Cats and dogs, living together:
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive
Edited to add: Speaking of TV, any recs for good old movies, television shows, etc., on Netflix other streaming channels? I’ve finished “House of Cards,” which was entertaining if not great.
I didn’t watch TV for years, so there are multi-season shows I never saw that I can now watch at my leisure. I discovered “The West Wing” just last year and binge-watched all seven years’ worth in a couple of months. Ditto “The Sopranos,” which I think is arguably one of the best series, ever.
I’m watching “Orange Is the New Black,” and while it’s okay, it doesn’t live up to the hype, in my opinion. Yesterday, I watched a movie, “Waking Ned Devine,” which I’d seen ages ago — highly recommended.
[H/T: The Colbert Report via Gawker]
PsiFighter37
Saw this via Colbert’s Facebook page. Funny as usual, but it’s very heartwarming to see folks in a small town – people that (to be frank and honest) I would stereotype into being on the ‘burn the gays at the stake’ bandwagon – make the argument about treating gay people the same as everyone else in as simple – yet elegant – fashion that cosmopolitan urban elitists like myself wish we could do with the same sort of authenticity.
Bravo, citizens of Vicco.
The Moar You Know
Goddamnit, stop putting autoplay stuff on the front page. Now I gotta be off Balloon Juice for the rest of the day.
PsiFighter37
@The Moar You Know: I’m not getting any autoplay on Waterfox, but maybe that’s because my browser is fucked up when it comes to Flash-based shit already.
Spike
We used to go to Vicco to buy beer, back in the days when Perry County was the only wet county in eastern Kentucky.
Villago Delenda Est
Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
Best Trek, evah.
David in NY
@Spike: “only wet county in eastern Kentucky” Ah, ha!
Betty Cracker
@The Moar You Know: I’m not seeing autoplay on Chrome either, nor was the video where I copied the embed autoplay. I’ll check in the back room. Sorry.
ETA: I think maybe it’s your settings? Anyone else getting autoplay?
PsiFighter37
In response to your ETA – House of Cards was phenomenal. The problem is, once they revealed Spacey was a Democrat (it was hard to figure it out until they made it clear), I kept thinking of what his real-life analogue would be. The only one I could think of was John Spratt, because he represented SC for a long time in a red district.
And low and behold, I just Googled and found that the series creator used Spratt as his inspiration. When you’re a politics junkie, you can become real good at this shit.
The Fat Kate Middleton
Four suggestions, Betty, all on Netflix streaming: Breaking Bad, Damages, Doc Martin, and Luther. The last, in particular, will utterly consume your evenings.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Have you watched the original, British House of Cards? I bailed on the Spacey version, not least because I didn’t see any of the dark humor (humour?) that infused the original.
Also, too, the White House got its solar panels back. I am resisting the Kosbagger urge to say “finally”.
Betty Cracker
@The Fat Kate Middleton: Thank you! I am already a Breaking Bad junkie, but I haven’t seen the others.
KG
Not sure about old shows on the streaming sites. I’m sort of, kind of, almost, buying into Broadchurch which is apparently available on itunes, so I’m guessing it’s on the others. As for movies, stumbled across Juan de los Muertos on one of the versions of HBO the other day. It’s basically a Cuban version of Shaun of the Dead – I was sold after this exchange:
Mom: you can’t charge for killing them
Juan: we’re Cuban, it’s what we do.
Granted, being of the Cuban persuasion probably leads me to think it’s funnier than it actually is. And not sure it quite lives up to Shaun of the Dead.
Chris
If you’re into science fiction, try Continuum – my latest find.
imonlylurking
#1: Twin Cities meetup August 24th, I’m thinking 4pm-ish? Suggestions for locations are Sawatdee St Paul, Bulldogs, and Shamrocks.
#2 If you are looking for an unexpectedly-good movie, give ‘The Last Exorcism II’ a try. Seriously-it won’t be what you think. We enjoyed it a LOT.
