NFT: Older Series worth a Binge

felt the Cleopatra stuff got tired but overall making a show of that scale way back then was damn impressive. They spent somewhere around $100m for season 1 which is nuts considering it was filmed almost 20 years ago.

As for other old shows stick with HBO for Six Feet Under, easily in my top 5 shows of all time (with probably the best finale). I’ve always wanted to watch Lost again but I’m going to wait until my daughter gets older and watch with her.

A little bit mindless but a god blend of action and story lines, but that is okay and what is needed at times.

Mainly to get to the finale which we've heard is the best. It's a fun watch but was probably better 20 years ago.

We tried Lost because we never saw it originally and IMO it's a steaming pile of garbage. Again, probably innovative for the time but it just seems stupid.

The Leftovers definitely holds up. If you haven't seen that then jump on it.

In comment 15120824 UConn4523 said:

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felt the Cleopatra stuff got tired but overall making a show of that scale way back then was damn impressive. They spent somewhere around $100m for season 1 which is nuts considering it was filmed almost 20 years ago. As for other old shows stick with HBO for Six Feet Under, easily in my top 5 shows of all time (with probably the best finale). I’ve always wanted to watch Lost again but I’m going to wait until my daughter gets older and watch with her.

I have rewatched some shows with my older son who is 10, but I got to give you credit for going back to lost. I just felt that for a time it was the best show on TV and then it fell off a cliff. I don't know if I could watch that again knowing how disappointed I was in where it went.

With HBO pulling the plug midway through filming it, they tried to cram as much as possible from what had been planned for seasons 3 and 4 into the last episodes, and it's fairly disjointed and confusing.

Still enjoy it a great deal though.

In comment 15120825 SCGiantsFan said:

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A little bit mindless but a god blend of action and story lines, but that is okay and what is needed at times.

I always liked Burn Notice.

I also though it was one of the few shows that ended properly

In comment 15120833 Greg from LI said:

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With HBO pulling the plug midway through filming it, they tried to cram as much as possible from what had been planned for seasons 3 and 4 into the last episodes, and it's fairly disjointed and confusing. Still enjoy it a great deal though.

Definitely -- we got from Caesar's death to the Battle of Actium very quickly. Wish we had a deeper universe with that Cast. Adult Octavian is only in 7 episodes, I think. He was awesome.

Haven't watched Burn Notice since season 2, I think -- that's a great call though. I loved that show, just lost track of it. I'm going to give it whirl. Thanks!

4 episodes left in season 2. It’s excellent, but agree that it’s a shame it got rushed then cut off after 2 seasons

I rewatched Band of Brothers a few months back, always a great one. Thinking of going back to Generation Kill, it’s been years since I watched that

I’m also getting close to rewatching all 5 seasons of The Wire for a third time

Have been watching Blacklist and have really enjoyed it. We just started season 5 I believe season 8 is currently running. It is a CBS show so I think they have on average 22 to 24 episodes per season.

Really well done show so far main character is James Spader who I was never a big fan of but really does an amazing job in this show. It's available on Netflix if you are interested.

Others, Ozarks, Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, Vikings are all great shows as well maybe not as old as you were looking for.

and Pullo. Those guys were the best. Octavian also awesome.

The Shield with Mike Chiklis that has about as satisfying ending as any show has ever had

and

Generation Kill, which is more a miniseries than an actual series

and it’s funny to rewatch him in that role, after he played Prince Phillip in the Crown and Edmure Tully in Game of Thrones

He sure plays the pompous nobleman putz to a tee

I’m probably in the minority but ever since the introduce Kavenough it became too much especially the endless time devoted to “who was _____’s killer”.

Leftovers I think will hold up indefinitely but it’s fairly new so I didn’t include it. It’s in my top 5 shows of all time.

Absolutely Hilarious!

Recently watched Firefly and the movie that wrapped it up for the first time. for a low budget Science fiction show it was a fun watch I wish it was longer.

