Cable Shows

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Yorick

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I was talking to Taviow about Breaking Bad tonight which he's gotten me into over the last week (I wrapped up Season 2 tonight and I'm loving it) and it occurs to me that despite how much they get away with in terms of violence and darkness, shows that aren't on Network TV are just better. They often have shorter seasons, which helps keep focus, but really they just seem to have a goal of a) having actual arcs, and b) expecting to end sometime. They also seem to have a large degree of uniqueness to them.

So, let's talk about those. Which you love, why you love them. What I should be watching. Right now as I said I'm really digging Breaking Bad. I really love Dexter (and am impatiently awaiting Season 5) as well as Sons of Anarchy (though the S2 finale of that was incredibly week). So, yeah, what else is good? Tav mentioned "Mad Men" which is supposedly hailed as even better than Breaking Bad?
 
Been watching Damages a lot lately, comes on FX(or used to).
Great show about two lawyers(Glenn Close & Rose Byrne) having an interesting rivalry, extremely dark too.

Definitely need to watch Sons of Anarchy and Mad Men though.
 
Honestly, Damages is a good recommendation. Largely ignored show despite being great, and I don't know why. I've heard too many people criticizing it for being too complicated, maybe that's why.
 
Right now I'm really excited about Dexter season 5 and Eastbound and Down season 2, on Showtime and HBO respectively in this coming season (starting in the next couple months).
 
Mad Men is pretty entertaining alright.

Imma looking forward to A Game of Thrones from HBO.
 
Sons of Anarchy is pretty awesome. Ron Perlman's awesome. Also Rescue Me.
 
I was gonna make a new thread on Mad Men since one doesn't exist yet but saw this. Watch it, awesome show. I might be a bit biased since a lot of work I do has to do with marketing but despite that it really is an awesome show giving you a look at the 60s that you don't usually see including all it's racism, sexism, and just how totally ****ed up that society was.

Every show you mentioned I watched (many because of this place) and absolutely loved. So I don't think you'll be disappointed with Mad Men. I also can't wait for the new season of Dexter.

I did start watching Rubicon on AMC since they have such a good reputation of good shows and there is nothing else new on right now. First episode was kind of slow but after watching the new second episode last night I'm starting to enjoy this show quite a bit.
 
I watched the first few episodes of Mad Men. My favourite scene was when the child knocks over a drink. The man slaps his child across the face then tells him to go find his mother to clean it up.
 
I have many favorites, one that I loved was the little girl playing with a plastic bag over her head infront of their parents and the mom told her to take the bag and go play somewhere else. Or as the 2 kids were crawling around the front and back seats of the car as they were driving. Awesome stuff.
 
I watched all of 10 minutes of this show and I have wanted to watch mroe ever since. I'm going to find a way to do it.

Edit: I forgot to read this was also about Breaking Bad - one of the best shows on TV right now. Those writers need to win... just... everything. Bryan Cranston proved himself to be one of the best non-mainstream actors to ever show up.
 
You can't go wrong with any HBO show. It all depends on what you are looking for.


My personal favorites are,

Carnivale
Deadwood
Rome
Curb Your Enthusiasm

FX has some good shows too. You have already mentioned Sons of Anarchy. Check out The Riches too. It's about traveling Irish gypsies/con artists. It's a dark comedy series that's full of twists and turns. Lotsa great characters and good performances by Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. Sadly, only two seasons were produced. I am still trying to figure out why it was canceled since it had good ratings and a solid following. But hey, FX is part of the Fox Network. So, it's hardly a surprise.


If you want some great laughs that's on par with Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm, then check out the Canadian mockumentary show, Trailer Park Boys. I fell in love with it instantly.
It's even more enjoyable if you're baked.
 
I watched Mad Men for a while. I liked it but I was feeling rather worked and worn from college work at the time and I needed something less serious to relax my mind in my spare time. I would have kept watching had I felt I needed something a bit more inane to stop my brain from having a meltdown.
 
I watched 2 episodes of Damages thanks to this thread and that is a really great show, I'm suprised I haven't heard of it before. Based on the 2 episodes I've seen so far I would recommend people check it out.
 
Agree with Twixx, if anyone hasn't watched Rome yet: shame on you and do so ASAP
 
Mad Men is probably my favourite show on T.V.

I'm always swapping back and forth between this and Breaking Bad as my two favourites.

Watch Mad Men for the long-term character development and thematic writing. No show does thematic writing better than Mad Men. None.

Watch Breaking Bad if you want white-knuckle life-or-death situations that play out by having two characters in a room having a conversation. ****ing brilliant.
 
