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Reintroducing top 5 dramatic series

Love this thread! I haven 't watched 90% of these, so I have a lot to look forward to. I loved Band of Brothers. My buddy loaned me the DVD set and I watched the entire series in one sitting! Breaking Bad has always been a favorite of mine. I find Walter's character arc plausible when you look more deeply at his character traits and realize that Pride took over his life. I also appreciated how the series never sugarcoated the societal and individual effects of drug use. The Americans was fantastic also. The writers did a great job showing you why someone might spy for their country and that ethical slippery slope where the ends justify the means, no matter what heinous acts you may have to commit.
 
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Two shows that I haven't seen mentioned but are worth mentioning.

Homicide was the precursor to The Wire, same creators, same Baltimore, and maybe the first "prestige" TV show, where the reach and craft was akin to film. I remember taping every episode on VHS tapes. The finale crushed me.

Battlestar Galactica, the remake, not the campy Lorne Greene thing, is also really ambitious and memorable and worth the time.
 
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Two shows that I haven't seen mentioned but are worth mentioning.

Homicide was the precursor to The Wire, same creators, same Baltimore, and maybe the first "prestige" TV show, where the reach and craft was akin to film. I remember taping every episode on VHS tapes. The finale crushed me.

Battlestar Galactica, the remake, not the campy Lorne Greene thing, is also really ambitious and memorable and worth the time.
Oh I like that Starbuck girl.
Flag!
 
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1. Succession
2. The Americans
3. Breaking Bad
4. The Wire
5. Station Eleven
6. Friday Night Lights (docked somewhat for season 2)
7. Fargo (esp season 2)
8. Watchmen
9. Better Call Saul
10. Mr. Show
Yes on Fargo season 2!
 
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1) GOT
2) The Americans
3) Queen of the South
4) Shameless
5) Banshee
6) True Detective
 
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1. Succession
2. The Americans
3. Breaking Bad
4. The Wire
5. Station Eleven
6. Friday Night Lights (docked somewhat for season 2)
7. Fargo (esp season 2)
8. Watchmen
9. Better Call Saul
10. Mr. Show
Mr Show! Great one.

Does Friday Night Lights really get better again after season two? I think I gave up on it in the middle of that one. season one was good.
 
Does anyone have good suggestions that aren’t shoot ‘em up series? I need something to watch with my wife. I can’t take any more Hallmark Christmas in July, Christmas in the fall, Christmas in the spring, Christmas in New England, etc.. or prairie lady making dishes a kindergartner could make.
 
Does anyone have good suggestions that aren’t shoot ‘em up series? I need something to watch with my wife. I can’t take any more Hallmark Christmas in July, Christmas in the fall, Christmas in the spring, Christmas in New England, etc.. or prairie lady making dishes a kindergartner could make.
How about Ted Lasso? The coach with the 2nd highest EQ.

I hear good things about Bridgerton.
 
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Does anyone have good suggestions that aren’t shoot ‘em up series? I need something to watch with my wife. I can’t take any more Hallmark Christmas in July, Christmas in the fall, Christmas in the spring, Christmas in New England, etc.. or prairie lady making dishes a kindergartner could make.
If you like historical dramas, Turn is a great series (https://g.co/kgs/RksHmY). Like I mentioned above, I love Call the Midwife, but the numerous birthing scenes are a no-go for my husband.
 
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Mr Show! Great one.

Does Friday Night Lights really get better again after season two? I think I gave up on it in the middle of that one. season one was good.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Kyle chandler and a young Michael B. Jordan make magic.

How about Ted Lasso? The coach with the 2nd highest EQ.

I hear good things about Bridgerton.

DO NOT watch Bridgerton. Don't do it. If you're actually trying to avoid campy Hallmark/Lifetime roadkill viewing.

For/with the wife:
1. Schitts Creek
A ridiculously funny comedy that actually picks up steam as it keeps going.

