Tv Series Recommends

[Plenum]

drama, as a tool, is somewhat underrated as a teaching tool.  It is normally dismissed as just entertainment, and yet, the exploration of emotions, relationships, and polarity is heavily woven into our great stories.

Novels had their heydey at one point; now it's tv drama which rules the day.

Something like the series Breaking Bad can tell the story of a man driven by impending death and limitation to start engaging in some very self-service behaviour for the sake of his family.  It became a downward spiral after that

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Personally, I've been blown away by Band of Brothers in recent days.  It's based on a true story, and even though it's a dramatization, just the awareness that the underlying facts are true - it's set in WWII - is mindblowing.  If anyone needed convincing that war is hell, then just get a dose of this.

I had a look at the IMDB user reviews after I finished the series, and I'm amazed that this is such a sleeper series.  It's been around for more than ten years, and I've only had the title referenced maybe a couple of times.  But I guess these were the days before social-media hype  

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any tv series you'd recommend?

[zvonimir]

House of Cards - Kevin Spacey as Master of Puppets

[anagogy]

I really enjoyed the first 4 seasons of Lost, and then it went completely crazy. But those first 4 seasons....good stuff.

[Plenum]

House of Cards - Kevin Spacey as Master of Puppets

ahh.  Still haven't seen that one; despite all the good reviews.

Netflix is also launching a local version in Australia sometime.  But a lot of the tv rights have already been locked up exclusively by the pay-tv operators here; so it's going to be an emasculated version of what US people get.

[Plenum]

I really enjoyed the first 4 seasons of Lost, and then it went completely crazy.  But those first 4 seasons....good stuff.

yeah, that freighter was a good season ender.

as for the last season ...    

Lost is a great example of the power of myth.

[sunnysideup]

The creators of Band of Brothers also made a companion piece called The Pacific. It's a pretty good TV serie, though imo not as good as Band of Brothers. One that's also been around for more than 10 years is Carnivàle, I really liked that one.

[Jade]

I liked Carnivale a lot too. Some other oldies but goodies that I'm a big fan of are Rome (fictional drama intertwined with real history set ~50 BC), Deadwood (drama set in South Dakota during the gold rush era), and Oz (mid-90s prison drama).

[Plenum]

Enlightened

Just finished the first season of this.  The title, of course, is ironic, and the lead character is not truly enlightened.

It begins with her having a mental breakdown over an incident that she couldn't accept; and she spends some time at a retreat in Hawaii, where she can do some healing.  There, she is introduced to many of the surface notions of spirituality - like meditation, creative visualisation, and following your inner voice.  Then the series creates the drama of her life as she tries to change things to the way she would like them.

Tonally, the show is a little mixed.  It pokes fun at the failures and the wishful thinking that often permeates this introductory level of spirituality; but it also acknowledges the positive intent driving such behaviour.  That said, the lead character is essentially very self-centred, and that's why attempts at service and change fall flat; it's not coming from the heart, and it's not informed by a deeper wisdom.

Actually a really easy watch, it's cast well.

[darklight]

According Ra, tv is distraction. Pc & internet on the other hand, you can do much more than watching cheap soap series. You can visit websites like this one for example.

[Parsons]

Arrested Development (2003 - ) "Level-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned. But the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family are making his job unbearable."

I really love this show; its my favorite comedy. As the title suggests, each character has an exaggerated (almost archetypical) form of arrested development. The jokes and gags are often witty and are NOT accompanied by a laugh track.

As an aside, when I started watching this show, I was a point in my life where I was highly depressed and confused. The show and characters in it provided me a critically needed mirror which made me realize I suffered from arrested development (which was more valuable than the many therapists I had seen up to that point). That realization led me to be much less dysfunctional and primed me to my initial awakening/the LOO a very short time later.

[Shawnna]

Netflix - House of Cards and Orange is the New Black

AMC - Breaking Bad and Walking Dead

FXX - Sons of Anarchy

HBO - Game of Thrones

I love watching human emotions and catalyst at work.

[Plenum]

Parks and Recreation is a great show.  Been binge watching the first couple of seasons this last weekend.

Chris Pratt is s such a funny guy.

[Jeremy]

I liked Carnivale a lot too. Some other oldies but goodies that I'm a big fan of are Rome (fictional drama intertwined with real history set ~50 BC), Deadwood (drama set in South Dakota during the gold rush era), and Oz (mid-90s prison drama).

Sweet you read my mind miss!  

I was gonna recommend Carnivale,  Deadwood and Rome. 

Beware that carnival and Deadwood end so prematurely that I'm still pissed 10 years later 

My girlfriend and I are actually watching Carnivale since she's never seen it and she's hooked. 

The wire is another fantastic show. 

[Jade]

Ah The Wire, watched about half of that show, don't know why I stopped, but I definitely ennjoyed it.

And yes, Carnivale and Deadwood are definitely a better to have loved and lost predicament... Deadwood they even teased us and kept all the sets intact for many years planning a movie that never panned out.

A lot of people at my old job were obsessed with Parks and Rec. Might give it a go sometime.

[Parsons]

Parks and Recreation is fantastic.

[APeacefulWarrior]

According Ra, tv is distraction. Pc & internet on the other hand, you can do much more than watching cheap soap series. You can visit websites like this one for example.

God is in all things, so the love/light is in all things. There's wisdom to be found on television, as in all media. Truth is where you look for it. :-)

Personally, I'd recommend anyone here watch Babylon 5, if they haven't. It's got a lot of themes that might seem familiar, and it's one of the only filmed sci-fi works to actually deal with the idea of there being "transcendent" aliens who have moved beyond standard space/time. (As well as the problems caused when some don't move on in a timely manner.)

