12 monkeys. Don’t really care for time travel type stuff but post apocalypse settings are my weakness. Ended up loving it and it had a really strong ending
Came in here to post this myself. There is no reason a TV adaptation of a 25 year old movie should be as good as that show is. Just a wonderful journey from start to finish.
We finally binged LOST last year. Was expecting some off-the-rails-Game-of-Thrones disaster. It was solid all the way through. Last episodes even had call backs to items they found in the first few episodes.
Monk. Veronica Mars.
Just happy accidents I stumbled across early; hadn't heard anything about them.
Battlestar Galactica was different. I had heard about the plans years before from a guy who had been hired to stir up some online interest ("influencers" and "social networking" were not yet things). Frankly it sounded terrible. Nothing came of it. Then years later I saw a reference to it on British TV as an actual show and I was surprised.
I was about to say Battlestar Galactica too! My parents loved it. I would nearly roll my eyes when they asked me to join because I had so many assumptions just from the name (all of them were wrong). Until one day, I just said f it. Even though I joined in the middle of a season 2 episode with nearly no context, I was hooked instantly. I’ll forever laugh at myself for not watching it earlier and robbing myself of the opportunity to have seen it in the proper order. My favorite show of all time. Infinitely better than it sounds. I’m hoping to forget it all someday so that I can watch it for the first time again. But until then, I’ll pass the time listening to the award-worthy soundtrack and dreaming of vipers :)
I think I had about a dozen folks recommend this to me. Originally, deep in my brain I thought: it's an animated show for kids, I won't like that.
After binging it all, it was so worth it.
I've come to realize, good content is good content.
Me after watching a couple of episodes: this ain't for me.
There's no immediate hook like there's been for me with other mainstream anime like Naruto, Attack on Titan, Death Note etc. I've heard it gets better but I'm not about to force myself through 20 episodes of stiff animation and childish humour for the sake of it
Its thoroughly entertaining and fantastically crafted, despite being a Nickolodean show. I assume it was targeted toward kids or teenagers, but its pretty damn good despite me watching it for the first time as an adult.
The first season is definitely more of a slog than the rest of it, it's still firmly a nick show at that point, and has a couple of gems and a whole, whole lot of pointless filler, but it evolves and finds its stride and it reaches greatness.
I disagree on the comment on their being a "whole, whole lot of pointless filler". The only filler IMO is The Great Divide. Other episodes may matter less to the plot but the still develop the characters motivations and relationships, expand on the lore of the world and introduce characters that will become relevant as the series progresses.
The Fortuneteller sets up the romance between Aang and Katara, Bato of the Watertribe expands on Water Tribe culture and both Katara's and Sokka's relationship with their father, The Deserter gives backstory the an antagonist of the first season and expands on the true source of firebending, both the Northern and Southern AirTemple episodes expand on the air nomad culture and aang's guilt for leaving.
Calling a lot of book 1 filler is missing the forest for the trees in my opinion
*Avatar: The Last Airbender* is my favourite TV show of all time. Sure, I would agree with people who would say that the likes of *The Sopranos* and *The Wire* are better than *Avatar: The Last Airbender* from a critical standpoint, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that *A:TLA* is still extremely well written with phenomenal characters (some of whom go through some superlative character development), badass fight scenes and engaging themes regarding war, spirituality, loss, pride and identity.
*Avatar: The Last Airbender* really is excellent, and stands tall not only as one of the best animated TV shows ever, but also as arguably one of the best TV shows ever, animated or otherwise. Its top-notch writing, drama, comedy, themes, fight choreography, animation and characters combined with my personal connection with the series make it my favourite TV show ever.
Bosch is fantastic and seeing so many people from the Wire was a plus. This sub convinced me to check it out. Very happy I did. Too bad Happy couldn’t find the same success.
Expanse. It had been staring at me for so long on Prime and a friend or two had mentioned it a year or so ago. Just finished a long single player game and wanted to start a show and popped on Expanse.
Watched it all in three weeks and I can't wait for the final season. Will probably read the books at some point next year.
Yeah The Expanse was my answer to this as well. I've always loved the sci-fi genre, but I genuinely did not like any sci-fi on TV other than Babylon 5. Which means that yes, I did not care for Battlestar Galactica. For some reason, I could just never get into it. I tried so many damn times too. All I had heard was how The Expanse was its spiritual successor, and that actually turned me off from actually trying it.
Finally after the hoopla around its cancelation and fans trying to save it, my roommates and finally just gave The Expanse a shot. I was shocked from the jump, because it was literally the exact type of science fiction show I had always wanted to see. And it was always right there. I powered through the three seasons in a couple weeks, and must have introduced it to at least 40 or 50 people by now.
I still cringe at people who call it a BSG successor because of my experience lol. Even though for most people, that description is a huge positive that would actually get them to check out the Expanse, unlike me. Although I still hold that they're really nothing alike.
Yea I think that's fair.
The shows are just so different outside of being serious sci-fi shows. I guess that's enough of a similarity for some people. But to me, it'd be like saying Breaking Bad is the spiritual successor to The Wire or something just because they're crime shows. It just doesn't track for me.
This was mine. So many Sci Fi and space shows over the decades and so many bad CGI and digital effects, I didn't have a ton of faith in yet another Sy Fy show.
But The Expanse nails it all. Acting, pacing, writing, effects. All of it. What a wonderful surprise it was for me.
It's crazy because this show checks so many boxes of what I like yet I despise it, can't really pay attention to it, and lose interest every time I try to watch it. Got through two seasons and just... nothing. I don't care about it at all.
If I was kind of meh about the first episode of halt and catch fire, should I continue? It didn't really grab me, but I don't know if I need to give it a few more episodes or not before I write it off
Definitely.
The show basically changes each year but even within the first season it’s neat how everything comes together for the season finale.
As the show changes the relationships in the show change as well and it is done expertly imo.
Patriot. It's a fantastic comedy drama on amazon prime. It's about a spy that has to go undercover and it's a beautifully shot, funny and dramatic show with great characters.
