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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
I haven't been watching much in terms of actual shows for a good while, then while listening to a podcast a host casually mentioned they had rewatched Chernobyl, how it still holds up, that there's a reason it got as much acclaim as it did, etc. So I thought I'd give it a go and wow, loved it (still one episode left to watch).
Had me thinking, what else have I missed out on? What are some "absolute cinema" TV shows that still hold up and and are considered must watch?
I wrote out a whole list for you then I accidentally deleted it. I was very proud of that list. Here’s a few:
Apple TV has a lot of really exceptional Sci-Fi if that’s your thing.
AND FINALLY. The weirdest most indescribable show of all time that will not make sense it is somehow a must watch for me:
Raised by Wolves
Most people won’t like that one. It is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a sci-fi show by Ridley Scott’s company and it feels like the plot was written by a Norwegian Death Metal band.
Androids raise children during the time of a religious war. One Android gives birth to a flying snake. A lady becomes a tree. A sea monster puts a baby into its chest cavity.
EDIT:
I get asked about recommendations a lot so after writing this, I decided to make a list. It’s not finished, I’ll add more over the next few days.
Halt and catch fire
Mr Robot
Silicon Valley
Is my modern tech trio
Fleabag - I can't believe I didn't see it yet in this thread. If you like Phoebe Waller-Bridge then you must see it, and if you're not familiar with her yet, this is a great show to get to know her humor. It's extremely funny and tugs on your emotions, mainly about love, trauma and family.
Comedy? Futurama (be ready to have your feels tickled)
More serious SF but still funny? The Orville
More more serious SF and not so funny, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Not at all funny and serious SF (anyone seeing a pattern?) Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009)
Extra credit serious SF, worth every hour, dated graphics and all, Babylon 5 Amazing stories, worth every minute it takes to watch it.
Chernobyl was a great show, yes, though technically so wrong on so many levels, but I guess it's in part to make it more exciting
Another recommendation: The Orville. The true successor to Star Trek TNG and DS9. Especially the first two seasons are amazingly good
Better than the rest
The Wire & Homicide: Life on the Street (David Simon Box Set)
Atlanta
The Expanse
Comedy
Sci-Fi
Drama
Intense Drama (TV-MA and little levity)
Anthology shows
Animated
Perpetually on deck for me
I forgot about Altered Carbon! That first season was amazing, and it's borderline criminal how shit the follow up season was.
Have you got your copy of Final Space: The Final Chapter yet?
bsg wouldve been better if they acknowledged the og series, but the showrunner is a "christian/mormon" so he had to insert a messianic message in the show, which rubbed some people the wrong way.
resident alien was fun, but being syfy they cancelled the show after season 4. they dint do ALAN TUDYK justice.
mythology/fantasy:
supernatural 1-5 by kripke, season 6-15 is very cheesy and very "sexualized by the fans to the point the writers just wrote it as a fanfiction.
Grimm, is too similar to SPN, but its fun its a niche way.
law drama: svu 1-S(when stabler left the show), the new seasons just dont hit as good as pre-2010s, mariska had to be asked to come back to the show with a significant PAY package(shes kinda done with the show). law and order CI with vincent d'nofrio, original, and another that never took off(LA a believe). i dont new cop shows can match these, as they are just mostly copaganda.
SCIF: Stark trek; DS9, TNG, enterprise, voyager.(dont really reccommend movies until you watch the series). Nutrek is just awful except the animated series.
american GODs, sand man, good omens.
the concept of american gods are very similar to other shows like spn, where gods gain power from followers worshipping them,sacrificing them and fade away if they lose followers.
Hold the damn phone:
“'Cowboy bebop' everybody's favorite film noir space (neo?)western. Dripping with cool. “
EXPLAIN THIS NEXT SENTENCE3
Remade a few years later in a historically accurate Japan right after the consolidation of the Tokugawa dynasty with arguably 10% less style and 30% tighter production.
With no regard to how big stuff is/was, because OP hadn't seen Chernobyl.
'Chernobyl' is up there. Brutal indictment of a hypercorrupt dying empire that only cares about power and is built almost entirely on lies contrasted with the people it happens to, who largely embody the ideals their government lies about; the heroism of a dead culture striving to save everyone from some of the fuckers who killed it.
'Andor' star wars, but about antifascism instead of wuxia bullshit or daddy issues. Some of the best TV ever made. Weaves in links to history and obscure star wars apocrypha. It's everything it should be and more with amazing layered deliberate fast-slow-fast pacing. There's a long-payoff joke that is also the serious culmination of the first season's meta-arc (the first season of that show would be about five seasons of anything else) and half the fans didn't even notice.
'Severance' or the ~decade earlier whedon-directed much more sex focused show it was linked to, 'dollhouse' if you need fast pace or a slightly more dramatic version of what the internet is now. Low-scifi corpo-surrealism about the ways we treat identity. The two versions come to very different conclusions.
'Scavengers' reign' beautiful uncanny man-vs-nature space narrative, haunting sound track, amazing in every way that matters.
'Westworld' only season 1. Its About Things. No not just the robots. They left some plot threads unresolved for season 2, but they're not really what's important and each season is exponentially worse, riding the first season's nonstop hitting. Season 2 is still okay I guess.
