Hey team - just been thinking about the recent slate of great new shows over the past couple of years, and it’s struck me how blessed we’ve been to come out of that horrible decade of reality TV and made a triumphant return to scripted entertainment that really seems to have hit a new level in alot of examples.
But specifically, I was thinking about this past year. What are your personal picks for top three NEW shows this past year? That is, brand new shows - not a new season of an already existing series.
For me, in no particular order (and with the most brief of reasons) -
Human Target - Adventure TV!!! Remember Adventure TV? It’s back - in Mark Valley form! You can nitpick little elements in each episode if you’re so inclined. But they’re LITTLE details. And so what? It’s fucking FUN!
Luther - on paper, it contained every single cliche you could possibly imagine. In execution, it turned everything upside down and kicked you square in the guts with it’s brutally efficient storytelling.
Blue Mountain State - absurdly low-brow? Yes. But it’s genuinely laugh-out-loud funny each and every week, not afraid to make OTT into an artform, and the entire cast just OWN their roles. Thad Castle is the shit.
Commmunity - An iffy first episode and an iffy season finale, but everything between that was escalating comedy pefection. One of the best first season runs of any show I have seen.
Luther - For the reasons NZ has already stated, plus I have a weird thing for pretty ladies who scare me, and Alice Morgan ticked that box in a big way.
Justified - Just so much goddamn fun. Sharply written and performed, with an impressive bodycount.
Originally Posted by Weasels Rip My FleshView Post Commmunity - An iffy first episode and an iffy season finale, but everything between that was escalating comedy pefection. One of the best first season runs of any show I have seen.
I’ve tried SO SO hard with Community, but so far have been totally unimpressed. Not a fan of the cast, and I find it too much like every other sitcom that teaches you the important lesson of the week. Granted I’ve only seen up to episode 8.
EDIT: and the guy with aspergers? I want to punch his face every time he’s on screen.
Originally Posted by Francis WolcottView Post Isn’t “that horrible decade of reality TV” also “that awesome decade where most series worth watching were made”?
Around '95-'05? Not in my neck of the woods, bro.
The ulterior motive for this thread is to see what names pop up repeatedly. Too many people have mentioned Justified lately for me to ignore it any longer. I’m just keen to see what else people recommend.
And Weasels? Stay away from Alice. She’s mine. I’ll kill you myself.
Luther: As a previous poster said, on paper the show sounds tediously cliche but the strong cast (anchored by Idris Elba at the top of his game and a performance that puts Walker on the list of upcoming english actresses to watch) and some genuinely surprising plot twists pulls it into some the best tv since the new millenium. Can not wait for a second series.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand: A show I’d been biased against since I saw the first 300 aping trailers (as well as being on the until recently underdog Starz network) and even after been forced by strong word of mouth of trusted friends to check out the pilot I found it lacking. But after the second episode I became strangely immersed in the world even though the over the top nature of the show could be grating; the lead performance of Whitfield elevates what could be a cliched role and the rest of the cast is also above average (I had a soft spot for the actor who plays Varro). This show has begun to scale the heights that one of my favourite shows, Rome managed so I’m eager to see if a second season can remain as compelling.
Caprica: As a big fan of the BSG reboot I’m impressed by how this show pays homage to the themes of that show yet branches out to ask its own questions. This is another show which owes a lot of its quality to the strong cast.
I’m gonna echo the love for Human Target, and Ugly Americans. Need to check out Archer and some more Justified, as I’ve only seen the first episode of it. I’ve somehow never heard of Luther till now. Good thread, I’ll be checking out some of these shows.
Anyone who doesn’t say Treme isn’t watching the right stuff.
Treme - Great cast and a terribly compelling watch.
Caprica - Not quite as good as BSG, but a nice continuing of themes so far.
Human Target - Possibly a fact of not catching too many of the above mentioned shows. It’s fun and light.
I’ll have to catch Justified sooner or later considering where it came from. Community is a nice little show but I’ve never been compelled to keep up with it. Special consideration to Check it Out! even thought they only made 6 episodes.
Glee: I’m gonna be the first? Okay. Fuck the haters, this is a great show, worth watching even when its terrible, because when its running on all cylinders its great. Wears its heart on its sleeve while still being cynical(See Dream On which is all about how most of these kids won’t make it in show business or even leave Ohio). Killer dialogue, great acting (Dianna Agran is amazing and this show has made Mike O’Malley a good actor!), fantastic numbers, and just a happy show.
Justified: It feels like they made this show for me. Olyphant. Elmore Leonard adaptation and a good imitation of his writing in following episodes. Tight plotting. Funny as hell, great actors, and the best antagonist on TV in Boyd Crowder.
Community: The biggest surprise of the year for me. Joel McHale was great on The Soup, but who knew he could act? Incredibly surreal at times but with enough heart to make it human. The cast has great chemistry with each other, the jokes are smart and I love their use of running gags and how it feels like a world bigger than their group. Its the new Scrubs.
Originally Posted by LazerRangerView Post 2. Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Funnily enough, I just knocked this over in the past week. Like yourself, the first episode was an empty venture, but it really settled into it’s groove quickly after that, and when adapted to the visual style (it’s almost like Ang Lee’s Hulk in it’s freeze frames - like watching one of those “Motion-Comics” - at times), it was great fun. Not exactly the highest of brow, but the fight scenes were great, and even the secondary characters were interesting (I, too, had a soft spot for Varro).
Now that Treme is finished, I’ll get onto that and Justified next, I do think. Good to see Luther get some love in here, too. Looks like Community might have to go on the list, too.
And okay, maybe three was a bit tight. If ya got more suggestions, go for broke!
Community is extremely over rated, I still can’t believe Devin compared it to Arrested Development, thats just flat out wrong. The show has some good laughs but a lot of it is pretty obnoxious and unfunny, and the main actor whatever his name is, can be sooo anoying Luther is stupid and boring, another procedural, how exciting. Tv still mostly sucks. Reality TV reigns both in the states and here. Sure we got the pay channels like HBO that still make great shows, even though they still make shit like True Blood and Entourage. And then there is AMC and FX which also make some good TV. One needs a huge market to be able to make good long hour dramas with the potential of profit. Every single one hour show here in the UK is absolute shit, I felt I needed to point that out for some reason.