and as Treme is wrapping up in a few days, so I'm looking to start watching a new show soon. I have a few candidates as shown in the pool and I'm leaning towards The Sopranos, but I wanted some outside input before making the final decision.

As for what TV shows I've already seen and liked, including mini series(not in order)
The Wire(favourite of all time)
Treme, as mentioned.
Sons of Anarchy
Rome
Boardwalk Empire(second favourite)
The Newsroom
Girls(on HBO)
Game of Thrones
Top Gear
Band of Brothers
The Pacific
Generation Kill
How I met your mother
Castle
Long Way Round
Long Way Down

So, what do you think, Escapist? If you choose the other, I'd appreciate it, if you would specify in a reply what and why. Also, I'd prefer it'd be in the drama genre or whatever you'd call what the other options fit into.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

I'd go with "The IT Crowd." Not very long, hilariously funny, all that good stuff.

 

[Launcelot111]

House of Cards seems right up your alley, it's all political intrigue and moral dubiousness

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Everybody and their mother should watch The Sopranos. If Twin Peaks modelled television7 for the 90s, The Sopranos became the cornerstone of (crime) drama in the late 90s and continues its influence in both film and TV to this very day. Gandolfini is brilliant and archetype-building as Tony Soprano and each and every one of the loads of characters brings something brilliant to the show. Above all the writing is superb, from the dialogue in every scene to season arcs to multi-season character arcs. As a test I'd recommend watching up to episode 7 of the first season, "Pax Soprana" (some say episode 5, whose name I forget, but probably was "College").

 

[Sp3ratus]

-snip-

Ah, right. Sorry, I've actually already seen all seasons, I just forgot to mention it. It's a brilliant show, so thanks anyway.

Seeing as how your list is very similiar to my favourites (I know so little people who have seen Generation Kill, it's an excellent bluray) I'd recommend 2 based on that list.

If you loved Rome, Watch Spartacus. It's not as historically accurate as Rome, and the first Season relies on a lot of silly CGI. It gets much better about Episode 3 onwards and has possibly the best finale of TV I've seen.

Also Justified. It's a show about a US Marshal being posted to his home town. Featuring the best protagonist and antagonist I've seen on TV. Well worth it.

Generation Kill deserves a lot more love. I love me some David Simon, so I'm all over whatever he makes. It's also great to see some media not gloryfying what went down there.

I did love Rome, so I'll definitely keep Spartacus in mind. Justified, as well, I've heard many good things, especially about Timothy Olyphant. Thanks for the recommendations!

House of Cards seems right up your alley, it's all political intrigue and moral dubiousness

Seeing as there's only 13 episodes, this might be what I end up going with for now, since it'll mean that I'll be ready for whenever season 2 hits. So yea, thanks!

Everybody and their mother should watch The Sopranos. If Twin Peaks modelled television7 for the 90s, The Sopranos became the cornerstone of (crime) drama in the late 90s and continues its influence in both film and TV to this very day. Gandolfini is brilliant and archetype-building as Tony Soprano and each and every one of the loads of characters brings something brilliant to the show. Above all the writing is superb, from the dialogue in every scene to season arcs to multi-season character arcs. As a test I'd recommend watching up to episode 7 of the first season, "Pax Soprana" (some say episode 5, whose name I forget, but probably was "College").

Heh, that's how I feel about The Wire. Still, with this glowing recommendations and 2 votes, it's the winner for now. As mentioned though, I'll give House of Cards a whirl first, but after that, it's Sopranos time.

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Flatfrog]

Seeing as how your list is very similiar to my favourites (I know so little people who have seen Generation Kill, it's an excellent bluray) I'd recommend 2 based on that list.

If you loved Rome, Watch Spartacus. It's not as historically accurate as Rome, and the first Season relies on a lot of silly CGI. It gets much better about Episode 3 onwards and has possibly the best finale of TV I've seen.

Also Justified. It's a show about a US Marshal being posted to his home town. Featuring the best protagonist and antagonist I've seen on TV. Well worth it.

These are great recommendations. Spartacus is one of the weirdest shows of all times - it manages to make vast quantities of sex and gore boring, but then for some reason has some of the best writing and character development ever.

Also not on your list but worth watching: The Shield. It truly is astonishingly good - a perfect Greek Tragedy for our times; better even than Breaking Bad in my opinion. On the subject of which - that's not on your list for some weird reason. I can only assume you omitted it out of perversity.

Mad Men is brilliant but never really held my attention.

We've recently been re-watching My So-Called Life with my newly-teenaged daughter and it's just as brilliant and insightful as we remembered. Highly recommended - don't dismiss it as just a teen drama, it's streets ahead of the rest and it's no accident that two of its main players went on to be major stars.

We watched Green Wing on Netflix recently - not sure if it's easy to find outside the UK but honestly it's genius. Like Scrubs without all the sentimental bullshit, just pure theatre of the absurd from start to finish and with a wonderful finale. If you enjoy it then Spaced, Big Train and Black Books feature many of the same cast (as well as Simon Pegg). Also if you liked The IT Crowd you should watch Father Ted, written by the same guy. And finishing the UK comedy recommendations, try The League of Gentlemen - ultra-dark and not for everyone but will probably appeal to you.

