Knowledge Gaps: Critically Acclaimed/Wildly Popular Shows You've Never Seen

[Jac]

This is a thread to discuss your TV 'knowledge gaps'. That is shows that are wildly popular, critically acclaimed or both that you haven't seen and why. Are there shows that you really want to see that aren't available anywhere? Are there shows that everybody loves that just are not interested in? Other reasons? What gaps are you interested in filling? 

I have a lot. Part of it is age, I'm in my mid-30s and access to older stuff can be hard, part of it, a big part, is geography, I usually live in Australia, though I'm currently based in Chicago, part of it is lack of access, I lived in an apartment with no television and limited internet for 18 months around the same time the golden age of television was really kicking off which meant that I really had to ration my viewing and missed the first seasons of many of shows considered classics and never caught up and part is just not caring about certain shows.

Some of the things I've never seen are any Norman Lear sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Pretty much anything pre-1970 with the exception of Bewitched, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Alias, Community, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Taxi, WKRP in Cincinnati and more I'm guessing I'll remember as other people reply.

[Cranberry]

Arrested Development. Multiple people have told me I'd love it, and I've enjoyed other things with similar humor, but there's some undefinable thing putting me off from ever trying.

I don't watch any of the most popular current shows... Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Empire, The Big Bang Theory. The latter I actively dislike; the others I simply have no interest in.

[Jac]

6 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

I have never seen The Wire, The Office or The Sopranos. I also stopped watching Game of Thrones after two seasons. And I HATED The Big Bang Theory 2 minutes into the pilot.

I haven't ever seen the US Office, mainly because I love the UK version and I don't need to see an inferior copy. My mum has seen some of it and said that the relationships and characters are far less interesting.

[tribeca]

I have never seen Buffy,Gilmore girls or sex in the city.  I don't like stories about vampires.   No clue why I never watched Gilmore girls as it's my type of show.  Sex in city was on station I didn't have.   Never had any desire to see what the fuss was all about although I do like their slot machine LOL.  

[abstractstuff]

Have never seen an episode of,  Arrested Development, Friends, Breaking Bad, Buffy, GOT, Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead, The Wire, The Soprano's, I Love Lucy, Sex and the City... So many more. 

[topanga]

I have a knowledge gap: someone please tell me why I'm supposed to like Breaking Bad. I've only seen the pilot episode, and yes, the main guy has cancer (I can't even remember his name), but he's a drug dealer, and he's celebrated. WTF????  When I hear people discuss the show, I never hear any discussions about the lives he's adversely affecting with his drug enterprise. Do we ever see people losing their jobs, their kids, their teeth? Does anyone ever die or go to jail or sell his or her body for drugs? It seems like the world of drug dealing was being romanticized and even celebrated on this show. I couldn't find anything likable about the characters. And because of that, I couldn't get into the show. 

[DangerousMinds]

BB is probably the best show I've ever seen. And yes, I understand what you're saying. I would say watch a few more episodes before you give up on it.

[festivus]

I also want to know why I should watch Breaking Bad. I've seen the pilot twice and I never felt the desire to go any further. The subject matter doesn't interest me. My son watched it and he's always like, I have to watch it, it's just so good. But I need a reason beyond that considering that I don't like shows about drugs. (Probably why I just couldn't with The Wire and I gave that one six episodes). Is it the acting that makes everyone love it so much? I do love me some Bryan Cranston.

[Chaos Theory]

Breaking Bad is one of the best written, acted, and directed shows about an antihero ever created. If antihero shows aren't your thing (it doesn't matter how good you tell me  a comedy is I just don't particularly like comedies so I probably won't like yours.) you might not like this because this isn't a morality tale.  Yes you see the bad drugs do (even in early episodes) and you see lives get ruined and people get killed but the main draw of the show is watching a "good" man become a bad one and take everyone else down with him.  The show title is what the show is about, who breaks bad, who doesn't and who is able to come back from the brink.

