TV Series Suggestions?

[Dinaberries]

This might sound odd, but at 25 years old, I have only recently started following tv series. Of course I've always watched tv, but I would always just catch an episode of something here and there. Over the past year or so, my husband has gotten me into watching some of the tv series he likes, and I've actually started to really enjoy watching a compelling show from start to finish. This has been really useful lately, since I am currently staying home with my baby and breastfeeding on demand. He feeds often and he takes a while with each feed. I let him come off of the breast on his own, so sometimes I'm sitting there for 30-45 minutes, which I don't mind, but I like to have something to occupy my mind while I feed him. I also have been doing tons of laundry since my baby has been born, so I spend a fair bit of time folding and ironing clothes, so I like to have something to watch during those times. Because of this, I've exhausted my husband's supply of tv series, and I'd really like to watch something new anyway.

Out of everything he's introduced me to, the shows I've enjoyed the most were Prison Break and 24 (I have only seen seasons one and two of 24). I've discovered that I really like a suspenseful plotline and a bit of conspiracy and political intrigue. Does anyone have any suggestions for series that are in a similar vein? Even if it's a show that aired a few years ago, that's fine because I most likely haven't seen it. Also, it doesn't have to feature suspense, conspiracy and political intrigue, but I'd like something with a similar sort of feel.

[BelieveinScience]

What about all the Law and Order Series? I prefer law and order SVU.

[contrary]

good lord, i just started (last night), Damages (with Glenn Close) on netflix. S1E1 has completely knocked my socks off with plot twists and intrigue. I can't wait to watch ep2 tonight!

Other favorites: Justified, Friday Night Lights (solid, well-done, well-acted drama), Lost

[mama_bear]

My husband and I really like Bones because of the twists and turns. We also went through a big West Wing phase several years ago.

[happy atheist]

The X-Files started out great. You probably wouldn't want to bother with the last season or 2, but that still leaves 5 or 6 good seasons.

Lost is also fantastic.

If you're in the mood for something retro, The Prisoner is interesting. It's a British show from the 60s, and it only has about 20 episodes, but it tells a complete story. It has spies and intrigue and an absolutely gorgeous setting.

Veronica Mars, especially the first 2 seasons.

[contrary]

west wing is my favorite show in the history of television.

it's smart, it's fast, it's awesome, and it doesn't dumb-down for the lowest common denominator.

lemon-lyman forevs!

[Seven Severn]

For comedy I highly recommend "Arrested Development" (note: you have to pay attention; it's jaw-droppingly funny), "Better Off Ted" (only one season and it deserved so much more), "Seinfeld", "Wonderfalls" (only one season sniff), "Pushing Daisies", "Kids in the Hall", and "SCTV". Note the last two are sketch comedy.

For drama there's "The X-Files" (seasons 1-7 and I recommend watching the movie "Fight the Future" between seasons five and six), "Mad Men", "The Wire" (considered by many to be the best show ever), "Walking Dead" (second season just ended), "Jericho" (only one season but it wraps up well), "Invasion" (creepy sci-fi, only one season), "Sports Night", "Veronica Mars", and motherfucking "Firefly"!! If you watch "Firefly" in its entirety then you need to watch the movie "Serenity" which wraps the whole thing up. If you're on Reddit then having a knowledge of "Firefly" will explain a lot of asides that people make.

Note: Everything (including the sketch comedy) should be watched in order.

[Dinaberries]

Wow, thanks for all of the great suggestions! I'm going to look up trailers now. :D

Seven Severn, I tried watching Firefly, but couldn't get into it. I only made it to episode 5. Do you think it's worth trying to watch again, or do you think that if I made it that far without really enjoying it, that it isn't for me? I was disappointed because nearly all of my friends and my husband all love Firefly. Maybe I had heard too much praise for it, and that ruined it for me.

[feministxtian]

4400, NCIS (the original), Fringe, hell yes on Prison Break. Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment.

[happy atheist]

For comedy I highly recommend "Arrested Development" (note: you have to pay attention; it's jaw-droppingly funny), "Better Off Ted" (only one season and it deserved so much more).

Arrested Development will be airing new episodes this summer (I'm not sure what network), and then there will be a movie. It will be awesome.

Better Off Ted did have a second season. It was short, but it happened. I think you can get it from Amazon.

Other fantastic comedies: 30 Rock and Community.

[Lady]

The Good Wife, I am addicted to that TV show.

[Whydoyouask]

The Good Wife, I am addicted to that TV show.

IDK what it says about me as a parent but my 11 yr old DS loves that show as well.

Some other ideas for the OP: 'Any' Law and Order but I love SVU - or the really old L&O with Jerry, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, West Wing, Seinfeld, Sopranos, and if you can find it ALF, which is totally not related to any of the others!

[ceg045]

Lots of good suggestions here (I'm partial to The West Wing, myself). Adding Breaking Bad to the list--first three seasons are Watch Instantly on Netflix.

[Witsec7]

New Amsterdam-I am so not into vampire detectives, but the production values are fantastic, great plots, fantastic character actors and the lead is a hunk with a sexy accent.

More about it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam_(TV_series)

[valsa]

For comedy, there's the show Community (about a very diverse study group at the worst community college in the world) A friend of mine recommended it to me and seemed to love it, so I gave it a chance even though I thought it'd just be another run-of-the-mill comedy sitcom. Turns out that not only is it funny as hell, but it's got a lot of heart to it too (it's made me cry on more than a few occassions) It also has the most awesome special episodes (Halloween, Winter Holidays, and yearly campus-wide Paintball War two-parter that might just be the best episodes of the entire series) that I have ever seen, on any show.

