My answer is HBO’s The Wire. It has originality, superb character development, authenticity, terrific plot variations, and really great filming.
I think my second choice would be Waking the Dead which is only available in the U.S. via BBC America. Trevor Eve and his team are really fun to watch, the plots are diverse and unusual, and the characters are loaded with believability (i.e. cracked human vessels).
[url=http://www.aetv.com/intervention/index.jsp]Intervention[/url]. If you’re an addict or if you’ve ever been involved with an addict, then this is the show for you. Because of its graphic content and language, I think almost every middle schooler would benefit from seeing at least one episode. The show thoroughly deglamourizes addicts and their substances of choice. It candidly shows the destruction that substance abuse brings to a family. And last, but most importantly, it shows that there is hope, not just Obama-hope, but real hope.
The last season was fairly weak, but the first season was some of the best television I’ve ever seen.
Some have dismissed it as soap-opera-ish, but that really is not accurate. The extended plots about various characters give the viewer a sense of their need for redemption, and the ways in which the island provides the possibilities for redemption.
A group of people find themselves in an environment they don’t really understand, and they must figure how to cope with it on order to survive. Their reactions run the gamut of human responses to life. In the process, each person has to face himself and his/her own character, desires and choices. The ongoing themes examine the nature of good and evil, selfishness, sin, altruism and love. Some characters keep claiming, “We are the good guys” when quite clearly they do evil things. The other important theme questions to what extent free will and destiny interact. Two leading characters exemplify faith and rationalism. There is a pervading sense that everyone moves between God and the devil — an idea which was presented like the opening chapters of the Book of Job in this season’s finale.
Besides this, the casting and acting are truly excellent and the production values are amazing.
But the recurring statement that really grabs me is the summary of the need for interdependence and trust in order for anyone to survive: “We have to learn to live together or we will all die alone.”
My wife and I always note that God is almost never mentioned as a source of help and support in any TV shows, especially the reality shows. It is always human effort, problem-solving, success and overcoming the odds, and we get all the glory, which is the opposite world view we should have as Christians. The good we do is only of any value if it is in, by and through Christ living in us. Whenever a “higher power†is mentioned on TV, it goes nameless, like The Force in Star Wars.
Anyway, I realize I forgot to say above the reason we like M*A*S*H and Makeover. In M*A*S*H, we have come to know the characters so well they are like family. It is almost always funny and touching. Also, Father Mulcahy is right on, theologically and humanly. With Extreme Makeover Home Edition, although usually way over the top, it is encouraging to see people in desperate situations get help from their community. God is sometimes mentioned. It blows me away to see them build, finish and furnish a house in seven days. But I still can’t figure out how they can work on fresh concrete so soon after it is poured?
I’ll second Mythbusters; but the show that surprised me recently was The Big Bang Theory. From the trailers I thought it would be a generic sit-com at the expense of geeks, but it’s cleverly written and the show actually knows its geek culture.
Last season, speaking of geeks, I was avidly following Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles which was doing interesting things with the characters and the mythology of the Terminator franchise; and I thought that Lena Headey (playing Sarah Connor) in particular was doing a great job with her role. This season I’ve been pressed for time so I’ve saved all the episodes on my Tivo, waiting until I can do a marathon; so I don’t know if the second season kept up to the level of the first or not.
I did make time to follow Dollhouse as well, although I expected it to be cancelled pretty much out of the gate; surprisingly it ran its season and astonishingly FOX even renewed it. I can’t say it’s a great show, but if you like Joss Whedon’s work (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) it’s not bad.
Lost – definitely Lost. This show is intelligent, always keep us guessing and uses literature references in a way that are smartly integrated into the story line but also inspire us to look them up – thus we are educated by this series. We also like the Christian themes interwoven into the plot. In addition, the character development is marvelous – rich, complicated and when appropriate humorous. We miss Sawyer’s nick names and hope the writer’s get back to that again – nice diversion – and we love Hugo’s humor. He’s really very funny, dude.
We do not find Lost a soap opera at all, but a fascinating mystery. We can’t wait until next year to see how it all ends. We own the DVDs and will watch the series again and again to bit up the nuances we missed the first time around.
For new TV shows, I love “Deadliest Catch” but, like Jeffersonian, I can’t really explain why other then it keeps my attention and reminds me of my mother who introduced me to the show. I am also a long time M*A*S*H fan. It shows humanity in a variety of lights. I have all 11 seasons on DVD. When there is nothing worth watching on TV, there is always a M*A*S*H DVD!
