Yeah, I'm just saying that you can still find those things done well in movies. I mean, I watch far more serial TV now than movies, so on some level I agree, but movies can still do things that TV can't.

By and large the short durations of movies mean their focus is smaller in terms of character development, so that has a lot to do with it.

I think being able to pick and choose your shows is so huge. Even today 90% of TV is total and complete garbage. But thanks to netflix/hulu and the internet, we can just watch the 10% of high quality stuff.

Because lets be honest, nobody's to rave about how great something like Big Bang Theory is to the point where we'd actually watch.

this is true as well. i only watched like 2 shows in the 90s and early 2000s. dvr was the biggest thing, and netflix is even better. before if there was a good show you had to like watch it from the start. i can't remember a tv section at blockbuster back in the day, did they even have tv shows on dvd or videtape back then? i dunno.

you can just go pick a movie and be done with it in a few hours. it can take months to get through a series. and without on demand access you have to be there in front of the tv to watch it. who wants to do that? does anybody in their right mind watch tv shows live now? lol

"Why the hell would anyone want a television show on DVD?" - Woman at Blockbuster, referring to a Sopranos set, 2001.

ok so I've watched/am watching the new seasons:

twin peaks, weeds, rome, the wire, the shield, sopranos, spartacus, scrubs, curb, deadwood, sons of anarchy, breaking bad, mad men, 24, lost, prison break, the survivor series, hell's kitchen series, 30 rock, battlestar galactica, big bang theory, californication, fringe(stopped) caprica, chuck(stopped), cleveland show, simpsons, south park, family guy, community, dollhouse, dexter, entourage(stopped), friday night lights, heroes(stopped), the office, one tree hill(lawl-stopped), skins, smallville(somehow didnt stop ;p), stargate universe, terminator: scc, true blood, the ultimate fighter.

Im about to buy or download: six feet under, its always sunny in P, supernatural, modern family, Archer.


Anything I'm missing ?

parks & recs. Start from season 2.
Peep Show
I liked How To Make It In America but it wasnt amazing, passes the time though.

forgot to mention i also watched arrested development, and loved it.

partydown and justified too, i missed a lot it seems

Poeople will probably laugh at me for this, but I am currently watching "The Vampire Diaries" video on demand. I am about 5 epidodes in and the show is strong, addicting and fast moving. The characters are developed well and the acting is good.

West Wing, Angel, Buffy, Firefly



I'm probably going to start Sports Night tonight.

seen buffy, angel and west wing too. Ill add firefly

Kirbynator,

I remember you posting in the Survivor threads, but don't think you're around in the Big Brother one...

So it's a show you would probably enjoy, (Seasons 2,7,10) are the what people usually recommend.

If you've got Parks & Rec and Party Down covered, I'd say VMars (but I just started it myself).

+1 I would say put Veronica Mars and Modern Family at the top of your list.

Da Ali G Show, Freaks and Geeks, Oz

oh ya seen oz too -.-, pretty awesome esp. the first seasons

I think 10% is way too generous!

Since your list is so comprehensive you might add ALIAS when you run out. I liked the first 2 seasons a lot, 3 was decent and 4/5 were terribad. It's like the Weeds formula of quality. But it's a pretty entertaining show, lots of silly wigs and a plethora of plot twists and the like. The S2 cliffhanger is right up there with "WE HAVE TO GO BACK" imo.

First things first: Watch 6FU and Sunny

You didn't mention Band of Brothers but I assume you've seen it. Another great miniseries (which you'll like if you liked The Wire) is The Corner.

I assume you've seen Seinfeld and Friends. What about Extras?

Others:

Homicide: Life on the Street
The Practice
Boston Legal
Veronica Mars
Dead Like Me
Wonderfalls
Firefly
Sports Night
Newsradio
Carnivale
John from Cincinnati

Oh yeah, Extras is great.

John from Cincinnati... had potential but ended with close to zero closure and the plot never really went anywhere. I don't think it's worth the investment tbh.

This was going to be my first suggestion, but never mind.

Haven't seen Parks & Rec yet, but I definitely second the Peep Show suggestion. Six seasons span only 36 episodes, so it's not a big time commitment, either.

VMars is also an excellent recommendation. Extras is also good.

Only one I can think of that I haven't seen listed yet is Flight of the Conchords. It has its weak points, but if it fits your sense of humor, there is some amazing stuff in it.


EDIT: And also obviously watch the stuff you're currently downloading. SFU and Always Sunny are my favorites of those.

Only shows I can think of are How I Met Your Mother and Big Brother (since you like Survivor & Hell's Kitchen).

Yeah, I'll second the NewsRadio vote. I was trying to suggest more recent shows, but it's one of my favorite sitcoms ever.

I'll third Newsradio,
John from Cincinnati is very good as a look in the mind of a brilliant/crazy person who creates a piece of art that is ambitious, but also horribly flawed, but not very good as a show.

The same ratio of trash/quality is pretty similar for films as well. TV is much better for telling longer serialized stories, but there are a lot of advantages films have that people are ignoring. Films rarely have the scope of TV shows, but that also allows them to focus and have tighter stories that are executed better. Even the best series have some bad episodes or arcs that is the result of creating 15 hours of stories within a year. Scope can help art, but it is not necessary some of the best art are focused intimate pieces that don't require a broad cast of characters. A show like The Wire had a cast of close to a hundred regulars, that all had a full arc, while that is very impressive none of those arcs were individually executed as well as elite films that focus on a small group of characters. Films are not nearly as limited by production time, length of the feature or budget as TV shows. I recently rewatched S1 of The Sopranos, which is a great season of TV, but the final two episodes are still forced to do some plotting things so a second season can exist.



Whether or not those were in the best interest of the story they needed to stretch it out so they could continue making the show. Shows like The Sopranos are strong enough they can overcome these structural limitations, but a lot of other shows can't.

TV is a showrunner/head writers medium, while movies tend to be a directors medium. The directors in films have much more creative control than showrunners (with certain exceptions for megalomaniac workaholics like David Milch) because it is much easier be in charge of writing/shooting/editing a film than doing all that for a TV show all the time. Generally the quality of the best directors and the best actors in movies are better than the work of the best actors/directors in films and the economics bear this out. Specifically TV rarely cinematography that is comparable to the best cinematography in film.

I still really like TV it is a medium that has it's advantages, but the ability to tell longer stories, doesn't make it a necessarily a better medium and is sort of the equivalent of measuring the quality of book by page numbers.

a show pretty much no one ever talks about or recommends is garth marenghi's darkplace.

it was an english show that only ran for 1 season of 6 eps. if you like peep show/the office etc i'm sure you will like it. it's great.

Never heard of it. I'm almost certainly going to check it out, but I can already foresee getting pissed off by its length after getting to like it.

It's easy to hate it when something like Arrested Development is cancelled in its third season, but oddly enough it still winds up longer than most successful British sitcoms.