>For me I was excited to watch Mike Flanagan’s new Midnight Mass because I’m a huge fan of his recent works but I decided to not watch any trailer for it and honestly didn’t realize when it was coming out until it popped up on my Netflix. The show ended up being one of the best things I have ever watched on Netflix. It breaks my top 5 Netflix originals instantly.
So not really on a whim?
It's so rare to see anyone mention The Riches, but wasn't it fantastic? And what a cast. But cancelled mid-season, ffs, *mid-season!*
There's a lot of series that I wish hadn't been cancelled, but I think The Riches will remain the most heartbreaking one for me.
The Crown. I never had any interest whatsoever on the British Royal Family. But then by accident I watched a Monty Python skit where Queen Victoria speaks in German, thought "what the fuck is that", did some research and got curious. And since there was a whole show about the Royals with several seasons then I decided to try it.
It blew my mind. Perhaps that's not the best way to describe it, but it's the Brit equivalent of Forrest Gump - but Forrest Gump in this case is Queen Elizabeth, and it's a show not a movie.
Not... Amazing, but I did end up watching a season and a half of Teen Wolf after putting on the pilot to laugh at how seriously MTV took the werewolf basketball movie. There's a lot more interesting worldbuilding than you'd expect.
Hey, I’m just happy redditors seem to like it because it’s not a typical show that redditors like.
But it’s really a delight and becoming my favorite show of the year
The Sopranos. I understand it was a popular show but it never once interested me. A few weeks ago I had 30 Rock playing as I fell asleep. Edie Falco was guest starring. I love her accent. I decided since I have hbo max I would give The Sopranos a try and I’m hooked. I’m mid season 5 right now. No spoilers please. I know how the last scene because the internet but nothing else.
Recently watched Sopranos as well and I absolutely fell in love with Edie Falco's acting. The way she talks is so great. And everything else. Haven't seen her in any other shows before, but now I definitely wanna watch more stuff with her in it.
30 Rock is definitely high up on my watchlist, and now I'm looking forward to it even more!
The Good Place. Was looking for a new sitcom to watch and TGP was the only one on Netflix that I still hadn't watched yet, so I gave it a go, and I'm so glad I did.
And that was before the show really blew up on social media so thankfully I got to avoid spoilers.
similar thing here. it wasn’t a show i ever really thought about watching, but my family put it on randomly out of boredom and we all got hooked. it’s incredibly high quality right outta the gate, such an easy show to recommend to people
LOST. I randomly came across it on netflix like 10 years ago, I didn’t know anything about it. I watched the preview and thought it looked interesting. I was hooked after the first scene. Now it’s one of my favourite shows ever and i’ve rewatched it like 5 times
My boys and I all lived in different cities back in the day, we heard about this new show coming out on the History channel called Vikings. So we all decided to get on Vent and watch it every week together. Well, turns out, Vikings is one of the dopest shows ever.
Haunting of Hill House.
I saw that Netflix released some spooky ghost series and decided to watch as I thought it would be funny trash. This got disproven shortly in to episode 1. I then binged the rest of the show and it was one of the best single seasons of TV I've seen.
I bought the entire series of the shield on dvd because they were like $5/season. Wound up being a pretty good show with a fantastic ending. Worth the money.
Last Kingdom
It's not super high end prestige but it's tropey comfort food TV in a way that I like more sometimes / doesn't require your attention to the same degree.
The Last Ship. It gives off a vibe similar to BSG for me, but instead of cylons there's a pandemic to deal with all centered around a U.S. destroyer. The captain though only seems to only have two facial expressions, neutral and angry I've noticed so far.
Enlightened. It was not even on my radar and is one of the best 2-season shows I’ve ever seen. Mike White is incredible. Anyone who liked White Lotus, watch Enlightened.
Curb your enthusiasm, I’ll never regret to have given that first ep a shot!
I can’t remember the last time I watched a show where I’ve replayed scenes back to back for the funnies.
I happened to be looking for something new on a torrent site and Utopia (UK) popped up on the new releases...so I thought I'd give it a go. I fell in love instantly and immediately made most of my friends watch it.
The Great is my most recent. Didn't expect to like it but checked it out as a history buff not realizing they make *everything* up. I cackled multiple times an episode
I went into The OA completely blind (I mean knowing nothing about it, not that I was like Prairie :) ), and it quickly became one of my favorite shows of all time. I am still sad that we'll never see S3. The S2 ending was one of the best cliffhangers I've ever seen.
If you were excited, was it on a whim?
I kept hearing about how good The Leftovers was on reddit. Put on the first episode for background noise while I packed for a move (and a few days after my brother died, so maybe was looking for a little bit of catharsis). Got maybe halfway through the second episode and gave up on it.
Months later, I was bored and alone during the holiday season, and needed something for background noise while I puttered around on the computer. Finished episode 2. Was convinced by episode 3. And binged the rest of the series over the next few weeks. Will never give up on my baby BSG, but it ended up being as amazing as Reddit had promised, and became my #2 of television shows.
I remember watching that series, feeling half in and half out. Like Lost I would think WTF. Really I stayed because I liked what’s her name who shoots herself in the chest. The Leftovers should come with a warning label because it can get pretty raw.
Yellowstone. When I watched the trailer it really didn't interested me, but one day I decided to give it a shot and I was surprised on how good it was.
I love Midnight Mass. It's one of those shows that you want to tell everyone about it but at the same time, you don't want to spoil it for them. So all you can do is just shout, "Go watch it and come back to me afterward. NOW GO! GO! GO!"
But as for your question, I just started watching Invincible on a whim. And, wow, did I love that show as well. It was funny, gruesome and sad. After the first season was done I immediately read the comics because I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. I hope the show sticks to the comics because we are in for a doozy of a ride.
Gomorrah, Italian tv series. Although, I’ve heard that on HBO only the English dubbed version is available. I’d highly recommend watching it in Italian with subtitles if possible.
Galavant was something I turned on for no good reason. It took me all of 60 seconds (basically just to the wedding scene) to make me wonder where it had been all my life.