[festivus]

Thanks for that. I don't mind shows about about an antihero. The subject matter (drugs) is not one that interests me in terms of shows that I like to watch but everyone keeps telling me how good this show is and that I need to watch it anyway. I guess I just need an extra push somehow to get me going on it. 

[Chaos Theory]

15 minutes ago, festivus said:

Thanks for that. I don't mind shows about about an antihero. The subject matter (drugs) is not one that interests me in terms of shows that I like to watch but everyone keeps telling me how good this show is and that I need to watch it anyway. I guess I just need an extra push somehow to get me going on it. 

You should.  Then again I do like drug movies. So I am biased.  Something about the decadent behavior and downward spiral appeals to me. 

With Breaking Bad I would give it three or four episodes before giving up on it completely.  I try not to give up on a show at the pilot.  Pilots are notoriously bad and often these kinds of shows do take a few episodes to find their flow.  Breaking Bad took a couple as well. 

<----Edited to add besides 90% of comedies my biggest knowledge gaps would be HBO related.  I have an irrational hatred of the network.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[festivus]

3 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I try not to give up on a show at the pilot.

I usually don't either unless the pilot is just super bad. I usually give a show at least three episodes to hook me. I guess I just did with BB because of the subject matter. (And also back then the show was just starting. Now after the fact I hear about how great it is/was) I am going to try again with this show one of these days but I'm going to have to be in the right mood. I think I'll wait for spring since I hate winter and I try to watch escapist TV then/now.

[DangerousMinds]

I felt the same about the subject matter of BB for years, hence I didn't binge watch it until months after the show ended. BUT, I gave it a chance when I had a little extra time and was hooked almost immediately. Yes, the writing and the acting are that good. Just remembered that I felt this same way about Goodfellas years ago, never wanted to see it despite hearing that it was great because mob stories didn't appeal to me. A friend insisted I watch it because she thought I would love the soundtrack, of all things (I did!), but I also ended up loving the film for itself.

+

[festivus]

Just now, DangerousMinds said:

Just remembered that I felt this same way about Goodfellas years ago, never wanted to see it despite hearing that it was great because mob stories didn't appeal to me. A friend insisted I watch it because she thought I would love the soundtrack, of all things (I did!), but I also ended up loving the film for itself

That's funny, because I don't like mob stories either and I refuse to watch The Sopranos (Topic!) but I love Goodfellas. I think the only reason I watched it is because I had read the book back in the eighties but I just love that movie. 

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Breaking Bad is one of the best written, acted, and directed shows about an antihero ever created. If antihero shows aren't your thing (it doesn't matter how good you tell me  a comedy is I just don't particularly like comedies so I probably won't like yours.) you might not like this because this isn't a morality tale.  Yes you see the bad drugs do (even in early episodes) and you see lives get ruined and people get killed but the main draw of the show is watching a "good" man become a bad one and take everyone else down with him.  The show title is what the show is about, who breaks bad, who doesn't and who is able to come back from the brink.

See, none of this particularly interests me.  I see enough shit about drugs at work, and personally, I think drug dealers should be taken out back and shot.  That said, I did really like season one of the Wire.  Go figure.

[fishcakes]

While I've seen some episodes of the original Star Trek and a couple of the movies (when it wasn't my choice to pick the movie), I've never seen even one episode of any of the subsequent Star Trek series. Science fiction has just never interested me, which makes holidays with the family kind of a bore because my sister, brother, and their spouses all adore science fiction and spend a good couple of hours discussing shows and movies in depth, while I eat all the shrimp. My only contribution to the conversation was once when they couldn't remember the name of the movie where O.J. Simpson played an astronaut and (between mouthfuls of shrimp) I said, "Capricorn One." They all looked at me the way I'd imagine they would look if they saw a dog doing math problems.

On 1/8/2017 at 9:46 AM, Jac said:

I haven't ever seen the US Office, mainly because I love the UK version and I don't need to see an inferior copy.

I love them both. I wouldn't say the U.S. version is inferior, just very different. All of the characters are likeable in their own way and overall there's a much warmer feel to it. The U.K. version is more realistic, but everyone is horrible in his or her own way, just like in a real office.

