What TV shows are absolutely worth watching?
I haven't been watching much in terms of actual shows for a good while, then while listening to a podcast a host casually mentioned they had rewatched Chernobyl, how it still holds up, that there's a reason it got as much acclaim as it did, etc. So I thought I'd give it a go and wow, loved it (still one episode left to watch).
Had me thinking, what else have I missed out on? What are some "absolute cinema" TV shows that still hold up and and are considered must watch?
643 replies
Speaking of Chernobyl, watch Andor next (lots of the same actors). Go in ignoring the fact it has anything to do with Star Wars and you'll have a great time. It's peak television.
I love me some Sci-Fi but yeah, the fact that it's Star Wars had me ignoring this one despite all the amazing reviews and hype. Is Andor still enjoyable without having seen anything but the first six movies and the first two of the sequels? I know it's closely linked with Rogue One and I didn't watch that either. Still recommendable with that little knowledge of the current expanded universe?
I went in having only seen those movies too, you really don’t even need that much familiarity to enjoy this. Don’t sleep on it, it’s quite good.
I watched Rogue One after I finished Andor and I was pretty disappointed, it’s an alright movie I guess but a huge downgrade from the show IMO.
Interesting, as I thought the opposite. It felt bigger budget and a great extension to the series.
I think the only thing you need to know is the Empire are fascists and baddies. They make that pretty clear even if you don't know that. Imagine a political spy thriller made by someone who doesn't care about Star Wars lore, because that's what it is.
If you’re into sci-fi, I hope you’ve seen Babylon 5. The political storylines have never felt more relevant.
Babylon 5 is excellent. The special effects are still pretty decent decades later, but apparently you need to find the right version, because they tried to upscale some of it for HD at one point and completely messed up the effects scenes.
The actors do an amazing job though, and the fact that it's a cohesive story that was slowly played out over multiple seasons is so rare.
If you know of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was a Babylon 5 ripoff. The creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski went to Paramount with his idea and they rejected it. He went to PTEN / Warner Brothers and they made it. DS9 launched just a month before Babylon 5 came out. But, "coincidentally" it took place on a space station next to a wormhole, involved a leader who became a religious figure against their will / knowledge, there's a fiesty female second officer, an idealistic doctor, a hard-boiled security chief... basically too many things to be coincidental.
Oh yeah that's more than enough. If anything all you need is A New Hope, but as long as you know the Empire are the bad guys the story is pretty self-contained.
Rogue One takes place immediately after, so watch it next if you like.
Rogue One is also one of the best Star Wars shows of the modern era, and I generally hate prequels, but it and Andor are phenomenal.
You can go in with no prior knowledge if you want. Watch Andor and then Rogue One (narrative order is reverse release order)
I have no clue how Disney let them make it.
I might be wrong, but I'd estimate there are roughly zero mentions of light sabres, force, Jedi etc in Andor.
You’re only slightly off, and the point is well taken that it’s far from the point of the show.
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler Specifically, there’s the mildly force-sensitive medic on Yavin who gets Bix to believe in something bigger. I think there’s also a few other offhand references. :::
If you have never seen anything related to Star Wars - watch Andor, if you hate Star Wars - watch Andor, if you love Star Wars - watch Andor
just a heads up to anyone watching andor. the first two episodes are... wait until episode 3 to judge if you like the show or not
Ok, thanks for saying that. I literally gave up after ep.2 as the whole thing was boring. I tried several times watching it - fell asleep, literally
but i’ll give it another go - thanks
im no expert, i just finished ep. 3 yesterday. me and my partner agreed that they should have rolled the first 3 episodes into one 90 inute episode, because the first two do t have any kind of story to them, just setup
I'm really surprised The Expanse didn't get more of a mention here. Great scify series, and I don't like series in general.
Its closer to hard sci fy than prob anything else, it has pretty realistic politics of exploitation, rebellion and inyterdependace in the near (few hundred years) colonisation of the solar system. There's some gritty pewpewpew in space, balanced out by some space opera, with spectacular characters that have more depth than most and a story arch thats likely to make you binge it.
As an added bonus the series is 6 out of 9 (/10) books it is based on. There are some notable differences by the end but still you can... expand beyond what the series shows.
The Good Place. Season one is just to set it up, please stick with it through at least S2. The ending makes me cry every time I watch it
I always plug Scavenger's Reign. It's a a sci fi survival show about a set of people who get stranded on an alien planet animated kind of like a graphic novel. The creators used a bunch of nature documentaries as inspiration to create a truly alien and interdependent ecosystem, but the theme tells you everything you need to know about the tone.
Also, animated sci fi comedy, The Venture Bros
The creator behind Scavenger's Reign, Joe Bennett, has animated for the FXX series Cake, and he also created Adult Swim's Common Side Effects, as well as soon to be on Netflix Dealies which is based on one of his Cake shorts.
Everything he does is excellent, even his illustrations for Joe Pera's bathroom book "A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape" are wonderful.
Also the artistic inspiration for Scavenger's Reign is french graphic novelist Jean Henri Gaston Giraud, also known as Mœbius, if you're looking for similar artwork.
/infodump
Amazing info. I loved scavengers reign and just started common side effects, but haven't put the names together as the same creator. Both are mind bending shows, so more from the same creator is a great get.
I had no idea, it just keeps getting better
There's also a video game that uses a very Moebius style that's unrelated to all this, it's called Sable and its a lot of fun.
Loved every minute of Scavengers Reign, still hoping they will make another series of it.
Thanks for the info about Moebius, love this kind of artstyle!
i loved scavengers rein. that show had some of the best visuals and ideas ive seen in scifi. it really shows the utility of 2d animation for showing fantastical worlds. it would have never worked in 3d, it would have taken forever and billions of dollars to make or it would have been soulless and weightless like most of the stuff studios are churning out these days. i hope we see more quality 2d animation for more mature scifi and fantasy in the future.
I’d add Pantheon to this list for amazing sci-fi adult animation. I loved both Scavenger’s Reign and Common Side Effects.
I know that Common Side Effects is getting a second season. I really wish Scavenger's Reign would get another season. That show is amazing.
Edit: Also, not a tv show, but the animated French film Arco was lovely. Beautiful hand drawn animation, set in the far future, and not just another dystopian story. Will also mention another animated French film Mars Express was pretty cool.
Pantheon is dope as living fuck and one of the few scifis about things in the near future that seems hopeful
The most imaginative show I have seen that displays an alien ecosystem. Beautiful and creepy.
The best show I could only get through one episode of. It was just a bit too gruesome horror for me, but if you have the stomach for it, my single-episode impression was that it's an excellent work.
Great show and themes but the ending fell flat for me. I’m not going to spoil anything but they had a major missed opportunity in creating better character arcs and tying everything together. It also felt more like the characters were only trying to reach a goal (not spoiling) the whole time instead of spending more time appreciating the planet and the journey.
It wasn’t an amazing show but it was definitely good if you’re into sci-fi, survival, and animation.
Their focus on the destination and not the journey was a plot point for some of the characters.
I thought the ending fell a bit flat as it felt to me like it was kinda vague in case they decided to continue. It made sense, and worked, but didn't feel like an ending.
Agreed, almost felt like they planned a sequel, a continuation.
I'm always ready to plug Bojack Horseman. Yes, it's an animated show about an anthropomorphic horse, with tons of silly, animal puns and visual gags, and cartoon-ish storylines, and it will sometimes just rip you open emotionally. Will Arnett is a phenomenally gifted voice actor. And despite this, one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen is one in which he has barely any lines.
The usual advice, of course, is that it takes until the middle of the first season to get really good. (The first few episodes aren't bad, they're just light comedy.)
It did some really cool experimental stuff as well, such as:
An episode that's 90% the main character's monologue, delivered straight into the 'camera'.
An episode from the perspective of someone with advanced dementia, where a lot of the important details are scribbled out.
An episode from the perspective of someone who's (perhaps) dying, and it's all explicitly stated to be a hallucination as their neurons are misfiring.
A lot of exploration into themes of nihilism and pointlessness.
And it all works. That show is amazing.
I really love this show. I'll rewatch it every now and again. After my own mom died, "Free Churro" really hit differently. It's a really beautiful dive into the thoughts and emotions that can come up when your mom is recently dead but your mom was also chronically an asshole.
The exploration of Beatrice's and Bojack's relationship thoughout the series, and the flashbacks to how Beatrice's own trauma shaped her and her relationship with Bojack, and Bojack's final acceptance that now, finally, he knows there's no chance she'll ever be the mother he wanted or the one he needed, really helped me come to grips with what I was going through, mentally and emotionally.
The rest of the show is also really good. I'm a big fan of Character Actress Margo Martindale.
The universe is a cruel, uncaring void. The key to being happy isn't a search for meaning. It's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually, you'll be dead.
"The view from halfway down" saved me from suicidal ideation, thoughts and intent. It was the first light that got me to realise suicidal ideation is not normal, it's not a solution. It got me to listen to what friends were saying, and eventually led to me accepting the breakdown that got me professional help before I hurt myself. Not saying it's the trigger, or the totality: I had a lot of help along the way. But definitely significant in so many dark times.