Kings on NBC.
Has the quality to have been on HBO but is reaching a wider view.
This is the story of David and Saul right out of the Book with God’s will actually mentioned as a motivation for action!
Catch up with the beginning episodes on the web and be ready for the new ones beginning in June.
For what’s current running, I’ll second “Mythbusters.” The science is interesting, and the great joy they take in blowing things up reminds me of my daughter’s eighth grade science teacher.
Though it is no longer on the air, I can’t get enough of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” We’ve got lots of them on DVD, and for those we don’t, we’re currently running through Netflix’s extensive collection. Sure, anyone can get edified by “Casablanca” or “Citizen Kane,” but how many people can say they’ve sat through enough screenings of “Space Mutiny,” “Manos: The Hands of Fate,” or “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” to be able to quote the dialogue (from the ‘bots, not the characters)?
“The Deadliest Catch” and it is not even close. Hard men doing hard work in terrible conditions makes my life seem like a dream. I’d like to see some big game hunting in Afganistan. That would put you on the edge of your seat and get the adrenaline going.
I like Mythbusters only when they are shooting at the Master Lock with various and sundry firearms. I am waiting for them to try out a serious handgun like my .460 S&W;Magnum. They do like the fire and explosions. Someday the show will probably merge with “Future Weapons” Actually my favorites are Monsterquest which no one else will admit that they watch and the first season of Ice Road Truckers. I always pulled for Alex to win.
“Dollhouse” and “Castle”. The first because Joss Whedon is such a weirdo I can’t wait for what his spooky mind will come up with next, and the second, because Nathan Fillion was robbed when “Firefly” (my all time favorite TV show) was cancelled. As far as why “Firefly” is my fave – what’s not to like about horses in space?
I knew there was a reason I liked hanging out here. Mythbusters is big at our house too, although our Favorites list on the DVR is long. Doctor Who was my husband’s favorite show growing up so we watch that obsessively, along with it’s offshoots, Torchwood and Sarah Jane. My favorites currently are Dollhouse (love Joss!) and NCIS, although I really like Numbers, too, because of the family dynamic. However, nothing currently on TV elicits the passion I had for Buffy and Veronica Mars. I’ve heard The Wire is some of the best television ever made, but I tend to watch escapist fare. It helps lighten my mood after spending my days caring for 2 special needs kids. I think the last serious movie we watched was The Constant Gardener. For us, entertainment has to be fun (for example, we’ve seen Star Trek twice since it came out) and mostly brainless; we just don’t have the emotional energy for anything else.
Crabby, wasn’t “Ariel” from Firefly one of the best hours of television ever? I cry every time I watch it. “Innocence” from Buffy gets me the same way. Forgiveness needs to look like that, or it has no real meaning.
Best I’m not sure, but lately I’ve enjoyed watching the cartoon [i]Phineas & Ferb[/i] on Disney with my kids. Love the secret superspy pet platypus, Perry, foiling the fumbling evil mastermind wannabe Dr. Doofenschmirtz schtick. http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/phineasandferb/
Reminds me of watching [i]Rocky & Bullwinkle[/i] in my youth.
#30. optimus prime,
Fess up O.P. you must watch “Transformers” and being Canadian you have to watch at least one episode of “Ice Road Truckers”. (Remember the local content law in Canada?)
Ok, true enough … I am a big Transformers fan! When I was a kid, I also quite liked North of 60. I’m not hugely into Ice Road Truckers, but I do love survivorman. I think they fill up a lot of Canadian content with hockey and Blue Jays games – yuck to both (I’m a Yankees fan).
But I got my share of US TV: My parents made me watch reruns of Magnum PI and the first Star Trek, but I was a big fan of the Next Generation – that was a childhood favorite.
I find now that I like British TV much better than Canadian or American TV. Best show I’ve seen in a long time (on youtube) is Gideon’s Daughter (Bill Nighy – Victor from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans).
#27 Sarah: Yeah, that was good, but my favorite was “The Message”. Funny and very, very sad. Of course “Our Mrs. Reynolds” and “Trash” rank as two of the funniest episodes ever written for TV. I’m just a Browncoat, I guess! Ever go to Serenity screenings?
