TV Rocks

[Dr. Insomniac]

Say vile good things about the medium that's been raising you for longer than your own parents.

For my part, THE WIRE. It's not just a police drama. It's an epic tale about humanity as it simultaneously crumbles and sticks back together. I've found the bleakest and most life-affirming moments from this show. From guys like Colvin, Cutty, Bubbs, McNulty, Snoop, Clay, Prez, Herc, Carver, Prop Joe, Bunk, Kima, Cedric, Ronnie, Chris, Marlo, Avon, Stringer, D'Angelo, Wee-Bey, Wallace, Bodie, Poot, Michael, Dukie, Namond, Kimmy, Tosha, and last but not least, motherfuckin' Omar, the cast is full of well-rounded and realistic characters that grab at you with full force. I can say this without hyperbole, that it is the greatest show ever made.

[Foggle]

My dad loves Star Trek, which I was raised on along with a bunch of other science fiction shows. Thus I'm generally attracted to sci-fi series more than others and can't resist checking out as many as humanly possible, no matter how terrible they may be. One that I unfortunately never got into is Doctor Who since I could never find a good jumping on point... but now that the entire new series is available on the Netflix instant watch thingy, it's about damn time I do.

There's a lot of good sci-fi TV out there, no matter what anyone says. You definitely have to dig through the crap to find most of it -- rule of thumb: ignore anything that comes from... ugh... "SyFy"... not named Farscape or Battlestar Galactica -- but there's tons of great shit out there, like Babylon 5 and such. And, of course, there's always The Twilight Zone (original only); arguably the greatest television program ever. I also love every incarnation of Trek, aside from Enterprise. Fuck that show, seriously.

That series I just started, Lexx... shit's weird by my standards. And if you know me, you'll know that's setting the bar pretty fucking high. Needless to say, I'm enthralled by it.

This genre is something I think live action television and film do far better than animation (though print is definitely the best medium for it). I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop and all, but I'd say no other cartoon really comes close to non-animated SF. Not even Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which I'm kind of struggling to get through. I mean, it's good, yeah, but it's been fairly predictable so far and even boring at times. Vastly overrated by anime fanatics.

[Kiddington]

You know what I'm finding to be a surprisingly good new show?

Person of Interest on CBS... and that's a bit of a shock for me, because usually everything on CBS blows (their comedies are pretty much the epitome of suck, and most of their dramas aren't much better). But not this; no, it's actually a refreshing change of pace from their usual procedural blueprint (to which something is either done in the CSI/NCIS mold, so it's both boring as hell and filled with a ton of bad jokes, or it'll be like Criminal Minds where everything is as dark and brutal and gruesome as humanly possible, so you feel like shit while you're watching it), and it can be quite a fun ride when it gets going.

Some things could still use a bit of an improvement; Jim Caviezel can be a little rigid for a lead (although he is getting better), and the whole post-911 conspiracy sideplot does seem a bit hackneyed at times... but still, this show is surprisingly fun, I must say. It's the first actual network procedural to draw me in in quite some time; usually this genre either bores or disgusts me with little middle ground, but this show seems to pull it off just right.

I just hope now it actually lasts; they don't seem to be promoting it as an out of the box hit like they continue to do with NCIS: LA (which simply blows my mind considering how uncharismatic the lead actors are), so I'm not sure how it's holding up ratings-wise. I guess we'll see.

[Commode]

King of the Hill gets a lot of airtime.  At least I've been watching it quite a bit lately(it's on at 9pm, and again at 5AM when I wake up).

[Dr. Insomniac]

Admittedly, the part of DW you might like will either start at The Eleventh Hour or with the original series. The RTD era doesn't seem much to your tastes.

And yeah, Science Fiction is always a great time to be had through TV, with the ability to show a writer's full creativity, though I had the unforunate luck of watching episodes like The Outrageous Okona when trying to get back into TNG after growing up on it as a kid.

[Foggle]

Admittedly, the part of DW you might like will either start at The Eleventh Hour or with the original series. The RTD era doesn't seem much to your tastes.

The original series? Like, the one that started in the 60's? I don't think that's on Netflix.
EDIT: Never mind, it is. All the serials are in there separately. If not all, then a whole lot of 'em.

And, sorry, but... what's the RTD era?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Admittedly, the part of DW you might like will either start at The Eleventh Hour or with the original series. The RTD era doesn't seem much to your tastes.

