I need a good drama TV series recommendation.

thehellgate911 · January 14, 2009 3:07AM

I've been watching Friends for the past few years, and frankly i'm getting a little sick of it. I'd like something more real, more heavy, something that can actually grip me and keep me hooked and wanting to see the next episode.

I like movies like Amadeus, Downfall, Babel, Schindler's List, Life is Beautiful, Gandhi, The Lives of Others, The Pianist, Ray, The Lord of the Rings, Terms of Endearment, Gran Torino, Frost/Nixon, etc.

I'd like a TV series that is in the same vein as my taste in movies. Good acting, good music, good story, good cinematography. Those are some of the most important elements. I also like drama, intensity and tragedy. And I have a hard time following some movies and TV shows, so the plot shouldn't be too weighed down by tiny details that must be paid attention to in order to understand what's going on.

Also, it would be nice if the series were available on iTunes, but I realize that that might be a bit of a stretch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

bergermeister · January 14, 2009 4:21AM

My wife is currently watching Brothers & Sisters; I watch the occasional episode with her. It deals with many current themes in American life and has both humor and heaviness. We're in Japan and it is on satellite TV here, so I don't know if you have it where you are (it's a couple of years old now). There's also Everwood (?) which isn't bad.

It really sounds like you would like the History Channel and maybe National Geographic. They have lots of programs that are pretty interesting and are not dramas that need to be watched in a particular order that if you skip a week you get lost.

kishan · January 14, 2009 6:24AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehellgate911

I've been watching Friends for the past few years, and frankly i'm getting a little sick of it. I'd like something more real, more heavy, something that can actually grip me and keep me hooked and wanting to see the next episode.

I like movies like Amadeus, Downfall, Babel, Schindler's List, Life is Beautiful, Gandhi, The Lives of Others, The Pianist, Ray, The Lord of the Rings, Terms of Endearment, Gran Torino, Frost/Nixon, etc.

I'd like a TV series that is in the same vein as my taste in movies. Good acting, good music, good story, good cinematography. Those are some of the most important elements. I also like drama, intensity and tragedy. And I have a hard time following some movies and TV shows, so the plot shouldn't be too weighed down by tiny details that must be paid attention to in order to understand what's going on.

Also, it would be nice if the series were available on iTunes, but I realize that that might be a bit of a stretch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Consider the new Battlestar Galactica Series by Ronald Moore on the SciFi channel. Its a little slow to get started with, but the characters are compelling and well acted. The show was always envisioned as a 4 season arc, so the story keeps moving towards a conclusion that is still not obvious (now with only half of the fourth season to go). The feeling of the show is dark and brooding. And its available from iTunes in HD!

nvidia2008 · January 14, 2009 7:47AM

I am all fraking set up, mateys. Here's what's going down.

LOST. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. 24 Season 7.

Word*. Awww yeah.

*This one is not a show, just saying, word.

nvidia2008 · January 14, 2009 7:48AM

See above. All available on iTunes in HD. Each episode is engaging by itself, though knowing the overall plotline is more enriching. Lost and Battlestar have "quick recap" videos on iTunes so it will give you the run down on what has happened. Lost available on iTunes in HD. Battlestar Galactica available on iTunes in HD. 24 available in iTunes in HD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehellgate911

I'd like a TV series that is in the same vein as my taste in movies. Good acting, good music, good story, good cinematography. Those are some of the most important elements. I also like drama, intensity and tragedy. And I have a hard time following some movies and TV shows, so the plot shouldn't be too weighed down by tiny details that must be paid attention to in order to understand what's going on. Also, it would be nice if the series were available on iTunes, but I realize that that might be a bit of a stretch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

nvidia2008 · January 14, 2009 7:53AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehellgate911

I've been watching Friends for the past few years, and frankly i'm getting a little sick of it. I'd like something more real, more heavy, something that can actually grip me and keep me hooked and wanting to see the next episode.

Ha! Especially Lost. You're like... almost always, at the end... OMFG! Yet a strange sense of closure in the mini-story they tell from start to end within one episode itself*.

*You'll have to see several episodes to get what I'm saying here.

dave k. · January 14, 2009 12:54PM

Fringe, House, and Knight Rider

thehellgate911 · January 14, 2009 1:33PM

Thanks.

I looked up all these recommendations, and Brothers and Sisters is the one that appealed to me the most. I'm really looking for a real, human drama. Not sci-fi or thriller or anything. Just something human and real, like the movies I mentioned.

