… I probably should watch The Wire at some point, shouldn’t I. People keep telling me how great it is.
The wire is a bit of a weird one, in the way it grabs you. I was late to it, started watching it one Sunday afternoon, after a couple of episodes I was thinking it was ok, decent enough quality but don't see what all the fuss is about. 2am Monday morning, I have to get up at 6 to get ready for work, and I am telling myself I can just watch one more episode before going to bed. It is probably the most perfectly paced plot writing ever, just revealing enough and bringing in the next "chess move" between the players to keep you wanting more, no stupid cliffhanger endings or "MacGuffin" events, just quality realistic writing.
I've just rewatched all 12 seasons of NYPD Blue and not for a dare.
Well, probably rewatched a couple of seasons, I'd never watched them all the first time around.
Couple of proper cheesy moments but interesting how they handled 9/11 and the final episode ends like there's still one to go...
My Mrs got me a complete box set of the A Team a few years ago. Re-watching the odd episode from it is just as you would expect - pure 80s childhood nostalgia.
What really weirded me out though was that it included a pilot episode which is played as a totally straight action-thriller. No slapstick comedy, no daft lines, no contraptions. Totally serious!
no stupid cliffhanger endings or “MacGuffin” events, just quality realistic writing.
McNulty’s fake serial killer in season 5 had the whiff of a jumped shark about it.
So is The Sopranos - I enjoyed watching it again.
O knew someone would mention the wire. I never saw it first time around but bought the box set to try out during lockdown #2 or soon after as do many people say its amazing. I will try again but I've watched the first 2 of 3 episodes about 3 times as I just don't get held by it.
Hereos was good for a season and a bit but then faded. Did it even end? I seem to think it just... stopped... writers strike I thought.
I've yet to do breaking bad again for fear it's crap.... please don't be.
GoT similarly.
Cougar
Full Member
… I probably should watch The Wire at some point, shouldn’t I. People keep telling me how great it is.
I first watched the Wire about 10-12 (?) years ago (borrowed a work colleagues DVD box set so went thru all seasons in about 6 weeks).
Watched it again about a year ago in a similarly compressed time frame.
Was still great second time around...
Ahh yes, line if duty.... this also is being Avoided for fear is crap second time
I’m currently watching Irish gangster series Love/Hate for the first time (on series 3 so far) It’s 10+ years old and really good. Apart from the cars and the phones you don’t really notice the age.
Tried series one of Spooks a few months back. One episode was enough. We couldn’t work out why we’d thought it was so good.
GoT similarly
I've decided I need to watch GoT a third time though I've never actually made it through all series...
When I next watch it, I need to have a family tree handy so I can keep up with all the characters and the inter-relationships...
McNulty’s fake serial killer in season 5 had the whiff of a jumped shark about it.
Season 5 was an abomination first time around, if I was to watch the wire again I would stop after season 4 and pretend it didn't get picked up for a 5th season.
For me the first season, and the season with the kids/teenagers were the standouts.
Never been one for long running box set shows, only watched GOT 6 months ago, but did enjoy the Ozark but wouldn't watch it again.
but did enjoy the Ozark but wouldn’t watch it again.
Ozark was ok for the first season or two but went seriously downhill after that. That's definitely a series on my never-watch-again list...
I re-watched the West Wing not so long ago. Dated yes, but the writing, acting and production were exceptional in my opinion
as someone that has rewatched the West Wing 3 or 4 times I’d been avoiding it post Brexit/Trump/Covid, imagine it seems completely unrealistic now?
We were in-between stuff to watch so decided to rewatch Prison Break as we really enjoyed the first season when it came out (the subsequent seasons not so much)
Funnily enough I've just finished doing exactly the same. It was ok but not nearly as good as first time round. There was a lot of fast forwarding involved. I know better than to even think about firing up season 2
I couldn’t get in to The Sopranos at all. Possibly because I came to it after The Wire. Watched The Wire three times and still love it. Think it was originally supposed to be six series with the fifth concentrating on the press and sixth tying it all up. Generation Kill by the same director and writer is good too.
Can’t imagine trying to rewatch Lost or The Walking Dead.
You lot might be able to help me with something actually.
I was watching GoT, stopped, then never went back to it because I couldn't for the life of me remember where I was up to. The last episode I watched was where... Arya? That Maisie lass, went on a pilgrimage and fetched up outside a castle on an island. She knocked on the door, they ignored her so she pouted and sat down on the doorstep. Then the credits rolled.
Some of that may be poorly remembered. But if anyone could identify the episode or even just which season it was, I would be grateful.
Nightingales on Channel 4 1990-93 with Robert Lindsay, David Threlfall and James Ellis. A bit like Bottom but without the violence. I've got it on dvd but when I tried watching it it was just so slow.
I probably should watch The Wire at some point, shouldn’t I. People keep telling me how great it is.
I would rate it as second best tv show ever, after The Sopranos. The final season was a bit silly, but it had some great characters and actors.
Other great shows from the last 20 years: Deadwood, The Americans, The Good Place, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, Halt and Catch Fire, Band of Brothers, Orange is the New Black. Battlestar Galactica was great at its best, but a lot of the episodes were fillers. If they'd limited it to 8 episodes per season, I think it would have been much better.
I’ve yet to do breaking bad again for fear it’s crap…. please don’t be.
It's not crap, but not on a par Wire/Sopranos/Mad Men.
Ozark was ok for the first season or two but went seriously downhill after that.
We're just watching it for the first time, just started the last series (four). I think it's been consistently good throughout.
In a fit of nostalgia I bought a box set of Laurel and Hardy DVDs some years ago – not as funny as I remembered as a child in the 1970s!
Slapstick comedy isn't often laugh-out-loud funny to adults, but when I watch L&H these days I have to admire the impeccable timing, and often brilliantly well set up gags and one liners. They are also almost 100 years old - I think they are fascinating for what they show of that era.
Nightingales on Channel 4 1990-93 with Robert Lindsay, David Threlfall and James Ellis. A bit like Bottom but without the violence. I’ve got it on dvd but when I tried watching it it was just so slow.
I re-watched it again recently. It's nothing like Bottom, nothing at all. I thought it was genuinely funny in places, but if you don't buy into a slightly surreal comedy with a dead character, a werewolf and two episodes written in iambic pentameter, then you're aren't going to like it. 😀