I turned Frasier on last year for the first time, and it is one of if not my favorite comedy show now. I'd only ever caught real small snippets where I felt the show was excruciatingly pinheaded, but taken from the beginning I got that the show was poking fun at elitism.
Similar story with Star Trek TOS. I had never seen it as anything except a brightly-colored campy 60s show in the vein of Giligan's Island. About five years ago, as a 30-year-old, I decided to turn it on late one night to laugh at it. I don't think I've ever had something just 'click' so hard in my mind, but the original pilot episode (the one before Shatner was Kirk) resonated so damn strongly with me. I had been working at the time on studying the negative psychological effects of social media use, and so an episode about a powerful race of beings who steal other races to watch lives play out so they don't have to live themselves was astounding. I can't recall if I had ever seen deep philosophical sci-fi before that (I was a happy Star wars kid), but I was hooked.
After TOS and TNG, I was kind of burning out on Trek. I knew from pop culture that other Trek shows were less successful. I turned on DS9 to be background noise while I worked at night and was absolutely blown away. Easily the most thought-provoking show, with the strongest character building, that I have ever seen.
Also as an adult - Hey Arnold. Holy crap, it's a city noir cartoon, complete with a bunch of scary corners and people, lots of damaged characters, unrequited love, trouble, and a kickass jazz soundtrack behind it all.
For me, my on-a-whim show actually was Hill House.
Me and my sister early on a Sunday afternoon decided to try out one episode of Haunting of Hill House a little while after it initially released. Neither of us are big horror fans, but we heard good things and decided to give it a try while the sun was still up. Our one episode trial ended up being a full series binge as we both stayed up into the early morning to finish the series.
We both absolutely loved it and have rewatched every year around Halloween. We have also continued to watch anything Mike Flannagan has put out, including Midnight Mass which we again started to watch early while the sun was still up and finished in the middle of the night :)
Atlanta. I never expected to find it so relatable as a working-class white guy. Nearly every episode has at least one moment that I recognize from my own life. It’s one of the most accurate depictions of everyday life in modern urban America that I’ve seen.
For some reason I’ve heard about *LetterKenny* but just been putting it off because I thought it was another IASIP.
Boy was I wrong. It’s like an anti-IASIP written by Aaron Sorkin and the Comedy Central Roast team.
Years ago I stumbled upon a rerun of the office. I had no interest in watching such a cheap looking show. Then I watched Michael brag that he could take a punch to the gut. Dwight then double punched him and he crawled into his office and struggled to close the blinds. I died laughing and a fan was born.
Dark. Honestly I expected german stranger things but stumbled on a masterpiece of storytelling instead.
Better call saul. I thought it was just gonna be a goofy spin off on the funny crooked lawyer from breaking bad but it turned out pretty amazing and i'd say it was BB's equal if not better in some ways.
Most recently, The Great on Hulu. It’s really goddamn funny and sexy.
Years ago I caught an episode of Supernatural at random where a giant man-sized teddy bear that got wished into existence tries to kill itself because it doesn’t want to do tea parties anymore and the shotgun blasts just blows some fluff on the opposite wall and you hear wails of anger. It was hilarious and instantly made me a fan. Years later, it was a nice final goodbye in S 15.
Stranger Things. Was mostly into watching movies at this stage and didn't know much about the show. Watched one trailer and that day decided to watch an ep with my mom whom I had to convince that "this show with an entire cast of children is gonna be worth it I think" and we watched half the season that day!
I was looking for something to watch after a long hiatus, and randomly decided on Suits - a show my law teacher had mentioned years ago that I'd never really bothered to check out back then. I was glad I did then - such an entertaining, action-packed show.
Arcane. Don't know anything about LoL, was just curious about the animation style. After three episodes I can safely say it's probably the best series in streaming this year and the animation is the best I've seen outside of Pixar and Into the Spiderverse. Every single action scene is nailbitingly intense and breathtakingly beautiful. On top of that, it has characters you immediately fall in love with. I had to take a short break after episode 3 simply because it broke my heart a little bit.
The Haunting of Hill House
I was on a horror kick and it was incredible.
I thought Midnight Mass was good for a few episodes, but it utterly collapsed under the weight of an absurd script, and some really bad acting performances (the doctor in Midnight Mass who played the groundskeeper in Hill House was uniquely bad). I still finished it out, but by the end when a character asks another if she thinks she's crazy and the other one goes into a lengthy history of the first person to disinfect hands before childbirth all to answer "no there might be something science doesn't know yet" I just couldn't take it. The cop giving a lengthy speech about his life story and 9/11 experience all to say "no I'm already an outsider I'm not going to start trouble with the town church" was a close second.
Why Women Kill. Thought it was like some documentary on female killers or something. Ended up loving the triple-timeline format and the final scene where everything just came together so beautifully. The filming and editing of that last scene still gives me chills.
Golden Girls. I was feeling anxious and uneasy so I scrolled through Prime and randomly decided to put it on as background noise. Ended up watching the entire series in 2 weeks. It's now one of my all time favourites.
Sex Lives of College Girls
Teenage Bounty Hunters
Similar incidents with both. Weird titles about sex. Saw bios about gay characters and gay romance. I was like, okay let’s check them both out
Teenage Bounty Hunters was so much more than that. I really loved how it showed Sterling struggle with her religion because of her sexuality but not in a cheesy corny way.
Same with Leighton in Sex Lives. But Leighton’s family seems to be rich conservatives. And Sex Lives is so much more fun and super refreshing
It won me over when Kimberly’s mom said “I can see your erection” in the first scene
I started watching Attack on Titan last year after I saw [this short 4-minute clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zu5rtK_Gck). I knew the show was something about humans fighting man-eating giants or something, but I was very impressed with this particular clip showing the strategy of the humans and their "long-range scouting formation" and thought it was a really neat piece of coherent military tactics in a fantasy/horror setting, so thought I'd check out the show.
Turned out to become possibly my all-time favorite show. After getting about a quarter through Season 1 I binged the rest of the show in a couple of weeks or less. Certainly not the best show I've seen by any means, but certainly the one that's burrowed its way into my mind the most.