And for a few more that aren't on your list: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (fun from the start but really hits its stride around the third season); Firefly; Weeds; Dexter (we re-watched the whole thing over the past few weeks and it's masterful); House (not to everyone's taste but I think it was consistently great and got better all the time)

As you can tell, I love my box sets. How did we manage without them?

 

[Guffe]

Big mistake in putting "other" there in the poll
You'll be spammed with hundreds of series xD
I also chose "other" and will add Supernatural to your watch list. If you've liked the Marvel movies then A.G.E.N.T.S. of Shiled is also a good series to start watching, but they are only on season 1 yet so if you like to grobble through whole series in a short time then wait with that one.
But my main answer is: Supernatural

 

[Colour Scientist]

Count me in for The Sopranos.

That and The Wire are my favourite series of all time but I think The Sopranos wins out for me.

Love, love, love it.

 

[shootthebandit]

I vote breaking bad. This is probably the single greatest thing ive ever watched and its on next netflix so no adverts

Theres stuff like luther and sherlock on bbc thats supposed to be really good. Ive not had the chance but a lot of people say they are really good

 

[Frothy Gibblets]

If you're a fan of Sons of Anarchy I'd suggest Deadwood out of the shows in your poll, Kurt Sutter seems to have a hard on for that show and alot of the actors that make appearances in SoA were in Deadwood. I just started watching it recently myself and am enjoying it so far.

As for other shows. The Shield is supposedly very good, again by Kurt Sutter but I have only watched a couple of episodes so can't comment on the quality of the series as a whole. Supernatural is worth a watch, especially the first 5 seasons.

 

[Artina89]

Give Sherlock a try if you haven't already. It is one of my personal favourite series, and Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are superb as Holmes and Watson, plus Mark Gatiss makes a wonderful Mycroft. The new series starts in the UK on New Year's day so it is a perfect time to catch up on the previous two seasons.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The Wire(favourite of all time)

Good taste.

There's nothing much on par with The Wire, but there's some strong contenders for second place. I'd highly recommend The Sopranos, and both Breaking Bad and Mad Men are excellent programs.

I'm presently re-watching Battlestar Galactica, and I'd rank the first two seasons of that extremely high. Lots of grey/grey morality and a bravura performance by Edward James Olmos. Alas, that series goes seriously off the rails into Crazytown halfway through season 3 and never recovers, so it's a recommendation with an asterisk beside it.

If you enjoyed the politics in season 4-5 of The Wire you might enjoy House of Cards.

You also don't have comedies on your list, but I highly recommend The Office (BBC), Extras, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development if you need a break from the grimness of some of these other shows.

Heh, that's how I feel about The Wire. Still, with this glowing recommendations and 2 votes, it's the winner for now. As mentioned though, I'll give House of Cards a whirl first, but after that, it's Sopranos time.

Ah, I see you've settled on a choice already! Can't argue with the logic here. I'm sure you'll enjoy both. Sopranos is probably the more essential program, but as you say it's a much longer time investment.

I don't know if I've seen another character on television or film as dynamic or fully realized as Gandolfini's Tony Soprano. I weep for the man's loss, I really do.

 

[Goofguy]

Out of your list, I'd recommend Deadwood. It wasn't around for too long so it won't take you a ridiculous time to get through. The characters are fantastic and it's a brutal (in the visceral sense) show. Outside of that, I'd recommend Justified. It's already been mentioned several times but with good reason. Olyphant is alright in the former show but absolutely incredible in the latter one.

 

[fezgod]

The Sopranos since it pretty much defined modern television.
Breaking Bad is another solid choice, its one of the few shows where I can honestly say there isn't a bad episode.

I would also recommend Lost, it might have a lot of flaws but one of the things the show handles well is its characters.

 

[Ieyke]

Veronica Mars

Do yourself a favor and watch Veronica Mars. Don't try and guess what you'll think of it, because pretty much all the indicators will probably lie to you.
Mystery drama about a high school detective girl? Doesn't sound particularly great, does it?
You are wrong.
Oh so wrong.
It's both a very witty show, and actually really messed up.
It's an unraveling of the history and secrets of the town she lives in, and the people who live there, as she works relentlessly to figure out who really murdered her best friend.
Honestly, one of my favorite shows ever.


Supernatural - Two brothers on a journey that can only be described as epic. Has everything. Monsters, mystery, action, drama, comedy. It becomes one of the funniest shows on TV after a while. Up til Season 5 it's utterly brilliant...and then after that it's still good...but (understandably) has some problems figuring out where to go with the story.

Sherlock - Modern version of Sherlock Holmes. Only 6 episodes (3 per season, and Season 3 starts in 3 days), but each one is major and more like a short-ish movie.

Elementary - Another modern version of Sherlock Holmes. Quicker pace and a LOT more episodes than Sherlock. I think both shows are actually basically equal for various reasons.

Arrow - EASILY the best thing that DC Comics has done since The Dark Knight. Better than TDKR or Man Of Steel.

Better Off Ted - HILARIOUS.

Firefly - 14 episode masterpiece

Dexter - Pretty good.

 

[Strazdas]

If the wire is your favorite of all times id say the choice is Sopranos, you should really like it. Personally i find The Wire lacking.

 

[toddt2]

That new vikings show is pretty good!