The Vine: March 18, 2011
My fiancé and I are huge fans of “marathoning” shows (as in get a show we’ve never seen that’s got at least 3 seasons on DVD and start Netflixing them until we’ve either caught up to live episodes or the show ends). We’ve been doing this for several years and absolutely love it. Our most recent successful pick was Burn Notice, but we’ve finished the episodes available on DVD and now have to wait for more.
I’m looking for recommendations on other shows we can do this with. I’m including a list of shows we love and some minimal criteria and hopefully you and the rest of the nation can give us some ideas. I’m going to say one more thing, and please don’t hate me…no Mad Men. We’ve tried…twice. Gotten through 2 discs. CANNOT get into it. We just don’t get it. I’m not sure why, it’s a well-written show, but we just don’t love it.
Major criteria: Preferably an hour-long show. We really like dramas that are snappy and mixed with humor/smart-ass remarks, basically we’re fans of snark. Also fast-paced dialogue (a la Sorkin…love it). Our other firm preference is that if it’s a show that is no longer on the air, we want it to have been a planned-out end (as in West Wing, or Buffy); not so excited about watching a show that has 2 great seasons and then gets canceled so you’re left hanging (Joan of Arcadia and Dead Like Me, I’m looking at you).
Some of our favorites are:
- West Wing (LOVE LOVE LOVE)
- Psych
- Studio 60
- Lost
- Dr. Who
- Stargate
- Stargate Atlantis
- Supernatural
- Buffy
- Firefly
- Angel
- Deadwood
- Burn Notice
- True Blood
- Dead Like Me
- ER (but only to a point…you know what I mean)
- Dawson’s Creek (ok that’s just me, not the fiance)
Hopefully you get the gist of what we’re into. Basically it can be any genre, what we’re interested in is quality entertainment value, we’re not married to a specific subject.
Thanks in advance for the help!!
Lis
Dear Lis,
I’ll confine myself to three recommendations here (and I’ll ask that readers do the same, so that comments don’t get too unwieldy in length):
1. Sports Night. I’m a bit surprised not to see it on your list, since you like Sorkin; in my opinion, it’s his best work (i.e., the highest proportion of what makes his writing good, without some of what can make him off-putting). It may not qualify for you guys, as it’s only two seasons and only half an hour…and Dana’s dating plan is maddening, but if you know it’s coming, you can take it less seriously, and Guillaume is tremendous.
2. Six Feet Under. A wildly uneven show, but at its best, it’s extremely rewarding.
3. White Collar. Still in progress. Charismatic leads and a fun premise.
Readers, help us out here. Your three top marathonables, based on Lis’s list. Go.
Tags: Ask The Readers popcult
Seconding MI5/Spooks and Life on Mars (the British version)
Also Ashes to Ashes (sequel of sorts to Life on Mars, fantastic wrap-up to both series)
State of Play — the British miniseries that the movie was based on. I have watched this at least a dozen times and make any weekend guests watch it too. No complaints from anyone so far (except a lack of sleep)
Wow, such amazing suggestions still coming in! I feel a little stupid for neglecting to mention my love for Veronica Mars, BSG and X Files (btw, the entire X Files series is on Netflix streaming).
Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t let the Nation know that My So Called Life (one of my favorites) is also available for instant watch on Netflix, a fact that I just found out and I can not WAIT to get home now :P
Now to compile a list (Already 30 shows long!!) Happy Friday to me!!
I’m pretty sure all mine have been mentioned already, but just to give them another vote:
1) Veronica Mars. LOVED it. Like someone upthread mentioned, the first season might be the best season of television ever.
2) Torchwood – My only complaint is that it’s a BBC show so the seasons are shorter than American seasons.
3) Arrested Development – How have you not watched it already? AMAZING.
My husband also begged me to rec Breaking Bad – he marathoned that one without me and loved it to bits.
