We could use distractions. Specifically, recommendations for good tv series available on DVD. Here's some of what we've already seen and liked (some of them, I like more than Kev, or vice versa):
- West Wing
- Alias
- Gilmore Girls
- Twin Peaks
- Wonderfalls
- Veronica Mars
- Sports Night
- Mad About You
- How I Met Your Mother
- Scrubs
- Friends
- Frasier
- Buffy
- Angel
- Battlestar Galactica
- Dr. Who
- Torchwood
- Babylon 5
- Firefly
- all the Star Treks
- Eureka
- House
- Bones
- Monk
- Psych (Kev doesn't much like this one, I think)
I don't want anything too grim. Funny would be really good right now, whether in a sit-com or a drama. But funny not required, as long as it's compelling and not depressing. Help?
Various friends of mine have been recommending Leverage. I watched an episode of it this past week; my impression so far is that it’s fun fluff. (But more drama than comedy, I think.) Doesn’t pay a lot of attention to plausibility, so be prepared to suspend disbelief.
Have also heard good things about Due South, but haven’t seen that myself.
I saw the first few episodes of Joan of Arcadia earlier this year; not especially funny, but not especially grim, either. (There are murders and such, but they seem to be mostly touched on lightly.) But that series got cancelled early, iIrc.
Have you been watching Warehouse 13? I gave it a couple episodes and then gave up on it, but if you’re looking for fluff, it might fit the bill. Last I checked, all the eps so far were viewable on the Syfy website.
Someone mentioned Merlin recently (available via iTunes Store), but I don’t remember whether they said it was good or bad.
I don’t remember whether y’all liked Stargate SG-1. There are ten years’ worth of episodes at this point…. The little that I’ve seen of it doesn’t do anything for me, but I have friends who like it (and the multitude of spinoffs). Likewise for Andromeda and Farscape.
Oh! What about Red Dwarf?
Yet another one that a lot of my friends like but that doesn’t do much for me: Futurama.
I haven’t yet seen any Avatar, but it’s widely loved.
A bunch of people like 30 Rock, but again the little I’ve seen of it hasn’t appealed to me much, much as I like Tina Fey.
Oh, and The Office is another one people love but doesn’t appeal to me.
Did you ever watch 3rd Rock from the Sun?
What about Newhart?
What about Kids in the Hall?
What about Legend of the Seeker? Totally cheesy fantasy fluff, but it sounds like fluff might be what you’re looking for, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. It’s based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series. I think some of the episodes are still up on the show website if you want to check it out before committing to anything.
Pushing Daisies — by the same folks who did WonderFalls, starring Lee Pace (Jaye’s older brother) as a pie-maker with the inadvertent ability to bring dead things back to life. The episodes are unfortunately few, but super-good.
Also, the first season of Castle will be out on DVD sometime in the next 2 weeks. Nathan Fillion as snarky bestselling crime writer, shadowing a snarky female detective in NYC for “research”. It’s a procedural, so there’s at least one dead body every episode, but the show is really focused on the relationship between the writer and the detective (and thus, not as sordid as a lot of crime procedurals.)
Have also heard good things about ‘Chuck’ and ‘Criminal Minds’ but haven’t watched them and can’t say what they’re about.
I liked most of 6 feet under, except the last season got a little grim. No Merlin. I tried watching that, eeek!
I’ve been finding some interesting things on Hulu.com.
Dead Like Me
Castle (which is good)
Commander in Chief (single season, but good)
Century City (again, single season, had real potential, LA Law updated)
Kings
New Amsterdam (another single season one, LOVED this idea, kind of Highlander set in New York)
Kitchen Confidential (yet another single-season one)
Arrested Development! Available on hulu.com.
Agree with Leverage and Castle, but not Joan of Arcadia (brilliant show, but made me cry).
What about The Big Bang Theory?
You’re probably the only other person I know who has seen Wonderfalls. I love(d) that show.
30 Rock is the best thing still on regular TV, in my opinion. Arrested Development’s three seasons went by too fast. If you’re in the mood for a space opera on the ground, Grey’s Anatomy is total brain candy, at least until season three where it gets weird.
AbFab?
Due South is great but takes a special sense of humor. A combo of slapstick, farce, existential humor and police drama. The DVDs are really cheap though! Joan of Arcadia isn’t funny but I found it very thought provoking but not depressing. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I’m liking Warehouse 13 but its not on DVD yet. Red Dwarf. Charmed. And I’m really enjoying The Avengers from the 60s.
Ditto Big Bang Theory — talk about a fun show!
Also, the first two seasons of Felicia Day’s The Guild (a web series) are now on DVD. Reportedly, this helped inspire Joss Whedon to do Dr. Horrible.
Have you seen The IT Crowd? It’s a lightweight British comedy about a dysfunctional IT department in an even more dysfunctional company. Also, if you and Kevin like superhero stuff at all, the various cartoons that have come out in the last 10 years or so (Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Legion of Superheroes) have been surprisingly well-done.
Jed mentioned Stargate SG-1 as a possibility. If you decide to give it a try, you may want to start somewhere in the middle of the first season, or even at the beginning of the second season. As I recall, the show took a while to pick up steam, and you can always go back and watch the earlier episodes if you like the later ones. I strongly second Jed’s recommendation of Avatar; Mike and I both thought it was great. Mike likes Futurama and 30 Rock better than I do, but I still think they’re worth a try. Good luck finding something suitably distracting!
My So-Called Life?
Once & Again?
Actually, it looks like Season 3 of O&A may never have made it to DVD.
I enthusiastically second Avatar: The Last Airbender.
(I imagine if you liked Seinfeld, you’d have seen it by now, so I won’t bother mentioning it.)
Blackadder, the whole damn dynasty. Absolutely hilarious sendup of high points of English history. Series 1 set in the late 15th century, series 2 under Queen Elizabeth, series 3 under Prince Regent, series 4 during WWI, plus a few bits and bobs like a Dickens special, etc.
Whoops — Blackadder is totally hilarious, but it does involve a lot of death and such, and the WWI series has a startling, unexpected, poignant grim ending.
But it is really, really funny.
See Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent, no kidding …
I second Jed’s recommendation of Red Dwarf. Many episodes, very funny sf.
Also try the Young Ones, but only if you can get/watch the UK edition, as I hear the US release left out the music performances in each episode — Wonderful, hilarious, anarchic ’80s punk comedy from the UK, plus jaw-dropping ’80s music in the middle of each one. Cameos by actors you may have spotted in Dr. Who etc.
I’m sorry I keep posting, but I keep thinking of new things.
Not quite a series, but have you seen any of Terry Pratchett’s Diskworld movies? There are two cartoons, “Soul Music” and “Weird Sisters”, and live-action film, “Hogfather”. Funny, strange, fantasy takes on rock ‘n’ roll, MacBeth/witchcraft, and Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, respectively.
Also, not quite your genre, maybe, but have you watched “Good Eats”? It’s a brainy, funny cooking show with Alton Brown describing everything geeks would want to know about various food items. Good recipes, too. I couldn’t watch some episodes when I was pregnant because of food dislikes, but he always lets you know what you’re in for. Did I mention funny?