Belafon
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: By saying it in quotes?
? Martin
I have multiple friends who have binge watched Buffy, which landed in the same time period as West Wing.
imonlylurking
@imonlylurking: @KG: Have you seen Fido? It’s one of the better zombie moves out there.
? Martin
@The Moar You Know: Put a Flash click-through plug in (doesn’t load the content unless you explicitly click on it). Not only does it suppress a fuckton of ads, it prevents autoplay from ever happening.
imonlylurking
@imonlylurking: Oh, FFS. I need to go home.
schrodinger's cat
Another vote for DS9 the Best Trek Ever.
BBC shows Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, they are pretty old but very funny.
Chat Noir
One of my all time favorites is “Absolutely Fabulous.” 20+ years later, it’s still LOL funny. I have watched each series multiple times and they never fail to make me laugh.
jacy
Terriers.
My favorite show ever. It was only one season on FX, but it wraps up in a complete arc.
Other Favorites: Justified, Being Human (British Version), Luther, In The Flesh.
Rectify is a series that just finished its 6-episode original run on Sundance and was renewed. No idea if it’s on Netflix.
Betty Cracker
@? Martin: Are you getting auto-play too? I’m not, and I tested it in three different browsers (Chrome, Safari and Exploder).
NCSteve
The Americans, on FX. Best spy show in the history of American broadcast television.
And just one season to catch up on.
E
Don’t give up on Orange is the New Black. I almost did maybe two or three shows in and by the time I finished was quite taken by it. I think that show deals with race, gender, class, and ancillary things like solitary confinement better than any cultural production I have ever seen. And unlike House of Cards it isn”t a 45-minute long informercial for cigarettes and Apple products.
LanceThruster
I really enjoyed LEXX.
Adolphus
If you liked West Wing, maybe you might enjoy Sports Night. It only ran a couple of seasons so you could binge it in a day.
There were some really good Australian movies around the same time as Waking Ned Devine as I recall. Muriel’s Wedding, Love Serenade, Strictly Ballroom, etc. I would also recommend the original Japanese version of Shall We Dance?
Also: No autoplay here on Safari or Chrome.
ETA: No one else has said Firefly, so I will. And early Joss Whedon effort Titan A.E. is pretty good imho and of course Dr. Horrible.
Betty Cracker
@Chat Noir: A cat after my own heart: I can quote AbFab scripts line for line.
Birthmarker
Prime Suspect with Helen Mirran is good.
If you like Breaking Bad, you will probably like The Wire, though The Wire is harder to get into. Takes at least 3 episodes.
then it just blows you away.
Treme is pretty good, about post Katrina New Orleans. It has many of the same actors as The Wire.
Yatsuno
@schrodinger’s cat: “As Time Goes By”. Love me some Dame Judi being brilliantly funny.
schrodinger's cat
@NCSteve: Speaking of Spy Stories, I recently saw Smiley’s People and Tinker, tailor with Alec Guinness, both were wonderful.
Jill
@The Fat Kate Middleton:
Second the Luther recommendation. Really good. I also read that they shot four more episodes which are being shown sometime in September.
Betty Cracker
@Birthmarker: I have to give “The Wire” another shot. I saw the first couple and was kinda “meh,” but many people whose opinions I respect say it’s the bees knees.
NCSteve
@schrodinger’s cat: Two of the reasons I doubled back and added “American” as a qualifier to “best.”
Judybird
“The Wire”. May take a little while to get into, but hands down the best-written thing that’s ever been on TV.
MikeJ
@Adolphus: I was going to suggest Sports Night. Have you noticed that The Newsroom is almost the same show, but less comedy? First, both based on Olbermann. Female producer with romantic history with the lead, crusty yet benign network exec, female junior producer having affair with stats nerd.
bad dad
“The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera” – It’s a recent movie done up to look like a really bad MST3K type movie. Many moments of intentional unintentional hilarity.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Chat Noir: And this reminds me of another recent find, although it’s only available on DVD: Sensitive Skin, starring Joanna Lumley of Ab Fab. What an amazing actress she is. And I am so frustrated Sensitive Skin was cancelled after the second season – it’s just a wonderful, wonderful series.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Jill: Yes!! I’ll be checking my Amazon Prime membership to see if I can access it early.