1) Something nobody has mentioned yet, Homicide: Life on the Street. My husband got the super-deluxe box set for Christmas and we’ve been working our way through it. I never watched it when it aired, but I am loving it. I believe it shares some genetic material with The Wire, too (don’t quote me on that).
2) Leverage. It doesn’t air in Canada but we bought the DVDs from Amazon and tore through them. We are impatiently waiting for Season 3.
4) The Closer. I have kind of a weird crush on Lt. Provenza.
OK, can you stand one more? “Extras” is a half-hour comedy, but SO hilarious, you will probably find it worthwhile. There are only 12 regular episodes, plus a movie-length finale. So if you ever need a mini-marathon, this is the ticket!
You and I have very similar taste in TV, so here’s my latest obsession: LEVERAGE. Love, love, love this show.
I totally agree with tons of these suggestions (Veronica Mars, Eureka, Slings and Arrows, Twin Peaks), but here are two that (I think!) no one has mentioned yet:
The Middleman
Only one season, but it wraps up well and is probably my favorite television show of all time–hilarious, clever, geeky.
and
Black Books
“Three British comedians in a sitcom about a bookstore” makes it sound not so awesome, but trust me: you will laugh your heads off.
1) Battlestar Galactica
2) Rome (only two seasons but at least that was always the plan)
3) The Tudors (high fun and silliness, plus Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ crazy eyes)
Breaking Bad!
There’s two (very soon to be three) full seasons out on DVD. It’s high quality, an hour long, exciting, dark and at time funny. What more could you want?
It made me stupidly happy to see Stargate and Stargate Atlantis on your list. That is the ONLY show that I have ever bought tie-in novels for, and I’m always thrilled to see them get some love.
My rec? NCIS (the original). I know, the genre’s not really in your preferences, but it’s light, funny, and has snark galore–mostly between DiNozzo and McGee. And if you do get into it, there’s lots of it.
I second (thirty’d) a LOT of the previous suggestions so I’m going with three that I haven’t seen mentioned.
1. QUANTUM LEAP You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it will become a part of you! 5 complete seasons with a series finale that left us devotees shaking fists of rage through our tears. It’s time-travel Sci-fi with the leads, Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, meshing PERFECTLY! THE BEST!!
2. Monk Right up there with Quantum Leap. Tony Shaloub KILLS as the OCD detective, funny yet sad. Supporting characters do a wonderful job backing Monk up. Great series finale!! Love it!!
3. The Closer While Kyra Sedgwick is great, her supporting cast is fantastic! The writing of the show has the same tone and tempo as Burn Notice, sometimes action, sometimes comedy.
All three are VERY well done and at least 5 seasons and appealing on may levels and by both genders. Enjoy and good luck!!
How do you have a favorites list like that and NOT have seen Battlestar Galactica? Inconceivable! I have no idea how many times it’s been suggested by now but make that the priority. Torchwood is a good suggestion as well, but BSG – it hurts my heart even now that the show has ended.
And whoever suggested Top Gear? Brilliant. I, too, know next to nothing about cars, but anytime Top Gear is on our household must watch. It even pre-empts the children’s viewing choices.
I am a huge fan of a number of these shows (Wire, Fringe, FNL, the Closer) and so I’m only jumping in here to recommend to everyone The State Within. It’s available on Netflix Watch Instantly and I was hooked from the first episode (like, stressed out couldn’t actually do the work I was trying to get done while watching this in the background…that didn’t last long).
Very action-packed and does really keep you guessing.
O, I should add that the State Within is only 7 episodes…so it won’t meet the “at least 3 seasons” but would be a great way to spend a rainy Saturday.
I see your Carnivale and raise you Twin Peaks. (The second season has cameos by Chris Isaak AND David Bowie.)
And for some older Brit sci-fi, The Prisoner. Seventeen episodes including the fabulously entertaining final episode with Patrick McGoohan and Leo McKern dancing on a flatbed truck driving down the A20.