The writer/creator was a REAL smart dude, and it's got a lot more philosophical/intellectual content than most TV. Just be patient with the first season, which is definitely rough around the edges. But by the end of Season 1, you've already seen the worst it has to offer, and the best is all yet to come.

[isis]

According Ra, tv is distraction. Pc & internet on the other hand, you can do much more than watching cheap soap series. You can visit websites like this one for example.

God is in all things, so the love/light is in all things.  There's wisdom to be found on television, as in all media.  Truth is where you look for it.  :-)

Personally, I'd recommend anyone here watch Babylon 5, if they haven't.  It's got a lot of themes that might seem familiar, and it's one of the only filmed sci-fi works to actually deal with the idea of there being "transcendent" aliens who have moved beyond standard space/time.  (As well as the problems caused when some don't move on in a timely manner.)

The writer/creator was a REAL smart dude, and it's got a lot more philosophical/intellectual content than most TV.    Just be patient with the first season, which is definitely rough around the edges.  But by the end of Season 1, you've already seen the worst it has to offer, and the best is all yet to come.

My S.O. is currently making his way through Babylon 5 without me. I gave up after watching some of the 1st season & now refer to it as Blabble-on 5. But now that I know it gets better & that "the writer/creator was a REAL smart dude" I think I might tune in for the rest!

[isis]

haha, just noticed bryan cranston is in an ep of babylon 5. he shows up in the strangest places...power rangers, baywatch, matlock, touched by an angel, sabrina the teenage witch, walker texas ranger, murder she wrote, seinfeld, x-files,...et cetera...

speaking of the x-files:

http://www.reddit.com/r/television/comme...ht_at_fox/

[Plenum]

Lilyhammer is quite an interesting show.

It's set in Norway, and is an interesting slice of life.

The main character is an American gangster, and shows one path of polarizing negatively.  From nothing, except using his guile and acute eye for opportunities, he amasses power and means.  The violence is short and sharp, and eventually gets outsourced to his gang.

The second season starts to get a bit jokey, but the first season is a fine study in the means of blackmail and establishing a life for oneself using nothing other than orange and yellow ray patterns.

[Aion]

I don't really watch TV much but my girlfriend has a schedule of shows she watches.

Game of Thrones, House of Lies, The Black List, Once Upon A Time, Reign, The Originals, Vampire Diaries, etc

She likes shows with a lot of political or business intrigue, often shows involving royalty or powerful individuals and the interactions that go on at high levels of power in society. We are also going to start watching Vikings from the beginning and she has recently gotten in to the show Salem.

Magic, power, politics and love.

[sunnysideup]

Been watching a lot of Workaholics and Broad City, both series crack me up. Here in Holland FOX will start a new serie next month called Wayward Pines. So far I have only seen the trailer, but it looks quite interesting. It has a bit of a Twin Peaks feel to it.

[Stranger]

My two favorite shows are Veronica Mars and Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Great characters, stories, movie theater-quality production values - and no emotional nastiness, just good clean fun.

You might also enjoy "Wonderfalls" - it was cancelled after only 4 episodes aired, but there are 14 available. It definitely has an element of the spiritual as its core theme - the protagonist is a girl who is "persuaded" to help people in unexpected ways by talking toy animals. People give it great ratings, but I had mixed feelings about it by the end of the show but watched it anyway.

Edit: Oh yes - Firefly! What an awesomely fun "space Western" with, again, great characters and fun rompy plots.

[Plenum]

wow.  X-Files is really really good.  I didn't realise the quality of the writing that went into it.  The acting and casting of episode-to-episode characters is also top notch.

easter eggs: Jack Black in season 3

[darklight]

Stargate Atlantis

[BlatzAdict]

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any tv series you'd recommend?

just saw john carter of mars.... and there's like these higher beings that fund and help both sides of a war... good stuff...

[rva_jeremy]

Ah The Wire, watched about half of that show, don't know why I stopped, but I definitely ennjoyed it.

If you didn't get to season 4 you owe it to yourself to experience the best season of the best tv show ever made.

Lots of good suggestions here; may I suggest Trailer Park Boys? You'll never get a better metaphor for our nature in 3D as f__k-ups who nevertheless have so much love to offer.

Edit: also second Firefly and Arrested Development enthusiastically.

[Jade]

Okay, maybe I'll have to pick The Wire up again sometime.

I really want to try Trailer Park Boys actually, (since I'm such a Rush fangirl and they are Rush fanboys) - my husband said he watched it a few times and it was sorta ADD for him, so we'll see if I can drag him into it.

[Jade]

Also, he would like to beg to differ, that either season 1 of Breaking Bad or season 3 of Deadwood being the best season of the best tv show ever.

[Jade]

I know everyone here has watched Star Trek TNG (if you haven't, fix that.) Last night we watched the episode "I Borg", and, if you don't know what episode I'm talking about, I recommend you seek it out and watch it. I almost want to watch it again right now it was so good!

[Parsons]

I have been re-watching Deep Space 9... If you can get through the first season, there is a great episode at the end of the first season and really hits its stride after that for the rest of the show. There are at least 5+ episodes that are extremely well done and tackle some very interesting concepts for contemplation.

In general, I realized that the genius of the Star Trek series was almost entirely due to Gene Roddenberry's writing. So I don't have much hope for the future of someone that incredibly talented coming along. Secretly, I think he may have been at least somewhat aware of the nature of the Creation.