The way Bojack Horseman approaches gender, sexuality and mental health is always extremely accepting, able to draw comedy because of it and not against it, and then being so utterly heartbreaking at times.
Yeh, "sad horse" show. But it has so much depth.
The constant development of BoJack, of Todd, of Diane causes you (well, it did for me) to reassess previous episodes in new light.
Truly incredible.
Check out Undone.
Bojack is a depressed narcissist feeling sorry for himself. The main character is a self centered asshole.
So Trump?
Depressing horse show. Really good though.
I had written that show off because it looked like every other raunchy adult cartoon. I was so wrong about it.
DARK on Netflix.
It's not for everybody but I loved every second of it. In summary (without spoilers):
Battlestar Galactica 2000s remake. It's soooo good
SO SAY WE ALL 💪
...with the caveat that it is an intense show. No scifi CV is complete without it. Just don't expect to sit down and unwind with it.
It's worth watching just to see the performance of Edward James Olmos. That dude put in the performance of a lifetime.
He played his role so incredibly well. The show wouldn't have been the same without him
Yeah, and he did it without needing to be the star. I'd say it was probably Katie Sackhoff who was the star, although Jamie Bamber (Apollo) was also a key actor. But, Adama glued the whole thing together.
So many of the older actors on that show were legendary though: Mary McDonnell, Michael Hogan, Donnelly Rhodes, Dean Stockwell, etc. I'm not saying that the younger actors were bad. Many, even most of them were good. It's just that Edward James Olmos or Michael Hogan could communicate so much with just a grunt.
That's how you do a god damn gritty reboot.
Here's a short selection of series that really stood out for me over the past few years.
All are there for different reasons, but they were all quite amazing IMHO. (also, I've included spoiler-free summaries 😉)
Devs
A software engineer investigates the secretive quantum computing division of her cutting-edge tech company after her boyfriend goes missing.
This felt like some of the best early Black Mirror episodes, stretched out over the length of a well-paced short TV series. In a way, it's also similar to Severance, in the best of ways.
Our Flag Means Death
An 18th-century aristocrat abandons his life of luxury to become a pirate.
Funny, touching, extremely intelligent... if you like the work of Taika Waititi and his friends (What we do in the Shadows), this is a must-watch.
Scavengers Reign
When a deep-space freighter crashes on a beautiful but profoundly perilous alien planet, the scattered surviving crew must navigate a surreal, violently interconnected ecosystem in a desperate bid for rescue.
The best Sci-Fi series I've ever seen. This may be the first tv series I've seen that actually translates the vibe of some of the best Sci-Fi/space-opera writing I've read.
Killing Eve
A bored MI5 security officer and a glamorous, unpredictable assassin become locked in a deadly, globe-trotting game of cat-and-mouse.
Amazing actresses playing terrible people. It is so we'll made I think everyone needs to watch this one.
Utopia (UK)
A group of online forum members unearths a bizarre graphic novel rumored to predict global disasters, suddenly finding themselves hunted by a ruthless, shadowy organization.
This show is SO unique. The way it looks, the vibe, the story... everything hits SO hard! Just the intro sequence had me HOOKED! (Note: it was never finished; but it does have a pretty good ending regardless).
I loved Mr Robot
Edit- I’d also throw in Fargo. The season with Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman was weak but the rest are great (Especially seasons 2 & 5)
Second this. It’s my fav show
Isn't it just like ::: spoiler spoiler a very long version of fight club? :::
Hello, friend. Hello friend?
Another show that I was into until the big reveal at the end of season 1 and lost all interest. And I'm definitely in the minority.
I was going to say that, I need to start my fifth rewatch...
I find the anti china nonsense thats makes zero sense and the ending being limited redistribution only to americans very troubling and really ruined the whole show.
Breaking Bad!
Ted Lasso. Surface level it's a "fish out of water" story of an American College Football coach going to England to coach Professional Football (soccer). In actuality it's a show about loss, growth, relationships, and packs more emotions than you'll know what to do with. I know a lot of people gush about it, but I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that it might be the most perfect show I've ever watched.
Similarly, Schitt's Creek. A lot of similar themes, also a nearly perfect show. I will say that it took me a little bit to get past the first couple of episodes because it seemed like all of the characters were kinda awful, but that's really setting things up for character growth.
The characters in Schitt's Creek are characters you think are awful people who hate each other, but you quickly realize they've got hearts of gold and really do love each other.
Heard nothing but good things about Ted Lasso as well so I think this one is now on my list, thanks!
Schitt's Creek I think I tried to watch way back but don't think I even got through the first episode for the reason you just said, couldn't stand the characters.
Third season of Ted Lasso gets to be pretty saccharine and certain plots are rushed, but by then the characters have built up so much goodwill that you’re willing to ride it out.
Also, if you find him immediately grating, give Ted himself about three episodes at the very beginning to turn into an actual human. It’s worth it.
We will see if the upcoming season four can recapture any of the magic.
Whoa season 4?! Yay: Wednesday August 5th, nice! Thx
I promise, if you make it past the beginning of Schitt's Creek the show will reward you with some real emotional payoff.
Seconding cowfodder's comment, if you can manage to tolerate the Rose family at the beginning of Schitt's Creek, seeing the character growth is so very worth it, in my opinion. YMMV of course, but I'd encourage giving it another shot.
Ted Lasso also has some great character redemption arcs. Though in this case the main character (Ted) is immediately likeable, which I think makes for an easier start in comparison. And in case "immediately likeable" infers thoughts of him being a simple or shallow charter, he is not.
Ted lasso was good but I will caveat it- as someone who likes football and that angle the series strayed very far from being about football and went heavy into emotions, etc. Notably season 2 and on.
Schitts is amazing though start to finish.
As someone who hates football, Ted Lasso was wonderful because at no point was it ever really about football.
Better Call Saul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Call_Saul
This show is better than Breaking Bad IMHO.
Nobody seems to have watched it, but "Counterpart". It's a mind fuck Science Fiction show. Only 20 episodes, so manageable.
It was cancelled, but the writers knew beforehand and wrote an absolute perfect conclusion for the last episodes.
Also it's best to go in blind. There are events predicted in the show that later happened for real (I don't want to spoil it), and it's fun to think "oh that is how and why it happened"!
Also J.K. Simmons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpart_(TV_series)
I can't recommend this show enough.
Widow's Bay is a recent horror comedy series starring Matthew Rhys & Stephen Root that'll be getting a second season. I consume all media and I highly recommend this gem, especially for the person who's seen everything in these comments. It has excellent, subtle comedy, ramping lore-building in the vein of the best years of LOST, and the story of the week combined with overarching season arc structure of classics like X-Files.
100% recommend this. I haven't laughed at a show this much in a long time. Matthew Rhys is the king of reactions.
Well put!
I expect the actors loved doing this show, most of them get to perform two versions of the same character. They all knock it out of the park.
Terrific show.
I think most people know that J.K. Simmons is an amazing actor, but he's rarely the lead character in anything. I'm glad I got to see him as the lead in this, what a performance!
It's a unique show. Cold War spy games in Berlin involving a gateway to a parallel universe. Mood is somber and intense. Looks great.
Spoiler tags please. What you mention is a really amazing reveal for people who go in blind.
It’s not a spoiler if you learn this in the first episode.
Sure it is, if it is dramatically revealed in the first episode.
Firefly,
For less cinematic my favorite fun ones are
The good place, and Better off ted
Better Off Ted was classic!
It was ahead of its time in many ways.
Just finished rewatching Firefly again about thirty minutes ago
It's still top-notch
Severance is amazing and worth watching multiple times.
The Walking Dead through the end of season 6
Futurama
Ted Lasso
The Good Place
3rd Rock From The Sun
Band of Brothers
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (don’t let the trailers fool you— it starts kinda slow but it’s an adult storyline and is phenomenal from like middle of Season 1 on. The last four episodes are iconic for me. You can skip the movie.)
Long Way Round (sequel Long Way Down is excellent also)
The IT Crowd
Marvel’s The Punisher
Chapelle’s Show
Haunting of Hill House / Haunting of Bly Manor
Fringe
The Expanse
Simpsons through season 7
I loved Severance's first season. After that, ehh it's alright
Absolutely love me some Band of Brothers and Fringe. Been wanting to rewatch Person of Interest too.
Person of Interest is very good also. Really good casting.
The IT Crowd is unique, some of the stuff in it is a bit dated now, but some of the jokes in it are so good that I know people who still quote them decades later.
Is third rock from the sun really good I tried it but couldn't get past my hatred for the laugh track but seen enough recommends that i might try to push through to see if i can get into it?
Laugh tracks come with the territory for comedies, sadly, and especially those from the 90s when it was probably at its most egregious levels.
As for the show, yes, please keep going. John Lithgow and Jane Curtin are so perfect together, and then throw in French Stewart craziness, Joseph Gordon-Levitt in one of his first big roles, and Wayne Knight, among many other cameos along the way— it’s definitely a must watch.