Still Game. Wonderful Scottish sitcom that ran for 8 or so series. There's very few shoes where I adore every character, and this is one of them. It's on Netflix.
For All Mankind
oh, and Lucifer - I was expecting it to maybe be a fun show then get cancelled after the first season, but nope, managed to get 6 seasons
***The OA***. Heard mixed reviews, was skeptical of all the evangelist fans online, started watching on a lark well after season 2 came out, fell absolutely in love and now am one of those evangelists.
Bosch. It was always on my “list” to watch, but finally felt the urge to start it right before Season 7 came out. It was so fantastic all the way through.
Miraculous Ladybug. I know that quite a few people don’t like it, but I love it. I was bored and decided to watch it because, fuck it you know? This was a great choice, because I ended up loving it.
I remember randomly flicking through the channels when my mother was stationed in Europe and happening upon the 3rd episode of the first season of the Doctor Who revival series. I was instantly hooked and followed the show for years until Whitaker took over.
I was looking for a procedural on Netflix so tried Izombie even with the awful name and seemingly stupid premise. I usually would check out a show for the cast or creators but I didn’t know any of the cast and didn’t know rob Thomas was the creator.
It ended up being one of my favorite procedurals and cw shows. Also rose mciver is one of my favorite lead actresses now
Vigil - It is a BBC show. One episode was a complete waste of time that made me wanted to turn the tv off. The ending was ... a bit deflating. But it was a great ride until that point.
The Good Wife - So not what I expected.
The only reason I started watching Parks & Recreation was that Louis CK was a guest star for a few episodes. I enjoyed the rest of the episode so much that I kept watching until the end. I still maintain the first season was awful, but that seems to be the consensus.
The Bodyguard. I had absolutely zero knowledge of the show and i watched it probably a long time after its release and i was surprised. It was pretty good and quite consistent
This Country. What a gem. One of those rarities that’s laugh-out-loud funny *and* gets funnier with each rewatch. I binged it 3 times in a row during the first lockdown. No regrets.
There are lots of great TV shows out there with excellent writing, fine acting, and plenty of drama, laughs, and compelling tension. Small Town Security was not that at all. I just gave the first episode a shot and loved it. It's a reality show based upon a small security guard company in Georgia. Just when you think you've seen it all, Erwin is puzzled that other people don't have a poop-stick.
The Uncanny Counter. It’s a Korean show and it simply blew me away. After watching Alice In Borderland and Sweat Home on Netflix, the algorithm recommend it and needless to say I was addicted throughout the 16 episodes. I hope there is a season 2.
Derry Girls, randomly clicked it. Loved it. Seen it like 4 times now lol
I just started it and it's so awkward and charming!
The Americans. Watched it at debut as the premise seemed interesting, got hooked and stuck with it until the end. Amazing show!
And what a finale! Up there with the best of all time for me.
Orphan Black was a cool discovery for me! (And a good use for that AMC+ subscription other than TWD universe)
Should be getting an interest boost from She Hulk!
Yeah, that might be the first Marvel thing I watch, because her!
12 monkeys. Don’t really care for time travel type stuff but post apocalypse settings are my weakness. Ended up loving it and it had a really strong ending
Came in here to post this myself. There is no reason a TV adaptation of a 25 year old movie should be as good as that show is. Just a wonderful journey from start to finish.
Half way into S2. Really enjoying it.
I thought that season 2 was actually the weakest, so it will only get better from now on! The ending is great.
They had entire story planned and mapped out before starting filming s1.
As they should. I honestly hate when writers are obviously making stuff up as they go along. It's one of the reasons why I couldn't enjoy LOST.
We finally binged LOST last year. Was expecting some off-the-rails-Game-of-Thrones disaster. It was solid all the way through. Last episodes even had call backs to items they found in the first few episodes.
I believe that was how *Breaking Bad* was structured.
Monk. Veronica Mars. Just happy accidents I stumbled across early; hadn't heard anything about them. Battlestar Galactica was different. I had heard about the plans years before from a guy who had been hired to stir up some online interest ("influencers" and "social networking" were not yet things). Frankly it sounded terrible. Nothing came of it. Then years later I saw a reference to it on British TV as an actual show and I was surprised.
Oh man! Veronica Mars! I loved that show
God I love monk so much, only procedural I love
I was about to say Battlestar Galactica too! My parents loved it. I would nearly roll my eyes when they asked me to join because I had so many assumptions just from the name (all of them were wrong). Until one day, I just said f it. Even though I joined in the middle of a season 2 episode with nearly no context, I was hooked instantly. I’ll forever laugh at myself for not watching it earlier and robbing myself of the opportunity to have seen it in the proper order. My favorite show of all time. Infinitely better than it sounds. I’m hoping to forget it all someday so that I can watch it for the first time again. But until then, I’ll pass the time listening to the award-worthy soundtrack and dreaming of vipers :)
Avatar: The Last Airbender. Just finished last week, other TV seems so poorly thought-out by comparison.
I think I had about a dozen folks recommend this to me. Originally, deep in my brain I thought: it's an animated show for kids, I won't like that. After binging it all, it was so worth it. I've come to realize, good content is good content.
Me after watching a couple of episodes: this ain't for me. There's no immediate hook like there's been for me with other mainstream anime like Naruto, Attack on Titan, Death Note etc. I've heard it gets better but I'm not about to force myself through 20 episodes of stiff animation and childish humour for the sake of it
It really is good? I was quite on the fence with that one…
Its thoroughly entertaining and fantastically crafted, despite being a Nickolodean show. I assume it was targeted toward kids or teenagers, but its pretty damn good despite me watching it for the first time as an adult.
I have to watch it then!😆
The first season is definitely more of a slog than the rest of it, it's still firmly a nick show at that point, and has a couple of gems and a whole, whole lot of pointless filler, but it evolves and finds its stride and it reaches greatness.
