TV series you were really late to (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Another vote for the Expanse. Stopped watching at S3 or similar when it moved from Netflix to Amazon.

Motherland is surprisingly enjoyable. Although none of the characters are particularly likeable. The main characters Husband cracks me up when he drops in for the odd telephone call, complete and utter throbbed.

Watched Generation Kill a few years after its release. Bloody good.

Yes. I watched it last year. Really good show.

Honestly though, I find Sorkin’s stuff hasn’t aged brilliantly. I still love the characters and the dialog but it just seems naively optimistic and unrealistic these days.

It was always idealised, but I find the escapism more necessary than ever.

Detectorists – binged all series over Xmas so I could watch the Xmas edition.

Same. I'm up to date now bar the Xmas episode.

Mad Men, finally binged the lot last year. It’s now my favourite telly program ever. Well that and The Sopranos.

I never had the time to watch Breaking Bad when it came out. Ended up watching all 6 seasons of Better call Saul first and have now just started watching BB for the first time. It seems to make way more sense watching them this way round as its in timeline order and you have all th backstories all ready which makes the characters even more well rounded in BB

and yes, series getting binned is a real pet hate  - I wasted precious viewing time on both Y the last man (Disney) and 1899

Never watched an episode of Still Game until a week ago. We are on series 5 now. Was it only on in Scotland maybe why I missed it?

I was late to Breaking Bad, mostly due to not being a fan of Bryan Cranston's over-acting. Went through it during lockdown, cos stranded WFH with not much going on. It passed the time ok.

Quite fancied Mad Men when I saw it was free on that Pluto streaming service. But it doesn't remember where you got to! I was 3/4 through an episode and couldn't skip to where I'd left it as it insists on showing the ads. Gave up.

Mad Men, finally binged the lot last year. It’s now my favourite telly program ever. Well that and The Sopranos.

Southland on FreeVee (via Amazon) one of the best US Cop shows out there.

I'm a huge sitcom fan and only recently discovered the utterly brilliant Community on Netflix. Originally aired about a decade ago I think.

Southland on FreeVee (via Amazon) one of the best US Cop shows out there.

Yes, that was really good. Closest thing to a Hill Street Blues successor I've seen.

I’m a huge sitcom fan and only recently discovered the utterly brilliant Community on Netflix."

I really liked the first couple of seasons, then go bored and stopped watching.

I never had the time to watch Breaking Bad when it came out. Ended up watching all 6 seasons of Better call Saul first and have now just started watching BB for the first time. It seems to make way more sense watching them this way round as its in timeline order and you have all th backstories all ready which makes the characters even more well rounded in BB

You'll have a few pretty serious spoilers though.

It's like watching Star Wars in timeline order, it completely ruin's Vader's identity.

hmmm, never actually watched MM 🤔 Love The Sopranos though, seen it twice all the way through and can happily dip in & out of random episodes, everyone in it is so good it’s a joy to watch & doesn’t matter if I can’t quite remember what’s going on with the storyline 😂

Mad Men is a slow burner. I didn’t even like it until season two, loved it by season three.

Amen about The Sopranos, it’s that good.

Community is absolutely brilliant, such an inventive show. I'm also a Motherland fan, although that might partly be because it's filmed around where I used to live (I used to be able to see the school they hang around outside from the balcony of my flat).

This has also reminded me that it's been ages since I've watched Generation Kill (or read the book it's based on). Should probably do something about that.

Never watched an episode of Still Game until a week ago.

That last DVD boxset I brought (from a charity shop)... bloody love it.

On the Buses. 😲

Community is absolutely brilliant, such an inventive show.

Did you (or anyone else) not think it went totally up its own arse by season 4 or 5?

Felt like they were really milking the "quirky" characters and forgetting to write actual jokes.

Community is absolutely brilliant, such an inventive show.

Did you (or anyone else) not think it went totally up its own arse by season 4 or 5?

There's a reason season 4 of Community was referred to as its 'gas leak season'.

It did take a few episodes before I really "got" Community. It did dip a bit in series 4 when Dan Harmon (creator) left, but picked up again in series 5 when he returned. Not a coincidence I suspect.

To be honest it won't be to everyone's taste, but I thought it very funny. I gather Chevvy Chase eventually left the show because he just didn't understand/like the sort of humour they were going for, and yes it does get very self-referential and "meta" which a lot of folk won't like, but each to their own and all that.

One of those shows I can watch more than once and see new jokes every time. And Abed has to be one of my all time favourite sitcom characters.

Put off watching the detectorists until pretty recently and then chuckled my way though them all very quickly

The clone wars (yes the cartoon ones) only recently watched and thought they smashed the hell out of the shite prequel films.

Rome and Spartacus. These had been out for ages but just looked like they would be awful so after pretty much exhausting everything else I buckled and was really surprised. Loved the dialogue, butchery and obviously the sex. Really worth a watch (imo).

What we do in the shadows...ok it's still going but only picked it up quite recently after someone at work kept getting called Colin Robinson.

The clone wars (yes the cartoon ones) only recently watched and thought they smashed the hell out of the shite prequel films.