3rd Rock a decent turn-your-brain-off 90s sitcom, but if you're having trouble getting into it I don't think pushing through is going to change your opinion any.
Another very similar but different series was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neighbors_(2012_TV_series)
I don't recall if it had a laugh track, but I guess that's likely.
Finally, I was scrolling to see if anyone else mentioned Fringe. I need to rewatch it sometime, I haven't seen it in probably a decade or so and I still remember it was one of the first shows that made me realize what really good TV actually is (I was in my early teens at the time).
The walking dead? Huge zombie movie fan I didn't finish all of season 3. It just got to the point where this is ridiculous and I turned it off
Yep. After season 6 ending where you meet Negan it kinda goes off the rails, IMO. But the first six seasons are great.
True Detective, season 1
Jesus Christ, the show came out in 2019... Are we really asking if things from 2019 "still hold up"?
A short list
I slept on the Battlestar Galactica reboot from 2003. I'd catch glimpses of it when it was on air, but since it was a continuous storyline, I bounced off it and was lost. Recently decided to try it out, and I was immediately hooked. Great acting and a really interesting scenario.
Andor is superb, as others have said.
Firefly is a fantastic space western, beloved for good reason.
Turn: Washington's Spies is a great historical spy series based on real spies in the American Revolution. Starts a bit slow but it really gets rolling after a couple episodes.
My family has had great things to say about Black Sails, a historical Pirate show.
If you haven't seen Breaking Bad, strongly recommend it.
Common Side Effects is a masterpiece.
If you're interested in Anime that goes for more adult themes, I can recommend Spice & Wolf, Cowboy Bebop, and Black Lagoon.
Edit: also the first season of Squid Game is pretty great, haven't watched the other seasons yet. Also quite enjoyed Pluribus
It’s a bit older, but the HBO series ROME is amazing. There are two seasons and I’ve watched both at least 11 times each. Hell, you could throw it on right now and I’d sit down to watch it.
I loved the first season, but the rest felt rushed. Still amazing.
They did have to rush it because the original plan was cut down by a lot. I'm still salty for HBO on that one
Love it. Great storytelling, costumes, sets that bring ancient Rome alive.
Now that's an absolute banger, I'll never get over it. And some, hehe, adult content, was alright
I’ll mention one that hasn’t been mentioned by others yet: Mind Hunter.
What a great premise, gone too soon.
This is PEAK of my last year.
"How it still holds up". Chernobyl came out in 2019. That's not that old! It's only 7 years. It might be a long time but not enough for a show to get dated like that.
Andor!
Best Star Wars content in a lonngggg time
Better Call Saul! I like it even more than Breaking Bad
Better than the rest
The Wire & Homicide: Life on the Street (David Simon Box Set)
Atlanta
The Expanse
Comedy
Sci-Fi
Drama
Intense Drama (TV-MA and little levity)
Anthology shows
Animated
Perpetually on deck for me
Didn't see anyone mentioned it but Gravity Falls and the original Avatar The Last Airbender is really, really good.
Also Fallout TV series is nice too, not worth the subscription but worth your time, if you catch my drift.
I always feel like The Leftovers on HBO doesn’t get anywhere near enough love. The first few episodes, while still good, are admittedly a bit slow (even for a slow burn) but holy shit once it gets going it is SO damn good. 3 seasons of some of my absolute favorite “what-the-fuck-is-happening” television. The story and writing and characters are phenomenal, and the acting is even better. Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Christopher Eccleston, and Ann Dowd are just incredible, and Damon Fucking Lindelof just ties it all together
Amazing.
Has one of the most terrifying episodes of a mainstream television show in it. Iykyk
I wouldn't say this is perfect but it's very unique with some meaty performances and it does finish cleanly
Yes! It was relatively short as HBO dramatic series go, but it packed so much into its run and it had a really clear arc.
Peak "prestige television" from HBO, in my opinion.
Amazing show. Loved the ending (and that it had one).
And don't forget the incredible soundtrack from Max Richter
Ah there it is :) I was scrolling down to mention it if no one did, fantastic show one of my all time favs. The scene where he's singing Simon and Garfunkel in the other place makes me tear up just thinking about it
Fuuuuck that scene is so good. The raw emotion he channels is ridiculous. I added Homeward Bound to my playlist because of that scene, and while the actual version is damn good, in my mind I hear Kevin
GarveyHarvey every time it playsRight? I've been a huge fan of Justin Theroux since and honestly he hasn't let me down, you're right though the whole cast is just impeccable
Haven’t seen it mentioned yet, so I’ll go ahead and give a shoutout to The Queen’s gambit. It’s easily one of the best shows of the past 20 years and it’s a limited, 7 episode (iirc) series.
Altered Carbon season 1. The worldbuilding and story is very good. Premise: People have managed to create chips on which you can put someone's consciousness. In this world, everyone has one. Once a body dies, your life is not necessarily over, but the standards differ vastly for the poor and the rich. One such rich man has had an attempt on his life: someone shot him in his chip, and then tried to hack his backup to truly kill him, but failed. He awakens an old rebel to solve who murdered him (this is all episode 1 exposition, so not really a spoiler).
It's one of those sci-fi series where, if you accept that one specific thing is possible, everything fits perfectly. Good story, great worldbuilding, good cast, and good music. Highly recommended!
I'm not sure if there's any more of it being made now, but I remember season 2 being just a run of the mill boring-ass action series. Turned it off halfway episode 3. But season 1 is very good, and absolutelt worthy of the praise that it got!
Utopia (I'm talking about the original UK version; you can pretend that the US remake doesn't exist)
DARK
Severance
Mr. Robot
My Fiancee and I just over the last couple of weeks binged the series 12 Monkeys for the first time. Easily one of my favorite shows period, and it's a show that ended as intended.
If you've seen the movie, from other people's observations (I haven't watched it), the first season of the show vaguely follows along a similar idea, but it absolutely is not the same afterwards.
It's 4 seasons and 46 episodes so it's not a huge commitment, but the payoff is so worth it.
The show is one of the rare ones where it only gets better as it goes on, up to the very last episode. Truly underrated and overlooked.
What's the genre?
Dystopian Sci-Fi. Time travel Adventure
4400 is that scifi show, although its an old show form the late 2000s. dystopian future that have time travel sublpot, mixed with "superpowers" given to normal humans plucked out of random points in time. i think the show has too much going on for it to continue, 3 large concepts : time travel, superpowers, preventing future events.
Well, shit. Love the movie, don't know how I missed that a tv series was made lol. Thanks for the comment!
Personally I only really started enjoying the TV show when I stopped comparing it to the movie. I enjoyed both, but for different reasons.
I binged that show a few years ago and loved it. One thing that I couldn't stop thinking about though - it's been 25 years since the apocalypse; where are they getting all the booze, cigarettes, fuel and bullets from? There's presumably no manufacturing going on, and looting would have used up existing stocks pretty quickly.
Check out Westworld.
Stop at the end of the first season and you have seen perfection
With no regard to how big stuff is/was, because OP hadn't seen Chernobyl.
'Chernobyl' is up there. Brutal indictment of a hypercorrupt dying empire that only cares about power and is built almost entirely on lies contrasted with the people it happens to, who largely embody the ideals their government lies about; the heroism of a dead culture striving to save everyone from some of the fuckers who killed it.
'Andor' star wars, but about antifascism instead of wuxia bullshit or daddy issues. Some of the best TV ever made. Weaves in links to history and obscure star wars apocrypha. It's everything it should be and more with amazing layered deliberate fast-slow-fast pacing. There's a long-payoff joke that is also the serious culmination of the first season's meta-arc (the first season of that show would be about five seasons of anything else) and half the fans didn't even notice.
'Severance' or the ~decade earlier whedon-directed much more sex focused show it was linked to, 'dollhouse' if you need fast pace or a slightly more dramatic version of what the internet is now. Low-scifi corpo-surrealism about the ways we treat identity. The two versions come to very different conclusions.
'Scavengers' reign' beautiful uncanny man-vs-nature space narrative, haunting sound track, amazing in every way that matters.
'Westworld' only season 1. Its About Things. No not just the robots. They left some plot threads unresolved for season 2, but they're not really what's important and each season is exponentially worse, riding the first season's nonstop hitting. Season 2 is still okay I guess.
'daredevil' Netflix version, season 1 only. There's more but its not the same quality. Gritty superhero and heroic legal drama filling in each others gaps.
'Cowboy bebop' everybody's favorite film noir space (neo?)western. Dripping with cool. Remade a few years later in a historically accurate Japan right after the consolidation of the Tokugawa dynasty with arguably 10% less style and 30% tighter production.
'Kaos' though it was left extremely unfinished. High budget modern Greek mythology soup. As gay and misothiest as you would expect if you had actually read any.
'Peacemaker' murder-himbo realizes he might be one of the bad guys while trying to save the world with/from the CIA immediately post-'the suicide squad'.
'Harley Quinn' batman villain fucks around, continues fucking around, occasionally finds out. But lesbianly, sharp unhinged comedy.
