Still, yesterday, we watched the latest episode of Eureka, and then the pilot episode of Glee, which was funny and good. Plus a Daily Show. Fell asleep partway into next show, but picked up this morning with the first two episodes of Dead Like Me, which is surreal and funny. A little reminiscent of Terry Pratchett's Mort in concept, but not in a bad way. Planning to watch more.
Quick comments on other suggestions, in case it's helpful for tailoring your tv viewing :-).
Already watched all (or lots) of and liked:
- 3rd Rock from the Sun
- The Big Bang Theory
- Castle
- Charmed
- Good Eats
- Grey's Anatomy (really not Kevin's sort of thing :-)
- Newhart
- Sarah Connor Chronicles
- The Sarah Jane Adventures
- 30 Rock
- Futurama (have watched several, but can't get enthused about it)
- Seinfeld (ditto)
- The Office
- Arrested Development
- Avatar
- Blackadder
- Chuck
- Joan of Arcadia
- Merlin
- Pushing Daisies
- Six Feet Under
- Warehouse 13
- AbFab
- The Avengers
- Being Human
- Century City
- Commander in Chief
- Criminal Minds
- Discworld movies
- Due South
- The Guild
- The IT Crowd
- Kids in the Hall
- Kings
- Kitchen Confidential
- Legend of the Seeker
- Leverage
- Lie to Me
- The Medium
- The Mentalist
- My So-Called Life
- New Amsterdam
- Once & Again
- Red Dwarf
- Stargate SG-1
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
- superhero cartoons (Justice League, etc.)
- The Young Ones (UK version)
- United States of Tara
Another one I’ve often seen recommended: Malcolm in the Middle. (Didn’t much like the ten minutes of one episode I saw.) Oh, also Wonder Years.
And then there are classics like Taxi and WKRP in Cincinnati. (Watched the first several episodes of Taxi recently; thought they were okay, but not great, and the two episodes focused on a bitter fat woman put me off.)
Dunno if you can get Whose Line Is It Anyway on DVD, but the British version was often quite funny. (What I’ve seen of the American version has been more mixed.)
Here are two lists of greatest TV comedies:
http://insidetv.aol.com/2008/04/01/best-tv-comedies/
http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-best-tv-comedies-of-all-time
…I’m surprised you haven’t seen Six Feet Under. I liked a lot about the first season, but gave up on it after that. I was a bit surprised to see it suggested in the previous entry’s comment thread–it’s a good show, but it’s focused heavily on death, and although it’s primarily a family drama, I thought it got pretty dark at times even in the season I saw. I’m guessing you would like it; just not sure it’s what you’re looking for right now.
…Worth noting that a few of the shows on this new list of yours were cancelled after not very long, sometimes in mid-storyline. May not be a problem for you, just thought it was worth mentioning.
…I’ve been watching bits of old action and action-comedy series in the past few years. Saw a few episodes each (starting at beginning of series) of Avengers, Wild Wild West (which I really liked as a kid, though possibly just for the theme music), Have Gun, Will Travel, and MacGyver. All of them, sadly, felt very dated to me, and I didn’t watch more than a few episodes of any of them. I gather that the tone/feel of Avengers changed somewhat later, when the cast changed and when some episodes were sent to American TV, so the middle years might be better, not sure. I still haven’t seen Get Smart, but I suspect I’ll have much the same reaction to that.
A few more suggestions:
Northern Exposure– A classic. Quirky characters, beautiful scenery and a dose of philosophy.
Two and a Half Men– Fun fluff. I find myself laughing out loud at Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen.
Thirtysomething– I just saw that the first season is put on DVD. Definitely a love it or hate it kind of show. More drama than comedy, though.
Have you seen the VeggieTales song The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything? I gather the show is explicitly Christian, so I haven’t watched it, but that song is fun.
Also, some friends of mine like Animaniacs; I suspect it’s not your cup of tea, but it’s possible Kavi would like it at some point after she graduates from Caillou.
One of my closest, oldest friends was a Veggietales animator. We used to tease him because the show was funny, the animation was good, but the theology was, lets just say, based more on cheap pop Sunday school lessons than on any attention to any actual religious text. Ignore when they start talking about God and what God wants and it has a sort of Bullwinkle and Rocky ethos. But I’ll tell you, we never let our kids watch it with the sound on.