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A little old now but "The Shield" is great. Starts out ok, starts to look a little predictable towards end of S1 then finds its feet. Harsh ending too!
I started Narcos last night, it's very good - watched 2 on the bounce which is a record for me.
The Strain is very good, it's sold as a vampire thing, but most of the vampires are more zombie like - anyway, it was a plausible story of how/why Vam-bies happen which goes further than the usual "magic" explanation which helps an old cynic like me.
The Walking Dead is very good, peaks an troughs though, series 1 is some of the best TV ever, big falling out with the writer meant that series 2 was made with half the total budget, twice the episodes and not much of a story and it shows - almost nothing happens for 6 episodes - it never really gets back to the heights of the first series again, but it's very good.
Fear the Walking Dead however... I've seen 2 so far, it's not gripping me, it's started so slowly, and it's becoming farcical now how long the writers are attempting to hold off the inevitable panic / apocalypse thing. I'd bet the Buses are still running at the end of series 1.
GoT is brilliant, even if the whole medieval/middle earth/dungeons and dragons thing doesn't appeal, don't worry, it so good it doesn't really matter if the genre isn't for you, the story is great - the downside is a lot of the characters (and it's a huge cast) look and sound similar and have unusual, completely forgettable names - thankfully with a tag line of "all men must die" they're killed with alarming regularity so it gets easier.
Better Call Saul is another slow one, but I can't wait for series 2 - some people say you don't have to have seen Breaking Bad to enjoy it, but I disagree.
Sons of Anarchy
Dexter.
We've just finished Humans. Only ten episodes, so not a huge investment. Really enjoyable.
Person of interest +1, watch a couple of episodes & judge it yourself, don't be put off by what you read as the overview. It just keeps twisting, I love it & Harold, and Lionel and Bear and Shaw and the machine, even a small scary/secret place in my heart for Root (Reece is too cool and has no need of my love)
What the hell happened to Justified*? It complete disappeared from TV
Oh as for The following, just kill me now, FFS it worse that the walking dead for stupidity. At least James Spader's having fun with the Blacklist
*apparently returning to sky in September, after a 2 year gap
Sons of Anarchy
Justified
Friday Night Lights
Parks and Recreation
The above have been the things I have enjoyed the most over the last few years.
I'm sure there is other stuff too...
bumpity bump.
I tried out Narcos on Sunday evening. I then splurged through all 10 episodes over the next 3 nights.
ORSUM!
Highly recommended. I can't wait for the second series.
Pablo Escobar was always a background name as I was growing up (born 1975), or the punchline to some joke I never understood about marching powder and odd-named countries many miles away. I never really learnt his story, and this series brings it 650b+ alive.
Mr Robot is next.
(and also have done series 1 of Des Engrenages (Spirals) with Mrs S and straight into series 2. excellent TV)
I tried Orphan Black, and got to the end of Series 1, but felt no urge to start series 2. Excellent acting, but the story seemed either aimless at times, or becoming very predictable at others. Never interesting.
Thanks for the pointers everyone.
ITYM EngrenagesCaught a late season of that and it was OK. Got the feeling it was passed it's best.
No, it's really not. The last series was terrific.
If you like crime drama then 'The Wire' really is the king of boxsets, the first series is more than 10 years old now so it's almost a period piece now, but it's fantastic TV, some of the dialogue is hard to follow, the accents are think and the 'street talk' doesn't come with subtitles but if you stick with it its very good.
This. The Wire is basically the best thing that has ever been on TV.
Person of Interest only gets interesting towards the end of the first series when you realise what the machine is actually doing
Sons of Anarchy is a bit formulaic in its present season. The time shifting bit with Jax's dad just didn't work in the first couple of seasons and they dropped it entirely. Now it's a bit like playing Wheel of Fortune with plot points: Drea di Matteo shows up again/gang turns on one of its own/prison stabbing/Jax has sex with some hot babe/blah blah blah.
If you like house of cards then you need to watch the west wing.
Best TV ever made in my opinion.
Just rewatching Deep space 9 on Horror channel at the moment, brilliant series,with some great characters, many will dismiss it as scifi, but you are missing one of the best series of the last 20 years and a pioneer of the long term story arc over multiple series
The last season of justified is showing on Channel5/Spike on freeview at the moment , won't start watching it till the whole series is recorded tho!
Just finished "Touch of Cloth". Not really a box set as it's only about 6 hours total but very good nonetheless. Strongly recommended.
Sopranos will not have dated unduly. It's a must see for any 40+ 🙂
Peaky Blinders is also good (someone said they'd seen series 3 but I thought it wasn't out till 2016).
Dexter - really really good easy watching (am on the penultimate series and worried about the reviews of the final one but will have to watch it).
Homeland if you've not seen it.
Have noted some of the others for later viewing - cheers.
I hit narco's hard, snorted up in 3 sessions. Def looking forward to the Bridge! Still after something for now.
Started watching Wayward Pines last night. Liked it so much I watched 6 episodes in a row.
Grimm is also good.
worried about the reviews of the final one but will have to watch it
Don't, it will ruin everything.
schrickvr6 - Memberworried about the reviews of the final one but will have to watch it
Don't, it will ruin everything.