In comment 15120913 LTIsTheGreatest said:

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Absolutely Hilarious!

I know I am in the minority, but I didn't think that show was funny at all.m I love dry humor and have been a fan of Eugene Levy, but I watched the first two seasons and don't remember doing anything more than smirking a few times.

laugh out loud funny, but I still find it entertaining. Not a high priority watch, but I do catch up on it when I can.

I recently re-watched the Sopranos, and loved it the second time too.

So much I forgot. I still hated all the Dr. Melfi scenes, but such a good show.

is excellent.

And you know what? It's corny and campy in the typical soap opera-ish ways, but.....JR Ewing is such a terrific villain and Larry Hagman was so good in that role.

WOW. Still an active series but goes back to '13, I think.

Can;t wait for season 6

Justified with Timothy Olyphant was great. Boyd Crowder was one of my favorite TV characters of all time.

Foyle's war, BBC

In comment 15121073 Greg from LI said:

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Can;t wait for season 6

still on track for 2021?

LMAO funny.

Norsemen.

In comment 15121018 DanMetroMan said:

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is excellent.

+1

For its genre (detective mystery) it’s very good

Sticking with the UK theme, Luther (with Idris Elba playing the title character) was a really good detective show too.

In comment 15121075 pjcas18 said:

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still on track for 2021?

Last I read, which was a few months ago, it could be late 2021 or early 2022

and it was really enjoyable. Hadn't watched it since the original airing but was still binge worthy.

Watching Ray Donovan now. OK but not great. A little formulaic after the first couple of seasons. Some of the supporting cast give terrific performances.

I loved the first few seasons of GoT and thought about re-watching that, but knowing how it ends sours that. Was a great show prior to that.

I tried Peaky Blinders a while back and the first couple of episodes just didn't pull me in. I may try again based on some of the references here.

and an extra vote for Broadchurch.

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone - we'll have to make a note to get to some of these as well.

Dewey Crow was an amazing character in that series

The new season was due out 2021 but with all the lockdowns due to Covid in the UK the past 9 months and the current one I imagine it would be pushed back. Great show IMO

definitely a show that holds up.

Give Peaky Blinders another go. Once you hit season 2 it basically never lets up. I’m on season 4 right now.

In comment 15121160 UConn4523 said:

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definitely a show that holds up. Give Peaky Blinders another go. Once you hit season 2 it basically never lets up. I’m on season 4 right now.

I still find myself wanting to call out "Miller" in a British accent occasionally!

I like the combo of action and humor in both.

Literally one of my favorites of all time. Even my wife liked it. We just ripped through the first two seasons of Sons of Anarchy. Liking that too.

I also rewatched The Wire recently. Never gets old.

except I never saw the last episode (even with a different Spartacus). I think I didn't want to watch him die.

Maybe I need to go back a watch (and re-watch the others).

But I did love Rome (if that's the real topic).

In comment 15121201 Bill L said:

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except I never saw the last episode (even with a different Spartacus). I think I didn't want to watch him die. Maybe I need to go back a watch (and re-watch the others). But I did love Rome (if that's the real topic).

There was multiple seasons of Spartacus (even a limited episode prequel) it was sad when the original died of cancer, but the replacement Spartacus was good too.

Once they cut down on the ridiculous CGI blood spatter in the fight scenes it became much better.

In comment 15121210 pjcas18 said:

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In comment 15121201 Bill L said: Quote: except I never saw the last episode (even with a different Spartacus). I think I didn't want to watch him die. Maybe I need to go back a watch (and re-watch the others). But I did love Rome (if that's the real topic). There was multiple seasons of Spartacus (even a limited episode prequel) it was sad when the original died of cancer, but the replacement Spartacus was good too. Once they cut down on the ridiculous CGI blood spatter in the fight scenes it became much better.

Yeah, I saw all the seasons religiously which is why I wonder at myself for never having seen the finale.

