Box Set / Series Binging - Catch All Thread

[Eminence Grise]

Went down market over the long weekend with House of the Dragon. It's ... fine. No Game of Thrones, but watchable and a lot easier to follow! I couldn't warm to Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra, and Matt Smith I tend to blow hot and cold on.

Also finished Kleo on Netflix, about a Stasi assassin framed and imprisoned by her own side and released when the Berlin Wall comes down. Cue a nifty revenge and conspiracy thriller that takes in Germany, Spain and Cuba. Good pace and just the right mix of action and fun.

[dahamsta]

Station Eleven was extremely satisfying to watch, although if you asked me to pin down the reason why, I don't think I could. It was just a lovely story in its own way, well told, well filmed and well acted. Enjoyed it immensely, just sad now I don't have anything decent lined up next!

Thanks for the rec @CraftyToePoke!

[CraftyToePoke]

Enjoying Station Eleven as well. The book is great and so far they've done a brilliant job of bringing it to the screen.


Station Eleven was extremely satisfying to watch, although if you asked me to pin down the reason why, I don't think I could. It was just a lovely story in its own way, well told, well filmed and well acted. Enjoyed it immensely, just sad now I don't have anything decent lined up nextThanks for the rec @CraftyToePoke!

G'waaan da boyaz ;)
Nice to hear.

[OwlsFan]

Watched the Sopranos from start to finish for the 10th time over the past few weeks (retirement is great). What a show. Breaking Bad would be my next favourite. Better Call Saul I watched twice but not as good as I had hoped. Ozark was good. Can take or leave The Wire. Have heard SUCCESSION is great but don't have Sky Atlantic - apparently Tom Wambsgans is very like me. The Stranger by Harlan Coben is a good watch.

[SkStu]

I'll throw up personal Top Ten lists... its roughly in order (as of today - it could already be stale) and i'm sure someone will suggest something that i'll think "flip, that should be in there" or stuff i havent yet seen...but here's a starting point...

- broke into broad categories of dramas and then comedies
- I didnt include cartoons (personal preference - Family Guy and The Simpsons miss out, maybe Southpark)
- prefereably more than one season
- no sketch shows or true documentaries
- just stuff i have watched in full.

Drama:
1. The Wire
2. Breaking Bad
3. Succession
4. The Sopranos
5. Peaky Blinders
6. Ozark
7. Band of Brothers
8. Mad Men
9. Better Call Saul
10. Fargo



Comedies:
1. Curb Your Enthusiasm
2. The Office (USA)
3. I’m Alan Partridge
4. Fawlty Towers
5. Arrested Development
6. Spaced
7. The Office (UK)
8. Only Fools and Horses
9. Flight of the Conchords
10. Scrubs

[elatedscum]

I'll throw up personal Top Ten lists... its roughly in order (as of today - it could already be stale) and i'm sure someone will suggest something that i'll think "flip, that should be in there" or stuff i havent yet seen...but here's a starting point...

Drama:
1. The Wire
2. Breaking Bad
3. Succession
4. The Sopranos
5. Peaky Blinders
6. Ozark
7. Band of Brothers
8. Mad Men
9. Better Call Saul
10. Fargo


If you haven't watched La Casa De Papel, I'd imagine it'll definitely make your list...

[elatedscum]

Watched the Sopranos from start to finish for the 10th time over the past few weeks (retirement is great). What a show.

Just when I thought I was out...

[ontheotherhand]

I'll throw up personal Top Ten lists... its roughly in order (as of today - it could already be stale) and i'm sure someone will suggest something that i'll think "flip, that should be in there" or stuff i havent yet seen...but here's a starting point...

- broke into broad categories of dramas and then comedies
- I didnt include cartoons (personal preference - Family Guy and The Simpsons miss out, maybe Southpark)
- prefereably more than one season
- no sketch shows or true documentaries
- just stuff i have watched in full.

Drama:
1. The Wire
2. Breaking Bad
3. Succession
4. The Sopranos
5. Peaky Blinders
6. Ozark
7. Band of Brothers
8. Mad Men
9. Better Call Saul
10. Fargo



Comedies:
1. Curb Your Enthusiasm
2. The Office (USA)
3. I’m Alan Partridge
4. Fawlty Towers
5. Arrested Development
6. Spaced
7. The Office (UK)
8. Only Fools and Horses
9. Flight of the Conchords
10. Scrubs

I'd forgotten about Fargo. Very good for the first season or two. Thought it faded a bit but might need to revisit.

Where do you rank Parks and Recreation on the comedies list? It seems like it would fit in to yours somewhere.

[SkStu]

If you haven't watched La Casa De Papel, I'd imagine it'll definitely make your list...