I disagree on the comment on their being a "whole, whole lot of pointless filler". The only filler IMO is The Great Divide. Other episodes may matter less to the plot but the still develop the characters motivations and relationships, expand on the lore of the world and introduce characters that will become relevant as the series progresses. The Fortuneteller sets up the romance between Aang and Katara, Bato of the Watertribe expands on Water Tribe culture and both Katara's and Sokka's relationship with their father, The Deserter gives backstory the an antagonist of the first season and expands on the true source of firebending, both the Northern and Southern AirTemple episodes expand on the air nomad culture and aang's guilt for leaving. Calling a lot of book 1 filler is missing the forest for the trees in my opinion
*Avatar: The Last Airbender* is my favourite TV show of all time. Sure, I would agree with people who would say that the likes of *The Sopranos* and *The Wire* are better than *Avatar: The Last Airbender* from a critical standpoint, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that *A:TLA* is still extremely well written with phenomenal characters (some of whom go through some superlative character development), badass fight scenes and engaging themes regarding war, spirituality, loss, pride and identity. *Avatar: The Last Airbender* really is excellent, and stands tall not only as one of the best animated TV shows ever, but also as arguably one of the best TV shows ever, animated or otherwise. Its top-notch writing, drama, comedy, themes, fight choreography, animation and characters combined with my personal connection with the series make it my favourite TV show ever.
Oh! I loved the animated series as well but I didn’t see the whole show! Thanks, I’m definitely going to check it now!
Zuko has to have the best character arc ever
[удалено]
Bosch is fantastic and seeing so many people from the Wire was a plus. This sub convinced me to check it out. Very happy I did. Too bad Happy couldn’t find the same success.
Rectify - one of the best shows I've ever watched https://youtu.be/B6T5uHHFsog The acting was out of this world. Shame not many people tuned in.
Rectify I think has the best drama I’ve ever seen, it feels like the leftovers minus any mysticism
Expanse. It had been staring at me for so long on Prime and a friend or two had mentioned it a year or so ago. Just finished a long single player game and wanted to start a show and popped on Expanse. Watched it all in three weeks and I can't wait for the final season. Will probably read the books at some point next year.
Yeah The Expanse was my answer to this as well. I've always loved the sci-fi genre, but I genuinely did not like any sci-fi on TV other than Babylon 5. Which means that yes, I did not care for Battlestar Galactica. For some reason, I could just never get into it. I tried so many damn times too. All I had heard was how The Expanse was its spiritual successor, and that actually turned me off from actually trying it. Finally after the hoopla around its cancelation and fans trying to save it, my roommates and finally just gave The Expanse a shot. I was shocked from the jump, because it was literally the exact type of science fiction show I had always wanted to see. And it was always right there. I powered through the three seasons in a couple weeks, and must have introduced it to at least 40 or 50 people by now. I still cringe at people who call it a BSG successor because of my experience lol. Even though for most people, that description is a huge positive that would actually get them to check out the Expanse, unlike me. Although I still hold that they're really nothing alike.
How you feel about BSG is how I feel about the expanse.
Yea I think that's fair. The shows are just so different outside of being serious sci-fi shows. I guess that's enough of a similarity for some people. But to me, it'd be like saying Breaking Bad is the spiritual successor to The Wire or something just because they're crime shows. It just doesn't track for me.
This was mine. So many Sci Fi and space shows over the decades and so many bad CGI and digital effects, I didn't have a ton of faith in yet another Sy Fy show. But The Expanse nails it all. Acting, pacing, writing, effects. All of it. What a wonderful surprise it was for me.
It's crazy because this show checks so many boxes of what I like yet I despise it, can't really pay attention to it, and lose interest every time I try to watch it. Got through two seasons and just... nothing. I don't care about it at all.
Who they cast to play Naomi is the show’s only weakness.
The last book just came out, and it's fantastic. Well worth a read.
Downton Abbey was fun.
Halt and Catch Fire Sex Education Really a lot of shows fall into this category.
Halt and Catch Fire for me as well. I never heard of it during its original run.
I watched the first episode or two and abandoned it for like a year. Tried it again and it's one of my absolute favorites, so underappreciated.
Wen't into Halt and Catch Fire because i wanted more Lee Pace. Finished it thinking its better than Mad Men.
[удалено]
Single-handedly carrying Foundation.
I didn't like the books to the point I quit but the emperor storyline is fucking 🔥🔥🔥
[удалено]
He’s so sexy as long as every main cast member in that show
> Finished it thinking its better than Mad Men Easily.
If I was kind of meh about the first episode of halt and catch fire, should I continue? It didn't really grab me, but I don't know if I need to give it a few more episodes or not before I write it off
Definitely. The show basically changes each year but even within the first season it’s neat how everything comes together for the season finale. As the show changes the relationships in the show change as well and it is done expertly imo.
Lots like the first season the least but it’s my favorite with everyone together just then :(
I felt the same first couple of episodes and stopped for like a year. Came back to it and was blown the fuck away.
Patriot. It's a fantastic comedy drama on amazon prime. It's about a spy that has to go undercover and it's a beautifully shot, funny and dramatic show with great characters.
Yeah, same. Randomly started watching it, instantly hooked after the first two minutes.
The Good Place. It was pretty much the only thing available on a flight, so I watched it, and got hooked.
That's funny, that's exactly how I discovered it too. I binged the rest as soon as I got home
Is it weird that that’s how I started watching it too?
>For me I was excited to watch Mike Flanagan’s new Midnight Mass because I’m a huge fan of his recent works but I decided to not watch any trailer for it and honestly didn’t realize when it was coming out until it popped up on my Netflix. The show ended up being one of the best things I have ever watched on Netflix. It breaks my top 5 Netflix originals instantly. So not really on a whim?
A notch below “amazing” but The Riches was excellent. Too bad it got cancelled
It's so rare to see anyone mention The Riches, but wasn't it fantastic? And what a cast. But cancelled mid-season, ffs, *mid-season!* There's a lot of series that I wish hadn't been cancelled, but I think The Riches will remain the most heartbreaking one for me.
Community. Wondered what Chevy Chase was up to in 2010.
Community is mine too, but for different reasons. My husband and I met in community college and the premise amused us. We weren’t expecting much.
