'Obscure" US TV choices - recommendations please

[Stat Brother]

Just started watching the re-runs of The West Wing on Sky Atlantic as missed it before whenever it was on.

Absolutely brilliant!

I'm 'revisiting' The West Wing just to make sure it still deserves it's place in my 'top 3 best ever' list.

To which the answer is HELL YES.

Even after all these years, and still knowing the storylines (says it all right there) means The West Wing is comfortably second behind The Sopranos.

 

[Acker79]

I've re-watched the west wing several times. I think the only TV show I've watched as often is Quantum Leap.

 

[Stat Brother]

The biggest problem with The West Wing is the expectation levels I have in current politicians.
I want my world run by Jed Bartlet:-

 

[Acker79]

That would be great, but I'd settle for Jimmy Smits. Heck, even the republican Alan Alda would be fine.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Following on from the French film thread in Other Stuff (which is where this one'll probably end up, sorry mods), I thought a similar thread of US television series would be useful.

Mainstream stuff doesn't count (24, West Wing etc), but if it was only shown late night on BBC2, Sky, Ch4 or Ch5 please include it. Equally, if it's never been shown over here but you've seen it and recommend it heartily, post it here.

On my computer I have Treme (from The Wire lot) about the New Orleans floods, Breaking Bad, a dark dark comedy(?), and Weeds, no idea but someone told me to watch it, ready to go. Oh, and Blue Bloods, from NSC.

I recommend Alias, light spy caper but great fun, The Shield, brilliantly involving cop drama, and, criminally cancelled by FX after just one series, Terriers, about a couple of middle-aged private eyes, which if you can get a look at it is superb.

Ha, that would be the Treme with occasional guest appearances by the man - Steve Earle!

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Not sure if it's obscure, but loving The Blacklist.

 

[Daffy Duck]

Not sure if it's obscure, but loving The Blacklist.

I love The Blacklist. Been watching it from the start and James Spader is perfect in the main role of Reddington.

Think it's one where you have to watch from the beginning of the series.

 

[Acker79]

Not sure if it's obscure, but loving The Blacklist.

I find watching Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ultron looks like 'Red' Reddington.

 

[Official Old Man]

Not sure if it's obscure, but loving The Blacklist.

I too love the Blacklist and James Spader plays Reddington well. But this new series seems to have gone off the plot a bit. What happened to the blacklist? Get back to the original ideas of catching a bad guy each week. I think last weeks didn't even have a (#45) meaning the blacklister they were after.

 

[Barham's tash]

I've re-watched the west wing several times. I think the only TV show I've watched as often is Quantum Leap.

Currently ploughing through it again too and I only came to it approx. 4 years ago and so many of my friends literally couldn't believe I hadn't seen it.

Also getting through the last three series of the X Files, which I only sporadically watched first time around, in time for the new series in Jan.

Other obscurities i've enjoyed include Lawless, and just getting into the Walking Dead (which gets better as the show gains in popularity and the budget increases.)

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Not sure they even show it in the UK but got completely hooked while I was in Oz by 'Elementary', a Sherlock Holmes-based drama set in the modern day US and starring the curious casting of Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. The premise of each episode is fairly outlandish but the quality of the writing is wondrous, as is JLM's portrayal of the recovering junkie police 'consultant'. WELL worth a look in anybody's book. IMHO, like.

 

[Acker79]

Not sure they even show it in the UK but got completely hooked while I was in Oz by 'Elementary', a Sherlock Holmes-based drama set in the modern day US and starring the curious casting of Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. The premise of each episode is fairly outlandish but the quality of the writing is wondrous, as is JLM's portrayal of the recovering junkie police 'consultant'. WELL worth a look in anybody's book. IMHO, like.

They are on the fourth season (I think) on Sky Living. I really like it. I was sceptical at first assuming it was just the US remaking the Cumberbatch show, but they've done something similar but different.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

They are on the fourth season (I think) on Sky Living. I really like it. I was sceptical at first assuming it was just the US remaking the Cumberbatch show, but they've done something similar but different.

Ah, right, cheers. Not sure how many people would have it on their radar on Sky Living. Certainly IMHO deserves a way wider audience. Probably a victim of the Cumberbatch equivalent show over here, but a class act in its own right and something completely different.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Not sure they even show it in the UK but got completely hooked while I was in Oz by 'Elementary', a Sherlock Holmes-based drama set in the modern day US and starring the curious casting of Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. The premise of each episode is fairly outlandish but the quality of the writing is wondrous, as is JLM's portrayal of the recovering junkie police 'consultant'. WELL worth a look in anybody's book. IMHO, like.

There's one classic episode where Vinnie Jones has a guest appearance playing a psycho (or basically himself !) - apparently him and JLM are drinking buddies

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

 

[GingerBeerMan]

I highly recommend Narcos. Very dramatic and surprisingly most of it is true, every episode will leave you on Wikipedia thinking,' that can't have really happened'.

 

[highway61]

Not sure they even show it in the UK but got completely hooked while I was in Oz by 'Elementary', a Sherlock Holmes-based drama set in the modern day US and starring the curious casting of Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. The premise of each episode is fairly outlandish but the quality of the writing is wondrous, as is JLM's portrayal of the recovering junkie police 'consultant'. WELL worth a look in anybody's book. IMHO, like.

I really love this series, Miller is very good

 

[Stat Brother]

Not sure they even show it in the UK but got completely hooked while I was in Oz by 'Elementary', a Sherlock Holmes-based drama set in the modern day US and starring the curious casting of Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. The premise of each episode is fairly outlandish but the quality of the writing is wondrous, as is JLM's portrayal of the recovering junkie police 'consultant'. WELL worth a look in anybody's book. IMHO, like.

As small pleasures go this is properly niche:-

I love the way JLM stands, bolt upright but slightly leaning forward, from the ankles.

Now imagine how pleased I was to see his dad doing the same.

As i said it's the little things, but I defy any of you not to spot it now.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I'm not going through all 50 pages of this but, on the off chance it's not been flagged, I can recomnend "man in the high castle" on Amazon. It's just awesome. Truly awesome.

 

[Randsta]

Trailer Park Boys is bloody funny catch it on netflix