Adolphus
@MikeJ:
Never saw it. I don’t have HBO and I am backed up on my single DVD at-a-time queue.
I hate being unemployed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Birthmarker: another vote for Prime Suspect, which gets darker and meatier as it goes on, as I recall. And the Wire
the antibob
Top of the Lake (directed by Jane Campion) is excellent.
Splitting Image
I’m finishing up the 12-DVD set of Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes series, the pride and joy of my collection. Awesome stuff, although it hurts to see Brett ailing towards the end.
schrodinger's cat
@Yatsuno: Yes, I like that one too.
Some recommendations in honor of India’s Independence Day
The Jewel in Crown based on the books Raj Quartet by Paul Scott, on the last years of the British Raj in India, is pretty good.
The Indian TV series “Tamas” which means darkness in Hindi, based on Bhisham Sahni‘s book by the same name tackles the issue of partition without glossing over the atrocities on both sides and simple acts of kindness by ordinary people.
Jill
Also recommend, on Netflix:
The State Within
George Gently
Top of the Lake
Accused
The Fall – the one with Gillian Anderson, released in 2013, there are a bunch with the same title
Edward & Mrs. Simpson
The Grand
Starfish
I am sorry. I know a lot of people like House of Cards, but I can’t get past Spacey’s accent. It annoyed me so very much.
daverave
We’re into the fifth and final season of The Wire right now. It’s pretty complex and gripping. I hope that the ending is somewhat satisfactory and that a couple of the less sympathetic gangsters and politicians get capped ;-)
Adolphus
Now that I think of it, if you didn’t have TV in the 90’s give NYPD Blue a try, or another try. It contains creative efforts of a lot of people who went on to make the “Golden Age of TV Drama ” possible including David Simon who went on to The Wire, Generation Kill and Treme and David Milch who went on to create Deadwood. Focus on the Jimmy Smits years. There is one episode in particular that contains an awesome performance by Giancarlo Espisito as a proto-Omar Little (That’s a Wire reference) that was written by Simon that is just outstanding and you can see his vision for The Wire take shape (epsecially when you consider he was working on Homicide at the same time with a character called Luther Mahoney that gets separated into two people, Stringer and Avon, for The Wire.
Also recommended: Generation Kill, Deadwood, and Homicide:Life on the Streets
Chat Noir
@Birthmarker: Love Breaking Bad, The Wire, and Treme. And you’re correct about The Wire in that it takes a couple few episodes to understand what’s happening and get to know the characters but then, BOOM, awesome storytelling and acting. I love Bunk Moreland.
bk
Burn Notice.
J.D. Rhoades
@PsiFighter37:
The fact that they’ve known the guy all their lives makes all the difference. It’s a lot harder to hate or fear a group when you’re lifelong friends with a member of that group.
shelly
Religious reasons? Or did somebody kick in the screen?
********
Recommends? ‘Doc Martin’ a British com/drama
Birthmarker
@Betty Cracker: The Wire has a huge cast-like 30 people. I had a terrible time getting the young black males and the older white males all straightened out . I never did get the police chief, the mayoral aide, and a few others completely straight.
That being said, each season covers a different aspect of urban living.
One season deals with unions, one with city and state politics, one with the media, one with education, etc. Then the drugs overshadow them all. It really is worth a watch. You just can’t multitask while you watch it. You will get lost.
The acting and writing is fantastic. Some of the characters are electrifying. Omar, Striker, so many others.
lamh36
#1000000001 recommendation of Luther. It def sucks u into a marathon viewing.