NCIS — who can’t love the interaction between the main characters, and it has a catchy mystery to solve as well! The cast is super interesting: a Goth Forensic Scientist (actress Pauley Perrette actually has a criminology degree); a former U.N.C.L.E. agent medical examiner (although he never admits it); a wisecracking senior agent who has never fully grown up and who matches wits with a savvy Mossad ex-Assassin who mangles American idomatic phrases; and a computer geek who is also a best-selling novelist! And of course, the wise, all knowing team leader whose dad is John Walton, Sr.!
Mythbusters — you learn things while seeing high explosives employed.
Top Gear (BBC) You learn things and are entertained while seeing high priced cars misused (think Monty Python meets Car & Driver).
Doctor Who — intergalactic adventure, time travel, a space/time ship that is bigger on the inside than on the outside, off the wall humor and aliens that look like salt-shakers on steroids.
Lost — Gilligan’s Island gone evil. Definitely a morality play, it looks like they are going to bring in an Egyptian mythos into the story line. Also involves time travel.
So many of my favorite shows are no more. So my tv viewing has been cut back. IMO, there hasn’t been a decent family sit-com on TV since “Home Improvement” went off the air.
ooops, forgot “BONES”. I do like that one of the characters has a strong Christian outlook, although FBI Agent Seeley Booth’s morality slips regularly, his profession of faith stays strong. This is contrasted to Tempe “Bones” Brennen’s totally rationalistic, scientific outlook that has no room for religion or faith.
Based on Kathy Reich’s series of books, but the characters and story lines are totally different in the TV series than in the books.
Caveat: This last season has not been that good, however, as they focused more on character’s sex lives than on solving the mysteries.
#32. optimus prime
I’m on the Fresno County Search and Rescue team and Les Stroud had an episode where he was “Lost in the Sierras” and found by the neighboring Madera County SAR Team. His program is legitimate. but Bear Grylls, from Man vs. Wild will get you killed if you use his tactics. (like jumping in an icy steam to float downstream). Additionally there is frequently a crew member’s shadow betraying the fact that he is not alone. Bear has a nicer demeanor that Les, probably because Les has eaten more raw caterpillars and grubs.
#35. libraryjim,
[blockquote]This last season has not been that good, however, as they focused more on character’s sex lives than on solving the mysteries.[/blockquote]
Were you referring to TEC?
I’ve not seen Man vs. Wild is it on OLN (or the American equivalent? I can’t remember what channel comes through in what country any more!) Was Les actually rescued by the Madera SAR team, or was this part of the show?
You must get some interesting rescues. When I lived in NC, I was on the Wake Canine SAR team – our rescues were not something of TV notoriety! In Canada all SAR work is done by the police – for some reason they don’t allow civilians (except in BC and out East I think) to do SAR.
#38.optimus prime
Here’s a clip from the Discovery Channel of Bear Gryll catching and eating a fish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRTIkj5HF90.
Les allowed himself to be discovered.
There’s enough citizens in the U.S. to use them for SAR. What’s the big deal if some perish. In Canada it would be too much of a hit to the population.
On Facebook and got reminded of another of my current faves: Leverage. Love the way the Timothy Hutton basically got conned into becoming a con man and how he and his crew have become like Robin Hood and his Merry (Mighty, to those who know middle English) Men (and Women!) Lots of good plot twists that I don’t see coming (a basic ingredient if you want my attention), love the regular characters (very flawed, but who of us isn’t?), and good laughs. Coming back on TNT for their 2nd season in July! (guess you guys have figured out I don’t watch much network TV?) Love this thread!
I have to say LOST, for several reasons. First, its overall quality is excellent . . . it continually reaches for far more than many of the better series in TV history and usually succeeds. Second, some of the performances are among the best you’ll see anywhere. Michael Emerson deserves all the Emmys anyone could receive for shaping and driving the LOST creative team’s conception of one of the most complicated, subtle characters ever seen in any work of fiction, Benjamin Linus. Every move Emerson makes and every inflection he uses communicates volumes.
More importantly, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and the rest of the creative team have succeeded in creating an adult mythology that resonates with people at a very deep level. For older Generation Xers such as myself, this is our Forrest Gump: just as that film’s impact was largely based on its role as a vehicle for baby boomers to relive the important cultural and historical events of their lives up into the early 1980s, LOST takes us Xers through our life events, though primarily through pop culture references and in a more fantastical context.
