"Recommend Seil Some Half Decent Television" or "Because He Needs Something To Do"

[Seil]

Oh, God, what do normal people do?

It's only been recently that I've gotten an actual, real person, grown up job. I'm making actual money - enough to pay every bill and rent and groceries and still have enough pennies left over to do stuff.

...Well, Canada got rid of pennies a while ago, but you know what I mean.

And because I'm hopeless and shy and easily excitable, I'm using that money to buy booze and box sets - and digitally remastered versions of The Princess Bride. Look for my next thread "Reasons why Princess Bride is the best movie of all time." Anyway, I don't watch a lot of teevee, but the box sets that people have recommended to me are

Supernatural (Because Misha Collins is adorable - and also because I like Constantine and the concept of supernatural beings and fights and knights and heroes and damsels in distress and damsels who kick ass.)



The Walking Dead (Not really sure on this - every zombie thing I've seen has been like Lifeboat or that one episode of Doctor Who on the diamond planet. I hate that sort of thing.)
Gargoyles (I'm buying this anyway, because Gargoyles)
Luther (Idris Elba.)
American Horror Story (Horror. Bit put off because different seasons, different stories, same actors.)
Mythbusters (Because Mythbusters)
Sons Of Anarchy (The music is lovely)

I'm already buying for Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Game of Thrones. I already own Clone High, Undergrads and Titus. What else is new?

---------- Post added at 03:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:55 AM ----------

I'm not overtly fond of sitcoms, because I like like crazy action over awkward situations and mix ups (which, in my experience, is about 90% of sitcoms) (even though Seinfeld was kind of cool about it) which is why I'm skipping through most of The Big Bang Theory S7.

I liked TBBT because I could relate to being a nerd, being bullied and being single, and in the first few seasons it was cute and silly and all comic book references whereas other sitcoms were "He's fat, she's fat, they're obese!" and one of the things that I think is important is that TBBT, along with Marvel movies actually made nerd culture cool and acceptable. Yes, stereotypes and misogyny, but every sitcom in the last twenty years.

[Satan's Onion]

I can't speak for the rest of the seasons, but American Horror Story: Coven is fantastic--a laugh a minute for me and my mother. Best laughs I've had in ages.

[Seil]

What about the "horror" part?

[Aldurin]

Not necessarily new but also not as widespread as it should be, you should check out Burn Notice, which finished its final season about a year back. The premise is that Michael Weston is a CIA operative who was recently blacklisted, unable to hold a proper job or bank account while also not being able to leave Miami due to government monitoring, having to resort to odd jobs while trying to figure out what's going on. The episodes are less about spy stuff than you'd expect, it's more of a MacGuyver-for-hire-but-for-good-people-to-swindle-criminals formula with the main story of the actual burn notice being on the side throughout. The acting is actually pretty good from the main cast of Jeffrey Donovan (an odd-jobs actor who hasn't really had the spotlight before this), Bruce Campbell (finally he acts a role where he isn't cheesy as hell, though he's still the manchild of the main cast) and Gabrielle Anwar (another actor where this is their biggest gig), and the way they handle the narration and shake up the formula keeps it from getting old over the seven seasons.

It's on Netflix, so I highly recommend you knock yourself out on it.

[Raem]

Boston Legal was surprisingly good, if you like House M.D.-esque law firm dramas without a lot of attention to detail. Really the cast is what makes it great. (Seriously, James Spader and William Shatner are both great in this.)

[mauve]

The first two seasons of Person of Interest were good. Season three was a disappointment ("Hey, remember that scary crazy lady who was the ultimate villain in the season finale? Let's make her part of our team and then make her the Most Important Character!!" "I see nothing wrong with this!"), and I haven't bothered watching Season Four.

Edit; If you're a Batman person, the 1960's TV series with Adam West went on the market as a boxed set for the first time this month. It's a little spendy ($170ish) though. Batman the Animated Series sells in four boxed sets, all of them are good except for #4 (personal opinion) and they tend to run in the $20-$30 range each, depending on where you find them.

[Satan's Onion]

Originally Posted by Seil

What about the "horror" part?

Well, that's the thing--when it wasn't making me laugh, I personally didn't find it terribly horrifying. It's possible that I'm just hard to impress, though.

Your enjoyment may also depend on how much you like the work of Stevie Nicks, as she and her music play a surprisingly significant role in the events of the season.

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

Bob Ross' Joy of Painting. That and any documentary with David Attenborough or Carl Sagan.

Everything else is garbage.

[Seil]

Burn Notice

Really? Is that good? I saw the Mythbusters thing but thought Californication?

Boston Legal

I admit that I have little interest in legal shows unless the prosecute turns into a robot, or the defendant was buried alive or Chi McBride was the principal of a school in another show that I've always remembered growing up. (Where Fyvush Finkel played a history professor to a troubled student and deliberately fed her wrong information because he knew she'd research to call him on it, and then after that confrontation, told her she'd passed her history examination.)

Person of Interest

Damn it, Mauve, you would make me Amazon something.

Well *thhhhbbbbbttt.*

I'm actually surprised you didn't recommend The Twilight Zone or MST3LK.

Bob Ross' Joy of Painting. That and any documentary with David Attenborough or Carl Sagan.

[Aldurin]

Originally Posted by Seil

Really? Is that good? I saw the Mythbusters thing but thought Californication?

Not familiar with Californication, but I'd say that Burn Notice's quality is less than the quality-written HBO dramas people are used to, and that it's more like a bag of really high-end potato chips more than it's emotion-evoking art like Breaking Thrones and It's Always Sunny In The Wire. Most of the episodes play out very similarly but I never felt like any of them were wasting my time. Even the mini-movie that's focused completely on Bruce Campbell's character's backstory was a decent watch (Netflix puts this with the normal Burn Notice episode list in it's proper chronological spot, which is convenient). You'll probably like it best as a show to fall back on when you're not in the middle of any of the top-tier shows. I'd say watch through at least the first five episodes to see if it's something you'd like.