Also rec Strictly Ballroom for a great movie
If ur looking for a good Primetime drama ala Revenge or Greys Anatomy then I also suggest Scandal. The first season is only 7 eps I believe but they will have you hooked. I fought the hype around it for a long time but buckled down and watched it, ended up watching all of 1st season and waiting for season 2 on Netflix
Oh and I saw all the Prime Suspect series when they aired on PBS. They were fantastic.
andrew long
besides The Wire, Battlestar Galactica. People say Friday Night Lights, by I just don’t know. Certainly Dexter for at least 3 seasons. you might also try The Good Wife and Scandal.
Scout211
I loved every episode of every year of “Scrubs” and so did my daughter, who is now 33 and has the complete DVD set.
Funny, clever, heartwarming, topical.
The best.
gogol's wife
The clip is not on autoplay for me, but it is very well worth watching. Very touching.
I second recommendations for Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue in the Smits years. And the other day a few of us here were extolling the great, great Wiseguy, although I have no idea whether it’s available in any way, shape, or form. You can see Kevin Spacey before he got too affected, and wonderful Ray Sharkey, and fabulous Jonathan Banks as the sidekick. And Ken Wahl is pretty good eye candy.
Jill
@The Fat Kate Middleton:
I heard an ad for it and while I wasn’t paying full attention it seemed like they were going to show all four of the new episodes, in late September, back to back. I also read Idris Elba is interested in portraying more of the character’s backstory, so there’s some discussion about doing a Luther movie.
Birthmarker
Oh and on The Wire-Marlo has to be one of the most sociopathic characters ever. He makes the Breaking Bad characters look warm and fuzzy.
ET
I agree with anyone who recommended Homicide, Wiseguy, George Gently, Prime Suspect. I would also recommend Inspector Lewis, Inspector Morse and currently showing on BBC America – Copper.
And then my guilty pleasure of Buffy, Angel and Firefly.
Maeve
Dollhouse, streaming on Netflix, two seasons but at the end of each season they have a flash forward so you get some resolution.
Watching the English being human right now on amazon prime.
Foyles War is one I wished I hadn’t watched yet just so I could watch it again
Prime suspect through the years
Life on Mars, the English version, seems to no longer be amazon prime, but was the original reason I subscribed, after watching the American version on Netflix.
Other Brit shows, wire in the blood, touching evil, Sherlock ( with Benedict cumberbatch), Vera, blue murder, dr who of course, torch wood,
Amazon prime is good for British tv shows
? Martin
@Betty Cracker: No, I block Flash as I described. Flash is like cancer for your computer.
kbuttle
Justified. So good.
Jill
A few more on Netflix I highly recommend:
The Forsyth Saga
Lillie
Wire in the Blood – with Robson Green
MI-5
Life
The Finder
Kingdom – with Stephen Fry – it’s a lot like Doc Martin
And these are also on air now
Foyles War
Call the Midwife
Ripper Street
Dave C
Another vote for The Wire and Buffy. The two shows could hardly be more different, but I adore them both.
kzoostout
Don’t know if you can stream these, but all of these shows are great, IMHO.
Comedy: Flight of the Conchords, Arrested Development, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock
Drama: Game of Thrones, The Killing, Homeland, Justified, Boardwalk Empire, Treme, Rome, Breaking Bad, Deadwood, Mad Men, The Wire (Best. Show. Ever.)
tulip
there have been a ton of Wire recommendations and I will chime in… though I have to be honest I could only get through season 3, the one about education. For lighter fare (fair?) I would try Coupling, a BBC comedy that is absolutely hilarious.
Hill Street Blues
Firefly and Serenity (I loved these!)
Early Fraiser
It may not be cool, but I like How I Met Your Mother, there are some uneven episodes, but I think overall it’s a good sitcom… Neil Patrick Harris always steals any scenes he is in, I actually like his character and story arc a lot better than Ted’s.