[Dinaberries]

Thanks so much, everybody! I am starting with West Wing for drama and Community for comedy, but I've got lots of the other shows suggested queued up. :D

[RandomTrivia]

I haven't seen Prison Break or 24, but you might try Babylon 5. It does have politics and some suspense, with events having effects episodes and seasons later. I think it was one of the first dramas to really get into season-long story arcs. Fair warning, season one is kind of slow, but there are things there that matter later. And season four is packed with stuff (5 seasons were planned but the network waffled during S4 about doing S5, so the writer tried to fit it all into season 4. Then they got cinfirmed for S5 and had to scramble to fill out the last season. That's the short version.) Oh, and there are 4 or 5 Tv movies, it helps to watch them in the right spots.

Also, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Farscape, and for British shows, Foyle's War, Ballykissangel,A Fine Romance, and Monarch of the Glen are all good. And Canadian shows: Due South, Corner Gas, and Da Vinci's Inquest, plus Red Green if you have a compatible sense of humor, and Slings & Arrows.

If you like sci-fi or fantasy at all, I can come up with a few dozen more, mostly one-season-and-done shows.

[LilBit0318]

Well, it's not political or anything, but I've really gotten into House the last couple of seasons. Disappointed it's ending, but these last four episodes seem like they're gonna be good! And there's definitely the element of drama between the doctors, & suspense with the medical cases they work on. It's pretty much a given that he's going to bring the patient about thisclose to death, then have a lightbulb moment & save them. But the question becomes when will the lighbulb moment happen, what other terrible thing is going to happen to the patient before it does, & what the heck is the correct diagnosis! And like I said, there's always drama going on with the doctors. Between House's addiction, relationships between the doctors, & basically any other wierdness you could possibly think of, it stays pretty intesting on that front, too. It's definitely a favorite of mine. And while I'm on the subject, I've got a question for any other fans out there. I know they've released all the seasons on DVD, with the last one scheduled for release later in the year. And I know that only the last three or so seasons are also available on Blu Ray. So are there any plans for Blu Ray releases of the earlier seasons? I know the show started in '04, which was right around the time HD TVs & things started becoming more mainstream, so I would imagine even the earlier episodes would have been filmed in such a way that they could lat least be converted to HD fairly easily, right?

[Witsec7]

Single Handed, Irish, great plots well developed characters and incredible shots of rural Ireland. No gore for those who are sensitive to that kind of stuff. Its available free on Hulu.

[JesusFightClub]

I'm hopeless at this as I don't watch much telly but if you like politics and can cope with EPIC levels of swearing, The Thick of It is really good. Or much more genteel, Yes Minister.

Before I got into it with the polis (so a long time ago now) I used to like The Thin Blue Line. It's a UK comedy set amongst a hopeless crew of coppers in a police station. It's utterly pantomime and dated and you can see most of the jokes coming a mile off, but if you like fairly old fashioned British comedy after a hard day you may like it.

I can't help with gritty non comedy because my ADD gives me trouble with story arcs so that is the best I can do...gritty comedy I can help with, but only if you want to know!

[CrazySister]

Leverage

Psych

In Plain Site

[jaynie]

One of the best suspenseful/conspiracy/political dramas I've seen in recent years was the UK miniseries State of Play. I think there was a Hollywood movie take on it, but I don't trust Hollywood remakes as a rule so I can't comment about that. But the miniseries was excellent -- it had a great cast and good pacing and a lot of intrigue.

On the crime drama side of things I also really liked the show Whitechapel, which is a sort of modern take on the Jack the Ripper murders (and the Kray twins in series two). It's a little gruesome and it has it's flaws, but overall I found it good watching.

Also, Life on Mars (again, UK version) is just about my favourite show on earth, so I am compelled to recommend it. It's about a police officer who, after being hit by a car, wakes up in the 1970s (maybe). The individual episodes vary from typical crime drama fair to very science-fictiony, and there is a fairly good story arch in both seasons. I think it's just trippy enough to be interesting and distinctive, the cast is fantastic, and it's aesthetically pleasing. I haven't watched the sequel Ashes to Ashes yet (don't ask why) but I've heard pretty good things about that as well.

[Witsec7]

Jaynie TY for the tips. I'm in the US but much prefer UK teevee. I'm just finishing up Single Handed. I must reco Blackpool, which is a musical detective series. The mystery is credible, good plot, great characters and they all bust out in cheesy musical song and dance routines. I watched it free on You Tube but there may be other ways to access it.

[Dinaberries]

I'm hopeless at this as I don't watch much telly but if you like politics and can cope with EPIC levels of swearing, The Thick of It is really good. Or much more genteel, Yes Minister.

Before I got into it with the polis (so a long time ago now) I used to like The Thin Blue Line. It's a UK comedy set amongst a hopeless crew of coppers in a police station. It's utterly pantomime and dated and you can see most of the jokes coming a mile off, but if you like fairly old fashioned British comedy after a hard day you may like it.

I can't help with gritty non comedy because my ADD gives me trouble with story arcs so that is the best I can do...gritty comedy I can help with, but only if you want to know!

I'd like some gritty comedy suggestions! I am pretty open to new shows, and I don't typically watch much comedy, so it would probably be a nice change from my usual intense dramas.

Also, I think I will check out The Thin Blue Line, since I have a soft spot for old fashioned British comedy. It's so completely different from American comedy, and I enjoy that.

[happy atheist]

I just remembered Lost. The last episode is not as awesome as I had hoped it would be, but overall it's great.