This show starts off pretty grating (IMO obvs), but by the end it's Star Wars storytelling at its best. Plus, the animation has come on so far that it looks absolutely stunning.

There’s a reason season 4 of Community was referred to as its ‘gas leak season‘.

OK maybe I'll pick up again with S5 at some point 🙂

I thought a lot of S3 was way too self-indulgent, but that piece kind-of addresses that as well.

Black Spot

Rome

Is this streaming somewhere?

I loved it at the time, great fun.

I managed to not only avoid Homeland for the entirety of its run, but also avoid spoilers for it. So I’ve been binging that over my Christmas break and am now up to season 5.

It’s great, but I do find myself saying ‘why the hell are you doing that stupid thing’ to the main character an awful lot.

The A word, we only watched one by accident at the start of the last series and had to binge the rest.

Also Snowfall which was a find whilst idly flicking through iPlayer when there was nothing on.

@cougar   Most of the spoilers revealed in Saul were obvious and tbh its not really a plot driven series. I prefer knowing the back story to Saul, Mike and Gus anyway as they are better actors than the two main protagonists!  I think Saul was the better series so far anyway (I'm on S3 E4)

Is this streaming somewhere?

You can buy it on GoogleTV, if that's any use

I managed to not only avoid Homeland for the entirety of its run, but also avoid spoilers for it. So I’ve been binging that over my Christmas break and am now up to season 5.

It’s great, but I do find myself saying ‘why the hell are you doing that stupid thing’ to the main character an awful lot.

Yeah, we gave up after/during S3, it was just getting stupid.

I prefer knowing the back story to Saul, Mike and Gus anyway as they are better actors than the two main protagonists! 

Yes, Vince Gilligan played a blinder focusing on them and bringing Kim in for BCS. Much better show than BB, IMO.

Is this streaming somewhere?

You can buy it on GoogleTV, if that’s any use

Thanks, but I can't brink myself to buy any shows when I have four paid streaming services already 😀

We also binge watched The Detectorists recently just brilliant 👍

Never watched an episode of Still Game until a week ago.

That last DVD boxset I brought (from a charity shop)… bloody love it.

also came here to say 'still game'. never heard of it before but once we found it a couple of years back we consumed it all within a couple of weeks. brilliant.

I watched Sopranos a couple of years back. Brilliant! Twin Towers there / not there between series’ (in the only credits scene besides Succession I never FFWD) dates it.

I finished Sopranos season 1 the other month. It was pretty good.

I've got the DVDs of season 2 up on the shelf. Really going to try and get around to it this year.

fooman
Free Member
Jericho (2006) on Netflix it’s not perfect but they have an interesting take on a nuclear apocalypse maybe more relavent now.

Great shout - loved this, daft, but great

Also, the Newsroom - another good shout

This Country.

I finished Sopranos season 1 the other month. It was pretty good.

Pretty good? It's, by any measure, brilliant.

yeah I was underselling it a bit to emphasise my complete out of touchness with popular TV! It was great, really enjoyed it.

Will definitely get around to S2. At some point....

Yes, Vince Gilligan played a blinder focusing on them and bringing Kim in for BCS. Much better show than BB, IMO.

How Rhea Seehorn hasn't won every award going is a complete mystery.

Ghosts. 🙂

We watched 'Startup' quite late and found it great, albeit a short 3 series.
Got a mixed review but I found it good.

Couldn't get into BCS at all, despite loving Breaking Bad.

And as daft as it sounds, I find myself watching Star Trek next generation when it's on and being quite into it even now.

Watched the original Fargo las year and enjoyed it.

Snowfall is worth a watch.

Only started to watch Stranger Things over the Christmas period.

Motherland is surprisingly enjoyable. Although none of the characters are particularly likeable.

But we like characters who aren't wholly likeable don't we (and grotesques as in League of Gentlemen)? Better than perfect goody two shoes types. All the characters are brilliantly portrayed though. Oh and I particularly like Anna Maxwell-Martin. First saw her in "The Life of Rock with Brian Pern".

Snowfall is worth a watch.

Definitely

Battlestar Galactica
The Expanse
Ray Donovan
There's loads more to catch up on too

Forgot The big bang theory, started watching it after Young Sheldon

Two Snowfall fans!! I don’t know anyone else that watched probably cos it was on council telly and not Netflix.

Huge fan, it’s brilliant!

Pretty good? It’s, by any measure, brilliant.

The trouble with just watching the Sopranos for the first time now, is that it inspired so many program makers, has been stolen from and copied so much, that it doesn't seem as fresh as it was when watched 20 odd years ago. It is like listening to a piece of music from the 60's or 70's where the riff from one of your favourite songs was copied from, but that old original song feels flat because you have heard that really good riff so many times now.

I missed a lot of great TV when I was running pubs and bars etc. Reckon I've caught up on most that were of interest. As others have said the headliners were Sopranos, West Wing, The Wire - these were my highlights and I've revisited them all since. More recently I've re-watched The Expanse, Band of Brothers and The Pacific. I also persevered with season 1 of Prison Break (always late to stuff) and it was OK, but I've not bothered with the follow ups. Might just be me, but I just couldn't get in to Breaking Bad 🤷🏼‍♂️