I have to second (third?) the recommendation for Boston Legal. I remember thinking, William Shatner? Candace Bergen? Really? But both my husband and I loved the show when we marathoned it. The acting is fantastic, the stories are clever, and the dialogue is VERY witty.
I could pick the same Veronica Mars, Vampire Diaries, etc. everyone else did, but I’m going to try to pick obscure stuff no one else has mentioned:
1) Merlin – Great British series. This is about teenage King Arthur and Merlin-it reminds me a lot of Smallville but with better production values and acting. Warning, it varies WILDLY with actual Arthurian legend so if you are a purist it might not be your thing, but its definitely fun, and gets better over time. Two seasons are on DVD, the 3rd is currently airing in America on SyFy, and I believe the 4th is airing in Britain right now or just finished.
2) The Lost World-More cheese spread deliciously thick…loosely based on an Arthur Conan Doyle novel, a group of stock characters, I mean explorers (your Wise Older Father Figure Scientists, your Rich Bad Girl With A Mysterious Past, one Ruggedly Handsome Adventurer Man Of The World and One Naive Young Innocent Guy) get trapped on a “plateau”-a strange lost world where dinasours still roam and basicly every week they can just encounter some new creature or previously unknown society to have an adventure with. (Seriously, this plateau must be the size of Africa). They are befriended by a large breasted young woman who seems to own no other clothing than a brown leather bikini and lives in a gigantic treehouse. The CGI is terrible, the writing is often worse (though sometimes surprisingly good), and it is fun, fun, fun. 3 seasons-but it did come to an abrupt end with a really big cliffhanger, unfortunately.
3) Harper’s Island-only one season, so you could knock this out in a day. It starts off bad, have patience. It gets awesomely good through the end. A large wedding party on an island is murdered one by one. The killings are brutal and the mystery is actually really intriguing.
BTW, I feel you on Mad Men. Do. Not. Get. The. HYPE.
Oh, forgot to mention the best part about Merlin: King Arthur’s father is pleyed by Anthony Stewart Head of Buffy!
Awesome! My husband and I are doing this with Babylon 5. The first season’s okay, than the second really finds its legs, and now we’re finishing up season 3. Stryzinski does a good over arc, even if some eps are stinkers (Oy, that Avalon one. OY.) But Peter Jurasik knocks it out of the park playing Londo.
Farscape. I LOVE Farscape. It’s got one in a billion chemistry between Ben Browder and Claudia Black, a tightly woven story where actions have the kind of consequences you never dreamed of, and because the producers went to the wall every season, despite never knowing if they were getting renewed, you clutch your armrests and loved ones until the blood supply’s cut off during the final minutes of each finale.
Firefly/Serenity. Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, those darling little flowers painted on the posts in the kitchen. Oh, and the story’s badass.
Battlestar Galactica. I have to warn you, you will become obsessed and that’s not necessarily a good thing. We’d watch an episode while it was on and I’d go to bed with my heart POUNDING, unable to sleep for hours. So don’t watch it right before bedtime, trust me.
To prove I am not just a sci-fi geek (and I’m really not–I was introduced to all of these by my husband) I also recommend the Japanese series Shadow Warriors, Sonny Chiba’s epic. It’s quite well done and Chiba plays a different incarnation of the same character in different periods of Japanese history. (Warning: nudity in Japan is a lot more acceptable in a TV context then in America.)
1. Battlestar Galactica. The miniseries + the first season are AMAZING– haunting, even. Later seasons are not so good but the ending has a payoffs.
2. The Wire. Positively Shakespearian in emotional resonance and Dickensian in its sweep. I second the commenter who suggested subtitles– I watched the whole show with subtitles.
3. Friday Night Lights. Looking at your list, I’m not sure you’ll love this one, but I think it’s one of the best shows currently on TV. It has great characters and is *definitely* not just about football. If the first 4 eps don’t grab you (I was hooked immediately), you can give up.
