Favourite TV?

[JesusFightClub]

I'm kind of a TV n00b, because for most of my adult life I've never had TV and now I have it I forget to watch it a lot. I wondered what the favourite TV programmes of most FJists were. What's your favourite show? Why do you like it? Do you like any weird things?

[happy atheist]

I watch a lot of TV, but I don't know how much of it airs in the UK. Do you have a DVD player, too? I'm sure some good stuff is available on disc.

[duplessis3]

I watch a shitload of British shows (to the point that my youngest once said that I looked like an alcoholic character from one of my weird british shows - I was dressed up at Nina Hagen FWIW.) I have been on a Cracker binge but the gender politics get extremely trying - the acting is great. I love love love love LOVE anything Toby Whithouse writes, so Being Human is a favorite - in fact I just had a birthday party (2nd annual) for the vampire. I love Misfits too - Love Joe Gilgun, That is a fun, raunchy show about young offenders that get "powers" (some of them stink.) Filthy, hilarious etc. I like the supernatural themes frequently - it is an interesting way to explore class and otherness. Jack Taylor is a fun hardboiled Irish detective (played by a Scotsman.) Older shows that I love are Black Books and Spaced.

[crazyforkate]

Queer as Folk (US), House MD, Mad Men, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Community, Frasier, All in the Family, The Simpsons. Go from there.

[JesusFightClub]

I love Black Books, duplessis! I used to watch that when I went to my mum's house :) Haven't seen it in years though.

crazyforkate, I have two brothers who are obsessed with the Simpsons, so I know that too. It's really variable in quality, IMO. Some episodes are hilarious and some are absolute shite. They also like Friends (which I do not like at all, I suppose it's a '90s nostalgia thing...)

I've heard so much about House and Mad Men, I'm willing to try those, especially with your recommendation! I could have a whole new world of telly watching opening up for me. At the moment I watch Pobol y Cwm even though I only know a handful of Welsh words, and can make no sense of what's going on. I just like the sound of the words and trying to guess what's happening. :lol:

[duplessis3]

So you are doing Mystery Theater 3000 with a Welsh show? Well done!

If you like Black Books, you'd probably like Spaced. It is more surreal and very funny. (If you haven't seen it.) Of course my husband and I, when drinking sweet alcoholic drinks yell at each other "It's children's booze!!!" Why oh why won't Dylan Moran be in another show?

[JesusFightClub]

I haven't seen that, and I am making a note of it AS WE SPEAK. Thank you! It sounds great.

Pobol y Cwm is on S4C (Welsh language channel). I strongly doubt it can be got anywhere outside the UK, but if you can, it's totally fucking excellent. Because I have no idea what's going on I just watch in fascinated wonder. Sometimes I try to make sense of the happenings by the occasional use of English words, like when the old Citizen Smith type bloke was painting a sign for a protest and said "[Welsh] "Arthur Scargill!" [Welsh]" Or when the little boy said "[Welsh] "It's jokes, da!" [Welsh]". :lol:

(In a previous existence I could ask for cow passports in Welsh (blame DEFRA). That's all the Welsh I have ever known. And I still wouldn't understand the answer.)

There's also BBC Alba* (Scottish Gaelic channel). My Gaelic is slightly better than my Welsh, although that's not saying much, really. I still don't have a hope in hell of following a conversation. However, not only does Gaelic not have the charm of novelty, BBC Alba is really boring. It's basically old men playing a variety of antiquated musical instruments up North, and doesn't have exciting showdowns in hairdressing salons or arguments in pubs like Pobol y Cwm has.

* "Alba" means "Scotland".

[duplessis3]

Have you watched Gavin and Stacy? It is an international romance between a boy from Exeter and a welsh girl from Barry island. Pneof t he character'shatees Princess Diana. There is a little welsh in it.

[tenth muse]

Mother and Son, Dr Who, Broadchurch, Community, Sea Change, Vicar of Dibley, Yes Minister, Father Ted, Under the Dome, The Time of Our Lives, Foyle's War.