[Irlandesa]

I have not seen The Wire.  When I got HBO, I had read good things about Deadwood so I made it a point to try to watch that show.  By the time I was made aware of The Wire, I was behind by a few seasons and I don't think it was on HBO On Demand.  Or at least not all the seasons.  That was back when HBO would only put up about six episodes at a time of their shows On Demand so if you wanted to watch a series from the beginning, you had to wait until they cycled back to S1 Ep 1.  They'd be up for a month or so but if you happened to miss those eps, then it'd be a long time before it's start over.  I have full access now but there are so many more current things I want to watch.  One day I will get there.

I'm not into Sci Fi. Other than the first six episodes, I haven't seen The Walking Dead.  Or Lost.  Or Star Trek. Or Battlestar Gallatica.  Or Stranger Things. (Maybe that's considered too new for this thread.) 

I haven't seen M.A.S.H.

There should be a new category "Shows I watched some of but could barely tell you anything about." Game of Thrones fits here. I read things about the show, hear jokes about some of the characters and see discussions.  However, even though I'd seen probably four seasons before I dropped it, most of the references just go by me.  I only know the names/plots of a few characters. 

8 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Thanks for that. I don't mind shows about about an antihero. The subject matter (drugs) is not one that interests me in terms of shows that I like to watch but everyone keeps telling me how good this show is and that I need to watch it anyway. I guess I just need an extra push somehow to get me going on it. 

Sometimes I think it takes another "entry" so to speak.  For instance, I'm not a fan of Westerns yet good reviews and a rainy Sunday led me to give Deadwood a chance.  The Western part didn't intrigue me the politics of the town did.  I just had to get past the genre.

Breaking Bad scared me a bit because of the drug aspect  and the cancer aspect.  Yet, it really felt to me like a morality play within the context of the business of illegal chemistry.  Chemistry is this guy's obsession.  Then it becomes about the business (which does interest me) more than addiction (which doesn't.)  Some people saw him as a badass.  I didn't and I don't think the show intended us to see him that way.

But the reason Breaking Bad is so great is because of how it goes from Point A to Point Z with the riseses, falls and surprises along teh way.  It's the rare show where we all know where he'd end up but were surprised many times at how he got there. There's enough family stuff to balance out the drug stuff.

[SVNBob]

10 hours ago, fishcakes said:

While I've seen some episodes of the original Star Trek and a couple of the movies (when it wasn't my choice to pick the movie), I've never seen even one episode of any of the subsequent Star Trek series. Science fiction has just never interested me,

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm not into Sci Fi.

As a fan of sci-fi myself, I'm curious as to why you're not fans of the genre, if either of you don't mind saying.

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I haven't seen M.A.S.H.

Given the length of the series and the near constant re-runs in syndication, this seems impossible to me.  How?

As for me, I too have not seen Game of Thrones.  Partially due to a lack of HBO, but mainly because I want to read the books first, and haven't picked them up to do so.  Once I do that, I'll feel freer to watch the show.

Also haven't seen Breaking Bad.  For similar reasons as others above; the PR blurbs about the general plot didn't grab me.  But since I've heard lots of good things about the series overall (including the reasons given above), I'll more than likely watch someday.

Battlestar is an odd one for me.  I've only ever "watched" it while hanging out with my friends, but I kept falling asleep while it was on.  (Ironically, mostly during the second episode, where the human characters can't sleep.)  It's another one I will go back to someday.  Viewing at my own pace will probably help with the inadvertent narcoleptic tendencies.

Walking Dead is another one I haven't watched because of the storyline.  Not a fan of zombies.  This one I'll most likely never watch.

I tried the pilot of Lost back when it aired.  Watched the first five minutes or so, then stopped the playback and deleted the recording.  I know it moved past the plane wreckage that comprised all that I saw...but I just couldn't get into it at that point.  And I'm not about to try now.