'Futurama' fox seasons/original run only. Occasionally heart wrenching SciFi comedy that's not trying to be as edgy as 'rick and Morty' later would. Definitely aged, but smart enough it's aged gracefully.
'True detective' season 1 only. The rest are fine, I guess. Southern Gothic neo-noir ambiguously fantasy.
'Star trek: deep space nine' a space station on the edge of falgsc utopia orbiting space-palestine as the toned down space zios do space-zio things. 90s in all the best ways and very few of the worst.
Or the more woo-scifi version which aired I think simultaneously, 'Babylon 5'.
'Community' very few comedy shows age this well. Just a ridiculously solid sitcom.
'Lovecraft country' endritch horror and american racism standing in frame next to each other, while the arc and the anthology flirt over a meal of 'how to love SciFi as a marginalized person?'. The most beautiful wholesome profound bed covered in gore you've ever watched coincidentally 'is this gay, and if so what kind?' sex on.
I'll add more later, and there are more certain people need to see but others don't necessarily.
Frieren: Beyond Jouney's End is absolutely incredible. Even if you don't watch anime I'd still recommend this as a gateway into the medium.
Yup. Not even as a gateway, just as a standalone piece of visual media. Art, music, writing, all of it superb.
But you need to be a fan of fantasy.
Your Lie in April, is an anime that anybody with feelings could enjoy.
In the realm of miniseries, Band of Brothers is much watch.
I will take this as an opportunity to list a couple of great war and military shows. Listed more or less in order of recommendation.
Catch-22
In contrast to the above, this is more of a satire, dark comedy, that highlights absurdities of warfare, perverse incentives, systems following their logic. It's set with American bomber crews during the Italian campaign in WW2. The most anti-war, thoughtful, and fun watch of these listed here. Based on a fantastic book of the same name.
Das Boot (miniseries)
The famous movie about the German submarine U-96 in WW2 has a longer version as a miniseries. It adds a lot of smaller scenes providing more submariner culture, political commentary, etc. Highly recommend as the best submarine show.
Generation Kill
US Reconnaissance Marines riding Humvees during the Iraq invasion of 2003. Lots of fantastic characters and moments. Displays well what it's like to fight for the US military. Based on a book from an embedded journalist. Excellent show.
Valley of Tears
Miniseries about the 1973 Yom Kippur war focusing on an IDF tank unit on the front with Syria and the Golan. It also displays political and social issues in Israeli society at the time like marginalization of Mizrahi Jews, trauma, etc. You also get a good insight into the strategic significance of the Golan heights, Israel's lack of strategic depth, and fear of being annihilated by their neighbors. If you like tanks or IDF soldiers suffering, watch it.
Band of Brothers
The best show about WW2 in Europe from the American soldiers' perspective, specifically paratroopers from the 101st Airborne. It's based on real experiences and includes documentary snippets from veterans. Thin Red Line or Saving Private Ryan as TV series. It's short and every episode is great.
SAS: Rogue Heroes
Follows a bunch of daring misfits and insubordinates forming the British SAS commando units eliminating Axis forces with raids behind enemy lines across the desert in North Africa and later Italy. Not super realistic or historically accurate, but fun, humorous, brutal, and action packed. Lots of fascinating characters demonstrating determination. Music is British punk rock and similar genres.
The Pacific
It's Band of Brothers but for the campaign in the Pacific Ocean in WW2, and the Marine Corps. It doesn't quite reach the level of the original, but is still excellent.
Masters of the Air
American aviators fighting in WW2 in Europe, specifically 100th Bomb Group flying B-17. Not quite as good as the first shows mentioned, but still very good.
The sopranos
How can anyone be in this thread without mentioning the wire. One of the best shows of all time. Sopranos was pretty good.
Sopranos > The Wire
Apparently I like War, Mystery, and Comedy. List:
Andor: Is great, even if you aren't a Star Wars fan. Each 3 episode arc is better than the last. Only planned as 1 season, but did so well they made a Season 2 and Season 2 is better. You can use Rogue One as a cap to the series.
Veronica Mars: watched all of it for the first time this year. It holds up 20+ years later.
Ted Lasso: Comedy about a college American Football coach coaching English Football/soccer.
The Good Place: Strangely a philosophy heavy comedy. It slows in places, but is absolutely worth watching.
Schmitt's Creek: Comedy about unlikeable rich people becoming poor. It takes a bit to start, but each season is better than the last and nails the landing.
Possibles:
Altered Carbon (Season 1): Great murder mystery set in a cyberpunk, dystopian future.
Shogun: Medieval Japan samurai "game of thrones"-esk show. Only planned as 1 season, but did so well they are making a Season 2.
Band of Brothers: War show about American rangers in WW2.
Altered Carbon season 1 was so good!
Shame they never made a second season… (/s)
Haha, I feel that. So much potential.
Veronica mars is great. Really scratched that Buffy itch for me, but with added noir. I’m enjoying high potential at the moment, but it’s not to the same level.
The good place. I found hysterical but the ethics it tried to teach was even better. I'm a 48 year old male and I legit bawled like a baby when the series wrapped
I've lost track of the number of times I've watched this series, and the ending makes me cry every time.
Chernobyl is great, but if you look into it’s basically retelling russian propaganda that this was individuals fault rather than a matter of when not if tragedy.
Anyways best shows:
Comedies:
Battlestar Galactica
Comedy? Futurama (be ready to have your feels tickled)
More serious SF but still funny? The Orville
More more serious SF and not so funny, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Not at all funny and serious SF (anyone seeing a pattern?) Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009)
Extra credit serious SF, worth every hour, dated graphics and all, Babylon 5 Amazing stories, worth every minute it takes to watch it.
A couple of clips to try to convince you to watch a couple of favorites I incessantly recommend:
Joe Pera Talks With You
Deadwood
Also The Bear, but every clip feels like a spoiler, so just WATCH IT ALL, PLEASE.
I'll throw a couple of old, fun ones in I doubt anyone mentioned.
Dead Like Me
Pushing Daisies
Tokyo Vice (2022)
It captures that 90s Tokyo vibe perfectly.
Dark Matter, a show cancelled way too early.
Star Trek: Lower Decks, a Star Trek show that feels like a Star Trek show.
Twin Peaks The Return (aka season 3, which came back with most of the original cast after 25 years) is a masterpiece.
There is nothing else like it, not even the original 2 seasons. Often considered a “film” and truly is “absolute cinema”. From the wikipedia article on it:
Downton Abbey: most shows shuffle away any notion of class struggle and class conflict, which is a shame as it is the defining story of our era, but Downton showcases it. A show that restores your faith in humanity, making nearly every character’s humanity shine through in a beautiful, Dickensian way. I try to watch it at least once a year, ideally around winter holidays. Ironically created by a British conservative.
Century of the Self: although perhaps less a series and more a miniseries, seems to me it’s required viewing for understanding so much of what our lives are now
Eastbound & Down (and The Righteous Gemstones): as long as you like Danny McBride’s sense of humor, these will kill you. Very on the nose in their parodies of sports culture and the evangelical “Christian” movement in the US
Anything with Philomena Cunk
Generation Kill is a show you almost never hear about for how poignant a portrayal it is of American imperialism in the Middle East as experienced by the ‘grunts’ questioning all of it
The Rehearsal (especially season 2): what’s wrong with aviation, and what it’s like (again esp. season 2) to wonder if you are on the spectrum
Rita: a Danish show about a badass cigarette smoking, ‘slutty’ teacher who stops at nothing to take care of her students, sticking up to parents, whatever. The kind of teacher you wish you had to stick up for you, whether against your parents at times, or anyone else who was getting you down
Silicon Valley: in case you didn’t already suspect that all things VC and tech are actually often dumb as hell
Watchmen (HBO series): hardly need to say more than that this show predicted cops (think ICE in the US in the last 2 years) wearing face masks to conceal the identities carrying out increasingly fascistic acts
The White Lotus: possibly controversial here, but that’s really just me speculating. I thought the production value was like almost nothing else, through the roof, the actors were fantastic, the scenes and imagery gorgeous, and the portrayal of wealthy vacationers as just extremely flawed people endlessly chasing real happiness. Super fucked up at times, but arguably worth it.
I also reiterate some of the other mentions in this thread:
Better Call Saul: Bob Odenkirk is the bastard you cannot help but be drawn to. His counterpart Rhea Seehorn also is great, grows and grows on you, even if you’re someone who doesn’t like her at first
Severance: one scene where a dear character ’dies’ in a way no other media has ‘created’ before is unforgettable and will live rent-free frame by frame in your mind for years
Succession, so captivating. Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook are all absolute masters
Arrested Development: seems to me the sharpest, wittiest writing of anything I’ve seen. First 3 seasons only, new netflix reboot was a big dud for so many
Louie: often just perfect TV, stunningly human yet weird and sometimes surreal, like real life. Not sure how to feel about the actor though as a person. Heard on a podcast recently that he’s doing his scandalous thing again, after going on an apology tour for years and admittedly doing far more to own up and atone for far less than his sins back then of basically exposing himself to women and using his power to get them to have sexual activities with him, apparently often “just” watching him whack it… But seriously episodes like The Duckling are just peak TV.