'daredevil' Netflix version, season 1 only. There's more but its not the same quality.
'Cowboy bebop' everybody's favorite film noir space (neo?)western. Dripping with cool. Remade a few years later in a historically accurate Japan right after the consolidation of the Tokugawa dynasty with arguably 10% less style and 30% tighter production.
'Kaos' though it was left extremely unfinished. High budget modern Greek mythology soup. As gay and misothiest as you would ex0ect if you had actually read any.
'Peacemaker' murder-himbo realizes he might be one of the bad guys while trying to save the world with/from the CIA immediately post-'the suicide squad'.
'Harley Quinn' batman villain fucks around, continues fucking around, occasionally finds out. But lesbianly, sharp unhinged comedy.
'Futurama' fox seasons/original run only. Occasionally heart wrenching SciFi comedy that's not trying to be as edgy as 'rick and Morty' later would. Definitely aged, but smart enough it's aged gracefully.
'True detective' season 1 only. The rest are fine, I guess. Southern Gothic neo-noir ambiguously fantasy.
'Star trek: deep space nine' a space station on the edge of falgsc utopia orbiting space-palestine as the toned down space zios do space-zio things. 90s in all the best ways and very few of the worst.
Or the more woo-scifi version which aired I think simultaneously, 'Babylon 5'.
'Community' very few comedy shows age this well.
'Lovecraft country' endritch horror and american racism standing in frame next to each other, while the arc and the anthology flirt over a meal of 'how to love SciFi as a marginalized person?'. The most beautiful wholesome profound bed covered in gore you've ever watched coincidentally 'is this gay, and if so what kind?' sex on.
I'll add more later, and there are more certain people need to see but others don't necessarily.
'What we do in the shadows' if 'the real world' house was set in the 'vampire: the masquerade' setting, but everyone is just as petty and cringe despite being 500 year old vampires. Spun off from feature film of the same name.
'Bojack horseman' whip smart surrealist comedy/merciless knife twisting too-real drama about a washed up actor in 2010s hollywood. Revels in clever tounge twisters, word play, and sprinkling dry humor on the cringe-horror. Animated, brutally real, suffused with a quiet desperation that can be painful to watch while making the jokes no less funny.
'The good place' what if moral philosophy 101 was a funny joke? But like really funny. All four seasons. some of the pop culture references aged a little, but the core premise is rock solid and about half the jokes are about people who have been dead for centuries or mythologies originally inscribed on stone.
'King of the hill' and 'silicon valley' borderline anthropological studies of turn if the century small town Texas and 2010s silicon valley from the guy who made 'idiocracy'. Affectionately mocking and mercilessly vicious, respectively. They haven't aged perfectly, but they're still brilliant insightful and funny. Some of the bits are timeless, the characters are amusing even if some look different from post-2020, and the depth of understanding mike judge gives these people is truly stunning.
'Reno911' a parody of 'cops', cops, and the city of reno centering on members of the reno police department. Has aged far too well. Watch an episode or two if you're swamped in copaganda. I have no fucking clue how this got made. Having lived in reno for a year in my youth and interacted with police, I can say I didn't know it was scripted for the entire first season.
'Madoka magicka' just a really good twee magical girl show from a feminist perspective. Pay no attention to the quiet girl with the shotgun, the uncanny architecture, or the twee magic pet thing's choice of food.
'Kill la kill' the sexualization of young girls is a problem. You, young girl, must save us by dressing extra slutty and doing lots of violence. This one is fine for kids.
'Ghost in the shell: stand alone complex' its old cyberpunk, so it's aged a bit, and is somewhat copaganda, but is still remarkably good. Season two is like a different thing and not any good.
'Doom patrol' people with big superpowers and bigger mental illnesses spending basically all their time in every part of comic book nonsense absolutely not allowed in an 'avengers' movie-too smart, too weird, too gross, too subversive, too hostile to expectations. A self aware ontologically queer street is a major side character, and that doesn't even stand out. You need to watch it.
03's 'battlestar galactica' a sequel to an older show of the same name that didn't really matter. Keeps coming up and I endorse, even if its kind of genx shitlib sometimes.
'Better off ted' basically likable upper manager at The Evil Company circa late 2000s.
Not sure if I wanted to include it here, because it's so god damn basic, but 'breaking bad' really is spectacular. The acting, and the way they use death as a motif is really fucking cool. But if you can't with basic-bitch white heteros, you shouldn't bother. The spinoff 'better call Saul' is also very good, and less cringeily basic-bitch.
Good list.
‘Community’ very few comedy shows age this well.
OP doesn;'t mention how long they haven't been watching but I would add Arrested Development to the comedy show list.
Yeah, the two best sitcoms of the 2000s, incredibly deep humor, great stories, so much rewatchability (I know, because I do).
I'm always jealous when I hear someone hasn't seen one or either.
