Here are all the American/British TV shows I've ever loved

[dangermousie]

20. First Wave
19. Moonlight
18. The Borgias
17. Sherlock
16. Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
15. Kings
14. Boardwalk Empire
13. Haven
12. Dark Angel
11. Burn Notice
10. Veronica Mars
9. Doctor Who (RTD years)
8. Chuck
7. Roswell
6. Sons of Anarchy
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Futurama
3. Life on Mars (UK)
2. Firefly
1. Farscape

So, let's see - it means I love scifi/fantasy (13/20), I love gritty and violent (non-violent shows on the list = zero), and I am a sucker for a good love story (most of these). Cheese doesn't bother me. These all actually seem to map to a fairly specific, narrow pattern.

Show I dislike that everyone loves - Revenge, Smallville, Stargate SG1, Game of Thrones, Rome, Being Human (UK and US), Doctor Who (Moffat years), House, The Vampire Diaries. Oh, and every lawyer show ever made but that goes without saying.

Comments

[vert-gazon.livejournal.com]

Yes to Veronica Mars. I've actually re-watched the series twice haha.

I don't know if you have watched it yet but check out Alice. It's a mini-series based on Alice and Wonderland (but with a sci-fi twist) with an amazing OTP.

Other recs:
- Wonderfalls: Great cast and shippy lead characters
- Pushing Daisies: Romantic and sweet

In agreement with your dislike list. I may pick try and pick up Rome again though.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I've seen Alice and liked it :)

Re: PD. I watched the pilot and it didn't grab me, but I am game for another look. Didn't it end on a cliffhanger though? I hate that.

[mainemilyhoon.livejournal.com]

Not a cliffhanger really, but they tacked on a minute or so of "here's what happened to all the characters; we would have had time to go into more detail and make this all make sense but the show got cancelled so too bad" which was really annoying. (It made me mad at the network, though, not the show/writers, which was probably what they intended.)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm. Hmmmmm. /iffy but curious

[hamster428.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Alias? That was my one violent spy show next to erm... Gilmore Girls and Dawson's Creek :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I tried but I didn't really like it...

I know, I know

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Heh, I've watched and loved/liked 10 of those in your list. Mine would also include at least B5, The Wire, State of Play, BoB, Hornblower and North & South.

Oh, come to think of it, I'd also include some of the olides... Alias Smith and Jones and Brisco County Jr - I love westerns and was totally into these two, Quantum Leap and the first few season of JAG. Yeah, I know.... I'm ancient. ;P

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I guess I didn't put Hornblower and N&S, both of which I love, because in my head they are not shows but miniseries :)

I am excited to watch B5. Bought it for my husband for Valentines' Day (it's his favorite show).

If you are ancient, so am I!

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Well, a lot of Brit shows are just minis so I tend to think of them in the same vein as US shows. Which reminds me that I forgot a few... Ultraviolet, This Life and Copuling. ;P

Have you started with B5 yet? I'm thinking about re-watch as I found a boxset of all 5 seasons just last week. I actually went to pick up the S1 of Haven and saw that the B5 discs were on sale, so..... :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Nope, not yet. Waiting for Valentines' Day, as that is when I am going to give the set to Mr. Mousie.

[december-clouds.livejournal.com]

LOL at every lawyer show ever made.

Haven't heard of most of that list actually, everyone on LJ seemed to be watching Game of Thrones but I haven't the faintest idea. :/ Guess it hasn't come on regular British tv yet.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I disliked GoT but I am in the minority

[(Anonymous)]

You did not list 4100.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Not familiar with it

[(Anonymous)]

Britain: "Ultraviolet" with Jack Davenport is a nice variation of the usual vampire lore. The main character is a policeman who does have a crush on the fiancee of the former partner - turned evil vampire. After having killed him basically right before their wedding he decides to fight vampires. As the series is from 1998, vampires are not called vampires, a secret scientific government organisation is involved and so on.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, sounds interesting

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Second that! I even made icons back in the day.

It's one of the better vampy shows out there with a bit different take on the genre. JackDav is excellent as the wry and snarky detective. It also has Idris Elba! Sadly it's only 6 episodes. :( Crap, now I feel like re-watching it too....

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OK, now I am officially curious.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it any wonder? I screwed up the numbering. The USA show was The 4400. http://www.usanetwork.com/series/the4400/

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds interesting. Since I'm a Doctor Who fan...the shows around foreva and one can always pick it up, I will try and find out more about this series.
Thanks.

[cwazy-weiven.livejournal.com]

Have you watched Justified? A few reviews I've read compares the show to Sons of Anarchy (I wouldn't know though) and have said that unlike Sons of Anarchy, gets progressively better with every season (again, this is just here-say). It just started on the third season.

Personally I think it's one of the best, well written, well acted shows with some of the best dialogue ever.