But I binged entire recent/current series from the beginning. At the start of all this, we binged all of Schitt's Creek, through the final season. I watched Shameless from the start to watch the final season because I missed a few seasons. Just did the same with Cobra Kai to watch the current season (not sure I really like this one, but invested)

In comment 15121223 Matt M. said:

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But I binged entire recent/current series from the beginning. At the start of all this, we binged all of Schitt's Creek, through the final season. I watched Shameless from the start to watch the final season because I missed a few seasons. Just did the same with Cobra Kai to watch the current season (not sure I really like this one, but invested)

Season 3 of Cobra Kai starts off a bit weird and not as good but ends with a bang. So many good call backs to the original.

I don't believe these have been mentioned yet.

1) Deadwood - Western. Phenomenal cast. Fantastic show.
2) The Wire - Best police / drug drama hands down
3) Parks and Recreation - hysterical

If you like Sci-Fi:
1) The X-Files
2) Fringe - Kind of like X-Files without the supernatural stuff. More science oriented.
3) Orphan Black
4) The Walking Dead

Always a great watch. Felt that was HBO's truly first epic show before The Sopranos.

Psych and White Collar both mindless fun shows.

In comment 15121242 GF1080 said:

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Always a great watch. Felt that was HBO's truly first epic show before The Sopranos. Psych and White Collar both mindless fun shows.

Love Psych.

Add in Monk too (keeping with the USA shows).

One glorious season, one of the finest TV shows ever made, a launching pad for numerous excellent careers.

Can't recommend enough to those who have never seen it.

Great WWII miniseries. It's aslo fun because there are a bunch of young actors in it who became bigger stars (tom hardy, rami malek, etc)

In comment 15121264 jamalduff123 said:

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Great WWII miniseries. It's aslo fun because there are a bunch of young actors in it who became bigger stars (tom hardy, rami malek, etc)

It is outstanding, as is 'The Pacific'.

Basically the only major character from the movies who hasn't appeared (and is still alive) is Terry Silver. They tried to get Thomas Ian Griffith to do it, but he has long since retired from acting and wasn't interested.

In comment 15121242 GF1080 said:

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Always a great watch. Felt that was HBO's truly first epic show before The Sopranos. Psych and White Collar both mindless fun shows.

Oz is great. I feel like Adebisi might be one of the most underrated characters in TV history, and there are a handful of other great characters.

In comment 15120867 mfsd said:

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4 episodes left in season 2. It’s excellent, but agree that it’s a shame it got rushed then cut off after 2 seasons I rewatched Band of Brothers a few months back, always a great one. Thinking of going back to Generation Kill, it’s been years since I watched that I’m also getting close to rewatching all 5 seasons of The Wire for a third time

I've never seen either Band or Brothers or the Wire. I've been working a lot lately (I work in special education law, so I have just many, many client inquiries a day along with a lot of writing) and I enjoy watching things I'm familiar with while I work (Season 1 of Altered Carbon is my favorite, season 2 blew goat).

But I am taking some actual vacation in February and am going to attack the major holes in my tv viewing history. This is my order:

1. The Wire
2. Band of Brothers
3. Breaking Bad
4. Six Feet Under
5. Oz

I chose that order as I felt 1, 3, 5 might have a similar level of bleakness and wanted to break em up.

I've rewatched Sopranos and Deadwood during this work binge. I'm a sucker for shows with kinda political maneuvering -- whether in a gang or real politics and such.

I definitely have some big holes in my watch list tho!

In comment 15121264 jamalduff123 said:

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Great WWII miniseries. It's aslo fun because there are a bunch of young actors in it who became bigger stars (tom hardy, rami malek, etc)

It’s amazing. I watch the marathon every year on HBO. Or at least as much as my wife and kids allow me to.

The Machiavellian schemer with loyalty to no one but himself.

In comment 15120871 Jim in Forest Hills said:

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and Pullo. Those guys were the best. Octavian also awesome.