Finally, I don’t think any other show than LOST is more valuable for gauging the spirituality, hopes, and dreams of our times. Strip everything else away and LOST is ultimately nothing if not a six-season-long plea for a truce in the war between science and faith — and in that sense a call for the end of the culture wars — from non-Christians. That makes the show extremely important.
And one last thing — LOST is a great advertisement for books, as literary references abound and characters are always reading books related to the drama unfolding. (The most recent book nod, in the season finale, was to Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converge.)
As far as I can tell, there are NO good shows on television – unless you regard broadcasting sporting events as “shows.” And even then, this hardly qualifies as good. In a desert, even a weed is green.
I am astonished frankly at some of the “shows” being touted here.
Here’s the only good rule: Turn the damned thing off and go outdoors.
Reality is better than amusement. Larry
Larry – The point is that my reality is rather painful. I need the distraction of fiction.
Dcn Dale – I was born and raised in Fresno, although I’ve been in NJ for 11 years now. I’m always glad to hear news of the Valley.
Crabby-never been to a screening. Two small children really put a damper on our social life. 🙂 My friends keep telling me they will eventually grow up and we’ll be able to go out and do more. Some days I believe them.
My answer is HBO’s The Wire. It has originality, superb character development, authenticity, terrific plot variations, and really great filming.
I think my second choice would be Waking the Dead which is only available in the U.S. via BBC America. Trevor Eve and his team are really fun to watch, the plots are diverse and unusual, and the characters are loaded with believability (i.e. cracked human vessels).
Never get tired of watching MASH reruns. For contemporary shows, we like Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
[url=http://www.aetv.com/intervention/index.jsp]Intervention[/url]. If you’re an addict or if you’ve ever been involved with an addict, then this is the show for you. Because of its graphic content and language, I think almost every middle schooler would benefit from seeing at least one episode. The show thoroughly deglamourizes addicts and their substances of choice. It candidly shows the destruction that substance abuse brings to a family. And last, but most importantly, it shows that there is hope, not just Obama-hope, but real hope.
The last season was fairly weak, but the first season was some of the best television I’ve ever seen.
Prison Break. The acting is some of the best on television. Mahone, the rogue FBI agent’s moral struggles are worth the shortcomings in the plot.
I have to come in for [b]LOST[/b]
Some have dismissed it as soap-opera-ish, but that really is not accurate. The extended plots about various characters give the viewer a sense of their need for redemption, and the ways in which the island provides the possibilities for redemption.
A group of people find themselves in an environment they don’t really understand, and they must figure how to cope with it on order to survive. Their reactions run the gamut of human responses to life. In the process, each person has to face himself and his/her own character, desires and choices. The ongoing themes examine the nature of good and evil, selfishness, sin, altruism and love. Some characters keep claiming, “We are the good guys” when quite clearly they do evil things. The other important theme questions to what extent free will and destiny interact. Two leading characters exemplify faith and rationalism. There is a pervading sense that everyone moves between God and the devil — an idea which was presented like the opening chapters of the Book of Job in this season’s finale.
Besides this, the casting and acting are truly excellent and the production values are amazing.
But the recurring statement that really grabs me is the summary of the need for interdependence and trust in order for anyone to survive: “We have to learn to live together or we will all die alone.”
Or just:” “Live together; die alone.”
It’s our choice… or maybe our destiny.
Yeah.
Lie to me
Creighton+ Always. Or sometimes I might be telling the truth. Or maybe that’s a lie. 😉
Stanley Cup Playoffs
My wife and I always note that God is almost never mentioned as a source of help and support in any TV shows, especially the reality shows. It is always human effort, problem-solving, success and overcoming the odds, and we get all the glory, which is the opposite world view we should have as Christians. The good we do is only of any value if it is in, by and through Christ living in us. Whenever a “higher power†is mentioned on TV, it goes nameless, like The Force in Star Wars.
Anyway, I realize I forgot to say above the reason we like M*A*S*H and Makeover. In M*A*S*H, we have come to know the characters so well they are like family. It is almost always funny and touching. Also, Father Mulcahy is right on, theologically and humanly. With Extreme Makeover Home Edition, although usually way over the top, it is encouraging to see people in desperate situations get help from their community. God is sometimes mentioned. It blows me away to see them build, finish and furnish a house in seven days. But I still can’t figure out how they can work on fresh concrete so soon after it is poured?
I can’t explain why, but I can’t turn off the TV when “Deadliest Catch” is on.
Mythbusters
How can you not love a show where they blow something up almost every week?