Mad Men: pretty darn good, and I hate the subject of Madison Avenue ad men /advertising industry
Haven’t ever finished Dark years after starting it, but I do feel drawn back to the ‘vibe’ of it, super unique and idk slow burning and like if rainy gloomy weather was a tv show, in the best way
Band of Brothers: enough said by others in this thread and everywhere else
The Pacific: also enough said by others.
The Leftovers: I’ve only seen 4 episodes and I’m dying to see more. I read again and again it’s “one of the best shows of all time” and that became clear how likely that is by about episode 3. Can’t wait to see what comes next. A philosophical what-if that isn’t about something maybe 100-1000 years in the future like interstellar spaceflight, instead, it’s about what are humans like (with things like cults, family drama, agnosticism, nihilism, and so much more just showing how weird it is to be human).
Patrick Melrose: what it’s like to feel like you can never satisfy your parents who btw abused you, to the point you become a drugs (very plural) addict and almost die like 100 times. Absolute nail biter trip of a show
I would like to mention Legion . It's a SYFY/Marvel Television show made back in the era when Netflix was making their gritty, street-level shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones for Marvel Television. I also strongly recommend the first seasons of both of those. Legion is three-seasons long with a complete story line planned for all three seasons from the beginning.
Legion takes place in an alternate world from the MCU. The main character is David Haller (Dan Stevens), an extraordinarily powerful telepathic/telekinetic with reality warping powers. He also may or may not be completely insane. One of the best things is that the show does not lead you around by the nose. You are left to puzzle your way through strange events wondering what is real and not real and whether he is insane or not.
Also, you really can't go wrong with a show that has Aubrey Plaza and Jemaine Clement in it.
Farscape. It's from when television was transitioning to more serialized storytelling so the first season takes a bit to get going, but it's worth it.
Some of my favorites from recent years, in no particular order:
Devs
Go in blind. I still think about that show years later.
Throwing in my recommendations and limiting it to sleeper shows that don't get recommended much. (The expanse, silo, foundation, arcane, severance etc already get lots of love). They aren't all must watch but worth checking out, particularly the first 3
Mr Inbetween - Aussie show about a hit man that plays out like an incredible slice of life.
Sense8 - sci fi based show based around 8 people who find themselves linked. It's weird, LGBTQ friendly & forward and has some explicit scenes.
The goes wrong show - BBC theatre piece. Amateur theatre company attempt plays. Each actor has their own quirks, faults and confidence issues. Chaos ensues, the show must go on.
------ other decent stuff in case 3 top tier isn't enough
Almost human - cancelled early formula show of he's a cop but his partner's an X (in this case android). Had humans vibes and good chemistry
3 body problem - sci fi adaptation from prominent Chinese author
Community - some people seem to have missed it
You're the worst - a show about terrible people
Moral Orel is better than its first season lets on. If you can get past the juvenile gross-out factor of episodes like “Gods Chef,” you’ll find an absolutely brutal depiction of what’s it’s like to live in christofascist middle America and what it’s like to have a dying marriage (fun story: my ex husband had “No Children” played at our wedding, despite my objections. Fortunately the title was true at our divorce.)
Columbo is fucking awesome. It’s a murder mystery show, but you see the murder happen first, so the fun is all in how Columbo figures it out. He’s just the most charming character in any TV show ever. The episodes are standalone, so you can just watch a random one and have a great time.
Scavenger's Reign
Wicked Little Letters
I agree on Chernobyl it was so good.
"Absolute cinema" must watch:
Black Books
This one doesn't take too long: Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight on Netflix. Very true in spirit to the original comics but with modernized puns (e.g. one Roman general is named "Fastandfurius"). I would call it "a fun romp" if that phrase hadn't already been ruined by industry shills. Not to be confused with the recent live-action Asterix & Obelix series, which I couldn't even get ten minutes into. Live-action versions of animated movies/series generally suck, even when they don't have Gal Gadot in them.
A lot of solid suggestions. I'll add a few nobody mentioned yet:
Clarkson's Farm
Silo
Red Dwarf
Fleabag - I can't believe I didn't see it yet in this thread. If you like Phoebe Waller-Bridge then you must see it, and if you're not familiar with her yet, this is a great show to get to know her humor. It's extremely funny and tugs on your emotions, mainly about love, trauma and family.
I wrote out a whole list for you then I accidentally deleted it. I was very proud of that list. Here’s a few:
Apple TV has a lot of really exceptional Sci-Fi if that’s your thing.
AND FINALLY. The weirdest most indescribable show of all time that will not make sense it is somehow a must watch for me:
Raised by Wolves
Most people won’t like that one. It is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a sci-fi show by Ridley Scott’s company and it feels like the plot was written by a Norwegian Death Metal band.
Androids raise children during the time of a religious war. One Android gives birth to a flying snake. A lady becomes a tree. A sea monster puts a baby into its chest cavity.
EDIT:
I get asked about recommendations a lot so after writing this, I decided to make a list. It’s not finished, I’ll add more over the next few days.
https://app.trakt.tv/users/w3dd1e/lists/tv-recommendations
Jericho. from 2006.
There are a series of strategic nuclear attacks on major American cities that leads to collapse of basic state and federal functioning, leaving our beloved little town of Jericho, Kansas to figure out how to keep life going, but major threads from across the country all congeal in Jericho and we eventually learn that not everything is what it seems, and that some things are far worse than anyone could have possibly feared.
It aired 1 full season (22 eps), before CBS cancelled it. but there was a absolutely massive fan outcry and campaign that forced CBS to give a second season of 7 episodes before telling fans thats it, they're done with it, and to leave them the fuck alone.
Later down the road, Netflix got all the cast on board for a season 3 and approached CBS on buying the show from them so they can continue it. CBS told Netflix to go fuck themselves, that no one is ever getting the rights to the show, presumably because they want it to die after being humiliated by protests after the season 1 cancellation that forced them to do season 2.
But the story did continue anyway, in comic books.
So there is going to be stories that, for watching the show, just wont ever be finished for you because CBS is a bag of blue waffle cunts, but its still an incredible, fantastic show and worth the heart break of no true tie up finale.
Bojack horseman (better under lsd/shrooms)
The Beatles: Get Back!
Ordinary Denazification (start of the Ukrainian war with a lot of nuances)
Ugly Americans (simple fun)
the Act of killing (though film, it is worth it)
How old does a show or movie need to be in order for such a statement to be applicable? Seven years seems really short, and feels like when a child says "when I was a kid."
Widows bay. Its honestly a mix of ethereal, cosmic horror and parks and rec style comedy.
It doesn't sound like it should work, but it entirely does. Its not "good comedy with okay horror" or "good horror with okay comedy." Both genres are excellent and they mesh in a way thats believable, very human and horrifying.
I'll add something different to this thread and say Father Ted. It's to this day the most hilarious show I've ever seen.
It's about a priest that was assigned/exiled to a parish that houses some outcast priests on what must be the most depressing and ugly island to ever exist. It's sitcom style, but with such a dry and outrageous sense of humor it's really nothing like anything else.
The Pitt.
It’s easily one of the best television shows ever made.
Shogun and Andor
Silo. Loved the books, the show is good too.
Postapocaliptic isolated society kind of thing with a mystery aspect, for those unaware. Lots of twists.
Chernobyl was a great show, yes, though technically so wrong on so many levels, but I guess it's in part to make it more exciting
Another recommendation: The Orville. The true successor to Star Trek TNG and DS9. Especially the first two seasons are amazingly good
Mobland
A gritty crime drama set in modern-day London, following Harry Da Souza, a street-smart fixer for the powerful Harrigan crime family led by Conrad and Maeve Harrigan. When a fateful night out goes wrong for the sons of two warring crime families, Harry must navigate a escalating turf war that threatens to topple empires and lives.
The Expanse
Set hundreds of years in the future, humanity has colonized the solar system across three rival powers: Earth, Mars, and the Belt. When a conspiracy linking missing ships, alien protomolecule technology, and political machinations begins to unravel, the crew of the rogue ship Rocinante finds themselves at the center of a conflict that could determine the fate of the entire solar system and beyond.
Firefly
A space western set in the aftermath of a galactic civil war, following the renegade crew of the Serenity, a Firefly-class transport ship. Captain Malcolm Reynolds leads his eclectic band of misfits as they take on smuggling jobs and odd work across the frontier fringes of a solar system ruled by the oppressive Alliance, struggling to maintain their freedom and independence.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
A Game of Thrones prequel set a century before the events of the flagship series, during a rare era of peace under Targaryen rule. It follows the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall, a kindhearted but unseasoned hedge knight, and his clever young squire, Egg, who harbors a secret royal identity, as they wander Westeros encountering great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits.
Mr. Inbetween
A darkly comedic Australian crime drama following Ray Shoesmith, a hitman and family man who juggles his violent profession with the demands of fatherhood, friendships, and a new romance. Ray's efforts to be a good father, brother, and partner are constantly complicated by the realities of his lethal line of work, creating a compelling tension between his personal and professional lives.
