David Simon seems to think that the solution is different government, not less of it. He also thinks that the inner cities are a product of American capitalism's apparently natural evolution [no] into a "service economy". Blacks aren't skilled enough to have service jobs, and since there's no more manufacturing jobs for them in this country they're left to rot and we tolerate the drug trade to keep them occupied.

This is obviously ridiculous - what good evil enterprising capitalist would want millions of potential laborers going to waste in inner cities?

I think he also talks about how the minimum wage doesn't go up enough.

I would recommend watching The shield first, so the waiting for Season 3 of SoA is shorter.

I think both are awesome !

I've seen pretty much every show on your list.

I think The Shield is one of the most overrated shows by this forum. The first season is really cool, then they do the exact same thing for like 4 more seasons, and then it ends pretty well. Just my opinion though. I don't think it's a bad show at all, and I stayed entertained, but if I'm going to commit to that many hour long episodes, I think it should be better, and I don't think it's as good as some of the shows you haven't seen.

I really like SOA. It's a really good story, and the plot is constantly moving. It's also only two seasons, so you can catch up on it before the new episodes come out.

FNL is really really sick in the first season. Then it kind of goes downhill, although it picks back up towards the end of season 3. I haven't seen season 4 yet. One thing that really pisses me off about this show is that they kind of changed some of the details of the stories/characters in order to keep popular characters around, so some of the story doesn't have 100% continuity. I have no idea why this bothered me, but it did.

IASIP is hilarious. I have a tough time watching comedy episodes b2b2b2b, so I would just randomly throw this into your mix of the drama you pick.

Deadwood is probably one of the best written/directed/produced/acted/etc. shows I've ever seen. It's not the fastest paced show, but it is definitely something you should watch. Bonus points for it not being that long(3 seasons I think).

Amen amen amen amen amen. I've gotten through 4 seasons and have to decide whether it's worth my time to continue. Some spoiler specifics:



The show has been using episode-ending musical montages more up through the end of S4, and they're completely pointless. Shawn Ryan saw how on Sopranos and The Wire they do that, and he wanted to do it too. Put a disturbing song on and cut around to mysterious looks on Vic's face and different random things and you've got yourself one hell of a montage with a lot of meaning I guess.

Also, bald-headed anti-hero who says he only wants the best for his family. Sound familiar?

I really need to see the wire and dexter. And apparently band of brothers. I remember that show on when i was 15 lol

I think Arrested Development will always be at the top for me with Seinfeld (I love 30 min comedies the best) Always Sunny is hilarious but I dont always think its the creative writing funny as much as just weird funny.

Also, I saw some Mad Men and it really didnt do it for me. Maybe Im weird, and maybe I need to see more but meh

Here's your problem. Pretty much everyone who recommends it will note that it starts slow.

Mad Men is similar to the Wire in the way that if you just see one or two random episodes, you're going to have no idea what's going on and it's going to seem super boring. You have to see every episode to really get what's going on, and really love it.

I would recommend watching the UK TV Show "Hustle" (american version being "Leverage"). Ive finished the 1st season and just starting the 2nd. Really good show.

FYP

(Not sure wtf you put the Wire in there for)

Also, to a lesser extent, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I tried to watch Mad Men. I made it through season 1 and a couple eps of season 2 and I couldn't do it. I agree it's a great show. The accuracy of the era is amazing, the acting was top notch and it's so well written.

But I don't give a sh*t. But it does have Christina

David Simon held up a mirror to the world he experienced and it turned out to be a phenomenal libertarian propaganda film. This observation is not originally mine but this show made me a libertarian.

Season One: assault on the futility of the drug war; introduction to how the institutions that run our cities corrupt and pervert the individuals within them.

This looks like a pretty nice illustration of how libertarians feel about personal liberty and the inevitable nature of the state.

Season Two: the death of work in America

This is probably my favorite season. Simon has said the Greek is representative of pure capitalism. This is wrong. The Greek is representative of corporatism. Guess who hates corporatism? Libertarians.

Think about it. Who protects the Greek in the end? A ****ing FBI agent, not to mention all the greased political contacts that happen down the chain. No, it's not how the system was intended; it is how the system works. This is not the seedy underbelly of unfettered free markets - it's shadow corporatism! As a side dish, Simon gives us the real estate shenanigans and Frank's attempts at bribery as an explicit critique of overt corporatism.

Season Three: one big allegory for the futility of the Iraq War

Libertarians are non-interventionists. Bravo.

Season Four: the hopelessness of the public school system

Guess who favors school choice and community-based efforts such as this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Children%27s_Zone (I saw Geoffrey Canada on 60 Minutes saying a lot of very libertarian things though, much like Simon, he'd probably never identify himself as one.)

Season Five: personal vendetta against the newspaper business; McNulty invents a serial killer and it serves everyone's awful purposes.

Whatever.

This is just my opinion, man. The show is different things to different people; I find it terribly useful in illustrating my libertarian worldview to others. The artist's intentions can often have very little to do with his art's reception.

I've started writing down shows that get recommended to me, and a lot of them have been mentioned ITT. Some of them haven't, though, and that's probably not a good sign for them. For example, no one has recommended Alias, which is good because it was absolutely terrible (for the ~1.5 seasons I suffered through before giving up). If anyone has any opinions - good or bad - on the shows below, please let me know...

Las Vegas
The Practice
ER
Southland
The Larry Sanders Show
In Treatment
Numb3rs

I saw Veronica Mars on the first page and posted this w/o reading the last four. It probably shouldn't be on the very top of your list but it should be soon thereafter. Easy to get into, great writing, amusing... if I could sum it up, it's a very cute show that keeps you coming back for more. Doesn't sound manly but it's pretty pimp.

id recommend Las Vegas, very entertaining. gets a little weird towards the final season but still very enjoyable

Larry Sanders is awesome.

Las Vegas is fun to watch because their are **** tons of hot chicks walking around the whole time.

ER is pretty groundbreaking the first few seasons, but I'm not so sure how well it would hold up now since we have so many other doctor dramas.

Numb3rs is basically just House/Lie to Me with a much less interesting main character.

I'll add another +1 for Las Vegas. I found it almost always kept me entertained when I watched. The Practice is decent (seen a few seasons, think Hulu has the first 2 or 3). Didn't really like Numb3rs or Southland (I've only watched 1 or 2 episodes of each though, so I wouldn't know if they got better).

Larry Sanders best of that bench

I really enjoyed In Treatment also

Las Vegas used to be a great show imo. Too bad its just totally died then got scrapped

Update: I'm on the 4th season of Battlestar Galactica. Seriously great show. I read some people had problems with the 3rd season but when you watch it DVD style alot of the problems get smoothed out. Can't wait to finish the last season.

Ok so i searched and (unless I done it wrong), didn't find;

Only Fools and Horses
Blackadder

Both are (former) English sitcoms.

That is all.

Don't get your hopes up. It will falter heavily, but then pick back up and gain serious steam only to totally cluster**** the finale.

Thanks but I may have trouble curbing expectations at this point.

The season 3 finales was one of the heaviest episodes of anything I've ever seen, probably on par with the Six Feet Under finale.

Yeah. Going back through the series once you're done is fun as well. I've been watching since the beginning so I'd forgotten how great the first 3 seasons were. Pretending Season 3 is the end is actually a great way to re-watch the series. It has enough closure to satisfy you and you skip past all the bull**** in S4 and S5.

I don't mean to pull on it that bad, there is genuine greatness through the end, but it misses more than it hits and the finale is spectacularly bad.