I'd really like to watch Rome but on the other hand, it was cancelled and I read the plans they had for its future and it just makes me not want to get into it for fear of disappointment and tv blue balls.

Going to be checking out Mad Men and probably Sons of Anarchy, I mean... is that really a good show? The premise sounded so silly.
 
Lucid said:
Going to be checking out Mad Men and probably Sons of Anarchy, I mean... is that really a good show? The premise sounded so silly.
Click to expand...

I was skeptical of Sons of Anarchy too, but ended up really liking it.

And I know what you mean about Rome, they did the same thing with Deadwood. They simply ended it without any kind of conclusion because HBO decided to cancel it (atleast thats what I read). Big disappointment but still worth watching.
 
Lucid said:
I'd really like to watch Rome but on the other hand, it was cancelled and I read the plans they had for its future and it just makes me not want to get into it for fear of disappointment and tv blue balls.
Click to expand...


You won't be disappointed. Yes, they mentioned a movie a few times but those plans are never going to come to fruition. They left the ending somewhat ambiguous but it ended on a good note.
 
I'll definitely give it a go then.
Watched the first episode and liked what I saw but, as I said, I read up on it afterwards and decided not to continue.

Gah, so many things to watch and so little time.
 
I can't tell if we're supposed to be talking about cable shows, like the thread title suggests, or premium channel shows, like the post suggests. Seems its been interpreted both ways in the replies, but I refuse to respond until this is clarified.


EDIT: Maybe just this

TwwIX said:
Yes, they mentioned a movie a few times but those plans are never going to come to fruition.
Click to expand...

http://screenrant.com/hbo-rome-movie-in-the-works-kofi-6228/
Is the Rome movie still moving ahead?

Ray Stevenson: Apparently so. It is no longer a smoke and mirrors rumor. The script is in full development. As you are probably aware, this is a pretty strange process. We could go into production in a year, or it could be as quick as six months. Who knows? It will happen. At least it is no longer a rumor. From what I have heard, they are nearing the end of script development. We shall see. We shall see.
Click to expand...

And the script was finished earlier this year.
 
I hope that comes to fruition. A Rome film would be ****ing amazing given the series best moments.
 
Krynn72 said:
I can't tell if we're supposed to be talking about cable shows, like the thread title suggests, or premium channel shows, like the post suggests. Seems its been interpreted both ways in the replies, but I refuse to respond until this is clarified.


EDIT: Maybe just this



http://screenrant.com/hbo-rome-movie-in-the-works-kofi-6228/


And the script was finished earlier this year.
Click to expand...


Ray Stevenson and that shitty site are hardly a reliable source.

Like i said, rumors.
 
A Rome film would definitely be a good thing , the series is some of the best TV, great cast -Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson and Ciarin Hinds are all superb and James Purefoy is excellent in it , good story telling ( no it's not 100% historically accurate but what the hell )

You get lots of gems and mid season stuff on cable which is if not good then certainly watchable. Spartacus Blood & Sand is no Rome but worth a giggle.

I love Burn Notice , good show. It has Ash in it. Dexter is always good , Sons of Anarchy , Breaking Bad are good as well.

Highly looking forward to Game of Thrones , if only for no other reason than we'll probably get to Dance of Dragons timeline story before Martin gets the sodding book published!
 
Hot Soup said:
A Rome film would definitely be a good thing , the series is some of the best TV, great cast -Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson and Ciarin Hinds are all superb and James Purefoy is excellent in it , good story telling ( no it's not 100% historically accurate but what the hell )

You get lots of gems and mid season stuff on cable which is if not good then certainly watchable. Spartacus Blood & Sand is no Rome but worth a giggle.

I love Burn Notice , good show. It has Ash in it. Dexter is always good , Sons of Anarchy , Breaking Bad are good as well.

Highly looking forward to Game of Thrones , if only for no other reason than we'll probably get to Dance of Dragons timeline story before Martin gets the sodding book published!
Click to expand...

I'm hoping that he'll get his ass in gear once the show starts and does well enough to do the next season. I mean, its been five years since the last book came out, and in five years from now the show will be on the A Dance with Dragons book. So that means he's gotta finish A Dance with Dragons, release it, then start AND finish the last two, release them, all in less than 7 years from now, or else HBO won't be able to keep a regular schedule.

Thats the biggest fear I have for the fate of the show. I think it will be wildly popular, have great ratings and DVD sales, but I'm worried that HBO might just end the show early figuring GRRM won't finish it in time (or at all.)
 