Adolescence
A psychological crime drama centered on a 13-year-old schoolboy, Jamie Miller, who is arrested after the murder of a girl at his school. Each episode, shot in a single continuous take, explores the fallout from different perspectives: his family, the detective in charge, and a therapist, as everyone grapples with what really happened and the invisible forces that shaped a young life.
The Newsroom
An idealistic drama set behind the scenes of a cable news broadcast, following anchor Will McAvoy and his executive producer Mackenzie McHale as they attempt to reinvent television journalism with integrity and substance. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the series tackles real-world events through the lens of a newsroom striving to prioritize truth over ratings in an era of sensationalism.
The West Wing
Aaron Sorkin's acclaimed political drama following the inner workings of the White House during the fictional administration of Democratic President Josiah Bartlet. The series chronicles the daily challenges, policy battles, and personal dramas of the president and his dedicated senior staff as they navigate governance, re-election campaigns, and the weight of national and global crises.
Common Side Effects
An adult animated conspiracy thriller following two former high school lab partners, Marshall and Frances, who discover a rare mushroom capable of healing virtually any disease. Their find puts them in the crosshairs of Big Pharma, the DEA, and powerful international businessmen determined to suppress the cure, in a gripping tale where the sides keep shifting.
Silo
A dystopian drama set in a massive underground silo where thousands of survivors live in a stratified society, believing the outside world is toxic and uninhabitable. When engineer Juliette Nichols uncovers unsettling secrets about the silo's true history and its leadership, she becomes entangled in a dangerous conspiracy that challenges everything the residents have been told about their existence.
Shrinking
A heartfelt comedy-drama following Jimmy Laird, a grieving therapist who begins breaking the rules and telling his clients exactly what he thinks after the death of his wife. His unconventional, ethically questionable approach to therapy ripples through the lives of his patients, colleagues, and his teenage daughter, as everyone navigates loss, healing, and personal growth.
Norsemen
A Norwegian comedy series that treats the brutal Viking Age as a backdrop for dry, absurdist workplace humor. Set in the 8th century village of Norheim, it follows the daily lives, petty rivalries, and mundane frustrations of warriors, chieftains, and slaves, blending modern sensibilities with swords, raiding, and pillaging in a hilariously deadpan style.
Succession
A razor-sharp satirical drama following the ultra-wealthy Roy family, owners of a global media and entertainment conglomerate. As aging patriarch Logan Roy's health declines, his four adult children scheme, betray, and battle for control of the empire, revealing the toxic intersections of family loyalty, corporate power, and insatiable ambition.
The Pitt
A real-time medical drama following the staff of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center's emergency department through a single grueling 15-hour shift. Each episode covers approximately one hour of the shift, immersing viewers in the nonstop pressures of emergency medicine as the team navigates staff shortages, underfunding, and personal crises while saving lives.
Foundation
An epic sci-fi saga based on Isaac Asimov's novels, set in a sprawling galactic empire on the brink of collapse. Mathematician Hari Seldon predicts the empire's fall and establishes the Foundation, a colony of scientists and engineers, to preserve human knowledge and shorten the coming dark age. The series spans generations, weaving political intrigue, religion, and destiny on a cosmic scale.
Sneaky Pete
A slick crime drama following Marius Josipović, a released convict who assumes the identity of his former cellmate, Pete Murphy, and infiltrates the estranged Murphy family in Connecticut. Posing as their long-lost grandson, Marius must maintain the charade while dodging a ruthless gangster from his past and entangling himself in the family's bail bond business and its own secrets.
The best show I've seen in the last few years is Pantheon. It's an animated sci-fi about the implications of...
::: spoiler Mild spoiler for first episodes uploading minds into computers :::
...and it totally blew my mind. The show's only shortcoming is that when the writers knew the show was being cancelled, they crammed multiple seasons worth of story into like two episodes. I can see why they did it, though, because the ending is pretty satisfying.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexx
It's old-ish and maybe not the greatest work of art on screen, but I love that it had a very unique world and characters and humour and it keeps on developing and changing throughout.
It's been too long. I really kind of want to watch it again.
The Expanse, Fargo S1, and Loki.
I'm sure the obvious picks are already mentioned, so I'll try to think of some stuff that might not be well-known:
Shane Meadows has produced 2 TV series worth watching. One is the This is England collection. It starts with This is England (2006), which is a film, then 3 miniseries (This is England '86, This is England '88 and This is England '90) that continue the story. All of it together is about as good as TV gets. Might wanna check for triggers before watching on something like doesthedogdie.com.
He made a second miniseries called The Virtues. It's a difficult watch at times, but it's a masterpiece. And it's another one you might wanna look into before watching.
There's a show that was very popular in the UK and Ireland back in the '90s called Cracker. It stars the late great Robbie Coltrane (you probably know him better as Hagrid from Harry Potter). He plays a psychologist who works with the police to find and interrogate various kinds of pathological killers and sex offenders. It's really, really good. Unfortunately I don't think it's ever been released on anything but DVD, so you'll be stuck with SD quality.
Say Nothing is a recent show that does a really nice job of dealing with 'the troubles' in N. Ireland. It's based on real events, the most central of which is the abduction, murder and 'disappearing' of a widowed mother of 10 children by the IRA. Jean McConville is one of 17 people who were disappeared in this way, and is by far the most notorious given her circumstances. The story - based on the book by Patrick Radden Keef - follows Dolours Price, a female IRA member who was a significant figure in the conflict and who was involved in Jean McConville's abduction. One of the better shows I've seen generally, and probably the best bit of media on the N. Irish troubles (there's so much junk about this place, it's refreshing to see something half-decent for once). If you need a palate cleanser after watching it, Derry Girls should do the trick!
True detective season 1 - - so so good.
I second the Battlestar Galactica reboot as absolutely top.
I very much enjoyed
Edit: Just remembered Psycho Pass as an absolute anime gem too!
Orphan Black: it's hard to say much without spoiling it, but it's one of the best series I've ever seen, and Tatiana Maslany's acting is incredible. It's
Battlestar Galactica, which others have mentioned already.
Stargate SG-1: my favorite show of all time. It's the sort of scifi that makes you hopeful about the future of humanity. You don't absolutely have to watch the movie first (it's not as good as the series IMO, though worth watching) but it lends to more understanding of who some of the characters are.
The Wire
Loki isn't bad, both seasons
Lost, Futurama (original run), King of the Hill, The Simpsons (seasons 2 through some of 8), Task, The Wire, True Detective (except the Vince Vaughn season), Community (through Season 3), Pluribus, Severance, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Bob's Burgers, Taskmaster UK, Clarkson's Farm (im only into Season 4 right now), original Twilight Zone, Broadchurch was good, and my favorite TV show is Alone (Season 12 sucked butt). MASH (every season no matter what the haters say).
Black Sails is the best show nobody watched. I don't know anyone who didn't like it after giving it a try. And it only gets progressively better episode after episode.
I put off rewatching Avatar The Last Airbender for about 15 years fearing it wouldn't be as good as I remembered, but I just went through the series again last few weeks. Damn I love that show. So much heart. Great animation.
Utopia, the original one. Unfortunately it got cancelled after season two, and the IP is owned by Amazon who tried to do a relaunch, but it was a flop.
Still, everyone should watch Utopia, the visuals, the colourwork, that amazing soundtrack. I pray Amazon releases its grasp one day.
It feels a bit dated, but Veronica Mars is still an excellent and somehow still underrated show.
I also think Scrubs and Community are both peak television that stand up to countless rewatches.
For one you likely haven't heard of before: Infinity Train.
Best to go in blind with no spoilers. I wish I could watch it for the first time again.
Watch the eternaut and pluribus
Eternaut looks cool! Pluribus is so good, but it gets a bad rap for being slow.
I hate how its now a thing that shows can get criticized as "to slow" just because people fucked up their attention span. I was not bored for a single second of that show. Meanwhile Marvel movies might have shit happening every second but god have I been bored during those stake less, CGI fight scenes..
Ru suggesting each subsequent punch isn't raising the stakes?!
Media has to meet people where they are I'm afraid. Also as awards shows become increasingly popularized it becomes even harder to find original art. All the moreso for series.
It's so slow, nothing happens for an entire episode. It disrespects the viewer's time.
To each his own I guess, but seeing the main character experiencing complex emotions and forming a connection to them as a viewer is not "nothing happening" to me..
Phineas and Ferb; I love their music and evil adventures Dr. Doofenshmirtz
I'm a huge sci-fi nerd, and can highly recommend The Eternaut I love when movies/shows come up with interesting ideas like this. It's been renewed for 2 more seasons, but sadly it's going to be over a year before season 2 comes out. It was so popular that they greatly expanded the budget and scope. Oh well.
At least season 3 of Silo starts soon.
Legion (2017)
It's a psychological drama with Aubrey Plaza in it at her weird best, by the same writer behind Fargo, the TV series and Alien: Earth. Jermaine Clement plays a small but important role. It was nominated for a variety of awards, but only won a couple of minor ones. If that seems interesting to you but you haven't heard of it, it's best to go in blind because spoilers could really ruin it.