#10 – Us, too. We even bought a whole season of Deadliest Catch on DVD!!
I’ll second Mythbusters; but the show that surprised me recently was The Big Bang Theory. From the trailers I thought it would be a generic sit-com at the expense of geeks, but it’s cleverly written and the show actually knows its geek culture.
Last season, speaking of geeks, I was avidly following Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles which was doing interesting things with the characters and the mythology of the Terminator franchise; and I thought that Lena Headey (playing Sarah Connor) in particular was doing a great job with her role. This season I’ve been pressed for time so I’ve saved all the episodes on my Tivo, waiting until I can do a marathon; so I don’t know if the second season kept up to the level of the first or not.
I did make time to follow Dollhouse as well, although I expected it to be cancelled pretty much out of the gate; surprisingly it ran its season and astonishingly FOX even renewed it. I can’t say it’s a great show, but if you like Joss Whedon’s work (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) it’s not bad.
Lost – definitely Lost. This show is intelligent, always keep us guessing and uses literature references in a way that are smartly integrated into the story line but also inspire us to look them up – thus we are educated by this series. We also like the Christian themes interwoven into the plot. In addition, the character development is marvelous – rich, complicated and when appropriate humorous. We miss Sawyer’s nick names and hope the writer’s get back to that again – nice diversion – and we love Hugo’s humor. He’s really very funny, dude.
We do not find Lost a soap opera at all, but a fascinating mystery. We can’t wait until next year to see how it all ends. We own the DVDs and will watch the series again and again to bit up the nuances we missed the first time around.
Overall, excellent compelling TV drama.
Sorry – didn’t mean “bit up” – where was my brain – but “catch.”
For new TV shows, I love “Deadliest Catch” but, like Jeffersonian, I can’t really explain why other then it keeps my attention and reminds me of my mother who introduced me to the show. I am also a long time M*A*S*H fan. It shows humanity in a variety of lights. I have all 11 seasons on DVD. When there is nothing worth watching on TV, there is always a M*A*S*H DVD!
Kings on NBC.
Has the quality to have been on HBO but is reaching a wider view.
This is the story of David and Saul right out of the Book with God’s will actually mentioned as a motivation for action!
Catch up with the beginning episodes on the web and be ready for the new ones beginning in June.
We don’t have TV but we do rent series episodes on Netflix. Is there a time frame limit or does it have to be a currently airing show?
For what’s current running, I’ll second “Mythbusters.” The science is interesting, and the great joy they take in blowing things up reminds me of my daughter’s eighth grade science teacher.
Though it is no longer on the air, I can’t get enough of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” We’ve got lots of them on DVD, and for those we don’t, we’re currently running through Netflix’s extensive collection. Sure, anyone can get edified by “Casablanca” or “Citizen Kane,” but how many people can say they’ve sat through enough screenings of “Space Mutiny,” “Manos: The Hands of Fate,” or “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” to be able to quote the dialogue (from the ‘bots, not the characters)?
Paula,
Try
http://www.nbc.com/Kings/video/categories/season-1/1060605/
it is free.
Love Mythbusters. Lots of fun
David # 19 A bunch of us used to watch MST3K on Saturday mornings in seminary. It was a useful method of trying to stay sane.
Favorite moment:
Character in a Greek Mythology Euro-drama: “He must do this. It has been decreed by the gods”
Tom Servo: “Oh. So he’s a Calvinist Greek.”
And also:
“C’mon, bots — Joel has a plan for your life.”
Or,
Manos, Hands of Fate: “Oh no. They’re doing liturgical dance.”
“The Deadliest Catch” and it is not even close. Hard men doing hard work in terrible conditions makes my life seem like a dream. I’d like to see some big game hunting in Afganistan. That would put you on the edge of your seat and get the adrenaline going.
I like Mythbusters only when they are shooting at the Master Lock with various and sundry firearms. I am waiting for them to try out a serious handgun like my .460 S&W;Magnum. They do like the fire and explosions. Someday the show will probably merge with “Future Weapons” Actually my favorites are Monsterquest which no one else will admit that they watch and the first season of Ice Road Truckers. I always pulled for Alex to win.
“Dollhouse” and “Castle”. The first because Joss Whedon is such a weirdo I can’t wait for what his spooky mind will come up with next, and the second, because Nathan Fillion was robbed when “Firefly” (my all time favorite TV show) was cancelled. As far as why “Firefly” is my fave – what’s not to like about horses in space?