BABYLON 5. OMG. The dialogue is SERIOUSLY terrible and the acting isn’t far behind it, but the special effects hold up surprisingly well, and I love it as much as I did when I was 14. If you like Stargate, I think you’d like B5. You do have to suffer through Jeffrey Sinclair, but it gets better after season 1.
Also, they aren’t all “series,” per se, but Mystery! is great if you like British drama. My favorites are Miss Marple, Poirot, and Cadfael; I recall my mother really liking Inspector Morse and the P.D. James adaptions.
I know a few people have found The Wire hard to get into. I think that if it doesn’t grab you instantly, it would probably be worthwhile to give it . . . three episodes (had to doublecheck wikipedia episode list to make sure it was three) before you call it quits. I think that if you’re not essentially hooked by the end of the third episode, you shouldn’t feel bad about stopping. (Also, Season 2 was a little slower for me, but I know a lot of people felt that way about Season 3, which I loved. So I guess it really is all things to all people!)
The big thing about The Wire is that it doesn’t really do much of the expository stuff we’re used to from TV these days. Simon expected you to be a careful viewer and to make connections yourself. (I didn’t always make them. This is why it’s good to watch with someone else.) So I guess you have to pay more attention to an episode of the Wire than you do Burn Notice (which the bf and I also watch religiously), but again, as everyone ever has said–it is worth it.
Since Gilmore Girls, Friday NIght Lights, The Wire, Being Human, Torchwood and Veronica Mars are well represented in the previous comments how about:
Jeeves and Wooster
Jonathan Creek
Love Soup
all UK shows but should be available on the other side of the pond.
Damages kicked my butt when I finally started watching it. Watch out: You will get sucked in!
Dexter! It’s highly addictive, and loads of fun to watch. I love it.
My next marathon is going to be The Wire, and based on the recommendations I’ve gotten, it’s apparently 100% awesome.
It hasn’t ended yet, but there are 3 fantastic seasons of Eureka available on DVD. Great show about smart people! And I concur with pretty much everything else, emphasis on The Wire, BAttlestar Galactica and Veronica Mars. Also, British stuff, including Top Gear.
These have already been mentioned, but I’m going to second:
– Veronica Mars. The first season seriously the best season of any show, ever.
– Battlestar Galactica
– Justified
1 – Babylon 5
Only the first four seasons though. They planned it to end there and it provides plenty of closure at that point. Season five was a last minute add on disaster. Fans of Farscape and other sci-fi things – check this out if you haven’t yet.
2 – Justified
My hubs is from Harlan and says they are eerily accurate with a lot of those characters / sets / etc.
3 – Battlestar Galactica
Given your taste, I vote for the following one-hour delights:
Dollhouse: You’ve watched all the other Whedon, so you might as well complete the set. Season 2 is better than Season 1.
Veronica Mars: What if Buffy Summers wasn’t a Slayer, but a teen private detective? Lots of snappy dialogue and high school drama, with slightly (but only slightly) more realistic villains than the Buffyverse. A lot of people say that they think Season 3 is the worst, but I actually preferred it to Season 2. When Veronica’s in real trouble (which doesn’t happen often, ’cause girlfriend can take care of herself), your heart will be in your throat.
Battlestar Galactica: It has its highs and lows, but overall it is a win. Scifi tackling stories that are universal, not just genre-driven. I laughed, I cried, I cosplayed, I dreamed of naming a pet after Baltar.
There are lots of other greats TV serieseses out there, but given the shows you’ve listed as favorites, I’m not sure that you’ll enjoy something as tough and gritty as The Wire (even though I think it’s the best TV show ever… it kind of transcends TV and becomes, like, a depressing fictional ethnography…).
Since you like sci-fi/fantasy, Battlestar Galactica is a must-see. You can start with the miniseries and see if you like it. Amazing acting, fun with silly vocab, Crazy Olmos Improv, and more. Some uneven episodes and the end is not superb, but an amazing show all-around.