I'd forgotten about Fargo. Very good for the first season or two. Thought it faded a bit but might need to revisit.

Where do you rank Parks and Recreation on the comedies list? It seems like it would fit in to yours somewhere.

Awesome. That’s two I will add to my watchlist! Thanks both.

Fargo wasn’t perfect but it was solid and good fun. I really enjoyed the season with Ewan McGregor which might be the one you’re referring to! All that said, it would be a definite #10 - I had House of Cards there but kicked it off last minute.

[John83]

Parks & Rec's first season is noticably weaker than later on. Some people skip it entirely. It gets very good though.

30 Rock is the one I'd add there. It's a bit goofier than most of your list, but worth trying.

[CraftyToePoke]

Anybody here watched, It's A Sin ?

Set in Londons gay community, 81 - 91 as the AIDS epidemic rips through their lives, some in denial of it, some unaware, some trying to spread knowledge. Backdrop is heavily their small town provincial families who wouldn't have known they were gay now handling these lads coming home sick, to die, terribly badly as the stigma of the illness is too much for them.

I thought it was absolutely brilliantly acted, written, the lot. But be prepared to be pretty upset also, some harrowing end of life moments. Highly recommend though.

[dahamsta]

I did a total binge last weekend, S01 of The Consultant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Consultant_(TV_series)) and S02 of The End of the F***ing World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_F***ing_World). Really enjoyed both, although I have to wonder if the same could be said of the former if it wasn't for Waltz. I also finished The Dry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dry_(TV_series)), which was a bit drawn out but rounded out pleasantly enough in the end.

Nothing decent on my watchlist now, saving Succession and Barry for full seasons so time to start rooting through the archives again. Tried The Power (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_(TV_series)), the premise sounded good although I was a bit concerned about it being a bit too feminist for this old fart, but no, the awful writing, terrible direction and cinematography, woeful CGI and appalling acting got there first. 2 episodes, I'm done.

I'm going to have one more go off Parks and Rec. I've tried it multiple times, including jumping into different seasons, and I can never get into it and have never understood the acclaim. And I'll watch any old sh*te when it comes to sitcoms. I watched at least 2 seasons of 2 Broke Girls!

[the 12 th man]

Personal Favourites with not a lot between some of the choices.

1 Gomorrah
2 Homeland
3 Breaking Bad
4 Sopranos
5 Fargo
6 Ozark
7 Mindhunter
8 Better Call Saul
9 Yellowjackets (Just started but looks good)
10 Yellowstone

I'm probably forgetting a few but Baptiste must get an honourable mention.

[tetsujin1979]

Currently rewatching Game of Thrones, just started series 5.
I know it all falls apart in the last season and a bit, apart from one or two episodes, but man alive that was good tv

[dahamsta]

Don't bother with Loot btw. Formulaic tropey dross.

[the 12 th man]

By the way has anybody watched the 2 series of Yellow Jackets and tell me I'm not wasting my time?

[John83]

Ted Lasso is a comedy I wasn't expecting to like, but a fellow football fan recommended it. Jason Sudekis plays a homey southern gentleman type who is hired as a manager by a fictional English Premiership club out of the blue. His experience is in amateur American football. He has no idea what he's doing, but is the type to bring the best out in people. It's funny and sweet, and surprisingly not too irritating on the football side.

[ontheotherhand]

Ted Lasso is a comedy I wasn't expecting to like, but a fellow football fan recommended it. Jason Sudekis plays a homey southern gentleman type who is hired as a manager by a fictional English Premiership club out of the blue. His experience is in amateur American football. He has no idea what he's doing, but is the type to bring the best out in people. It's funny and sweet, and surprisingly not too irritating on the football side.

I was wondering who would be brave enough to mention it!

On paper it should be absolutely brutal but it has a good heart and throws out some great one liners. I'm enjoying it. Can't believe they made 3 seasons out of a fairly basic (but funny) comedy sketch.

[dahamsta]

Ted Lasso is too... nice for me. I enjoyed the 1st season, but couldn't watch another one.

I may give in to Hannah Waddingham at some point in the future.

[tetsujin1979]

Everyone was telling me to watch it, so I got stuck into it and watched the two series before the new one started, and it really is excellent. Deals with a lot of issues in the game and around masculinity, quite well.
Would watch again.

[dahamsta]

Alcatraz, one episode, nope!

EDIT: Started Welcome to Wrexham last week, more out of Reynolds / McElhenny interest than football, let's be honest, enjoying it so far.