2. House of Cards
You can stop watching after season 3

3. The Americans
Only a liiiiiitle shooting. But far more drama and family issues. And its on FX, so nothing too crazy.

4. Six Feet Under
Another HBO prestige show

5. Orange is the New Black
First 2 seasons are great - next 2 kinda drift away. The last 3? Amazing.

6. Curb Your Enthusiasm
If you need a dose of curmudgeon.

7. Dopesick
I'm slapping my self in the face for not mentioning this earlier. The rise and fall of Oxycontin. Michael Keaton. I say no more.

8. Handmaids Tale
She'll love every minute of this and will tell you this is how most women feel the world could go.
 
Does anyone have good suggestions that aren’t shoot ‘em up series? I need something to watch with my wife. I can’t take any more Hallmark Christmas in July, Christmas in the fall, Christmas in the spring, Christmas in New England, etc.. or prairie lady making dishes a kindergartner could make.
Clarkson's Farm. And, not a series, but My Octopus Teacher is a well done documentary. Credit to @HOCKEYGOD11 for the rec.
 
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Best Characters in those shows mentioned.

1. Al Swearengen
2. Tony Soprano
3. Junior Soprano
4. RIP
5. Marshal Jim Courtright (About 5 minutes of airtime but Billie Bob Thornton was marvelous) lol
 
How about Ted Lasso? The coach with the 2nd highest EQ.

I hear good things about Bridgerton.
Season 2 was really just a blip, probably responding to network pressure and they resorted to a contrived trope. The rest of the way it was a perfect show.
 
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Does anyone have good suggestions that aren’t shoot ‘em up series? I need something to watch with my wife. I can’t take any more Hallmark Christmas in July, Christmas in the fall, Christmas in the spring, Christmas in New England, etc.. or prairie lady making dishes a kindergartner could make.
This is us. Will hit her right in the feels
 
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Does anyone have good suggestions that aren’t shoot ‘em up series? I need something to watch with my wife. I can’t take any more Hallmark Christmas in July, Christmas in the fall, Christmas in the spring, Christmas in New England, etc.. or prairie lady making dishes a kindergartner could make.
Does she like Janice Griffith?


NVM, you said no shoot em up.
 
I wish I could join in with you gents but I can't. I sold my TV in March of 2011 so I could buy Final tickets for Session 6 in Philly. I said to myself go big now, he's gonna win a team title in his second year and THAT will never happen again!
 
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1. Succession
2. The Americans
3. Breaking Bad
4. The Wire
5. Station Eleven
6. Friday Night Lights (docked somewhat for season 2)
7. Fargo (esp season 2)
8. Watchmen
9. Better Call Saul
10. Mr. Show
Fantastic list!
However, no Sopranos?
 
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Fantastic list!
However, no Sopranos?
I loved the Sopranos when it was going on, but I think it slowly grew a bit too enamored with itself as the seasons marched on. I might have had it on my list if not for how poorly and fan-service-y The Many Saints of Newark turned out, where that same critique became especially apparent, with all the minor characters becoming embarrassing caricatures. I also thought, and thought from the beginning, that the therapy mechanism was contrived. Lorraine Bracco was fine in the role, but it still seemed wildly implausible, and it was hard to not see it as a mechanism to get another female lead besides Edie Falco (who was great), and serve as a stand-in for the audience. That is, I understand why they did it and believe they did it for good reasons, but I never fully bought in, especially when stacked next to the day-to-day mob stuff.
 
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This is Us and Million Little Pieces both drive me nuts but are favorites of Ms. Tikk. The dialogue is written from the POV of how many women wish men would talk but simply don't. Which is fine, I suppose, because there's also decades of TV programming (and films) written by men presuming how women thought and talked and never really did. But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy cloying, manipulative (the musical cues are shameless here) plot arcs about personal discovery, and especially when there's hockey on instead.

Of late, I'll recommend Tokyo Vice on HBO. It's only three episodes in but you get the sense that you're in very good hands. Michael Mann directed the premiere and they've followed his tonal cues. It's a noir-ish take on the Japanese crime underworld, with Ansel Elgort playing a self-taught Japanese-speaking crime reporter and Ken Watanabe as a police captain(?) who takes Elgort's character under his wing. It's extremely well crafted and shot.
 
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