Asklemmy

What we do in the shadows. The show is based off the Taika Waititi/Jermaine Clement film of the same name. And is also written by Jermaine Clement

It's a comedy/mocumentary about a group of vampires. The characters are really well written and it straddles the line between the banality of everyday life as a vampire, and obviously the weird supernatural aspects of vampires. It recently aired it's final episode so you can binge it now and get through the whole thing.

If you like the office/community/parks and rec/I.T. Crowd type of stuff I think you'll really like it

Severance is the best show of the 2020s IMHO.

The Expanse. I forgot how good the earlier seasons were, and looking forward to seeing the newer stuff for the first time.

Shōgun

• Silo
• Ted Lasso
• A Man on the Inside

Halt and catch fire. Expected nothing from it but we are really enjoying it.

Schitt's Creek is currently on Netflix. One of my favorite, wholesome sitcoms!

Arcane.

I missed the hype for Arcane season 1, mostly because it didn't really seem up my alley. I figured it'd be boring to me because I wasn't into that specific game, or too juvenile for me, or something.

I was really wrong. Really, really wrong. It stands on its own and season 1 has the strongest storytelling I've seen in anything in a good, long time. You don't need to care about or play League of Legends to watch the show. And it's very much NOT a kid's show even if it starts with kid characters...it touches a lot on crime, poverty, mental illness, etc. It's very honest and truthful and complex and nuanced on these things.

And every aspect of storytelling was strong. EVERY ONE.

What I mean by that is this...in most TV shows, animated or live, you usually have one form of strong(ish) storytelling carrying the entire thing and compensating for other things that are weaker. So a show will have one or two stand-out aspects, and others that are okish to bad, but able to be overlooked because of the other awesome things going on.

Like, you might have a poor script but really good actors who can elevate the poor script with their spoken intonation or physical acting. Or you might have a good script and really good soundtrack but mediocre acting and bland costume/set design. Basically, script, art/costume design, music, and actor ability all play together to deliver a story, and usually you have one or two of those that are strong, and the rest are being carried by the strong parts and ranging from competent-but-not-awesome to mediocre to bad.

Arcane's not like that.

Arcane has top-tier storytelling on the writing level, AND on the art and animation level, and in the choice of songs for the soundtrack. Like, the script itself is fantastic, but then you watch the animation and see they decided not to use common animation shorthand. Instead, they went back to actually LOOK at how humans display emotion and move their bodies and translated THAT into their animation. So you have a strong script AND strong "physical acting". How they frame shots is fantastic too. And if that wasn't enough, all the music is stellar and pertinent to the scenes it's used in. And if THAT wasn't enough, even the design of the characters BEFORE they even move or speak is top-notch. And if THAT isn't enough the voice actors are phenomenal too.

For Season 1, nothing's carrying anything else, everything is strong. And that's EXTREMELY rare in ANY show. So, so, SO rare.

Season 2 is not as good--but that's really just in comparison to how outrageously and unusually good Season 1 was. I'd say in Season 2, the script is not as tight, but all the other things are still as good as Season 1. So the animation/art design/music/etc. carry the script a little in the second season. The script isn't HORRIBLE though...it's mostly the pacing is off and it's missing some appropriate build-up in some parts. I've read they had to cut some scenes, and if that's true it would completely explain the flaws. The second season also suffers a bit in comparison to Season 1...Season 1 did everything right, so anything that's not perfect in Season 2 naturally sticks out. It doesn't make it bad though.

Anyway, yeah. Watch Arcane, if you missed that boat previously.

Columbo

Older than you are and worth looking at. [available on Youtube]

The Prisoner. Imagine if Ian Fleming and Franz Kafka got together to do a TV show. A government official resigns and is immediately kidnapped. He wakes up in The Village; a lovely little place with nice views, great food, plenty of fun things to do, and no possible escape.

I, Claudius. A very young Patrick Stewart is the least reason to watch this reenactment of the first five Roman emperors.

Connections. Non-fiction. Wonderfully entertaining and informative. The creator's premise is that scientific progress is almost never straight forward. Coffee houses open in London = coffee houses become popular places to do business = coffee house customers join together to invest in ships to the New World = the new 'companies' begin looking for ways to make their ships safer = they start to invest in making pine tar to protect the ships = add two hundred years and you have insurance companies and the chemical industry

Super old show called scrapheap challenge or junkyard wars, which depends on whether it's the british or american version. I loved this show as a kid.