Just got to the point where Titus Pullo has attained a measure of celebrity for his combat prowess. I love the look on Pullo's face when he realizes he's beloved. Vorenus and Pullo is such a great pairing. And Older Octavian -- as I've said before is GOAT-level villain.

I also love James Purefoy -- he was FANTASTIC as a meth in Altered Carbon s1. I thought his Antony was badass.

My mom is second generation Italian. When she turned 80, my sister and I took her to Naples -- and spent time at Pompeii and Herculaneum. I'd LOVE to see a Rome-esque series set against pre-Vesuvius Pompeii. There was a great book --

Pompeii - by Robert Harris -- about the adventures of the Aquarius (master of the aqueduct) in the days and weeks preceding the eruption. Lot of Early Roman Empire engineering and backstabbing -- worth an easy read if anyone is so inclined. I sure hope I get a chance to take my mom back to Italy -- we didn't spend enough time at Capri.

Man I am glad for BBI. Given as much as I can spare to Eric this year cause this place is a really nice slice of normal (and occasional Abby Normal) during this crappy year.

Thanks for all the recs,fellas.
Robert Harris -- Pompeii - ( New Window )

In comment 15121018 DanMetroMan said:

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is excellent.

What's that, Metro? You have great taste is shortstops, so I'm willing to take a flier on your TV recs.

I think "Girls" on HBO should be mentioned as a good older series to binge

In comment 15121320 Greg from LI said:

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The Machiavellian schemer with loyalty to no one but himself.

one of my favorite characters of any show, it's so awesome he plays Mayhem in the insurance company ads.

First season was so good it was scary. Season 2 was ok till mid season but then got horrific, culminating in that cheesy bad power rangers finale episode. Have liked season 3 much better. Just finished the Okinawa episode and I think it might have been the best episode of the series. Loved bringing back all the Karate Kid 2 characters Kumiko, Chozen and the little girl twist. Really was enjoyable but then again I was a true Karate Kid nerd. The Kreese character is so good. He's really the only one who hasn't changed since the movies because he's so godamn good.

Tried rewatching Lost, and two things work against it:

I think current shows have found the sweet spot of 10-13 episodes per season. Lost had twenty plus some seasons, so a ton of filler and slow points

The best part about Lost was the weekly discussions and water cooler talk about theories and stuff as it was happening. BBI had a pretty active weekly thread as the show ran it's course. Without that, just isn't as fun watching.

Finished schists creek. Now on season 2 of the west wing.

In comment 15121385 CoughlinHandsonHips said:

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Tried rewatching Lost, and two things work against it: I think current shows have found the sweet spot of 10-13 episodes per season. Lost had twenty plus some seasons, so a ton of filler and slow points The best part about Lost was the weekly discussions and water cooler talk about theories and stuff as it was happening. BBI had a pretty active weekly thread as the show ran it's course. Without that, just isn't as fun watching.

DISAGREE STRONGLY.

I hate being roped into a shows weekly schedule, preferring to let seasons build so I can binge.

When my wife and I began watching LOST, it was actively in it's last season. Hook, line and sinker, we were addicted, would watch 2-4 episodes at a time, tore through 6 seasons in 3 months.

Great show. If you dig Twilight Zone weird shit with a lot of BIG MOMENTS, LOST has that in spades. Loved the show, was even 'OK' with the ending, though I could have written a better one.

In comment 15121367 Stu11 said:

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First season was so good it was scary. Season 2 was ok till mid season but then got horrific, culminating in that cheesy bad power rangers finale episode. Have liked season 3 much better. Just finished the Okinawa episode and I think it might have been the best episode of the series. Loved bringing back all the Karate Kid 2 characters Kumiko, Chozen and the little girl twist. Really was enjoyable but then again I was a true Karate Kid nerd. The Kreese character is so good. He's really the only one who hasn't changed since the movies because he's so godamn good.

I think all the fight scenes are cartoonish, more choreographed dancing, and it's kind of intentional since it's not really about karate.

