What Is Your Favourite TV Series?

Yes, yes you are ;D

New to me, doesnā€™t sound right
Whatā€™s next, Spartacus with new CGI legions as an option?

Frankly, CGI has ruined some of the charms of action cinema for me. When I watch a film like Spartacus or Ben Hur, I know people worked their arses off to get the action on screen. What I see is real. Okay, those people arenā€™t Roman soldiers, but theyā€™re made of flesh and blood. When I watch a film like Troy I canā€™t help trying to find out which ships are real and which are CGI. Ruins the experience.

And am I the only one quite liked the prequels?

Same here. I just donā€™t enjoy new films full of CGI nearly as muchā€¦ I canā€™t quite put my fingure on exactly why, but I just donā€™t like it.

Maybe its like you say, what youā€™re seeing was created out of something ā€œrealā€ which gives it moreā€¦ presence?

I suspect so

The only one of the special editions I wasnā€™t keen on was Star Wars. The scenes with Han & Greedo, and Han with Jabba were a bit dodgy. ESB benefits a lot from the cleaning up of the effects when on Hoth. The best thing about the special editions is when you watch them before/after the new trilogy, as the picture quality is more like the new ones. When you watch the new trilogy with the original theatrical trilogy the difference in picture quality is a bit jarring. Itā€™s a shame that they didnā€™t do some restoration for the original cuts and present them in anamorphic WS.

I liked the prequels too. I think they do a nice job of setting the scene for the original trilogy. I think Revenge Of The Sith was amazing, and almost ranks up there with Star Wars & ESB - I think itā€™s much better than Return Of The Jedi. Attack Of The Clones was pretty good too.

Okay, Iā€™ll try to nail it without embarrassing omissionsā€¦

1ā€¦ Perry Mason
2ā€¦ the Rockford Files
3ā€¦ Mystery Science Theater 3000
4ā€¦ Danger Man/Secret Agent/the Prisoner
5ā€¦ Monty Pythonā€™s Flying Circus
6ā€¦ the Saint
7ā€¦ Maverick
8ā€¦ I Spy
9ā€¦ Rawhide
10. 77 Sunset Strip
11. Laredo
12. Highway Patrol
13. Rocky & Bullwinkle
14. The Avengers
15. Leave It To Beaver

almost thereā€™sā€¦ T.H.E. Cat, Cannonball, Sky King, Blue Light, the Rat Patrol, Surfside 6, High Chaparral, the Simpsons, Hawaiian Eye, Combat

[quote=ā€œkit saginaw, post:87, topic:1822ā€]Okay, Iā€™ll try to nail it without embarrassing omissionsā€¦

2ā€¦ the Rockford Files[/quote]

This is the only one of the TV stuff of my youth which I still can watch. And which I buy. Very intelligent, very witty. Not always of course, but often enough.

Monty Phytons is of course another still great one.

These are my favorite ones:

Fawlty Towers
ā€™Allo 'Allo!
Poirot
The Saint

I had the first season of U.S. 70ā€™s show Police Story arrive the other day. Iā€™ve watched the first four episodes so far and am loving it. I must say it looks like it could become my favourite 70ā€™s show from the states. Plenty of famous faces so far, Vic Morrow, Ed Asner, Chuck Connors, Harry Guardino, Fred Williamson, James Farentino, Tony Lo Biano, Claude Akins and loads of other familiar character actors. And thatā€™s just in the first few episodes.

Hehā€¦some favourites from the past.

  1. The Virginian
  2. High Chaparral
  3. Cimarron Strip
  4. The Big Valley
  5. Wild Wild West
  6. Bonanza
  7. Lancer
  8. The Outcasts
  9. Hawaii-5-0
  10. The Champions
  11. Cannon
  12. I Spy
  13. The F.B.I. Story
  14. Mission Impossible
  15. Run for Your Life
  16. The Saint
  17. The Avengers
  18. The Man from Uncle
  19. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Thereā€™s more, but I canā€™t think of any right at the moment.

My favourite T.V show has always been The New Avengers. Dated yes, but that does not bother me.

I must say many TV-series from the past look dated when watched today. A good example is Hill Street Blues. Back then I thought it was wonderful, very innovative (probably was), but I bought a Box with the first series a while ago, and it looked very old-fashioned.