The original series? Like, the one that started in the 60's? I don't think that's on Netflix.

And, sorry, but... what's the RTD era?

The 2005-2009 era of the show.

And I think you might be able to find a few on Netflix. Try searching for Caves of Androzani, or Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Never mind, it is. All the serials are in there separately. If not all, then a whole lot of 'em.

Except the lost ones. That's another story.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I know I was mentioning Unsolved Mysteries in the other thread, so I should put it here. I'm not really the biggest fan of the rip off shows of  this (and America's Most Wanted feels a bit too sensational for my tastes most of the time), but the original's laxer pace and focus on details and all different kinds of mysteries is interesting. It also helped catch a lot of criminals, and find lost relatives and missing people over the years.

The show didn't deserve the shabby treatment it got.

[Foggle]

Except the lost ones. That's another story.

Ah, right. Such a shame when good content just gets lost like that.

Think I'd like Torchwood?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Except the lost ones. That's another story.

Ah, right. Such a shame when good content just gets lost like that.

Think I'd like Torchwood?

Children of Earth, probably. Everything else. uh... I mean, it says a lot when the spin-off intended for kids was more mature than the one for adults.

[Foggle]

Wait, what's the spin-off intended for kids? I'm so confused.

Anyway, Netflix has (sorry that these are out of order, it's how they come up on there):
The Ark in Space
The Three Doctors
Pyramids of Mars
The Pirate Planet
The City of Death
The Ribos Operation
The Aztecs
The Visitation
Spearhead from Space
The Curse of Fenric
Horror of Fang Rock
The Leisure Hive
The Mind Robber
The Caves of Androzani
The Androids of Tara
Carnival of Monsters
The Green Death
The Power of Kroll

So, not nearly all of them, but a fair amount to start off with, I suppose. Which of those would you recommend?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Wait, what's the spin-off intended for kids? I'm so confused.

The Sarah Jane Adventures. A decent show sadly cut short by the death of the lead actress.

Anyway, Netflix has (sorry that these are out of order, it's how they come up on there):
The Ark in Space
The Three Doctors
Pyramids of Mars
The Pirate Planet
The City of Death
The Ribos Operation
The Aztecs
The Visitation
Spearhead from Space
The Curse of Fenric
Horror of Fang Rock
The Leisure Hive
The Mind Robber
The Caves of Androzani
The Androids of Tara
Carnival of Monsters
The Green Death
The Power of Kroll

So, not nearly all of them, but a fair amount to start off with, I suppose. Which of those would you recommend?

There.

And if you want something arc-based, just watch a Series 4 story called "Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead", watch Series 5 and 6, then rewatch the aforementioned story to catch all the foreshadowing.

[Foggle]

Wait, what's the spin-off intended for kids? I'm so confused.

The Sarah Jane Adventures. A decent show sadly cut short by the death of the lead actress.

Holy shit! That's depressing.

There.

Cool, thanks

[Lord Dalek]

My dad loves Star Trek, which I was raised on along with a bunch of other science fiction shows. Thus I'm generally attracted to sci-fi series more than others and can't resist checking out as many as humanly possible, no matter how terrible they may be. One that I unfortunately never got into is Doctor Who since I could never find a good jumping on point... but now that the entire new series is available on the Netflix instant watch thingy, it's about damn time I do.

Well it depends on whether or not you're interested in starting with the classic series. In which case, either Spearhead from Space or Robot are very good jumping off points. Both represent the beginnings of two of the most popular eras amongst casual fans, Jon Pertwee's and Tom Baker's respectively. 

In the case of the new series, I'd still say go with Rose, but if you're adamant about only watching Steve Moffatt-era Who, you should still view Blink and Silence in the Library/Forest of Death as much of Moffat's mythos and concepts (wibbly wobbly timey wimey for instance) originates in those two stories.

[Lord Dalek]

Wait, what's the spin-off intended for kids? I'm so confused.

Anyway, Netflix has (sorry that these are out of order, it's how they come up on there):
The Ark in Space
Pyramids of Mars
The City of Death 
The Aztecs
Spearhead from Space
The Curse of Fenric
The Leisure Hive
The Mind Robber
The Caves of Androzani
Carnival of Monsters
The Green Death

So, not nearly all of them, but a fair amount to start off with, I suppose. Which of those would you recommend?

That's pretty much what I'd go with.