I must say that some of these don't air now. Hence my large DVD collection.

[theCR]

How I met your mother, big bang theory, family guy. They are all pretty funny.

[JesusFightClub]

I do love Yes Minister and have watched them all on repeat. Because they are true :) Father Ted is comedy gold, and my dad loves it, so I've seen that. He likes the episode where Father Dougal is a milkman, so I must have seen that at least 20 times. My favourite one is the one where Ted saves the priests from the lingerie department.

Family Guy, I can't watch. I have issues, we'll put it that way, and I get really jumpy at anything where the plot point revolves around violence towards women (done for laughs). There was one that a comrade of mine was watching where the central joke was about a woman being murdered (she wasn't actually killed, but the joke was that you think she's dead) and I had to get up and walk out of the room. I find it too misogynistic to be pleasant viewing. (There was one rape joke as well which still upsets me to this day, and I'm not easily upset.)

My brothers watch Big Bang Theory and I've seen some episodes at their houses, it is quite sweet :) How I Met Your Mother, I don't know, so I'm going to look out for that! I'm getting a brilliant list for viewing here. Pobol y Cwm might be abandoned forever. :lol:

[clicker dies]

The X-Files is my favorite show ever. I also love Parks and Recreation, Doctor Who (really the 9 and 10 eras), 30 Rock, Orphan Black, Orange is the New Black, Sherlock, 30 Rock, Futurama, early Grey's Anatomy and House, Friends, The Walking Dead.

I could go on but that's a pretty big list already and is kind of bumming me out because I've seen every episode of all of them aside from Classic Doctor Who. :lol:

[tenth muse]

I do love Yes Minister and have watched them all on repeat. Because they are true :) Father Ted is comedy gold, and my dad loves it, so I've seen that. He likes the episode where Father Dougal is a milkman, so I must have seen that at least 20 times. My favourite one is the one where Ted saves the priests from the lingerie department.

Family Guy, I can't watch. I have issues, we'll put it that way, and I get really jumpy at anything where the plot point revolves around violence towards women (done for laughs). There was one that a comrade of mine was watching where the central joke was about a woman being murdered (she wasn't actually killed, but the joke was that you think she's dead) and I had to get up and walk out of the room. I find it too misogynistic to be pleasant viewing. (There was one rape joke as well which still upsets me to this day, and I'm not easily upset.)

My brothers watch Big Bang Theory and I've seen some episodes at their houses, it is quite sweet :) How I Met Your Mother, I don't know, so I'm going to look out for that! I'm getting a brilliant list for viewing here. Pobol y Cwm might be abandoned forever. :lol:

The lingerie episode was fantastic. I could watch it hundreds of times and still laugh.

Now I really want to check out Pobol y Cwm too :lol:

[Irishy]

Good old Father Ted on More4. I love Coast on BBC 2 and I'm looking forward to MasterChef the professionals and great British bake off in the autumn. If you have sky Atlantic, the new series of boardwalk empire starts in sept. lots of violence and blood and guts, I watch it behind my hands.

[Pam]

Loved the first few seasons of House. Fringe, The Shield, Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Killing, Person of Interest.......

[crazyforkate]

Loved the first few seasons of House. Fringe, The Shield, Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Killing, Person of Interest.......

Haha, I'm struggling through Season 8 right now. It's suffering without, like, everyone in the cast except House and Wilson (and Foreman). Booooring.

[Pam]

Haha, I'm struggling through Season 8 right now. It's suffering without, like, everyone in the cast except House and Wilson (and Foreman). Booooring.

I started losing interest in it........FAST.........when the members of his original team were gone, forcing him to choose a new team. They also seemed to have done away with his Clinic time, and those provided some of my favourite moments...."You're orange, you moron!!"

[laura oz]

I started losing interest in it........FAST.........when the members of his original team were gone, forcing him to choose a new team. They also seemed to have done away with his Clinic time, and those provided some of my favourite moments...."You're orange, you moron!!"