The awesomeness of the main characters and secondary characters goes without saying (I love the lead, Raylan and his ex-best friend/series antagonist/anti-hero and kind of anti-villain, yet at the same time confidante, Boyd Crowder. And his co-worker, ex-ranger sniper and deadpan snarker extraordinaire, Tim Gutterson and also the boss, Art, who is pretty much made of 90 percent snark and sarcasm) but the best thing about the show is that they also have well written and interesting canon-fodders.

If you've watched it...then yay. If not, you really should try it. Not every episode is riddled with action and suspense (whatever episodes that doesn't involve Raylan shooting someone) but what action there is, is impeccably crafted and executed and just...this show is pretty darn awesome. And of course the hat.

The end.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

For some reason, I am thinking Justified is a Western of sorts. Is it? Because I am definitely in.

I actually think Sons of Anarchy does get better every season :)

[cwazy-weiven.livejournal.com]

In a way. It's set in the present time but the main character Raylan is written like a sheriff from an old school western movie; the shoot first, ask questions later type of person (he doesn't shoot people as much later on) complete with the ten gallon hat.

The first episode actually starts with Raylan shooting a criminal after the 24 hours he gave him to get out of town ran out and the guy was still in town. Of course there was a stand off first, it wasn't like he went up to the guy and shot him in the heart without warning. He even gave him an additional 2 minutes.

Basically, Raylan is a US Marshall stationed out of Miami. He gets transferred back to his home state of Kentucky after he shoots the aforementioned bad guy. Most the the story lines takes place in Harlan County, where Raylan is from and where pretty much 70 percent of the bad guys in the show come from.

The first season is a bit here and there, like they were still trying to find their footing. But once season 2 rolls by you wouldn't even want to tear your eyes away because everything, from the plot to the characters to the dialogue to the season two baddie (the matriarch of the Bennet clan ruling Harlan County's pot trade, and by definition, the whole county, Mags Bennet) is so incredibly engaging.

The show also has on 13 episodes per season, which is both too short yet just the appropriate amount.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, sounds excellent. Thanks!

[cwazy-weiven.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :) It's also a show you could probably enjoy watching with Mr. Mousie.

[cwazy-weiven.livejournal.com]

Also do you watch sports shows? If so, Friday Night Lights is another show driven by the sheer power of the characters and performances.

And for teen dramas, I really enjoyed the first season of the UK Skins. Tony Stonem is the epitome of villainous protagonist.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I liked FNL.

I am not one for teen shows, unless it's kdramas or major scifi, so no Skins for me.

[octavia-b.livejournal.com]

Don't mean to butt in but really want to second the rec for Justified. It's awesome and I think you'd love it.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OK, now I am def getting it.

[ambergold.livejournal.com]

I remember you didn't initially like Alias but maybe you should try the second season? I just find it hard to believe it wouldn't click since it has almost everything you like in an OTP/show.

also hmmm...as someone who's either seen or is familiar with everything on this list, I think the only similarity between everything is teh characters...the tone and genre of the shows varies all over, but they all have really tough characters battling the world at their core. And angsty, star-crossed ships.

I really want to watch and like Farscape but I"ve tried the pilot twice and both times it was so cheesy I just couldn't take it. When does it get more angsty/serious?

[hamster428.livejournal.com]

Yay for another Alias backer. It was such a smart show. But then again if mousie didn't like S1 it's just prob not her thing. Cuz even though it got better, the essence is still the same.
Farscape I enjoy... maybe not too much but it's def better than the pilot. I think I let the DVD plays on until ep 5 while I distract myself with Fruit Ninja until it finally clicked. The thing with older shows is that they're harder to digest if you weren't part of the original followers

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOL re older shows. Now I feel like I am 80 :P (FWIW I only started watching FS at the end of S4, so maybe 75? :P)

First season of FS isn't anything special until the last 6-7 eps.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Trust me, repeated tries of Alias. It just annoys the heck out of me.

Farscape gets into its series-long arc (and is v.v. serious) starting with 1.16 - A Human Reaction. Then, you can skip 1.17 and possibly 1.18 and get to 1.19 Nerve/1.20 A Hidden Memory (it's a two-parter). Watch those together with 1.22 Family Ties. If you don't like it then, then FS is just not your thing (alternatively, you can skip 1.16 but it really is a wonderful angsty ep and is sort of a stand-alone that ties into everything later).

If you want to see FS at its best, you can always go to the end of S2 - Eps 2.19-2.22 (Liars Guns and Money threeparter and Die Me Dichotomy season ender). That's probably my fave stretch of FS ever except for end of S4, and also DMD literally made me cry for an hour after I've seen it.

To motivate, here are some awesome shippy moments:

http://www.youtube.com/user/susanmark

My favorite scene ever is in first ep of s3 but it only is amazing if you know what's going on from prior season:

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All this said, FS very much marches to the beat of its own drummer and is fond of gross-out humor occasionally and is, occasionally, just plain insane. I love it, but MMV.

[(Anonymous)]

If you like Life on Mars try Ashes to Ashes.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It looked cool from clips, so I will.