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Watched anything good lately?

Matt N

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Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. We have a film reviews thread in this section of the forum, so I’ll admit that I’m slightly surprised to see that we seemingly don’t have a more general TV review thread, even though we have numerous threads for individual TV shows. So I thought I’d get the ball rolling and ask; have you watched anything good lately that you fancy talking about?

Over the last month or two, my parents and I have found and started watching two really funny sitcoms on Netflix; Friends and Modern Family.


I have to say I’ve loved both; we finished Friends already, whereas we’re only 2 seasons into Modern Family at the moment, and both of them have been brilliant watches, in my opinion!


Let’s start with Friends, then. It’s an absolutely iconic TV show, and I had actually watched numerous episodes of Friends before, but I’d never seen the entire thing. And I have to say, I very much enjoyed watching it! Out of the main 6, my favourite character is by far Joey Tribbiani; I know this is an unpopular opinion, but he always delivers exactly the kind of light-hearted, obvious humour that I like in a comedy show, and I find him really funny! Some of my favourite episodes include The One Where Joey Speaks French, The One With Unagi, The One Where Ross Got High and The One Where They All Find Out, but to be honest, I can’t think of a single episode that I didn’t at least get some degree of enjoyment out of, which I find remarkable for a show that’s 10 seasons long! There are a few things I would say, however; I did find elements of the humour difficult to understand, for example. The particular thing I have in mind is that there’s quite a lot of pretty sarcastic humour; I’m not the sharpest when it comes to sarcasm (as many as of you know), and there’s quite a bit of it in Friends, particularly from Chandler Bing. I know I’m firmly in a minority who isn’t a huge fan of sarcastic humour, however. I’d also say that it is a little bit of a product of its time, in numerous ways. I have to say I very much enjoyed it on the whole, however; definitely worth a watch, if you’ve never seen it!


I’ve only watched 2 seasons of Modern Family so far, and I wasn’t anywhere near as familiar with it prior to watching as I was Friends, but I have to say I’m loving it so far, and controversially, I’d actually say I think I enjoy it quite a bit more than Friends, in spite of how funny bits of Friends are! The key thing for me is that the humour is generally a lot more my style; I said above how I much prefer quite obvious, slapstick humour over sarcastic humour, and I think Modern Family is just balanced more towards the style of humour I really enjoy on the whole. There’s nowhere near as much sarcasm or humour that I struggle to understand, which I really like. In terms of a favourite character, I absolutely love Phil Dunphy; I think he’s absolutely hysterical, and just seems to provide laughs within everything he does! I also must admit that I quite like the monologue-type segments that it has with the individual characters; I find them quite helpful to give you a bit of an additional look into the characters’ feelings, and give you more of an idea of what’s going on in a scene. On the whole, even though I’m only 2 seasons in at the moment, I must admit that I’m loving Modern Family so far, and I’m surprised that it never gets talked about more, as I think it’s terrific!


I know the two aren’t really directly comparable, but am I the only one who likes Modern Family more than Friends?


I hope you’re not too appalled by my slightly controversial takes on American sitcoms...
 
If you like the Joey character you should watch Episodes, Matt LeBlanc plays a fictionalised version of himself which is not too far from being a much more sweary Joey. It's an excellent, clever comedy. It also satisfyingly runs to a final closing episode unlike so many longer running TV comedies which get cancelled without the opportunity of proper conclusion.
 
Only Fools had such a conclusion before it was kind of ruined by bringing it back

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+1 for Episodes, really great show.

I personally prefer TV shows/Netflix series to films as my attention span for a 2-3 hour film isn't great, so to have a longer story I can invest into that's broken down into 30-60 minute episodes is something I greatly appreciate. Amongst other things, I've recently watched all of Black Mirror (late to that party I'm aware), and currently working my way through Schitt's Creek and The Crown.
 
Goes Wrong Show and Ghosts are some fantastic shows on the BBC.

Stranger things on Netflix is good and Umbrella Acadamy was brilliant.
 
Recently binged Schitt’s Creek on Netflix - it’s a comedy. Highly recommend it, do stick with it though, the first few episodes are the weakest and you might feel you don’t like the characters, but you aren’t meant to.

By the end you will love them. It’s a fantastic show.
 
Huge Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant fan, I had watched all their TV work apart from Life's too Short, with Warwick Davis. So I decided to give it a go. It is definitely the underdog in his arsenal, a fantastic show going back to the mockumentary style that Gervais does so so well. Obviously it doesn't reach the levels of Extras and The Office (UK), but it's still very well done and features guest stars in a way Extras does. Worth checking out if you like your dry humour like myself.
 
These days it seems I pay for a Netflix and Prime subscription just to watch The Office (US), House and the tennis & footy when it's on Prime. So much choice but so little!

EDIT: And Peep Show! How could I forget Peep Show!

Sex Education on Netflix is decent too, third season should be out this year.
 
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A lot of quality shows mentioned so far I must say.

If you haven't watched The Queen's Gambit yet, I'd highly recommend it, easily the best television series produced in 2020 revolving around an orphan who becomes a pill-addicted chess grandmaster.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul remain two of the most consistent shows on Netflix, also. After a slow start, the latter is threatening to prove even better than its predecessor, with a final season to be released this year.

In the comedy stakes we seem to be pretty well covered, but Community is a real dark horse that never got watched by as many people as it should have done. Also on Netflix, a very clever and unique comedy series from the creator of Rick & Morty. I recently gave it a rewatch and it holds up.
 
I have quite a collection of old Dr Who's in my cupboard. My favourite is "the Tenth Planet", the first appearance of the Cybermen and the first regeneration. It is a shame that the final episode is missing (bar the regeneration scene) but the animated reconstruction is pretty good.
 
I’ll echo the above mentions of Breaking Bad and Better call Saul! Both written by Vince Gilligan. They are fantastic Drama series that follow similar VIBES but also have distinct differences. However I’d say breaking bad is definitely the superior.

Breaking Bad had always been my favourite binge watching series, Until I watched The Sopranos!
 
For anyone looking for crime documentaries Night Stalker and Evil Genius are worth a watch on Netflix.

Wild Wild Country is also a good watch for all round crazy true life American cult type stuff.

Oh and Tiger King as well of course.
 
Yes to Better Call Saul! Cannot wait for the final season. I still don't think it's quite as good as Breaking Bad.

For some golden oldies, TV doesn't get much better than the Sopranos and The Wire. I found Boardwalk Empire excellent too and somewhat underrated!

In recent months, I've discovered a 'guilty pleasure' programme on Netflix and Amazon called 'Below Deck'. I really didn't think it would be my cup of tea as I'm not usually one for reality TV but it's addictive, light-hearted easy viewing. There are some ridiculous larger than life characters in it throughout the seasons and the locations are stunning.
 
I second (third?) Ghosts on iPlayer.

What we do in the Shadows is also good.

The Great Pottery Throwdown on Channel 4 is fantastic too (bake off but with pots) and I've really got into Taskmaster recently
 
Been watching a lot of Red Dwarf from start to current.

Also which I don't if this counts, but also watching keenly the rebuilding works on the Isle of Wight railway, love me trains! :)
 
Taskmaster is a great shout. Also check the podcast out. They're currently going through every episode from the beginning.
 
I've recently been watching BBC "The Serpent" a true crime story.

I'm also been watching "The Mask Singer" Jess correctly guessed who Blob was from day 1
 
Taskmaster is a great shout. Also check the podcast out. They're currently going through every episode from the beginning.

Can definitely recommend Taskmaster if you're after something no so heavy but very funny to watch. It's all on All 4, I'm on to series 5 at the moment.
 
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