I like seeing a group evolve and form good friendships. I also like sci fi and weirdness. For these reasons, two of my favorite shows are The Expanse and Severance. In both, by the end, I felt like I was “part of the team” in some way.
What are a couple of your favorites? What kind of itch do they scratch?
The X-Files because childhood and Gillian Anderson.
Star Trek TNG because childhood and Gates McFadden.
My favorite shows are the shows I can binge over and over and over and they’re still tons of fun, with enough complexity and depth to still reveal something new after dozens of viewings.
In no particular order:
The Orville
Psych
Community
Bob’s Burgers
Archer
Eureka
Rick & Morty
Home Movies
Warehouse 13
Joe Pera Talks With You
Also, my wife and I watch Friends together a lot.Honorable mention:
Continuum
Gravity Falls
Roswell (yeah it was from my time)So nice to see another Eureka/Warehouse 13 fan. Those shows are like perfect comfort food to me.
Nice!
Joe Pera Talks With You
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Pera_Talks_with_You
https://www.adultswim.com/videos/joe-pera-talks-with-you
https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Pera-Talks-With-You/dp/B0B75L86ZG/
I was pretty bummed when it got canceled because it really got me through some hard times. What’s there holds up beautifully, however.
It starts off as a Mr. Rogers type vehicle that quickly veers off into strangeness. Joes propensity to talk to the camera like Mr. Rogers, and his propensity to explain human emotions by relating them to scientific ideas like the formation of rocks made this show weirdly comforting for me. It’s also just plain goofy.
It also includes Conner O’Malley in the cast and as one of the writers. O’Malley is like if BBC documentarian Adam Curtis instead made David Lynch-esque experimental comedy. He was on a few episodes of Detroiters with Tim Robinson and is in a handful of I Think You Should Leave sketches (in my opinion, most notably in “Honk if you’re horny”). For being such a strange guy, he wrote some of the most heartfelt stuff in Joe Pera.
Joes voice is extremely calming to me, and his timing and delivery genuinely kill me. I’ve had very few comedians that had me crying over something genuinely sweet and sad and then be able to make laugh a few moments later.
I hear people describe shows like Ted Lasso as “kind television” and I think Joe Pera Talks With You fits in that same niche. It’s very loving and doesn’t seem to really put anyone down and shows off a quiet, beautiful Michigan community. Despite not being from Marquette, originally, Joe has a lot of love for the area, it’s clear.
This sounds wonderful.
Such a fantastic show, killed in its prime:(
The Leftovers. If I were to ever put together a top 10 list of personal favorites, this would be at the top then in a distant second I could start ranking the rest. I love how fully realized its concepts were. I love how it stuck true to its convictions right up to the end. I love the mashup of science fiction and fantasy and grief and contemporary life. I love the beautiful Max Richter score. For a show that starts pretty bleak in the first few episodes you really feel the love and warmth by the end of the series and the discovery of inner piece.
I always like to add this caveat to anyone jumping in, the first half of season one can be tough. Episode 3 is a good taste of what the show is at its best and episode 6 is one of the best in the series and the point where most people are fully hooked.
I’ve been wanting to watch it and your comment makes me want to see it even more.
I don’t live in the US anymore and Max doesn’t have English subtitles for some of their shows in my region, which is pretty annoying. Including for the Leftovers! That’s why I’ve been putting off seeing it. Haha. Ugh. It’s funny because I check it again every once in a while to see if there are English subtitles, which is how bad I wanna see the show.
Avatar The Last Airbender. An animated series with a complete story arch that takes place in a unique world. The characters are very relatable and have great development over time, even the villians are better than what most shows have. The animation is sophisticated in the way it is used to help tell the story, and the story is wonderful, it hooks you in from the intro:
“*Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.”
Hell, the villains have more character development than protagonists in other shows.
Also Uncle Iroh, it possibly the greatest male role model in TV.
Amen to Uncle Iron. I legit teared up when he had his short in Ba Sing Se.
Leaves from the Vine is the most “try not to cry, cry a lot” moment in any show for me.
This show truly deserves all the praise. My older brother used to watch it back in its time, and I couldn’t understand how a 30-ish year old could watch cartoons like that.
15 years passed and someone recommends it. One day, while recovering from some cold in bed, I put Avatar out of boredom, some days after that recommendation. Damn. First couple of chapters are not very strong, but enough to keep digging. As these are short episodes, it really doesn’t matter. But the ending of the first season? That is art.
Batman: The Animated Series
Unique art style (it was drawn on black paper), excellent writing, excellent voice acting.
Inequivocal yes! Grew up with Batman:TAS.
Batman: TAS was and is dope. The entire DCAU is the best adaptation of comic books to date. There’s a reason Alan Moore was happy to give his approval to For the Man Who Has Everything.
Shout out to Dwayne McDuffie too. Passed too soon.
Expanse was great. Firefly was also great. A good series about relationships was NightSky, sort of a slower paced show about an elderly couple with a hint of SCI-FI.
If you liked The Expanse, check out For All Mankind.
It feels almost like a prequel, set a couple of hundred years before the events in the series.
Came here to make sure For All Mankind was mentioned. I had so much fun watching this.
Thanks
Thanks
Futurama!
Farscape. Always farscape.
Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. From the sound of it if you haven’t already watched them you would really like them. Sci fi and definitely has the group/team evolving aspect.
Seconding Stargate, ideal for what OP is looking for.
Also Firefly for something with similar energy.
Firefly
And by the end I feel like it almost started.
Too soon, man…
But seriously, it is tragically short, but worth it. And at least they managed to tie up things with the movie.
Better Call Saul. I find it so amazing how they were able to take an existing (brilliant in its own right) story, and extend it in both past and the future. It fits in so nicely. There are very few (if any) plot holes, and the story is enjoyable in its own right. Add to that the superb acting of almost everyone, and the elite cinematography. I don’t think there’s a single aspect of this show that I don’t like.
Don’t get me wrong. Breaking Bad is fantastic.
I enjoyed Better Call Saul more
I’m always hesitant to watch Better Call Saul knowing that Walt ruined everything anyways. I wished i watched it before BB
There are a few moments that nod straight to Breaking Bad though, like Tuco’s entry. It had me fanboying and hyped for the directing/writing especially across shows. I also feel like you can really get a sense of the writers’ personal development coming off of Breaking Bad, like they refined so much that was already some of the best TV. And the contrast between Walt’s unreal saga and how Saul is so humanized; he’s deeply flawed but just a guy trying to make it.
I really need to finish Better Call Saul.
Monk, Psych, white collar and Frasier are probably my most favorite shows ever. They have all the things i want in a show, comedy and some drama, and really immersed me into the plot
You know that’s right.
Westworld (Season 1). The other seasons are good and have great moments but season 1 is special.
Yeah season 1 was so good, it got worse after which is a shame
Poirot. It’s charming, full of mostly subtle humor, and generally just well written, acted, and produced. I appreciate that it has a deeply humane perspective where justice matters, and that effort has been put into historical accuracy. It’s also sufficiently detached from contemporary reality that its not a downer to watch even though it still has a very honest view of human nature.
You want The Good Place
Yup, a lot of great shows are being thrown around, but a good place captures everything you want - growing friendships and relationships, unravelling weirdness, and being a part of the team.