I never hear anyone mention Undone and it's messing me up.
It's a story about a woman that tries to bring her dad back from the dead. They used rotoscopy for the series to make the psychosis elements fit in better with the rest of the aesthetic. It looks amazing, the acting is phenomenal, and the story is neat and self-contained.
It was created by Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg, and it's easily as good as BoJack Horseman in my opinion.
Midnight Mass is up there for me, but particularly because I really enjoy the themes present. I thought it was even better than Haunting of Hill House (which is phenomenal). But I have a friend who fucking hated it and refused to finish it, so uh, your mileage may vary lol.
Also, I don't know if I would call it "cinema", but Taskmaster is probably the funniest shit I've ever seen consistently across 20+ series and I hope it never fucking ends.
Sopranos.
A complex look at the mafia. Main characters die. Tightly written. Very few filler episodes. Best final episode ever.
My addition to the others mentioned here
Silicon Valley
Andor. Pluribus. 3 Body Problem. Queen's Gambit. Babylon Berlin. Alice in Borderland. Shogun (the 2024 series). The Expanse. First two seasons of For All Mankind.
I see a lot of good recommendations so far but two that I didn’t see are:
The Great (Hulu) is an all time favorite of mine and almost nobody talks about it.
The world could benefit from re-watching Babylon5
Been enjoying "From". Need to catch up with the current season.
From is only hampered by its bad acting, directing, writing and theme song. Other than those obvious and ever-present problems, I've watched every episode.
I'm just happy to see Harold Perrinou do something other than running around the jungle yelling "WALT! WALT! WAAAAAAAAAAALT! WALT! WALT! WAAaAAaaaAlt!"
I spent the first three episodes yelling "Walllllllt" for him.
Now, instead of yelling walt, he repeats things. For example, "Just calm down. Just calm down." It's rough writing.
Edit: i like the actor, and given a good script and good director, I think he'd be perfectly able to turn in a magnificent performance in something.
It's a running joke for my wife and myself whenever someone asks "Are you OK?" to yell at the screen "Naw, man, I'm pretty fuckin' FAR from 'OK'."
https://youtu.be/65F6lRdUU_c
But yeah, Perrineau was great in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. People also forget he was in the Matrix Sequels, which get a lot of hate, but he was good!
The first several seasons of American Horror Story are so much fun. Murder House (S1), Asylum (S2), Freak Show (S4 and my personal favorite) and Roanoke (S6) are particularly entertaining. Cathy Bates and Jessica Lang are so great in all their roles. All the actors are a lot of fun to watch even when intentionally cheesy.
The Americans.
Not the best female fictional spy, the best fictional spy ever, male or female.
A show which makes an American root for the KGB is worth watching.
Resident Alien
Spider Noir
Widow's Bay was amazing
Haven't seen The League of Gentlemen mentioned (not to be confused with the movie with extraordinary in the title)
Some I didn't see mentioned yet:
Small Prophets, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook. Another show from him is Detectorists.
My wife and I are just finishing up an immediate rewatch of Yellowjackets and it's damn good. Think Lord of the Flies but more modern and with a highly-competitive high school girls' soccer team instead of prep school boys (although their coach and another coach's sons are there too), and you also get to see how the experience shapes them after the fact.
Some characters you don't expect to like end up being great, and the acting is fantastic throughout. The pacing for seasons 2-3 isn't quite as tight as the first season but it's still really good, hoping the last season holds up too when it comes out.
TBH the second season didn't do it for me, enough I don't care to try the third. The first season was alright, but I kept getting reminded of Dexter and the poor writing for the present day characters. The 90s parts with the kids were the best parts and the current day stuff seemed like filler.
It all felt like cheap Showtime writing. After what happened to Dexter after season 4, i basically wrote off all Showtime drama shows, but broke my rule for Yellowjackets and regretted it.
I thought the writing with the adult cast was generally good minus a few bits that they just kind of don't address (or barely) - think ::: spoiler Tap for spoiler Taisa's whole Senate thing and to a lesser extent Simone/Sammy, whatever was actually going on with Adam, what was actually going on with Lottie's cult, etc :::
But it was good enough that it kept us engaged.
Deadwood, Justified, and various Gundam series are the ones I always come back to.
Sticking just with HBO, check out The Wire, The Leftovers, Band of Brothers and Six Feet Under.
Also highly recommend The West Wing, Fringe, Psych, Supernatural and Fargo (esp season 5.)
Have many more to suggest but this is a good start.
J J Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Robert Orci are creative geniuses. Fringe is a very worthwhile way to spend 150 hours.
they were bad for star trek, turned into opposite of old trek, and had alot of bad writing/acting comes with it. the animated trek however was enjoyable.
I completely agree with you. Kurtzman especially. I can't stomach any of the overwrought tripe any of those 3 churn out.
Deadwood Invincible Mr. Robot
Comedies that are must watch to understand the media landscape that follows Friends Seinfeld How i met your mother Sex and the city
Top of all The wire Chernobyl Breaking bad The office (the British one) Battlestar galactica Band of Brothers Fargo The West Wing Dark
Incredible, but took a turn for the worse Dexter (s1-3 are good) Game of Thrones (s1-4) Stranger things (s1-4.5) True detective (s1)
Incredible, but cut short Mindhunter Firefly
Animation The last airbender Spectacular Spider man Attack on titan Batman: the animated series Death note South Park (note. There are a lot of seasons. I like 13, but you might very well hate it)
Fringe Classics that are aquried tastes Black adder Fawlty towers Freaks and geeks Twin Peaks
Babylon Berlin
It might not be "absolute cinema" and had maybe 5% of the budget of Chernobyl, but given that people have suggested Ted Lasso, I'll go one step further into the realm of fuzzy feel-good TV and drop a mention for my favourite TV show of all time.
The Detectorists
There isn't a single moment in that programme where any of the characters are mean to each other (save for the when dealing with a rival club). It's just 20 beautiful episodes of people looking for gold, living their lives, and doing their best to be supportive.
And it's incredibly funny.
What We Do in the Shadows
(The movie first, then the TV series). Vampire faux-reality TV comedy. Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement made the movie it was based on, and were executive producers on the series, so it's that sense of humour.
I just started watching Kevin can Fuck Himself. Im really enjoying it. I’m only 3 episodes in so no spoilers please.
It takes on the trope of the goofy sitcom husband with the exasperated hot wife.
Every scene Kevin is in is played as a sitcom, but when he’s not around it’s about his wife planning to kill him.
Curb Your Enthusiasm. Pretty pretty good
Nirvanna the Band the Show
I found out about this earlier this year and I've already binged it almost three times. It's very quickly became my favourite comedy and I'm obsessed with how the creators make film and tv. I think I've just got the Dirties to watch and then I've seen everything they've done.
Baskets, Louie, Master of None, Simpsons till S10, Arrested Development S1-3, After Life, Connections, Futurama, Breaking Bad of course.
The Dropout.
Dramatization comedy about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.
All the scenes with the Walgreens team are hilarious
The Detectorists. It's a low stakes, peaceful little romp around the english countryside in search of the minutiae of some people's lives. Very, very funny
I don't save many posts but have this one.
Started watching Scavengers Reign due to the recommendations on here and really enjoying it.
My recommendations would include Steins Gate, Buffy and Angel, Doctor Who (mostly the 2005 series as I've yet to watch the 1963 or 2023 ones) and Battlestar Galactica
Matroesjkas is a Flemish Belgian show about trafficking women. It's a super gripping show around a criminal gang and a group of victims. It has very thick Flemish dialects that help to sell it, I hope you can find it subtitled.
2 seasons, 10 episodes each. 2004
In no particular order:
The Mentalist, Chuck, Person of interest, The Blacklist.
My wife and I have been binging a show called The Last Ship. Supposedly came out a number of years ago. It's a Michael Bay production and kind of a post apocalyptic scenario but well worth a watch.
And of course there's Always Sunny.
The Sandbaggers
Aired on ITV1 Yorkshire Television in the UK in 1978 to 1980. It's a spy show but it's realistic. Incredibly realistic. The "Sandbaggers" are the elite group of "Special Operations" officers who go behind enemy lines, perform assassinations, etc. but you almost never see that happen. 90% of the show takes place in drab offices, and the show is more about office politics than spycraft. But, that's what makes it really compelling.
If you watch a clip of the show, you can see in general what it's like. Apparently the whole show is on YouTube these days.
Chernobyl was devastating but a must-watch. Five Days at Memorial is a similar vibe but don't watch it while eating.
Lots of great suggestions, I'm surprised nobody's said Shogun. Season 1 came out in 2024, they just started working on season 2.
Arcane and Devil May Cry.
For Arcane, you don't need to know shit about League of Legends. It is a good story on it's own.
Devil May Cry is an action comedy with good story writing.
I tried to watch Arcane but the art style hits right in the uncanny valley.