Most western series still look quite good after all those years, probably because they never tried to be hip, or ahead of their time, or anything like it. Bonanza has btw dated more than Rawhide. What seems dated in both series, are those studio sets and some of the acting. But most scripts are still fine.

Special favorites of mine were: The Avengers, High Chaparral, Rawhide, Danger Man, The Saint, the Man from Uncle, Hawai F-0, The Fugitive, Have gun will travel, Fawlty Towers, Hill street Blues.

^@I must say many TV-series from the past look dated

Youā€™re right, but that doesnā€™t bother me, Itā€™s the memories most of anything for me, really.

@the Man from Uncle

Yes, how could I forget that one. Iā€™ll put it on the list along with another tv-series that just came to mind.

By the way, thereā€™s a local channel here called -(METV-) thatā€™s showing quite a few favourites from the past. Shows

Same with me. I love them the way they are. They arenā€™t supposed to be that realistic, for me itā€™s sentimental factor that matters.

Among my favourites:

Drama
Breaking Bad
Deadwood
24
Dexter
Life on Mars
(but NOT Ashes to Ashes, which I didnā€™t really take to; it was okay, but not a true great IMO)
The Twilight Zone (The old '59-'63 incarnation. The PROPER one)
Oz
Six Feet Under
Rome
Band of Brothers
(and The Pacific to a lesser extent)
The Wire
Twin Peaks

Reality/Documentary/Light Entertainment
The Blue Planet/Planet Earth/Life/Frozen Planet/Africa (and pretty-much any other BBC David Attenborough show)
Walking with Dinosaurs/Beasts/Cavemen/Monsters
Wonders of the Solar System/Universe
(found Wonders of Life disappointing though)
Louis Therouxā€™s Weird Weekends (and any other of his assorted one-off docs)
Top Gear
An Idiot Abroad
Dog the Bounty Hunter
(yeah, thatā€™s right. I said it. Dog the Bounty Hunter)

Comedy
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Frasier
Seinfeld
Cheers
Soap
Marriedā€¦ With Children
The Big Bang Theory
The Larry Sanders Show
The Simpsons
King of the Hill
My Name is Earl
Modern Family
Raising Hope
Eastbound & Down
Fawlty Towers
Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge/Iā€™m Alan Partridge
Da Ali G Show/Ali G in da USAiii
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Monty Pythonā€™s Flying Circus
The Office (UK)
The Ricky Gervais Show
The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer/Bang Bang itā€™s Reeves & Mortimer
The Day Today
Brass Eye
Father Ted
Red Dwarf
Peep Show
(last series was poor though)
The Thick of It
Spaced
The Young Ones
The Comic Strip Presentsā€¦
Blackadder
(Iā€™m one of the three people on Earth who thought that the first series - The Black Adder - was the best one)
The Inbetweeners
Nighty Night
Boā€™ Selecta!

Iā€™ve not yet gotten around to Parks & Recreation, Itā€™s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, Homeland, Sons of Anarchy or Hannibal but theyā€™re all on the ever-expanding ā€œto doā€ pile (indeed, Iā€™ve owned the The Sopranos complete box set for a couple of years, and Iā€™ve owned the first season of Boardwalk Empire for awhile too. Havenā€™t watched either).

re: dated

You're right, but that doesn't bother me, It's the memories most of anything for me, really.
Same with me. I love them the way they are. They aren't supposed to be that realistic, for me it's sentimental factor that matters.

Yes, but memories can be spoiled. This was the case for me with Hill Street Blues. The Avengers has dated also, but I still like it. Same goes for Bonanza. So thereā€™s more to it than just being dated or not. Not so easy to explain.

Here are some of my favourites from all over the place, old and new, U.K. and U.S. In no particular order.

Breaking Bad
The Sopranos
Boardwalk Empire
Deadwood
The Wire
Game Of Thrones
Oz
The Borgias
Weeds
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Eastbound & Down
Police Story - since this week!
The Streets Of San Francisco
The Sweeney
The Professionals
New Scotland Yard
Out
The Hanged Man
Hazell
Law & Order (The G.F. Newman One)
George & Mildred
Love Thy Neighbour
Mind Your Language

Iā€™m sure I forgot some but thereā€™s plenty here.

I do not like ā€œdatedā€ because of memoriesā€¦ I just enjoy dated film and sometimes T.V.

The family are all thoroughly enjoying Firefly at the moment and the wife and I have just started series 1 of Boardwalk Empire. Both are very good.