I'd love to piggy back on this (great) list and add that the Netflix Daredevil show's subsequent seasons are lesser, but if you enjoyed the first A LOT, then you'll probably enjoy the offers and at least Jessica Jones' first season as well. It was also pretty great. Subsequent seasons, Punisher, and the first half of Luke Cage were also "good" to me, but clearly not on DD & JJ s1's levels. (But I thought most of the Marvel Netflix shows save Iron Fist were worth the watch on rewatches.)
And I love to see that the first season of Westworld is still being recommended. Yes later seasons are very disliked, but I found SOME enjoyment in them. Not enough to give a blanket recommendation to anyone even if I rewatched them, but damn, that first season delivered.
Also I hadn't heard of Scavengers' Reign. Thanks.
It's a psychological drama with Aubrey Plaza in it at her weird best, by the same writer behind Fargo, the TV series and Alien: Earth. Jermaine Clement plays a small but important role. It was nominated for a variety of awards, but only won a couple of minor ones. If that seems interesting to you but you haven't heard of it, it's best to go in blind because spoilers could really ruin it.
Maybe I need to revisit Legion. Each season made me think I forgot something major from the prior finale but pirating and skimming back, it just wasn't the case. The memory of the show is more like a series of persistent dream standalone sequences than a themed show. I don't know. I mostly enjoyed it. I suspect I didn't understand something(s) critical. Blue-eyed Plaza was uncomfortable. I still dream of making a time-eater prop for Halloween Dec. I can't remember if the hookah pig was real in their universe. I didn't understand the velocity of Sydney's flip from supporter to enemy.
I have too many questions. I should re-watch it
The Pitt.
It’s easily one of the best television shows ever made.
(The movie first, then the TV series). Vampire faux-reality TV comedy. Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement made the movie it was based on, and were executive producers on the series, so it's that sense of humour.
And a sequel to the movie is planned too!
Throwing in my recommendations and limiting it to sleeper shows that don't get recommended much. (The expanse, silo, foundation, arcane, severance etc already get lots of love). They aren't all must watch but worth checking out, particularly the first 3
Mr Inbetween - Aussie show about a hit man that plays out like an incredible slice of life.
Sense8 - sci fi based show about based around 8 people who find themselves linked. It's weird, LGBTQ friendly & forward and has some explicit scenes.
The goes wrong show - BBC theatre piece. Amateur theatre company attempt plays. Each actor has their own quirks, faults and confidence issues. Chaos ensues, the show must go on.
------ other decent stuff in case 3 top tier isn't enough
Almost human - cancelled early formula show of he's a cop but his partner's an X (in this case android). Had humans vibes and good chemistry
3 body problem - sci fi adaptation from prominent Chinese author
Community - some people seem to have missed it
You're the worst - a show about terrible people
I'll throw a couple of old, fun ones in I doubt anyone mentioned.
Dead Like Me
Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies Season 3 is in development... so excited.
A Japanese Anime from 1995 or so. One of the most influential "huge humanoid mecha suit" animes. There's a mystery / story that's very slowly and carefully revealed over the course of the series. The art and sound is just superb. The pacing is incredible. There are scenes where it's just the hot summer outside and you can almost feel the heat. The characters have some of the annoying Japanese anime quirks, but in this case the story actually explains why the characters behave they way they do.
In no particular order:
The Mentalist, Chuck, Person of interest, The Blacklist.
Orphan Black: it's hard to say much without spoiling it, but it's one of the best series I've ever seen, and Tatiana Maslany's acting is incredible. It's
Battlestar Galactica, which others have mentioned already.
Stargate SG-1: my favorite show of all time. It's the sort of scifi that makes you hopeful about the future of humanity. You don't absolutely have to watch the movie first (it's not as good as the series IMO, though worth watching) but it lends to more understanding of who some of the characters are.
I love SG-1, but unless you're a super fan (I am, but I feel the disclaimer is warranted) I'd say stop at the end of season 7. That's it, main plot is wrapped up, it's done, great finale.
I say this, because while the rest of the series is good, season 8 is in a weird place as they set up an entirely new arc that's wholly unrelated to the original series, including some new characters on the team. There's interesting episodes and it's still great, but might be a bit hard to swallow for some because it's so different.
That said, if you enjoy the first 7 seasons, at the least, also watch the Continuum film, it's great and Cliff Simon always chews up any scene he's in (in a good way), he definitely took charisma as his main stat.
they pratically stopped exploring after the ori came into picture, and basically it turned into another DS9 dominion war situation. Although ORI were somewhat interesting villians.
SGA at least have 2 seasons worth of good material left before they cancelled it.
Farscape. It's from when television was transitioning to more serialized storytelling so the first season takes a bit to get going, but it's worth it.
The Wire
Aired on ITV1 Yorkshire Television in the UK in 1978 to 1980. It's a spy show but it's realistic. Incredibly realistic. The "Sandbaggers" are the elite group of "Special Operations" officers who go behind enemy lines, perform assassinations, etc. but you almost never see that happen. 90% of the show takes place in drab offices, and the show is more about office politics than spycraft. But, that's what makes it really compelling.
If you watch a clip of the show, you can see in general what it's like. Apparently the whole show is on YouTube these days.
Sopranos.
A complex look at the mafia. Main characters die. Tightly written. Very few filler episodes. Best final episode ever.