I knew there was a reason I liked hanging out here. Mythbusters is big at our house too, although our Favorites list on the DVR is long. Doctor Who was my husband’s favorite show growing up so we watch that obsessively, along with it’s offshoots, Torchwood and Sarah Jane. My favorites currently are Dollhouse (love Joss!) and NCIS, although I really like Numbers, too, because of the family dynamic. However, nothing currently on TV elicits the passion I had for Buffy and Veronica Mars. I’ve heard The Wire is some of the best television ever made, but I tend to watch escapist fare. It helps lighten my mood after spending my days caring for 2 special needs kids. I think the last serious movie we watched was The Constant Gardener. For us, entertainment has to be fun (for example, we’ve seen Star Trek twice since it came out) and mostly brainless; we just don’t have the emotional energy for anything else.
Crabby, wasn’t “Ariel” from Firefly one of the best hours of television ever? I cry every time I watch it. “Innocence” from Buffy gets me the same way. Forgiveness needs to look like that, or it has no real meaning.
Best I’m not sure, but lately I’ve enjoyed watching the cartoon [i]Phineas & Ferb[/i] on Disney with my kids. Love the secret superspy pet platypus, Perry, foiling the fumbling evil mastermind wannabe Dr. Doofenschmirtz schtick.
http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/phineasandferb/
Reminds me of watching [i]Rocky & Bullwinkle[/i] in my youth.
Peace,
-ms
What, no nominations for [i]The Tudors [/i] on Showtime?
http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do
The Ultimate Fighter – Nothing like watching a reality show based on the life of the Anglican Communion.
Premiership football on Saturdays – The greatest sport in the world. The greatest league in the world. Need I say more.
Law and Order SVU – great acting, strong and convincing story lines. Richard Beltzer, Finn Tutuola (Ice T).
#30. optimus prime,
Fess up O.P. you must watch “Transformers” and being Canadian you have to watch at least one episode of “Ice Road Truckers”. (Remember the local content law in Canada?)
#31 Dcn Dale,
Ok, true enough … I am a big Transformers fan! When I was a kid, I also quite liked North of 60. I’m not hugely into Ice Road Truckers, but I do love survivorman. I think they fill up a lot of Canadian content with hockey and Blue Jays games – yuck to both (I’m a Yankees fan).
But I got my share of US TV: My parents made me watch reruns of Magnum PI and the first Star Trek, but I was a big fan of the Next Generation – that was a childhood favorite.
I find now that I like British TV much better than Canadian or American TV. Best show I’ve seen in a long time (on youtube) is Gideon’s Daughter (Bill Nighy – Victor from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans).
#27 Sarah: Yeah, that was good, but my favorite was “The Message”. Funny and very, very sad. Of course “Our Mrs. Reynolds” and “Trash” rank as two of the funniest episodes ever written for TV. I’m just a Browncoat, I guess! Ever go to Serenity screenings?
NCIS — who can’t love the interaction between the main characters, and it has a catchy mystery to solve as well! The cast is super interesting: a Goth Forensic Scientist (actress Pauley Perrette actually has a criminology degree); a former U.N.C.L.E. agent medical examiner (although he never admits it); a wisecracking senior agent who has never fully grown up and who matches wits with a savvy Mossad ex-Assassin who mangles American idomatic phrases; and a computer geek who is also a best-selling novelist! And of course, the wise, all knowing team leader whose dad is John Walton, Sr.!
Mythbusters — you learn things while seeing high explosives employed.
Top Gear (BBC) You learn things and are entertained while seeing high priced cars misused (think Monty Python meets Car & Driver).
Doctor Who — intergalactic adventure, time travel, a space/time ship that is bigger on the inside than on the outside, off the wall humor and aliens that look like salt-shakers on steroids.
Lost — Gilligan’s Island gone evil. Definitely a morality play, it looks like they are going to bring in an Egyptian mythos into the story line. Also involves time travel.
So many of my favorite shows are no more. So my tv viewing has been cut back. IMO, there hasn’t been a decent family sit-com on TV since “Home Improvement” went off the air.
Jim Elliott
Florida
ooops, forgot “BONES”. I do like that one of the characters has a strong Christian outlook, although FBI Agent Seeley Booth’s morality slips regularly, his profession of faith stays strong. This is contrasted to Tempe “Bones” Brennen’s totally rationalistic, scientific outlook that has no room for religion or faith.