A fun movie that I watched recently is District 19 (I think JC recommended it) total brain fade but exceptionally fun. Also True Believer with James Woods and a young Robert Downey Jr.
geg6
You can’t do better than the first two seasons (and only the first two) of Wiseguy. Ray Sharkey and Kevin Spacey are just mesmerizing. And Ken Wahl is fucking hot.
Another Wire vote. Be patient and you won’t be disappointed.
Burn Notice is great fun. I adore Fiona and would like to gay marry her. Michael ain’t too shabby either.
Maeve
If you like firefly, Farscape who knew that alians mostlly have Australia n accents?
Maeve
If you like firefly, Farscape who knew that alians mostlly have Australia n accents?
David
The Wire, Luther, Doc Martin. I’m surprised no one has said Sherlock, which our whole family enjoyed. Also IT Crowd, which is very funny. Other things we’ve binge-watched: Psych, Monk, Mad Men, The Killing, Breaking Bad, Arrested Development (the new season is pretty good, but takes a few episodes to get going). I agree with someone above — Kevin Spacey’s accent made House of Cards unwatchable for me.
Peggy Ichinose
Yes on the Wire & Luther, Sherlock, the Fall, Wallander, any of the contemporary BBC mysteries like Prime Suspect or Blue Murder, Call the Midwife, yes on Justified but I don’t think that’s on Netflix, sadly. The Shield (netflix?) is pretty good, seconded on Sports Night & Firefly. I love the Dr. Who reboot, YMMV. I stream a lot of tv to watch while I am sewing, btw, I am not a total couch slug!
Jeff Lipton
No love for The Shield? That was a fine show with a great ensemble cast.
Scrubs really lost it its last season. I wouldn’t bother.
NotMax
No idea whatsoever what may or may not be on Netflix. What follows is an off the top of the head short list both recent and not so recent (not necessarily “the best,” but rather enjoyed enough to be memorable – will probably think of dozens more right after clicking the button, but so it goes).
Films:
Advertising Rules
Baghdad Cafe
Brassed Off
Europa, Europa
Jeffrey
Movie Movie
Smoke Signals
Tampopo
The Stunt Man
TV mini-series/TV movies:
Brideshead Revisited (1981 version)
I, Claudius
Lost For Words
Martin Chuzzlewit
TV series:
Archer (animated)
Babylon 5
Being Human (UK, first 3 seasons only)
Black Adder (UK)
Misfits (UK)
Pushing Daisies
Wild Boys (Australia)
Wonderfalls
Betty Cracker
@shelly: Nothing like that — I just couldn’t commit to watching at a certain time. I still watched cooking shows, old movies, etc. Now that I can stream stuff whenever it suits me, I can check out series.
Thanks, all, for the great suggestions.
pacem appellant
IT Crowd, Sherlock (with Cumberbatch and Freeman), David Tennant’s Dr. Who, Gavin and Stacy (surprisingly sweet and funny), and Arrested Development.
Off Netflix, check out Elementary with Lucy Liu, a Sherlock Holmes retelling. It ain’t Cumberbatch’s Sherlock, but it has its moments.
tesslibrarian
@Maeve: Oh, I loved the UK’s Life on Mars. I was sorry it was only two seasons, but could see how they didn’t want to run it into the ground.
The Wire takes a few episodes to get into–but after that, it was the only thing we wanted to watch. My husband usually falls asleep by 10pm; we’d be up until 3am if it meant we could get another dvd sooner.
Doc Martin is great, and simply beautiful setting, with 5 or 6 seasons on Netflix streaming. You will want to move to Cornwall.
We recently spent the evening with some old movies: Notorious with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman is my favorite, but also Suspicion with Joan Fontaine; old Humphrey Bogart pictures are fun (Key Largo, The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, Casablanca); and political thrillers: Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May. We rented Advise & Consent (it features a cameo by a young Betty White!) but I fell asleep.
jamick6000
Kind of annoyed that The West Wing was mentioned in the same paragraph as the Sopranos.