The very definition of a dilemma. How can I resist having invested hours but know I won't be able to 'unsee' something I've seen!
By the way big dummy that was very funny and painful
The final season of Dexter almost spoiled everything that had gone before it. By all means watch it but then forget it. It really was that bad.
Penny Dreadful......wierd, dark, occulty...very good
Justified......great dialogue and character interaction, love it !
Boardwalk Empire....set in prohibition America. Fantastic writing
The Leftovers....again v wierd but engaging!
Peaky Blinders......great gangster drama set in Brum...fantastic soundtrack (nick cave, white stripes)!
Game of Thrones.....epic, a surprise in every episode!!!!!!
BBad....loved it's twists and turns , very fast moving!
Walking dead....another fave....zombies, what's not to love!
Daredevil....best superhero viewing ever!
Another vote for The West Wing here, I have watched most of the things that we get on these Boxset threads, have started one or 2 myself to get recommendations. After maybe 3 years of having it sat there on my hard drive I finally decided to watch the West Wing more out of desperation after running out of House to watch and having no enthusiasm to go and pick up Justified or Boardwalk Empire again than enything else. I mean how much can actually happen in a drama about the White House this is going to be rubbish....fast forward to the end of Season 1, its 1am, I have to be up at 6am but had to stay up for another 2 episodes to see what would happen, thoroughly engrossing.
My top level TV recommendations
The Wire
The Sopranos
The West Wing
Breaking Bad
Six Feet Under
Then for Crime Drama specifically as per the OP
The Shield
Southlands
We are watching Sopranos.
This has resulted in me eating delicious pasta and other Italian meals nearly every night of the week, my red wine consumption has also seriously increased.
A tv show has never made me this hungry.
It's brilliant.
Just coming to the end of Blacklist S1.
It's a bit meh and variable but I've hung on in there. Spader is excellent though.
After Breaking Bad and The Wire I had high hopes for The Sopranos and while it's ok it doesn't seem to have grabbed me like those did.
Narcos on the other hand is another one where I can't wait to watch the next episode.
Sorry bit predictable from me but
The Soprano's
Breaking Bad
and I am now on S3 of Walking Dead
Loved all those.
Mad Men..hmm not so much
Has anyone watched Lilyhammer? It looks interesting.
Also, they made season 2 of Les Revenants yay!
With Engrenages I thought seasons 2 & 3 were the best.
Season 2 of Orphan Black better than 1 (or least which ever has that episode with Helena, blood spattered white dress and a knife). Def my favourite. Utter tosh though 
Talking of which, I enjoyed Marvel Agents of SHIELD season 2.
Has anyone watched Lilyhammer? It looks interesting.
Yes but the joke ran out after the first episode.
Stoner, I reckon you should scrub Sopranos from your Maybe list and stick it right at the top of the Must Watch one.
It is absolutely superb. The acting and writing are spot on. It's also hilarious! I think Breaking Bad (which is also great) owes a great deal of it's success to The Sopranos/David Chase.
Another series I've not seen mentioned yet (and judging by your posts I think you may like) is an Italian drama called Gomorrah.
It was a Sky Atlantic show (available on Google play) centered around the Camorra/criminal underworld in Naples.
I can't for the life of me understand why it isn't more popular as it's excellent. I can only imagine it's because people simply haven't heard of it. That or the subtitles.
One series in (2nd out next year) and it's my favourite show of the last couple of years by a long way.
If you like crime drama check it out.
Walking dead....another fave....zombies, what's not to love!
well, the zombies for a start...a baddy with no perspective, motivation, or point...
I enjoyed Blacklist.
Has anyone watched Lilyhammer? It looks interesting.
I thought it was excellent. Totally different and certainly didn't get bored after season 1.
A good winter watch with a whisky or two
Mr Robot is next.
Mr Robot is just superb, I really enjoyed it. Very accurate use of tech too.
Just rewatching Deep space 9
The problem with DS9 is the cost of entry is high. It's probably my favourite of the Treks, but it takes ages to find its feet. You've basically got to wade through two seasons of utter pish to get to some of the finest sci-fi ever made.
Gomorrah
cheers blueflamespecial, I will check it out.
Yes I like Euro-drama. I have no probs with subtitles and it's good for my language skillz too.
I like inner voice commentary, like Mr Robot or Narcos. It even worked for Bloodline to a point.
Love/Hate is an Irish criminal gang series that is worth trying, I have only seen the first three series but it was very good.
Nit sure if its been mentioned above but the box set 'justified' with Timothy Olyphant (from deadwood etc) is superb
Currently mid-way through the fourth series of Sons of Anarchy. I only started watching them at the beginning of October. It's one of those 'just one more episode before bed' programmes.
Seems like Lilyhammer might be my next watch, after I have finished with SAMCRO.
See no one has mentioned Rectify which I 'taped' the whole lot on a marathon evening on AMC (new sat channel) I haven't watched it yet, but see it gets 8.4/10 from 13,310 reviewers on Amazon....so should be half decent.
Just watching season two of 'Penny Dreadful' at the moment. Highly enjoyable Gothic nonsense with added scary/sexy witches, Dorian Gray man-love and a re-animated Billie Piper. (What's not to like?)
Love/Hate is very good indeed.