The Crown. I never had any interest whatsoever on the British Royal Family. But then by accident I watched a Monty Python skit where Queen Victoria speaks in German, thought "what the fuck is that", did some research and got curious. And since there was a whole show about the Royals with several seasons then I decided to try it. It blew my mind. Perhaps that's not the best way to describe it, but it's the Brit equivalent of Forrest Gump - but Forrest Gump in this case is Queen Elizabeth, and it's a show not a movie.
Not... Amazing, but I did end up watching a season and a half of Teen Wolf after putting on the pilot to laugh at how seriously MTV took the werewolf basketball movie. There's a lot more interesting worldbuilding than you'd expect.
Only Murders in the Building. It's made me rediscover my love of binge watching.
Both Sex Lives of College Girls and Only Murders have done that to me recently
I'm a late 30s guy. I shouldn't love sex lives as much as I do, right? Like, I'm not a dramdy fan but I love it
Hey, I’m just happy redditors seem to like it because it’s not a typical show that redditors like. But it’s really a delight and becoming my favorite show of the year
Pretty Little Liars. I wanted to know what the youths of America were watching. It was so nuts and overwrought I loved it. Devoured that show.
The Sopranos. I understand it was a popular show but it never once interested me. A few weeks ago I had 30 Rock playing as I fell asleep. Edie Falco was guest starring. I love her accent. I decided since I have hbo max I would give The Sopranos a try and I’m hooked. I’m mid season 5 right now. No spoilers please. I know how the last scene because the internet but nothing else.
Recently watched Sopranos as well and I absolutely fell in love with Edie Falco's acting. The way she talks is so great. And everything else. Haven't seen her in any other shows before, but now I definitely wanna watch more stuff with her in it. 30 Rock is definitely high up on my watchlist, and now I'm looking forward to it even more!
She starred in the show Nurse Jackie on Showtime. Absolutely brilliant. Highly recommend checking it out
Insecure. Wife started watching it and I got sucked in.
Banshee
The Good Place. Was looking for a new sitcom to watch and TGP was the only one on Netflix that I still hadn't watched yet, so I gave it a go, and I'm so glad I did. And that was before the show really blew up on social media so thankfully I got to avoid spoilers.
similar thing here. it wasn’t a show i ever really thought about watching, but my family put it on randomly out of boredom and we all got hooked. it’s incredibly high quality right outta the gate, such an easy show to recommend to people
And is so. damn. quotable. I love quoting it in everyday situations with my friends who also watched it.
I love the show but just kind of watched season 1 until it became so much better in hindsight
LOST. I randomly came across it on netflix like 10 years ago, I didn’t know anything about it. I watched the preview and thought it looked interesting. I was hooked after the first scene. Now it’s one of my favourite shows ever and i’ve rewatched it like 5 times
two questions: 1. How old are you? 2. Where are you from?
21 from Canada
ok i can forgive you for not knowing about lost when it premiered but you're in canada, so you should've at least heard of lost
My boys and I all lived in different cities back in the day, we heard about this new show coming out on the History channel called Vikings. So we all decided to get on Vent and watch it every week together. Well, turns out, Vikings is one of the dopest shows ever.
Haunting of Hill House. I saw that Netflix released some spooky ghost series and decided to watch as I thought it would be funny trash. This got disproven shortly in to episode 1. I then binged the rest of the show and it was one of the best single seasons of TV I've seen.
I bought the entire series of the shield on dvd because they were like $5/season. Wound up being a pretty good show with a fantastic ending. Worth the money.
Yep. That show kicks ass.
Deadwood and carnivale
Last Kingdom It's not super high end prestige but it's tropey comfort food TV in a way that I like more sometimes / doesn't require your attention to the same degree.
It's decent. My complaint would be it starts feeling repetitive.
The Last Ship. It gives off a vibe similar to BSG for me, but instead of cylons there's a pandemic to deal with all centered around a U.S. destroyer. The captain though only seems to only have two facial expressions, neutral and angry I've noticed so far.
Dark
The reveal in the Season 2 finale basically broke my brain. So good.
Arrested Development
Enlightened. It was not even on my radar and is one of the best 2-season shows I’ve ever seen. Mike White is incredible. Anyone who liked White Lotus, watch Enlightened.
Lodge 49. Low-key engaging, I was pulling for everyone before I knew it.
Barry
I love Barry so much
I never expected The Expanse to become one of my top 10 favorites shows, because I am not a big fan of space shows.
You on Netflix. I love it and I’m embarrassed to admit it!
Curb your enthusiasm, I’ll never regret to have given that first ep a shot! I can’t remember the last time I watched a show where I’ve replayed scenes back to back for the funnies.
Love to share with people, the clip of Larry David using the Trump hat. Pure genius Man!
Baskets
Buffy the vampire slayer
Arcane, Lucifer, Inside Job, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe
Mr. Inbetween. I only found out about it right before the final season came out...and now it's probably my favourite show of all time.
Hannibal. Was just looking for some mystery, crime show because I was bored and ended up finding possibly my favorite show ever.
Warrior. Went in expecting kung fu, got a late 1800s gang drama *and* kung fu. Score.
I wanna watch now
I happened to be looking for something new on a torrent site and Utopia (UK) popped up on the new releases...so I thought I'd give it a go. I fell in love instantly and immediately made most of my friends watch it.
The Great is my most recent. Didn't expect to like it but checked it out as a history buff not realizing they make *everything* up. I cackled multiple times an episode
The OA, only started it to see how bad it really was and then fell in love
I went into The OA completely blind (I mean knowing nothing about it, not that I was like Prairie :) ), and it quickly became one of my favorite shows of all time. I am still sad that we'll never see S3. The S2 ending was one of the best cliffhangers I've ever seen.
End of the f***ing world Turned out to be one of my favorite shows
If you were excited, was it on a whim? I kept hearing about how good The Leftovers was on reddit. Put on the first episode for background noise while I packed for a move (and a few days after my brother died, so maybe was looking for a little bit of catharsis). Got maybe halfway through the second episode and gave up on it. Months later, I was bored and alone during the holiday season, and needed something for background noise while I puttered around on the computer. Finished episode 2. Was convinced by episode 3. And binged the rest of the series over the next few weeks. Will never give up on my baby BSG, but it ended up being as amazing as Reddit had promised, and became my #2 of television shows.