[OwlsFan]

Lillyhammer for those Soprano fans

[SkStu]

Comedies:
1. Curb Your Enthusiasm
2. The Office (USA)
3. I’m Alan Partridge
4. Fawlty Towers
5. Arrested Development
6. Spaced
7. The Office (UK)
8. Only Fools and Horses
9. Flight of the Conchords
10. Scrubs


Sorry - Peep Show should have been in this list and very high up.

[Eminence Grise]

I'd add That Mitchell and Webb Look to make a 12-item top ten ...and that's numberwang!

Red Dwarf, The Fast Show, Friday Night Dinner, The Thick of It and Veep have to nudge us closer to a top 20. I think somebody mentioned Parks and Rec a page or so back - top stuff as well. Season 1 is different because they realised it wasn't working: Leslie Knope was too alike other comedy tropes like The Office, so they emphasised her ability and amped up her eccentricity, dropped a major character and went an entirely new direction - it really gets monumentally good from Season 2. Archer had a duff season or two, but was usually reliable, and handled Jessica Walter's death just perfectly.

Longer format than a sitcom, but Resident Alien has been good - Alan Tudyk is perfect for the role.

Late to the game with this one - Barry. Three episodes in, and it feels like it has something going for it. Anybody else watching/watched it?

[SkStu]

Watched S1 of Barry and enjoyed it a lot but we just haven’t been able to get into the subsequent seasons.

Veep is excellent! Surprised I didn’t have it in my top ten!

Finished up Mad Men this weekend and it is a great show. Some great characters, great mix of drama and comedy with a number of great storylines that were set in the forefront of major events of 60's America. Not sure it nudges any higher in the list though.

We started watching the last season of The Marvellous Ms Maisel last night and I’d recommend the series to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Well worth a watch.

[dahamsta]

Mitchell and Webb's radio show was good craic, particularly the first season as it didn't include stuff they used for the TV show. This is my favourite sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_KlckKFFc0

[NeverFeltBetter]

Mitchell and Webb on form were amazing. I could have watched the Numberwang sketches forever.

Myself and the SO have started on Bridgerton recently, which is a great good/bad watch, amazingly saccharine period romances with all of this silly anachronistic touches, like the music, perfect for poking fun at without making you think too much.

In terms of bingable series, all of Justified just went up on Disney+. It's a very strange TV show, in that I have never really encountered much in the way of negative criticism of it, but it seems bizarrely under noticed in the zeitgeist. It's the kind of thing where I sometimes just go down rabbit holes on Youtube watching individual scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcfNK3D7TiE

[dahamsta]

Isn't Justified coming back, in some form?

[dahamsta]

Watched the Landscapers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapers_%28TV_series%29) miniseries over the last few days, about the 1998 murders of of William and Patricia Wycherley (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_William_and_Patricia_Wycherley). More like a play than a TV show, with some bizarre scenes, but it was very enjoyable. But then I'm not sure there's anything with Olivia Colman I wouldn't like.

[ontheotherhand]

Watched S1 of Barry and enjoyed it a lot but we just haven’t been able to get into the subsequent seasons.

Veep is excellent! Surprised I didn’t have it in my top ten!

Finished up Mad Men this weekend and it is a great show. Some great characters, great mix of drama and comedy with a number of great storylines that were set in the forefront of major events of 60's America. Not sure it nudges any higher in the list though.

We started watching the last season of The Marvellous Ms Maisel last night and I’d recommend the series to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Well worth a watch.

Veep was definitely good. I'd completely forgotten about it. Maisel is very enjoyable. Better than the writers other efforts that I know of i.e. Gilmore Girls. The quick fire dialogue is stuffed full of great lines and there's some quality characters in it. Great shout on both there Stu.

How do people rate the West Wing and the Newsroom? I enjoyed both for a while but they got a bit repetitive.

Not sure if it's come up so far but I loved Fleabag.

Also, this is only personal preference but I think sketch shows are their own breed. I never include them in my top 10 lists of comedies or tv shows. Animated comedies and purely satirical shows like The Day Today or Alan Partridge fall into a similar bucket. It's complicated.

[dahamsta]

Fleabag was brilliant, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is just incredible, she seems to have a completely different perspective to anyone else in comedy.

I'm still watching Welcome to Wrexham, it's still good and bad, doubt I'll go beyond the 1st season. Finished Beef, weakest attempt at farce I've ever seen. Finished Normal People, should have hated it but really like it. Started Citadel, don't think I'll like it; and Night Agent, think I will.

[CraftyToePoke]

Hugh Howey's Silo trilogy is out on Apple TV based on the Wool / Shift & Dust books. The book came out in 2011, the film adaptation began almost immediately, never surfaced and was shelved a few years back. Apple went at it a couple of years ago & now its here. This is a very exciting thing for an always surprisingly smaller than it deserves number of people IMO, a magnificent read, one of my favourite books.