JoyceH
Streaming suggestions:
Drop Dead Diva. Bones. Jericho. Lie To Me. Burn Notice.
I’m just about to finish up Burn Notice, or at least all that’s available on streaming, and telling myself that I’m going to watch some movies for a while. The problem with streaming series is that it’s just so… immersive.
hitchhiker
Netflix favorites
The Politician’s Wife (actually it was a mini-series on BBC)
How to Survive a Plague (history of the AIDS fight, so powerful & enraging & beautiful all at once. . . reminds me why I hated Reagan so much)
My So-Called LIfe (Claire Danes as a 15-yr-old; good writing)
Also, I had to watch The Wire with subtitles . . . it helps a lot and it’s worth trying again. Really the best television ever.
I cannot see the appeal of Madmen. Don’t get it. The dialogue is cringeworthy in every bloody scene! Close your eyes and listen for 10 minutes if you don’t believe me. This is just very bad soap opera, people.
Betty Cracker
@jamick6000: Why? Both were great series. Different, but both good. Now you can tell me which is shit in your opinion…
John from Minneapolis
If you’ve never watched “30 Rock,” do. All episodes except the last season of 12 are on Netflix. There are 123 available — I know, cuz I’ve probably watched ’em all twice. It’s very funny and the acting by Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Jane Krakowski is superb. I can even tolerate Tracy Morgan in this show, which I didn’t think was possible.
MazeDancer
“Any Day Now” is a terrific movie streaming on Netflix. Stars Alan Cumming, who is mesmerizing. And even sings.(He plays a singer, it is not a musical.) What a voice he has.
It is the story of a gay couple trying to adopt in the ’70’s. Vividly dramatizes how far we’ve come.
@Adolphus:
“Sports Night” is fabulous. One of Sorkin’s best. Where I first encountered another The Good Wife star – wonderful Josh Charles.
Note to new viewers – the irritating laugh track is, thankfully, removed from Sports Night around the 3rd episode.
John from Minneapolis
@Scout211: I agree. I went through a depressed period a few years ago — I discovered Scrubs in reruns; a local station showed two eps back to back every night from 11 to midnight. For about 18 months, I watched that hour of Scrubs just about every night. It’s funny, whimsical and very human.
John from Minneapolis
@Splitting Image: LOVE Brett as Sherlock. The best ever, no question. He throws in all these bizarre little tics, and it works.
Kathleen
@lamh36: Scandal! Yes!!! Season 2 finale – Yikes. Totally did not expect it. Also, too, Nashville. That is all.
Shana
A few of my favorites, some TV, some movies, in no particular order: The Women (the original), Auntie Mame, Spaced (British TV), Lost in Austen (British TV), The Critic (American TV), Talk of the Town, Charade, Walk Don’t Run. I’m not sure if any of them are available on streaming.
AkaDad
After Deadwood, The Wire, Justified, The Newsroom, Luther and The Americans you should check these out.
Orphan Black – The lead actor, Tatiana Maslany, is freakishly talented.
Haven – Based on a Stephen King short story.
Eureka – A comedy about a secret town full of genius’ working on scientific R&D for the Government.
Supernatural – A show about two brothers who hunt demons and ghosts.
Banshee – Ex-con and master thief assumes the identity of a murdered sheriff.
Utopia – Disturbing British drama with a premise I wont spoil. It’s better not knowing
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Babylon 5,DS9,BSG,Farscape,MI5,new Who, West Wing, Sports Night, Strike Back, Dr. Katz, Homicide:Life on the Street, The Wire, Samurai Jack, The Job.
jamick6000
@Betty Cracker: Sopranos is the best TV show of all time IMO. Didn’t like the West Wing!
jamick6000
one of my favorite Sopranos scenes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it2cdDsp908
Wil
@Villago Delenda Est:
Ugh. Barely qualifies as Star Trek.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Wil: BLASPHEMER!
Wil
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Sorry Cap’n. Science officer’s job to report the facts and all…
Stella B.