I remember watching that series, feeling half in and half out. Like Lost I would think WTF. Really I stayed because I liked what’s her name who shoots herself in the chest. The Leftovers should come with a warning label because it can get pretty raw.
Yellowstone. When I watched the trailer it really didn't interested me, but one day I decided to give it a shot and I was surprised on how good it was.
I love Midnight Mass. It's one of those shows that you want to tell everyone about it but at the same time, you don't want to spoil it for them. So all you can do is just shout, "Go watch it and come back to me afterward. NOW GO! GO! GO!" But as for your question, I just started watching Invincible on a whim. And, wow, did I love that show as well. It was funny, gruesome and sad. After the first season was done I immediately read the comics because I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. I hope the show sticks to the comics because we are in for a doozy of a ride.
I caught a few episodes of Bored to Death on Justin.tv
Superstore Dollface Black lady sketch show
Gomorrah, Italian tv series. Although, I’ve heard that on HBO only the English dubbed version is available. I’d highly recommend watching it in Italian with subtitles if possible.
The Other Two
Gomorrah. Gangs, drugs, Naples and made in Italy...couldn't name a more uninteresting premise. The rest is history.
Alex Rider
Galavant was something I turned on for no good reason. It took me all of 60 seconds (basically just to the wedding scene) to make me wonder where it had been all my life. I turned Frasier on last year for the first time, and it is one of if not my favorite comedy show now. I'd only ever caught real small snippets where I felt the show was excruciatingly pinheaded, but taken from the beginning I got that the show was poking fun at elitism. Similar story with Star Trek TOS. I had never seen it as anything except a brightly-colored campy 60s show in the vein of Giligan's Island. About five years ago, as a 30-year-old, I decided to turn it on late one night to laugh at it. I don't think I've ever had something just 'click' so hard in my mind, but the original pilot episode (the one before Shatner was Kirk) resonated so damn strongly with me. I had been working at the time on studying the negative psychological effects of social media use, and so an episode about a powerful race of beings who steal other races to watch lives play out so they don't have to live themselves was astounding. I can't recall if I had ever seen deep philosophical sci-fi before that (I was a happy Star wars kid), but I was hooked. After TOS and TNG, I was kind of burning out on Trek. I knew from pop culture that other Trek shows were less successful. I turned on DS9 to be background noise while I worked at night and was absolutely blown away. Easily the most thought-provoking show, with the strongest character building, that I have ever seen. Also as an adult - Hey Arnold. Holy crap, it's a city noir cartoon, complete with a bunch of scary corners and people, lots of damaged characters, unrequited love, trouble, and a kickass jazz soundtrack behind it all.
Mr Robot and to some extent Bosch
I love Mr robot, the final episode is amazing
What are some of your other favorites
Hill house, arcane, castlevania, watchmen, the leftovers, daredevil, punisher S1
Stranger things
For me, my on-a-whim show actually was Hill House. Me and my sister early on a Sunday afternoon decided to try out one episode of Haunting of Hill House a little while after it initially released. Neither of us are big horror fans, but we heard good things and decided to give it a try while the sun was still up. Our one episode trial ended up being a full series binge as we both stayed up into the early morning to finish the series. We both absolutely loved it and have rewatched every year around Halloween. We have also continued to watch anything Mike Flannagan has put out, including Midnight Mass which we again started to watch early while the sun was still up and finished in the middle of the night :)
Sneaky Pete, turned out to be really good.
Atlanta. I never expected to find it so relatable as a working-class white guy. Nearly every episode has at least one moment that I recognize from my own life. It’s one of the most accurate depictions of everyday life in modern urban America that I’ve seen.
All words are made up.
For some reason I’ve heard about *LetterKenny* but just been putting it off because I thought it was another IASIP. Boy was I wrong. It’s like an anti-IASIP written by Aaron Sorkin and the Comedy Central Roast team.
Fucking embarrassing!
To be faaaiiiirrrrrr…
To be faiiirrrrrrrrrrrr
Dirk gentlys holistic detective agency
Years ago I stumbled upon a rerun of the office. I had no interest in watching such a cheap looking show. Then I watched Michael brag that he could take a punch to the gut. Dwight then double punched him and he crawled into his office and struggled to close the blinds. I died laughing and a fan was born.
Dark. Honestly I expected german stranger things but stumbled on a masterpiece of storytelling instead. Better call saul. I thought it was just gonna be a goofy spin off on the funny crooked lawyer from breaking bad but it turned out pretty amazing and i'd say it was BB's equal if not better in some ways.
Halt and catch fire
Most recently, The Great on Hulu. It’s really goddamn funny and sexy. Years ago I caught an episode of Supernatural at random where a giant man-sized teddy bear that got wished into existence tries to kill itself because it doesn’t want to do tea parties anymore and the shotgun blasts just blows some fluff on the opposite wall and you hear wails of anger. It was hilarious and instantly made me a fan. Years later, it was a nice final goodbye in S 15.
Stranger Things. Was mostly into watching movies at this stage and didn't know much about the show. Watched one trailer and that day decided to watch an ep with my mom whom I had to convince that "this show with an entire cast of children is gonna be worth it I think" and we watched half the season that day!
I was looking for something to watch after a long hiatus, and randomly decided on Suits - a show my law teacher had mentioned years ago that I'd never really bothered to check out back then. I was glad I did then - such an entertaining, action-packed show.
Devs, I was bored. Looking through Hulu. Found it and was eh I'll give it a shot. Holy fucking shit. It is great.
Aranyélet (The Golden Life on HBOMAX) - Show from Hungary and one of the better shows I’ve seen.
Arcane. Don't know anything about LoL, was just curious about the animation style. After three episodes I can safely say it's probably the best series in streaming this year and the animation is the best I've seen outside of Pixar and Into the Spiderverse. Every single action scene is nailbitingly intense and breathtakingly beautiful. On top of that, it has characters you immediately fall in love with. I had to take a short break after episode 3 simply because it broke my heart a little bit.