[dahamsta]

I enjoyed Silo, but it was quite slow and I suspect that it'll be one of those shows that they stretch out too far to the point that people and the networks lose interest in it, and it's never properly resolved.

Finished The Patient last night, with Steve Carrell and Domhnall Gleeson, quite enjoyed it. I liked the format of 9x 22 min episodes and a double at the end, easy to dip into, and although I ended up watching 2 episodes at a time, each episode ended with a little cliffhanger. Was worried all along it would have a disappointing ending, but nope. Worth a watch imo.

[tetsujin1979]

I've had the American Gladiators documentary on for background noise in the last few days. It's only five episodes, the people involved seem relatively normal, apart from one of the directors who's probably on a register somewhere, and there's nothing too outrageous revealed, but it's well put together (as all recent Netflix documentaries are) and entertaining to know the background of the show.
The UK version gets a short mention at the end. I'd watch a version of the doc on the UK show too.

dw38WFM4MCg

[CraftyToePoke]

Finished Black Summer last night, went through it in days, loved how its segmented and the minimalist dialogue.
Then I read it is a spin off of Z Nation so I put that on and it was so different, and by different I mean terrible by comparison I clipped without making the end of Ep 1. Acting so bad, I thought, this must surely be parody. How can Black Summer be anything to do with Z Nation and how can it get 5 seasons while Netflix stall over an S3 for Black Summer.

Have I triggered too early ?
Does Z nation pull out of its out of the blocks nosedive and become something credible ?

[SkStu]

The Bear - - brilliant series. Intense as f**k.

[ontheotherhand]

The Bear - - brilliant series. Intense as f**k.

Yes Chef.

[SkStu]

Yes Jeff

[Crosby87]

I loved season one. Season two is mostly terrible I feel like.

[SkStu]

The “Untold” sports documentary series on Netflix is a good watch. I find that even though it is American sports or story based, for the most part, the stories are interesting and well told.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untold_(Netflix)

Ones I’d recommend:
- Malice at the Palace
- Crimes and Penalties
- Breaking Point
- Operation: Flagrant Foul
- Hall of Shame

[tetsujin1979]

I like the Rise and Fall of And1 episode too. Going to watch the Johnny Manziel episode this week.

[SkStu]

The Capture is great fun.

[dahamsta]

Downloading, ta.

I've basically set everything else aside and I'm ploughing through Ozark, 1-2 episodes a day, loving it. Last season now, getting sillier all the time but sure that's been the way all the way through. I'm assuming the ending will be incredibly silly. :)

[nigel-harps1954]

Ozark became a bit too silly for me. I abandoned it during the last season, which is a bit of a shame because it was fantastic up until then. Probably should have ended it a season earlier really.

[SkStu]

The great shows know when their time is up (Succession, The Wire) before they go the only way they can which is to get sillier and sillier in terms of realism.

Billions is one that jumped the shark. Its on its final season now and I still watch it - and i do enjoy it (acting, great cast and humour) - but the last 2-3 seasons have been painful at times from a plot perspective. The first few seasons were up there in terms of how good it was. Ozark went maybe one season too long but never really got too silly for me not to enjoy it and, Nige, I really did enjoy the last couple of episodes and thought the ending was about as good as it could have been (tugged the heartstrings a bit) - if you can force yourself back to it, it might be worth it.

[tetsujin1979]

Finished a few documentary series on netflix recently
Quarterback - following three quarterbacks(Kirk Cousins, Patrick Mahomes, and Marcus Mariota) during the 2022 NFL season. Pretty good, the details they go into before a game was interesting
Swamp Kings - on the Florida Gators university football team from 2005 to 2009. It's quite short, but it still took me a while to get through
Wrestlers - on Ohio Valley Wrestling(OVW), the largest independent wrestling promotion. Interesting enough from a "look behind the curtain" point of view. Al Snow, if you remember him from the late 90s/early 00s ECW & WWE, is the head booker

The third series of Only Murders In The Building finished on Disney+. While still very good, it's the weakest of the three series so far. It's already been renewed for a fourth series, at which point someone has to ask why these three are always around when people are being killed.

On amazon prime, finished Daisy Jones and the Six. Got through the first five episodes in about two weeks, and took about three months to watch the final five. Didn't help that I read a minor spoiler online before finishing it. It's based on a book that borrows a lot from the end of Fleetwood Mac, so if you're into them give it a go.
Started watching Gen V, the spin off from The Boys. Set in a university for super heroes in the same universe as the boys, and very much in the same vein as that series.