Yeah thats a fair point. I have a feeling Dance will be done next year , but who knows how long the rest will take. It'll also depend on season lengths and how much of each book goes into a season. As they are pretty bloody dense especially once they all start vying for the crown they could easily stretch.

I suspect it won't be a book per season
 
Jesus christ: the simpsons, mad man, rubicon, family guy, sons of anarchy, the office, dexter, weeds, always sunny in philadelphia, chuck, south park (coming up), that new HBO show about prohibition, and Im sure others I can't recall off the top of my head.

My DVR can't keep up, can only record 2 things at once. I haven't watched the new episodes of most of these shows yet. Anyone else feeling a bit overwhelmed by TV at this time?
 
I've started watching Deadwood, and Fringe to a lesser extent.
 
Except Fringe isn't a cable show. It's on Fox. :p

Also Deadwood has been on my sight for ages now. Will definitely check that out.
 
Deadwood is great. I like it almost as much as Rome, and it's in the same vein (historically "authentic" drama with loose basis on real people/events)

What I'm watching this TV season (which just started last week):
Dexter
Eastbound & Down
Always Sunny
Community
30 Rock
Big Bang Theory
 
Ennui, check out Boardwalk Empire too, it's great HBO programming.
 
Ennui said:
Deadwood is great. I like it almost as much as Rome, and it's in the same vein (historically "authentic" drama with loose basis on real people/events)
Click to expand...

I know it was canceled early. Did it end properly at least?

Also yeah, Boardwalk Empire is great. Pilot was aired just about a week ago on HBO. Definitely worth watching.
 
Carnivale is classy and moody fun. Takes place in 1920's depression era america, in a carnival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMqLks7qnew

Rome is one of the best of anything in televisions or movies. Costume and sets are epic, and storyline follows actual history very closely (by entertainment standards). Although it was cancelled after season 2, the writers managed to wrap up the story for the most part. But since it's based on history, we can look up what happens next anyway ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzd1szJLFoI
 
Deadwood had a decent ending.
Great show but you'll probably need a dictionary when watching it. :p
 
Jerry_111 said:
Carnivale is classy and moody fun. Takes place in 1920's depression era america, in a carnival.
Click to expand...

I loved the first season of Carnivale, but after hearing that it got canceled before having a chance to really go where it wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to get more invested in it.


No Limit said:
Jesus christ: the simpsons, mad man, rubicon, family guy, sons of anarchy, the office, dexter, weeds, always sunny in philadelphia, chuck, south park (coming up), that new HBO show about prohibition, and Im sure others I can't recall off the top of my head.

My DVR can't keep up, can only record 2 things at once. I haven't watched the new episodes of most of these shows yet. Anyone else feeling a bit overwhelmed by TV at this time?
Click to expand...

This is totally how I feel. That's the only good thing about Breaking Bad not starting up for a while.
 
Lucid said:
Deadwood had a decent ending.
Great show but you'll probably need a dictionary when watching it. :p
Click to expand...

You've always discouraged me regarding Deadwood. I'll just have to see it eventually.

No Limit said:
Jesus christ: the simpsons, mad man, rubicon, family guy, sons of anarchy, the office, dexter, weeds, always sunny in philadelphia, chuck, south park (coming up), that new HBO show about prohibition, and Im sure others I can't recall off the top of my head.
Click to expand...

Weren't you watching Damages, too? You should be.

I'll mention it forever.

Also, I feel it's worth mentioning that the 6th season of Weeds is actually pretty good. It's not the same show it was before, but hey, much better than seasons 4 and 5. It's actually fun to watch!
Plus, it's already been renewed for a 7th season. Oh shit.
 
DAMAGES IS SERIOUSLY GREAT YOU GUYS

Also good to hear that Weeds has picked up slightly. I was not a fan of the few season 3/4 episodes I saw.

[edit] No, really, Damages is quite good. The writing is fantastic, solid cast, great directing, intricate plotlines... it's one of my favourite shows right now.
 
Weeds is having a second breath, you're right. I'm still distant to it because it hurt me how bad it got from where it once was. The Big C is fantastic. I can't wait for Nurse Jackie to start up again. Louie is my most favorite show right now, and it's renewed for a second season!
 
Qonfused said:
Louie is my most favorite show right now, and it's renewed for a second season!
Click to expand...
**** yeah! I really can't get enough of Louis CK.

Boardwalk Empire is great, but the first episode cut out with about 20 minutes remaining, so I have to grab it again :(
 
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