Edited January 10, 2017 by SVNBob

[paulvdb]

I have watched all the Star Trek spin-offs (TNG, DS9, Voy, Ent) but could never get into the original series. I did watch all the movies with the original cast and the TNG cast. I also watched the first Abrams movie but that just didn't feel like Star Trek to me so I didn't watched the sequels.

I also didn't watch Twin Peaks.

[DangerousMinds]

I don't do Sci Fi of any kind, just have never been interested at all.

[fishcakes]

8 hours ago, SVNBob said:

As a fan of sci-fi myself, I'm curious as to why you're not fans of the genre, if either of you don't mind saying.

I don't dislike it; it just doesn't capture my interest. I've seen a few things that I liked (the first Star Wars movie, Alien, Escape from New York, and ... does E.T. count?) but for the ones with sequels, I didn't love the originals enough to want to see them. I've never really thought about why, but you mentioned Lost, all six seasons of which I watched in an increasingly masochistic fashion, and that got me thinking that maybe it's because a sci-fi universe doesn't have to conform to the rules of everyday existence and so it feels like a bit of a cheat to me. For example, I really liked the first season of Lost because it's a group of ordinary people trying to figure out what's happening on this bizarre island they've landed on. But starting with season 2, it became painfully apparent that the writers had no idea either, were pretty much just pulling scripts directly out of their lower regions five minutes before filming, and the audience was expected to accept it because in the Lost universe, normal rules aren't supposed to apply. (Now I'm bracing myself in case I'm about to be the target of a few, "HOW DARE YOU"s and an unwelcome exposition on the function of the lightpost, roulette wheel, and giant vagina of light from a diehard Lost fan. Please don't @ me, Lost fans! I respect you!) I'm not saying that all sci-fi is like that; if it's well-done, then it creates its own rules and has its own internal consistency, but even then, for me anyway, it lacks relatability.

Edited January 10, 2017 by fishcakes

[festivus]

8 hours ago, SVNBob said:

I tried the pilot of Lost back when it aired.  Watched the first five minutes or so, then stopped the playback and deleted the recording.  I know it moved past the plane wreckage that comprised all that I saw...but I just couldn't get into it at that point.  And I'm not about to try now.

You probably shouldn't. That one disappointed me so much by the end that I'll never re-watch it and I really loved some of the characters.

 

Battlestar Galactica is one of my knowledge gaps but I am going to get around to it one day because I love sci-fi.

 

ETA: Posted the same time as fishcakes but I agree that they seemed to be making it up on Lost as they went along. 

Edited January 10, 2017 by festivus

[Chaos Theory]

There are a lot of science fiction shows I get why people who don't like science fiction don't like.  A lot of technobabble and aliens and whatnot but I always thought Battlestar Galactica was a drama set in space and on another world.  (Kinda) That was what made it science fiction,  The majority of it was more or less a political/war drama just set in space on a bunch of spaceships.   Yes there were science fiction aspects (a lot of them now that I think about it -killer robots!!!!)  but none that a layman couldn't understand and often fit just as well into gritty drama.

 

I never watched Sopranos even though I like mob stories.  Was that on HBO?  Probably a large reason why.  Hate HBO.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[festivus]

15 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

There are a lot of science fiction shows I get why people who don't like science fiction don't like.  A lot of technobabble and aliens and whatnot but I always thought Battlestar Galactica was a drama set in space and on another world.  (Kinda) That was what made it science fiction,  The majority of it was more or less a political/war drama just set in space on a bunch of spaceships.   Yes there were science fiction aspects (a lot of them now that I think about it -killer robots!!!!)  but none that a layman couldn't understand and often fit just as well into gritty drama.

 

The fact that I've seen Battlestar Galactica described as more of a political show than science fiction is the main reason I haven't watched it yet. I do not like political shows. I'm still going to watch it one of these days though because I'm fine with the war/drama aspect of it. Plus I love Mary McDonnell so honestly I'll watch it just for her.

[Neurochick]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I never watched Sopranos even though I like mob stories.  Was that on HBO?  Probably a large reason why.  Hate HBO.

May I ask why you hate HBO?  My issue with HBO is, it's too expensive and not worth the money IMO.