Are there any other good TV shows in the Brothers and Sisters vein?

charlituna · January 14, 2009 1:59PM

i would not recommend Lost at this point. Not unless you have a ton of time to catch up. it's highly complex.it's good but this late in the game you might be better off waiting until it ends next year and then jumping on board

I would go with My Name is Earl if you are into quirky,semi light dramedy. And for something more 'real' and a tad heavy, Six Feet Under which I think has at least the first 2 seasons on itunes with more coming. And if you don't mind mindly gross but captiving, Dexter which stars Michael C Hall, also from SFU. it's gross cause it has to do with serial killings so there's blood but usually after the fact. Dexter is a little serial but pretty much only within each season and they are only 13 eps. you still wanna watch the seasons on order but it's not like you have to remember things from episode 101 for 213 to make perfect sense (which you do with Lost)

thehellgate911 · January 14, 2009 2:07PM

Thanks. Keep in mind, whatever series I choose, i'll be starting from the beginning of Season 1.

Any more recommendations? At this point it's between Brothers and Sisters and Six Feet Under... unless some new better looking show comes to my attention.

thehellgate911 · January 14, 2009 4:38PM

Alright, I got the first episode of Brothers and Sisters from iTunes, and just watched it. That's the series i'll be watching. Thanks everybody!

addabox · January 14, 2009 7:17PM

Incorrect. Put that away and get The Wire, which is simply without peer. All five seasons have aired, so you can watch from start to finish.

I'm not lying. You'll thank me.

floorjack · January 14, 2009 8:04PM

Ugly Betty. It's more than just a sit' com'.

tonton · January 14, 2009 9:00PM

Good choice with Six Feet Under. After you finish Brothers and Sisters, give it a try... It's a bit crazy, but that's always fun. For more insanity, watch Nip|Tuck. It's like... WTF!!!! over and over again.

But... seriously... for me, I'd watch anything by Joss Whedon. Buffy. Angel. Firefly (less than one full season so that's a quickie).

I'll have to give Brothers and Sisters a try myself.

floorjack · January 14, 2009 9:45PM

My wife is really into Eli Stone. I think it's kinda stupid. Brothers and Sisters is about as bad as it get IMO. Horrible show.

addabox · January 14, 2009 11:09PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonton

Good choice with Six Feet Under. After you finish Brothers and Sisters, give it a try... It's a bit crazy, but that's always fun. For more insanity, watch Nip|Tuck. It's like... WTF!!!! over and over again.

But... seriously... for me, I'd watch anything by Joss Whedon. Buffy. Angel. Firefly (less than one full season so that's a quickie).

I'll have to give Brothers and Sisters a try myself.

Tonton, you know Whedon's "Dollhouse" premiers on Fox pretty soon, right? Let's hope Fox doesn't kill it before it can get going.

tonton · January 15, 2009 4:23AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by addabox

Tonton, you know Whedon's "Dollhouse" premiers on Fox pretty soon, right? Let's hope Fox doesn't kill it before it can get going.

I guess it's supposed to start on 13th February. I had read about it before but other things have distracted me from paying too much attention.

What ever happened to "Ripper"? I don't mean "Reaper", the TV series with the kids from the hardware store capturing escaped souls (though that's a fun series) but the project with BBC covering Buffy's Giles during his earlier youth. Guess it was another Whedon project that didn't quite get off the ground, though it sounded hugely interesting.

bergermeister · January 15, 2009 5:41AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehellgate911

Alright, I got the first episode of Brothers and Sisters from iTunes, and just watched it. That's the series i'll be watching. Thanks everybody!

Enjoy!

Really wish we had movies on iTMS here in Japan...

addabox · January 15, 2009 9:22AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonton

I guess it's supposed to start on 13th February. I had read about it before but other things have distracted me from paying too much attention.

What ever happened to "Ripper"? I don't mean "Reaper", the TV series with the kids from the hardware store capturing escaped souls (though that's a fun series) but the project with BBC covering Buffy's Giles during his earlier youth. Guess it was another Whedon project that didn't quite get off the ground, though it sounded hugely interesting.

Yeah, I remember talk of that. I had thought it was pretty far along, but I guess not.

I have never understood why such an obvious talent who works in such populist genres seems to have such a hard time getting work, when such obvious shit gets produced all the time.

And I don't mean "obvious shit that you can see where the network execs thought it might have a certain base appeal", but "obvious shit that anyone not recently hit in the hit in the head with a shovel would have laughed out of the room the day it got pitched."

midwinter · January 15, 2009 11:54AM

Damages.

For stuff that's been on for a while:

Lost

BSG

Life (give it a few episodes)

For stuff that's on cable:

Dexter

Weeds

True Blood

midwinter · January 15, 2009 11:56AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by addabox

Incorrect. Put that away and get The Wire, which is simply without peer. All five seasons have aired, so you can watch from start to finish.

I'm not lying. You'll thank me.

Absolutely. The Wire is one of the greatest things that has ever been on television.

I need a good drama TV series recommendation.

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