In comment 15121510 pjcas18 said:

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In comment 15121367 Stu11 said: Quote: First season was so good it was scary. Season 2 was ok till mid season but then got horrific, culminating in that cheesy bad power rangers finale episode. Have liked season 3 much better. Just finished the Okinawa episode and I think it might have been the best episode of the series. Loved bringing back all the Karate Kid 2 characters Kumiko, Chozen and the little girl twist. Really was enjoyable but then again I was a true Karate Kid nerd. The Kreese character is so good. He's really the only one who hasn't changed since the movies because he's so godamn good. I think all the fight scenes are cartoonish, more choreographed dancing, and it's kind of intentional since it's not really about karate.

Yep that's true PJ. The first season was so clever. It had that Wicked type twist in the story line and the way we viewed Johnnie. I think season 2 kind of stalled on that theme as it got stale. I think they decided to go more back to the traditional Karate Kid theme season 3 because Kreese and his role totally took off. Also Daniel's wife and her character is really good and of course she's easy on the eyes. That haymaker she landed on Kreese was actually more realistic than any of the karate seasons haha.

Kai dynamic is so perfect, sometimes I wonder if it works on people who didn't grow up in the 80's or 90's watching the original movies.

But flipping the script and turning Daniel into the villain (or quasi villain/unlikable character) and Johnny into the sympathetic character was masterful (hopefully this doesn't spoil anything, there are no plot details).

I mean, does anyone who watches Cobra Kai even like Daniel? Even a little? And to top it off Zabka was sort of a professional douche bag. Johnny Lawrence, Chas Osbourne, Greg Tolan, even his cameo as Jack from European Vacation - talk about type cast and he was perfect at it - not quite in an Alan Rickman villain way, but just a perfect bully/teen douche bag.

And yeah, flipping the script has been fun. And Johnny is still an asshole in a lot of ways, so it's not like they turned him into Mr. Chips. They give him a more sympathetic backstory and let him be a flawed guy who's trying, in fits and starts, to be better. Daniel's a good guy on the surface but is whiny and a narcissist, and petty to boot. Makes it all much more interesting.

And yeah, Daniel's wife is hot.

I looked her up and she's actually in her 20s, so it's kosher

In comment 15121320 Greg from LI said:

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The Machiavellian schemer with loyalty to no one but himself.

He's up there as one of my favorites from the show. Verne Schillinger was also a true POS but JK Simmons is just such a good actor that he was a standout character too.

In comment 15121563 Greg from LI said:

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I looked her up and she's actually in her 20s, so it's kosher

Definately Torrie is a total smoke show. By the way PJ my daughter is 16 and absolutely loves the series. Even started watching it before me.

In comment 15121586 Stu11 said:

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In comment 15121563 Greg from LI said: Quote: I looked her up and she's actually in her 20s, so it's kosher Definately Torrie is a total smoke show. By the way PJ my daughter is 16 and absolutely loves the series. Even started watching it before me.

Did she watch the Karate Kid movie?

In comment 15121590 pjcas18 said:

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In comment 15121586 Stu11 said: Quote: In comment 15121563 Greg from LI said: Quote: I looked her up and she's actually in her 20s, so it's kosher Definately Torrie is a total smoke show. By the way PJ my daughter is 16 and absolutely loves the series. Even started watching it before me. Did she watch the Karate Kid movie?

She watched 1 and 2, but I think she watched season 1 of Cobra Kai first.

In comment 15121595 Stu11 said:

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In comment 15121590 pjcas18 said: Quote: In comment 15121586 Stu11 said: Quote: In comment 15121563 Greg from LI said: Quote: I looked her up and she's actually in her 20s, so it's kosher Definately Torrie is a total smoke show. By the way PJ my daughter is 16 and absolutely loves the series. Even started watching it before me. Did she watch the Karate Kid movie? She watched 1 and 2, but I think she watched season 1 of Cobra Kai first.

I'm sure it may be good going in cold, but knowing the backstory IMO just adds so much more.