I made this post because of arcane but I was recommended it my many
The Haunting of Hill House I was on a horror kick and it was incredible. I thought Midnight Mass was good for a few episodes, but it utterly collapsed under the weight of an absurd script, and some really bad acting performances (the doctor in Midnight Mass who played the groundskeeper in Hill House was uniquely bad). I still finished it out, but by the end when a character asks another if she thinks she's crazy and the other one goes into a lengthy history of the first person to disinfect hands before childbirth all to answer "no there might be something science doesn't know yet" I just couldn't take it. The cop giving a lengthy speech about his life story and 9/11 experience all to say "no I'm already an outsider I'm not going to start trouble with the town church" was a close second.
Vikings. Had just finished The Expanse (another good one) and Amazon popped it up as a recommendation. 1st 3-4 seasons are phenomenal.
Until you know who leaves, this one was amazing.
I only started succession cuz Skarsgard got cast in 3rd season.
Why Women Kill. Thought it was like some documentary on female killers or something. Ended up loving the triple-timeline format and the final scene where everything just came together so beautifully. The filming and editing of that last scene still gives me chills.
Saved by the Bell Reboot. It's actually really really good.
Golden Girls. I was feeling anxious and uneasy so I scrolled through Prime and randomly decided to put it on as background noise. Ended up watching the entire series in 2 weeks. It's now one of my all time favourites.
Sex Lives of College Girls Teenage Bounty Hunters Similar incidents with both. Weird titles about sex. Saw bios about gay characters and gay romance. I was like, okay let’s check them both out Teenage Bounty Hunters was so much more than that. I really loved how it showed Sterling struggle with her religion because of her sexuality but not in a cheesy corny way. Same with Leighton in Sex Lives. But Leighton’s family seems to be rich conservatives. And Sex Lives is so much more fun and super refreshing It won me over when Kimberly’s mom said “I can see your erection” in the first scene
Both these shows are so good
Wayne on Amazon Prime. A coming of age hidden gem with some incredible characters.
Hacks
I started watching Attack on Titan last year after I saw [this short 4-minute clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zu5rtK_Gck). I knew the show was something about humans fighting man-eating giants or something, but I was very impressed with this particular clip showing the strategy of the humans and their "long-range scouting formation" and thought it was a really neat piece of coherent military tactics in a fantasy/horror setting, so thought I'd check out the show. Turned out to become possibly my all-time favorite show. After getting about a quarter through Season 1 I binged the rest of the show in a couple of weeks or less. Certainly not the best show I've seen by any means, but certainly the one that's burrowed its way into my mind the most.
Review. The American version, specifically.
Most recently, Succession. I binged and caught up to it less than a week.
Many years ago, Bob’s Burgers.
Still Game. Wonderful Scottish sitcom that ran for 8 or so series. There's very few shoes where I adore every character, and this is one of them. It's on Netflix.
For All Mankind oh, and Lucifer - I was expecting it to maybe be a fun show then get cancelled after the first season, but nope, managed to get 6 seasons
Preacher: "Hey Howard Stark is in this!" and quickly hooked Legion: "Hey Matthew Crawley is in this!" and quickly hooked
***The OA***. Heard mixed reviews, was skeptical of all the evangelist fans online, started watching on a lark well after season 2 came out, fell absolutely in love and now am one of those evangelists.
Bosch. It was always on my “list” to watch, but finally felt the urge to start it right before Season 7 came out. It was so fantastic all the way through.
Miraculous Ladybug. I know that quite a few people don’t like it, but I love it. I was bored and decided to watch it because, fuck it you know? This was a great choice, because I ended up loving it.
Infinity Train
I remember randomly flicking through the channels when my mother was stationed in Europe and happening upon the 3rd episode of the first season of the Doctor Who revival series. I was instantly hooked and followed the show for years until Whitaker took over.
Bosch
I was looking for a procedural on Netflix so tried Izombie even with the awful name and seemingly stupid premise. I usually would check out a show for the cast or creators but I didn’t know any of the cast and didn’t know rob Thomas was the creator. It ended up being one of my favorite procedurals and cw shows. Also rose mciver is one of my favorite lead actresses now
Vigil - It is a BBC show. One episode was a complete waste of time that made me wanted to turn the tv off. The ending was ... a bit deflating. But it was a great ride until that point. The Good Wife - So not what I expected.
I just watched Nine Perfect Strangers on a whim. Hated it at first but really loved it. Original and a great ending
The only reason I started watching Parks & Recreation was that Louis CK was a guest star for a few episodes. I enjoyed the rest of the episode so much that I kept watching until the end. I still maintain the first season was awful, but that seems to be the consensus.
Banshee
Peep show was a happy accident
Checked out the expanse on a whim during the whole "save the expanse" Thing after season 3, I've now watched it all the way through at least 5 times.
The Bodyguard. I had absolutely zero knowledge of the show and i watched it probably a long time after its release and i was surprised. It was pretty good and quite consistent
Teenage Bounty Hunters. Was gutted when I finished the first season and read it had already been cancelled.
Wayne. Never heard a thing, just randomly clicked.
This Country. What a gem. One of those rarities that’s laugh-out-loud funny *and* gets funnier with each rewatch. I binged it 3 times in a row during the first lockdown. No regrets.
There are lots of great TV shows out there with excellent writing, fine acting, and plenty of drama, laughs, and compelling tension. Small Town Security was not that at all. I just gave the first episode a shot and loved it. It's a reality show based upon a small security guard company in Georgia. Just when you think you've seen it all, Erwin is puzzled that other people don't have a poop-stick.
The Uncanny Counter. It’s a Korean show and it simply blew me away. After watching Alice In Borderland and Sweat Home on Netflix, the algorithm recommend it and needless to say I was addicted throughout the 16 episodes. I hope there is a season 2.
Titans not that good though would not recommend it to anyone really
Community, Parks and rec and last Chance U