I lived a television free lifestyle for decades too. Thumbs up on the suggestion of Doc Martin and Luther, but add Wallander, too. There is one more season each of Wallander and Doc Martin that will be available next fall. I’m a physician so Doc Martin had me in stitches. I’m watching Midsomer Murders and Spiral on Netflix and planning on Rosemary and Thyme next.
Gwangung
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): He’s looking to be stranded on the far side of the worm hole….
Bex
BBC’s The Hour about a BBC news show in the ’50s. Three seasons and more to come.
dewzke
Castle only if you DVR and skip the ads. Funny, well produced and always good.
Karen C
A series I haven’t seen mentioned here that may be my favorite tv series ever is Slings and Arrows, a Canadian tv series starring David Tennant about an Ashland, Or style Shakespeare theater company. Fabulous acting, great character development, wonderful plots about the role of art in our lives, plus what it is like to run a non profit. Very, very fun
Paddy
@Jeff Lipton: Love for The Shield here. The final ep was just the perfect ending.
Paddy
@pacem appellant: Awww, Gavin and Stacey. Another one that I thought finished up wonderfully.
NotMax
Vege-out time-filling comedic TV fluff:
Red Dwarf
Hot In Cleveland
Little Mosque On the Prairie
Going way back, and still laugh out loud funny after all these years:
Car 54, Where Are You? (TV series – avoid the execrable movie at all costs)
Constance
Waking Ned Devine–love, love, love it. Also recommend Sordid Lives, which in Palm Springs was treated like the Rocky Horror Show. Funny as hell. Great cast.
NotMax
2 more lesser-known movies that ought to be at least mentioned, IMHO:
Stepping Out
State & Main
James E. Powell
One of my favorite obscure films: Cold Comfort Farm
Gus
@Birthmarker: Agreed. A really fine and chilling performance by Jamie Hector.
FlipYrWhig
Is Freaks and Geeks too obvious? Because I don’t think anyone mentioned it and it’s the best thing ever, featuring, when they were fresh and before they became self-parodies, James Franco being stoned and squinty and Seth Rogen being shlumpy and self-deprecating. But the girls/women are some of the better female characters created for TV.
Birthmarker
I watch everything with captions on. Really helps with picking up nuance. Drives the better-hearing younguns crazy.
My all time top three tv shows-The Wire, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad (which I am on Season 3.) All three have similar themes. The world is painted in shades of grey. We don’t know the compromises we will make when faced with difficult situations that threaten our loved ones or our own sense of self preservation.
I like Mad Men b/c I lived so much of the cultural stuff. (Like the smoking when pregnant.) Back in the old days women were fired for being pregnant. I had a lady tell me she took diet pills to not gain weight when pregnant so she wouldn’t lose her teaching job. This would have been in the 60’s or 70’s.
I also like how they tie it up with the ad campaigns–which were the actual ads for those products!!
Bill Murray
I suggest
1. The best show ever on AMC — Remember WENN – comedy set at a ~WW2 radio station in Pittsburgh
2. Hustle – British equivalent to Leverage
3. The Gravy Train — BBC comedy about EU politics
4. Nero Wolfe Mysteries with Tim Hutton
manyakitty
@Betty Cracker: Both the Wire and Deadwood take several episodes to catch most people, but they’re well worth the effort. Deadwood, especially, bears close watching. It elevated vulgarity to an art form, and listening to Ian McShane let loose just makes me happy.
rachel
I’m rather enjoying Person of Interest these days.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
NewsRadio. Funniest show on tv in the last twenty years- if not longer.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Shana:
Oh, yeah, Spaced is really good.
Beatrice
@Bex: No, sorry to say, no more to come. Recently read that it has been cancelled.