Based on Kathy Reich’s series of books, but the characters and story lines are totally different in the TV series than in the books.
Caveat: This last season has not been that good, however, as they focused more on character’s sex lives than on solving the mysteries.
#32. optimus prime
I’m on the Fresno County Search and Rescue team and Les Stroud had an episode where he was “Lost in the Sierras” and found by the neighboring Madera County SAR Team. His program is legitimate. but Bear Grylls, from Man vs. Wild will get you killed if you use his tactics. (like jumping in an icy steam to float downstream). Additionally there is frequently a crew member’s shadow betraying the fact that he is not alone. Bear has a nicer demeanor that Les, probably because Les has eaten more raw caterpillars and grubs.
#35. libraryjim,
[blockquote]This last season has not been that good, however, as they focused more on character’s sex lives than on solving the mysteries.[/blockquote]
Were you referring to TEC?
#36 Dcn Dale,
I’ve not seen Man vs. Wild is it on OLN (or the American equivalent? I can’t remember what channel comes through in what country any more!) Was Les actually rescued by the Madera SAR team, or was this part of the show?
You must get some interesting rescues. When I lived in NC, I was on the Wake Canine SAR team – our rescues were not something of TV notoriety! In Canada all SAR work is done by the police – for some reason they don’t allow civilians (except in BC and out East I think) to do SAR.
#38.optimus prime
Here’s a clip from the Discovery Channel of Bear Gryll catching and eating a fish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRTIkj5HF90.
Les allowed himself to be discovered.
There’s enough citizens in the U.S. to use them for SAR. What’s the big deal if some perish. In Canada it would be too much of a hit to the population.
LOL – geez!
It’d be great if they did a reality SAR show.
On Facebook and got reminded of another of my current faves: Leverage. Love the way the Timothy Hutton basically got conned into becoming a con man and how he and his crew have become like Robin Hood and his Merry (Mighty, to those who know middle English) Men (and Women!) Lots of good plot twists that I don’t see coming (a basic ingredient if you want my attention), love the regular characters (very flawed, but who of us isn’t?), and good laughs. Coming back on TNT for their 2nd season in July! (guess you guys have figured out I don’t watch much network TV?) Love this thread!
I have to say LOST, for several reasons. First, its overall quality is excellent . . . it continually reaches for far more than many of the better series in TV history and usually succeeds. Second, some of the performances are among the best you’ll see anywhere. Michael Emerson deserves all the Emmys anyone could receive for shaping and driving the LOST creative team’s conception of one of the most complicated, subtle characters ever seen in any work of fiction, Benjamin Linus. Every move Emerson makes and every inflection he uses communicates volumes.
More importantly, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and the rest of the creative team have succeeded in creating an adult mythology that resonates with people at a very deep level. For older Generation Xers such as myself, this is our Forrest Gump: just as that film’s impact was largely based on its role as a vehicle for baby boomers to relive the important cultural and historical events of their lives up into the early 1980s, LOST takes us Xers through our life events, though primarily through pop culture references and in a more fantastical context.
Finally, I don’t think any other show than LOST is more valuable for gauging the spirituality, hopes, and dreams of our times. Strip everything else away and LOST is ultimately nothing if not a six-season-long plea for a truce in the war between science and faith — and in that sense a call for the end of the culture wars — from non-Christians. That makes the show extremely important.
And one last thing — LOST is a great advertisement for books, as literary references abound and characters are always reading books related to the drama unfolding. (The most recent book nod, in the season finale, was to Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converge.)
As far as I can tell, there are NO good shows on television – unless you regard broadcasting sporting events as “shows.” And even then, this hardly qualifies as good. In a desert, even a weed is green.
I am astonished frankly at some of the “shows” being touted here.
Here’s the only good rule: Turn the damned thing off and go outdoors.
Reality is better than amusement. Larry
Larry – The point is that my reality is rather painful. I need the distraction of fiction.
Dcn Dale – I was born and raised in Fresno, although I’ve been in NJ for 11 years now. I’m always glad to hear news of the Valley.
Crabby-never been to a screening. Two small children really put a damper on our social life. 🙂 My friends keep telling me they will eventually grow up and we’ll be able to go out and do more. Some days I believe them.
#45. Sarha7nj,
Hi back, we are fast approaching the “no clouds” season in Fresno. Enjoy the rain in NJ. Blessings