Also, you have GOT to hit Life on Mars, BBC version. Two perfectly-formed series, John Simm is the dogs, and Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt will induce a totally inexplicable crush. Fantastic banter. Being made for the BBC, each episode is an actual hour, not 44 minutes, which feels crazy luxurious.
Hooray for the Veronica Mars and Fringe love (could not agree more) because it frees up two slots.
1. Lie to Me. The father-daughter relationship is up there with the ones on Veronica Mars and Castle.
2. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This one’s an iffy recommendation – the resolution was rushed and potentially unsatisfying – but the character development was just amazing.
3. Hawaii Five-0. (Don’t judge me) The chemistry between the main characters is highly enjoyable. It’s only in its first season, but there’s a hint of a story arc to come.
The Shield!!!!
Throwing in my votes for stuff others have said: Friday Night Lights and, especially, the first season of Veronica Mars–I love season-long mystery arcs and am often oblivious (or dumb?) enough to be completely surprised by them, heh. So when I started watching this show I wasn’t quite the Spoiler Ho I seem to have become in between; long story short, at the climactic point when the villain was revealed in S1, I shrieked aloud at the teevee, a rare occurrence.
And then catch up with Fringe (whose S1 finale also made me yell), and join the folks watching live as S3 winds down. It’s on the bubble, and we need eyeballs. So so good.
I read through all the comments thinking “wait, no Homicide?” but then Brona mentioned it – YES! So so good, great quick dialogue.
@Sarah: Even my mother thinks Fred Weller is hot. If you say “Marshal Marshall” to her, she practically falls to pieces.
As for the guest-starring, I think Jed and Abbey would be a lofty dream — not that I’d mind — but it’d be so hilarious if they showed up playing a married couple, especially if they were going into witness protection. And yes, Bradley Whitford is guest-starring: Mary McCormack tweeted about it. (Incidentally, Twitter is a must-do thing for IPS fans.)
@melina, I really enjoyed the first season of The Closer (I like Kyra Sedgwick fine but I was all about JK Simmons and GW “Sergeant Rizzo” Bailey) but my interest petered out, too.
Haven’t seen anyone mention my current favorite show, Southland. It’s on Netflix, and the 3rd season just finished on TNT. Waiting/hoping to see if it will get renewed for a fourth, but even if it doesn’t they managed a satisfying resolution to most of the crucial storylines at the end of Season 3. It’s the most riveting show I think I’ve ever watched, utterly realistic, with crisp writing and a fantastic cast (especially Michael Cudlitz as Cooper, who until this show I only remembered as Brenda Walsh’s random prom date on 90210…I am old).
Also, given that your tastes are pretty much the same as mine, I thought I’d share a couple that are in my queue that I’ve been wanting to see, and don’t see mentioned:
Dead Zone – Anthony Michael Hall! All grown up and hot!
Sliders – I’ve heard this one gets pretty bad, but that the first three seasons or so are pretty good.
Agree with all the recs for The Wire (and also Rome) among others. One you might consider is House of Cards. It’s a British series that ran for 3 seasons about a devious schemer who becomes Prime Minister. Serious politics with hilarious asides and dialogue; available on Netflix and totally marathonable.
My husband and I just did this with Breaking Bad. Haven’t been this into a show since The Sopranos… Can’t wait for the next season!
I second Brona’s suggestion of Homicide: Life on the Street. It was based on a David Simon non-fiction book and he was at least a consultant, possibly a producer on the show. The first television iteration of Detective John Munch – to be followed by appearances on XFiles, L&O, L&O SVU, L&O TbJ, 30 Rock, the Muppets (!) and many more (I hate how they retconned his bio when he moved to SUV to have him as a New York transplant to B’more instead of a native Baltimorean!), Andre Braugher consistently knocking it out of the park as Pembleton, and some good cameos from some surprising actors. The only problem with the DVDs is that you won’t get the crossovers with L&O: The Mothership
Another vote for BSG, Justified and Damages.
