Got 1 hour, or more like 40 minutes?

El Guapo

Regular
My wife and I have found lately we don't have time most nights for a full movie.
So for some entertainment we have reverted to 40 minute (1 hour with ads) TV series.

I've watched all of the oldies during the 90s like XFiles, Stargate and Stargate Atlantis etc.
Enjoyed them thoroughly.

Lately I've watched Strike Back S1-4 and very much like Orphan Black right now.
As you can see I like my SciFi.

What have you seen and recommend?
 
sorry I don't have any obscure sci-fi to recommend. My wife and I both really enjoy "House of Cards"...Kevin Spacey is great and Robin Wright is easy on the eyes.

One we were really into a few years back was "Damages". I think we still need to see the final season. The first one was so riveting we plowed through it pretty fast. Great ensemble acting and enough twists and turns to snap your neck.
 
In the Sci-Fi world check out Firefly.

Beyond that my standard recommendation is Breaking Bad.
 
Recent stuff:
Sherlock
Fargo (the series)
Peaky Blinders
Whitechapel
Ripper Street
Penny Dreadful

Sci Fi? Stargate SG-1 as mentioned, plus the bewilderingly-cancelled Sanctuary. The Daddy, though, is Babylon 5 - streets ahead in every possible respect of it's Star Trek contemporaries, it is ambitious, imaginative, high concept character-driven Sci Fi at it's best.

Sent from another Galaxy
 
True Detective with Woody Harelson and Mathew McConaughey is the best series I have seen since... probably Deadwood.

I also enjoy watching Justified and Walking Dead. Actually, I am constantly surprised at the extent of the set-piece scenes in Walking Dead which are closer to blockbuster movie level than a TV series.

I am also currently working my way through second series boxed set of Person of Interest.

LouisB
 
The American series The Killing a remake of the Danish "The Killing" is very good (it is sufficiently different that you can still watch both, which i recommend). What is good about the US version (as compared to some other US detective dramas) is that the actors aren't Barbie & Ken lookalikes.

Falling Skies is worth a look if you like SciFi
 
I've been digging Orphan Black. We watch a ton of sci-fi.

Defiance
Lost Girl
Haven
Continuum
Falling Skies

Of course, my favorite is still the rebooted Battle Star Galactica.

Other stuff:

Justified
Game of Thrones
Suits
Covert Affairs
Castle (Nathan Fillion is good in this)
NCIS
NCIS LA
Person of Interest
 
My wife is addicted to Game of Thrones. But other current/recent series we can both recommend include Sherlock, Inspector George Gently, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Fargo, True Detective, Nurse Jackie, Ray Donovan, Boardwalk Empire and Lillyhammer. I'm a science fiction fan but there's not a whole lot that I'd recommend beyond what the OP has already seen. But I noticed he didn't mention Dr. Who.
 
I don't do much TV especially films & tv series on anything but BBC - the adverts make me lose patience too much

I'd recommend the entire Montalbano series - Italian with subtitles & pretty accurate to the books, after that its radio for me - as I write its "Meet David Sedaris" - even better on radio than the books
 
Just finished an intense Breaking Bad marathon - man, that series is awesome! Might be my favorite ever (that, or Game of Thrones).

On the scifi front, I've enjoyed Revolution although I have a lot of catching up to do. Not quite as stunning as Br Ba or GoT, but giancarlo esposito is in it and he's great. House of Cards is fantastic, as is Homeland (really curious what s4 will be like after the intense ending of s3!).
 
My tv committed suicide a couple of weeks ago, and I've taken the opportunity, rather than replace it (which I can't afford anyway), to cancel the licence .

I have decided in future to utilise my evenings more gainfully, and have started to experiment with something I believe the young folk call "heroin" .

I have to say, so far it knocks Coronation Street into an absolute cocked hat ...
 
If you like facts/documentaries and the ancient world I cannot commend highly enough going on Youtube and searching for "John Romer". I am partway through "Byzantium The Lost Empire" and it is a masterpiece. It's a delight to watch something that assumes the viewer has a brain, and doesn't need to be:
Told what the programme will tell them
Told what they have been told already
Told what is coming after the break
Told what they have been told already
Told what is coming after the break
...and so on, in the modern fashion. Most of these were made in the early '90s and stand up very well today.


Romer is a very engaging speaker, who brings the past to life. Enjoy.
 
It's a delight to watch something that assumes the viewer has a brain, and doesn't need to be:
Told what the programme will tell them
Told what they have been told already
Told what is coming after the break
Told what they have been told already
Told what is coming after the break
...and so on, in the modern fashion.
For the second time in as many days, I find myself wholeheartedly agreeing with you on something media-related. It surprises me these documentary makers (discovery, NG anyone?) Haven't pulled out their own hair out of frustration with the endless self-repeating they have to do.… I mean, surely it's the network catering to people with the attention span of a housefly on Red Bull, rather than the documentary makers actually believing that this makes for a good documentary?
 
Formulaic TV / Formulaic Novels / Fomulaic Music = modern curse

Originality & Freshness is what I want to see more of

most of the time it seems like spot the cliche II
 
I watched The Wire a few years ago. All five seasons. Binge watched it all strung together. A most fascinating example of what can be achieved in long form story telling. Nothing on TV has been able to hold my attention as much since. It effectively killed off watching serials on TV for me. I don't own a TV anymore.
 
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