Shrinking is excellent

Severance is an all too graphic caricature of life in corporate America and I had a visceral reaction to watching it that made me feel dead it was awful don’t watch it because the show is magnificently well done and immaculately satirical stay away from this terrifyingly good show watch it

I recommend “Severance” on AppleTV. Also recommend “Shining Girls”. AppleTV is free this weekend.

I just finished Only Murders in the Building. I love it. Its a whodunit with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. The whole cast always feels to me like they're always having a lot of fun!

I've been enjoying Skeleton Crew as it releases.

• FROM
• Kevin can f*$*$! Himself

Modern Family slaps so hard

I've been doing Doom Patrol lately, switching between it and What we do in the Shadows.

I can recommend them both with the caveat that I'm not very far into either.

Right now I'm watching silo (apple tv+) and Gilmore girls. They are nice

Something I haven't seen mentioned is Ghosts. Recently got caught up on it and it's definitely a fun watch!

DanDaDan on Netflix is bonkers.

• Shrinking
• Sopranos
• Severance
• SAS Rogue Heroes

Season 2 of Shrinking has been a very emotional ride, but has a good mix of comedy & drama, while addressing some difficult topics.

Sopranos is a classic. Depends if you like long character development.

Severance is a great dystopian show about people essentially hating to work. Season 2 should be out shortly.

SAS is an expensive BBC production following the formation of the SAS during WWII. Has a Band of Brothers type feel to it, with a British twist. They're all madmen. Cinematography is amazing, and the history, while dramatized, is still impressive. It's based on the book of the same name by Ben McIntyre (non-fiction).

Foyle's War. A British drama about a detective in England during World War 2.

Excellent acting, and the period backdrop is very well-written. Gives you a bit of a sense of what it was like to live during that period.

Frazer Cain recommended Dr. Stone, an anime series that features the scientific method prominently in a scenario about rebuilding civilization. I haven't watched it though. I don't agree to the Netflix terms of service with stalkerware and exploitation.

I'm watching the dune show, it's not great.

I'm also watching creature commandos which is pretty good if you don't mind animation.

• The good place
• Inside job
• Dogs in space
• Daredevil
• Final space

I started watching Scavengers Reign recently on a suggestion from a friend. I normally don't go for animated shows, but this one is really enjoyable for me. Calm & explorative.

Silo. It’s so fucking good. So are the books.

Jury Duty, binge watched and loved it, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Silo.

Severance (rewatching cause season 2 is around the corner).

Star Trek Strange New Worlds (also rewatched waiting for next season).

The Traitors has just started in the UK. It's essentially a game of Werewolf with tasks.

The first season of this was good, they used regular people. You cared if they lived or died.

The second season is full of your typical big brother wannabe narcissists. You don't care if they die, you just care which ones die first.

It's watcheable. There's also a weird obsession by the production to play shitty emo covers of popular pop songs in tense moments. Baffling choice, but I guess originality is too hard

My wife has gotten into watching Green Acres. Omg the writing is so sharp, just one joke after another. The characters do get repetitive but that is the way with all sitcoms.

The Mary Tyler Moore show is very rewatchable. The writing and characters are so well done. Ted Knight and Betty White are brilliant.

The ones I've been watching and it's been good are:

1. Dark Matter;
2. Severance;
3. Silo;
4. From;

Halt and Catch Fire.

Set in the 80s, it’s about a company in Texas trying to build a computer to rival IBM. Er, that’s how it starts. I liked it so much, I bought it.

Succession, perhaps the best script I've ever experienced

[email protected] has weekly discussions thread on that topic

If you're into something different, a weird Canadian comedy kind of thing: Shoresy It's different, and I like different.

Landman would be good if it weren't pushing so much fucking propaganda.

My kids love Gravity Falls, which as an adult I still love.

Someone else mentioned Silo, I agree.

My wife loves Great British Bakeoff. It's an easy background show.

I also enjoyed Bad Monkey. It's kind of a B- show, but easy to watch.