Another series I loved was Saving Grace. A show with a great female lead, and lots of humour to be found between the crime moments.
My all time favourite, La Femme Nikita (Peta Wilson version). Watched in when it aired, bought the DVD’s and have since re watched the whole series.
Have to second the last comment for Jeeves and Wooster! Love this one heaps. It was the second show we marathoned after West Wing.
I also would add in Bones, as it is my current marathon obsession, though my husband refused to get into it with me (he also didn’t dig x-files, and I didn’t get into The Wire or 30 Rock with him, so there you go).
We are also amused by the Flight of the Conchords, which may not appeal to you as much if you have no affiliation with New Zealand, but it goes pretty quickly and has some really funny moments with dialogue/characters.
I agree with alomst everything stated previously but I have some new ones to add for you:
1. Leverage – 2 seasons out, 3rd coming out soon, think Robin Hood meets Sneakers, and the A-team, plus, the let Linday from Angel be tough!
2. Lie to Me- Tim Roth… nuff said.
3. Top Gear, the British version. I know absolutely nothing about card, I can’t even drive a stick, and I love this show. I laugh until I cry!
Many of my suggestions have been mentioned (Veronica Mars! Alias! White Collar! The Vampire Diaries! Sports Night! Castle!) but I’ll also add:
1. La Femme Nikita (which is different from and better than the “Nikita” currently airing)
2. NCIS (hubby and I started from disc 1 and caught up to the current 8th season in one year – we’re totally hooked)
@ferretrick I feel SO vindicated that someone else doesn’t like Mad Men! Just do not get it at all!
@Southern Shannon, I know how you feel about BSG, I honestly think it’s why I forgot to put it on our list of favorite shows… Its hurt my head as well as heart and I can’t even stomach watching earlier episodes now… GOD! I mean Come ON! Also Top Gear is a staple at our house. So good.
I’ve shared the whole list with my fiancé and we’ve decided that our first order of business is The Wire, Eureka and In Plain Sight. We already have Justified season one disks at the house, so we’ll do those too, it’s OliphanTASTIC! I’m hoping for Leverage as our next pick :)
You guys really rock. Even the shows that were suggested that we had seen (and I had stupidly forgotten to list) were SPOT ON for stuff we like, so now I’m looking forward to a summer of awesome shows from suggestions here.
I’m a huge nerd and have compiled a list of 35 shows, 10 of which are available for streaming, so we’ve got some good TV watching ahead of us!
I also find it interesting that over half of the shows suggested were from NON major networks, most noticeably TNT, USA, A&E, SyFy (eek the new name is awful) and BBC… it’s an interesting bit of trivia.
OMG, I’m loving all these suggestions here! I definitely have to go through and find some new stuff to netflix!
(Also a HUGE WW fan, man do I miss that show)
I second the recs for Vampire Diaries (although I just got into it this season but really love it).
But I also love Lie to Me, and In Plain Sight. (Although I need to catch up on it)
You’d probably also like White Collar.
(ok, that was 4 suggestions.)
No new suggestions, but I particularly support these three nominations above:
1. Battlestar Gallactica reboot
2. The X-Files
3. Six Feet Under
My fiancé and I do this too- and we’re currently working on Stargate.
Seconding the suggestions of Pushing Daisies and Veronica Mars. Yes, Pushing Daisies is only two (short) seasons, but it may be my favorite show ever.
Monk!!! Lots of seasons too!
@Susan, I can’t believe someone else here has seen House of Cards. I almost rec’d it myself. The only other person I know who’s seen it is my British history professor who lived in England for ten years.
@Lis, I’ll second Susan’s recommendation. It’s only 12 episodes and immensely easy to get into; I watched it in three nights. The first series, House of Cards, is by far the best, but To Play the King is excellent and by that point you’re obligated to watch The Final Cut. There are books, but seriously, watch the show instead. Ian Richardson is marvelous. (And I hope you enjoy In Plain Sight!)