I used to never miss House. Then they got rid of his team, and it seemed like he and Cutty were going to hook up, and the magic was gone for me. Did they really hook up?

[crazyforkate]

I used to never miss House. Then they got rid of his team, and it seemed like he and Cutty were going to hook up, and the magic was gone for me. Did they really hook up?

That was most of Season 7, actually. I liked the "New Coke Team" (fan name, not mine), but now everyone seems to have left and I'm pissed. Third time is not the charm, guys. I can understand an actor moving on, but this is ridiculous.

[Lillybee]

BBC shows that I love are Call the Midwife, Downton Abby, Upstairs Downstairs and Copper. I love Copper because it is about Irish emigants in NYC and I think that some of my ancestors lived in the Five Points.

American TV: some of my favorites are Mash, China Beach (which is being released on DVD ), Hill Street Blues and Sons of Anarchy.

[Savoring Samsara]

I used to never miss House. Then they got rid of his team, and it seemed like he and Cutty were going to hook up, and the magic was gone for me. Did they really hook up?

They hooked up and it was unbearably tedious.

[Pam]

They hooked up and it was unbearably tedious.

I think I just find it unbearably tedious whenever the main characters in a show hook up. I used to enjoy watching Bones, until she and Booth hooked up (their getting rid of Zack Addy earlier on kinda bummed me out, as well), and the jury is still out deliberating on Castle.......hell, I even hated it when Mork and Mindy hooked up!

[smiley mcgee]

I felt the same way about main characters hooking up and then one of my favorite shows New Girl went and threw Jess and Nick in bed together. I don't think it ruined everything but it made it too awkward IMO. Do the writers think they eventually need to add sexual tension to keep people watching? I want a show that can stand on its own without some forced hookups.

[ceg045]

I'm realizing I watch way too much TV:

Comedy:

Veep

Family Tree

Parks and Rec

Drama

Breaking Bad

Homeland

Mad Men

House of Cards

Game of Thrones

Downton Abbey

And Orange is the New Black, which sort of toes the comedy-drama line.

[julie paradox]

Oooh, Pobol y Cwm!

When I was in Lancashire in 1993 I turned on the telly which was on a non-BBC channel and got this weird thing in a pub that looked like Eastenders or Corrie but had people speaking foreign.

Took me a good few seconds to realise it was Welsh ;-)

I'm a fan of QI (Stephen is so posh he's stopped being posh at all. "Sainsbury's serves a very useful function: it keeps the scum out of Waitrose"), HIGNFY, Mock the Week, The Last Leg and the bits of Russell Howard's Good News that don't involve references to anal sex (unfortunately a much smaller proportion these days than in the first series).

I watch Graham Norton's chat show (it's taught me all I know about current music). I keep trying to watch Alan Carr but apart from the last one every time I watch it seems to have shown all the good bits in the trailer. Used to watch Jonathan Ross but when he moved to ITV on Saturdays we kept forgetting he was on and have got out of the habit.

I love Dr Who (I know about Manic Pixie Dream Girl and I know Stephen Moffatt is far more sexist than he thinks he is and I still really enjoy it). I think RTD is fabulous and am a total Tennant fangirl. Having said that, I sat through Matt Smith's first episode with a massive grin on my face. Also like Sherlock and Coupling (we have the DVDs). Watched all of Torchwood, though have no intention of watching Children of Earth ever again. Thought it was great, thought it was brilliant, very glad I watched. NEVER watching that scene again.

Sarah Jane Adventures then, Wizards and Aliens later.

I watched the entirety of Desperate Housewives, though was slightly relieved when it ended.

Really liked Life on Mars, and Ashes to Ashes.

Strictly Come Dancing, since part-way through the third series. Strictly Dance Fever was on just before Dr Who, and we would catch the end of it. Small son would ask to switch on the tv earlier and earlier, and eventually we decided just to watch the whole thing!

I'm sure there's other stuff. We have the DVDs to Dad's Army and Blackadder and are currently working our way through Star Trek (just finished TOS and need to get the first few films) and Blake's Seven.