I think the art style is fantastic, but wonder how incredible it could have been with a Pixar-like budget and timescale. The animation can be a little janky at times, but I think they did a phenomenal job with what they had. So much detail, so much nuance, so much grandeur. That said, I can understand where it might be a turnoff for some folks, as it is a bit different.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A Japanese Anime from 1995 or so. One of the most influential "huge humanoid mecha suit" animes. There's a mystery / story that's very slowly and carefully revealed over the course of the series. The art and sound is just superb. The pacing is incredible. There are scenes where it's just the hot summer outside and you can almost feel the heat. The characters have some of the annoying Japanese anime quirks, but in this case the story actually explains why the characters behave they way they do.
Bosch
Line of Duty
Happy Valley
Into The Night
Lupin
Luther
Mystery Road
The Newsroom
From
I am currently making my way down IMBD's list of the top 250 TV shows (by user ratings). They also have a similar list for the best movies.
My personal shout-out goes to Black Mirror.
Peep show will always have a special place in my heart 🫶
sg1, sga, maybe not SGU(sadly amazon cancelled the new series before it was fully conceptualized). more obscure shows like 4400, resident Alien(cancelled after season 4). castlevania the 1st series(2nd one is sucky).
for animes, evangelion(the old and rebuild versions), inuyasha the og series and final act(Yashime is fanfiction and very strange because it has a very groom-ing feature to it sesshomaru ends up marrying rin(whome he raised since childhood). blue gender, full metal alchemist, not BROTHEROOD.
sandman, good omens(sadly these are very short series) because of neil gaiman and netflix being super stingy. same goes with blood of zeus, so much more content than what is shown in 3 seasons, they had to rush the final season. if you can ignore the cheesey props, and some dialogue.
I guess one that I expected to see here is Sons of Anarchy. I thought it was great. I'm a little disappointed, but not surprised, that I don't see either Letterkenny or Shoresy on here right now.
So many good answers so i will only add ones i didnt see in the responses.
Supernatural (seasons ~1-5 before the storyline was extended)
The Last Of Us
Dark Matter
Archer
Game of Thrones (except the last season unfortunately, but the others are still worth watching regardless)
And since someone has already said black mirror, i would add Love Death & Robots, which is both very similar (tone & thematically) but also all over the place (artistically and storytelling wise).
Counterpart
It’s like a baby between fringe and soviet spy drama. A fantastic show
Fargo Dirk Gentlys holistic detective agency Babylon Berlin Homeland I May Destroy You Fleabag The End of the Fking World
I would say: Daria
It seems like a sitcom at first (I hate most sitcoms), but you slowly get to realize it actually is way more of a social critique of the american (neoliberal) society and it's impact on children and teens.
Edit: I know it's a spoiler but I can't really find a way to let it reach it's intended audience any other way.
I don't see it on here anywhere and I wouldn't exactly feel like rewatching it, but as an art piece the White Lotus season 1 and 2 are some of the most emotionally affective things I've ever seen
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984)
Of all the versions of the Sherlock Homes story I've seen, this series is the best. Jeremy Brett is an amazing Holmes. It feels like the books are being brought to life.
For those who liked Chernobyl, I recommend The Days about the Fukushima disaster. It's not as dramatic and cinematic, but still fascinating to watch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Days_(Japanese_TV_series)
If you want a soothing TV show about Japanese culture and traditions, I recommend The Makanai, about a young geisha training house. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Makanai%3A_Cooking_for_the_Maiko_House
For a new one: Widows Bay is really good so far!
It’s kinda weird funny horror / short stories
The Americans
Six Feet Under
Deadwood
Sopranos
Over 600 comments, and among the many recurring mentions of the greatest shows in television history, I didn't see The Venture Bros. mentioned at all. It is quite possibly the best-written show of all time.
law drama: svu 1-S(when stabler left the show), the new seasons just dont hit as good as pre-2010s, mariska had to be asked to come back to the show with a significant PAY package(shes kinda done with the show). law and order CI with vincent d'nofrio, original, and another that never took off(LA a believe). i dont new cop shows can match these, as they are just mostly copaganda.
SCIF: Stark trek; DS9, TNG, enterprise, voyager.(dont really reccommend movies until you watch the series). Nutrek is just awful except the animated series.
american GODs, sand man, good omens.
the concept of american gods are very similar to other shows like spn, where gods gain power from followers worshipping them,sacrificing them and fade away if they lose followers.
Still Game. YT has every epi. Old Scottish guys dealing with how life has changed around them. Comedy, M rating, feels like a Blazing Saddles fan
Chernobyl is good show but one thing it got very wrong is the idea that the molten down reactor could somehow explode again for some gigantic fireball larger than the Tsar Bomba.
It increases fear of nuclear power unreasonably. Also much much less people died or suffered from nuclear power including Chernobyl compared to fossil fuels. Even solar power causes more deaths from roofing accidents. We now know at least some of the nuclear hysteria is / was funded by fossil fuel interests.
EDIT: I guess the point of this is to point out propaganda "side effects" of this, similar to how you should point out the copaganda in a cop show. Or in Homeland and other spy dramas the vilification of Iran. Representation in media is important, and bad representation can have deadly consequences.
If you like the fantasy genre Shadow and Bone is great.
Yes, Chernobyl or Mr Inbetween.
call me simple i do like csi:miami. not a big fan of the others though
Many great options here, for some more left field choices that are amazing if you are the right type of person - Braindead, The Big Door Prize, Pushing Daisies, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Schmigadoon.
All humorous, whimsical, mysterious, surprisingly dark at times. Wonderful things.
People will mention "Eureka" in this same space, I do not agree.
A few lesser known suggestions that I thought were all really good:
Loudermilk was great.
Chernobyl painted a vivid picture of a time and place, but it was fictionalized, sensationalized, too. Pripyat didn't really exist under an oppressive green fog, and the Soviet Union of the day wasn't the Stalinesque nightmare the show suggests.
By all means, enjoy the show, it's awfully well-done. But I beg you to bear in mind that:
Archer (Hulu)
Game of thrones was great for the first like 3 or 4 seasons
Hannibal
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Toast of London
Parade (the hbo one about aristocracy and stuff, very melancholy and beautiful)
Person of Interest.
Keep in mind the Snowden revelations did not occur till near the final seasons of the show.
There are many very good series with more serious tone or complex story telling in this thread so I try to suggest two completely different series:
New Amsterdam is, on the first glance, a pretty standard hospital show but has a lot of social commentary and a diverse cast of very lovable characters with overarching storylines and lots of character development. Often it's kinda cliché but it manages to leave me bawling my eyes out almost every episode.
Virgin River is a romantic story about the inhabitants of a small town in Northern California. It's also often pretty cliché but has a nice rhythm of "exposing the characters to a problem" -> "drama!" -> "cliffhanger" - > "resolution".
pbs on an antenna. rest is unwatchable crap usually.
"On the Air". There's only about 8 episodes though.
For an older one I would go with "Jericho"
Alias Grace, the Smile movies (1,2), Haunting of hill house,
Just rewatched The Newsroom recently and it totally holds up. Also gave Young Sheldon a shot and I was pleasantly surprised.
Sharp Objects
Fauda
Might be the best and most realistic show about the Israel-Palestine conflict. It's focused on an IDF Mista'arvim unit, that specializes in operating covertly among Palestinians to capture terrorists. That means not only speaking Arabic, but knowing and living the culture. The soldiers are shown as determined, brutal, human, and conflicted. Palestinians, including Hamas terrorists and their families, are shown as human with feelings, interests, and so on. Cooperation between IDF and Palestinian Authority security forces is a recurring topic, as is political structures inside Palestinian society. Espionage, action, personal drama, political issues all get screen time.
For anyone interested in the conflict, regardless of what side you support, this could expand your horizon. It's also simply a great show. It's also popular among Palestinians and in Arab countries. Netflix
Watch the original with Hebrew and Arabic with subtitles. A dub removes this layer with the two languages.
Teheran
Mossad operating in Iran. An Israeli woman speaking Persian is recruited by Mossad and sent to Iran. Shows the Iranian system and how it works, without demonization. Other topics: Iranian opposition, counterculture, decadence of rich elites, dirty business of espionage.
Great show with contemporary relevance by Apple TV.
Pic Unrelated
Chernobyl has a lot of problems with inaccurate anti-soviet tropes.
TV Shows
Must Watch
Highly Rated (With Caveats)
Good Shows (Minor Caveats)
Great for Uniqueness, Story, or Style (Major Caveats)
Shows That Don't Live Up to Their Name
Anime
Must Watch
Good Shows (Minor Caveats)
Great for Uniqueness, Story, or Style (Major Caveats)
Shows That Don't Live Up to Their Name
EDIT:
Forgot to mentione The Last of Us. Pretty good show with story close to the original. I rated it an 8/10 on IMDb.
Issues it has if you liked the game though:
In the end i think it's not a terrible show, but it could easily have been a much better one
The Carbonyl serial is running the Russian propaganda, it doesn't respect the real person and it does further damage to the families of the victims. I personally don't recommend it and please don't refer to it as a documentary, it is a work of fiction inspired from real events.