FlipYrWhig
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): I forgot how much I loved that show. Phil Hartman RIP.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@FlipYrWhig:
Yeah. Phil was great. *sigh*
The rest of the cast was pretty damned terrific, too. And the writing and direction- all those great choreographed physical bits they did!- were also fantastic.
zeecube
If you liked the Sopranos, check out the original miniseries on Netflix called Lilyhammer. Stevie van Zandt basically plays his “Silvio” character, as a mobster in the witness protection program who hides out in Norway. Hilarity and mayhem ensue…
cosima
Perhaps someone has already mentioned these above (I’m non-techie and don’t know how to search threads).
Deadwood & Justified, so fabulous. We just finished watching the season finale of Justified’s season 4 last night (it gets to the UK later), and wow, this season blew me away. Watching Deadwood (we watched on DVD since it never got over to the UK as far as I know) was one of those “just one more episode!’ until about 2 a.m. every morning for a week. That was several years ago now.
And for some eye candy, lots of blowing things up, and some pretty good story lines, I suggest Strike Back. It’s not really my thing, definitely Mr. Cos’s line, but I watch it with him for the cute boys… The rally bad guy in one of the seasons is the Lannister dad from GoT (Tyrell?), and the first “season” which was more of an extended mini-series had Richard Armitage (swoon).
The little one (almost 9) & I watched Robin Hood (the BBC series) a while back — totally cheesy, but also something that can be watched with kids with a bit of enjoyment on the part of the parents. We had the series laying around because our teenager was into it back in the day — she’s now off at uni.
I don’t know anything about Luther, never heard of it, guess I’ll have to track it down.
Boss
Flight of the Living Dead. Straight-to-DVD zombies on an airplane, starts off like anyone might expect a zombie flick to start off but be patient because midway in, hoo boy. You’ll wanna watch it again after it’s over.
If you’re into that sort of thing. Which I am.
nemesis
Orange is the New Black is awful. Dont waste your time watching it. Why watch a show about women in prison?
And House of Cards is just bizarre. Spacey nd his wife play sociopaths who happen to be Democrats. Some of the political maneuvers are downright unbelieveable. Spacey and his wife engage in extra marital affairs and both are accepting and dare say comfortable with sexual indescrstions if it will further their ruthless quest for power. The message of this show is disturbing. Avoid at all costs.
Paul in KY
@David in NY: Perry County has always been the Marin County of Eastern Kentucky, dontachknow.
Ron
@pacem appellant: I would not restrict myself to Tennant’s run on Doctor Who. I would at the very least start with Eccleston and go up as far as you can get. (If you have Amazon prime, you can watch up though the first half of season 7 for free). The “classic” Doctor Who is great, but Netflix/Amazon have very little available. Dailymotion.com has a ton of episodes of classic Who though. I second the recommendation for Sherlock with Cumberbatch, Only 6 episodes out there so far, but it’s a great show. And Firefly is definitely up there. We’re watching that now, and are through 13 of the 14 episodes. I think it’s borderline criminal that they cancelled this show after one season.
NotMax
@Ron
Actually, there were 15 episodes scheduled but the show was cancelled after #12.
Nancy
24 is totally addictive.
Barry Rosenman
Love the Wire, Breaking Bad, and I would add Sons of Anarchy.
If you can stand subtitles, the French series Spirals is a great look at the French justice system which is so different than ours.
gravie
Lots of my favorites among those mentioned above, but particularly “Flight of the Conchords,” “Homicide: Life on the Streets,” and “Terriers.” It broke my heart when they dropped “Terriers” after its first and only season. Also: “The Closer” for fantastic writing, production values and cast, and I really liked the American version of “Life on Mars,” too.
Mustang Bobby
@Betty Cracker: Getting autoplay in Firefox, not in IEWhatever.
Kate
Haven’t seen anyone recommend “Lillyhammer” on Netflix. NY mobster goes to Norway under the witness protection program. Stars Steve Van Zandt so the music is good too.
Sondra
@PsiFighter37:
The orignial BBC version of the House of Cards was wonderful. Many of the characters were so sinister it was hard to tell what their motivation was.