[Chaos Theory]

26 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

May I ask why you hate HBO?  My issue with HBO is, it's too expensive and not worth the money IMO.

Irrational hatred honestly.  At one point my cable company made me chose between Showtime and HBO (weird package issue) and I did some math and there  were more shows I liked on Showtime.  Showtime I would occasionally think is worth the $$$ but I have never found a show worth paying that much money for on HBO and watching the network win so many awards = irrational hatred.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[Shannon L.]

I stopped watching Westworld about half way through the pilot.  I'm not a big fan of Westerns (there have been a few--very few--exceptions), nor do I care for movies with robots, but I got the gist of this one and gave it a shot.  I found it way too confusing* and I honestly don't want to have to think that hard during a tv show. 

*(although, to be honest, my mind started drifting about 15-20 minutes in, so maybe it really wasn't confusing--it may just not have grabbed my attention quick enough)

[Constantinople]

Having watched Battlestar Galactica Original Recipe when it first aired, I never felt the need to watch the reboot, no matter how much it was praised (not a problem from which the original suffered).

Edited January 11, 2017 by Constantinople

[Irlandesa]

19 hours ago, SVNBob said:

As a fan of sci-fi myself, I'm curious as to why you're not fans of the genre, if either of you don't mind saying.

With the Western genre, I could tell you.  This may be shallow but all I see is the brown and dirt.   I don't think I can articulate it with sci fi but I'll try. I think I'm more turned off by futuristic-themed shows than science-based sci fi.  Or maybe it's that I don't like worlds that are so unlike anything I see as realistic.  For instance, I did really like Quantum Leap because I saw it more like a history show.  And I did see the first season of Doctor Who because it was such a hot topic. I liked the episodes that dealt with historical figures. I hated the episodes in the future or with Daleks.  

I saw the first episode of The Walking Dead and enjoyed it so I decided to try and stick with it for the rest of the first season which I didn't enjoy as much. I dropped it and never looked back.  I watched the first two seasons of True Blood because I got into the gothic fun of the story.  But where I might usually give a show I'd watched for two seasons more patience or at least look to see if I'd want to pick it up again, when I dropped TB, I dropped it for good.

So just because something is sci fi doesn't mean I'll automatically dismiss it but the bar for entry is pretty high and a combination of stars, reviews and flat out luck of what my schedule is like.

19 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Given the length of the series and the near constant re-runs in syndication, this seems impossible to me.  How?

I misrepresented this a little bit. I think I've seen parts of a few episodes.  Maybe even a full episode once upon a time. But given how often it is rerun and the fact that my parents watched it, I know so little about it.  And I've seen so little.  Maybe an hour total out of all the hours produced.

[NutMeg]

@SVNBob, I'm not a fan of sci-fi on TV/movies because I feel that more often than not special effects are the big draw, while I'm more drawn to stories/dialogues/character developments. I know one doesn't preclude the other, but somehow special effects and CGI are rather turn off for me.

Weirdly enough, I enjoy quite a number of sci-fi authors (books, not movies, big difference, I can concentrate on plot, character development, etc. without CGI distraction).

At the same time, I don't reject sci-fi as a genre: I've really gotten into some TV shows that are technically sci-fi but without the spatial travel/other planets/what have you, but focus more on a world similar to ours but where some things/techniques that already exist are pushed to a level we are not yet at. Among these, Orphan Black, Black Mirror, Westworld. That is, to me, much more powerful, because it is so close to what we live, and yet also like a caricature or a warning of where we could be heading.  

[topanga]

13 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

@SVNBob, I'm not a fan of sci-fi on TV/movies because I feel that more often than not special effects are the big draw, while I'm more drawn to stories/dialogues/character developments. I know one doesn't preclude the other, but somehow special effects and CGI are rather turn off for me.

I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but I love Orphan Black and The Twilight Zone reruns, both of which air on ScyFy. So maybe I do like sci-fi. Although I consider Orphan Black more of a 'medical-fi' show, and The Twilight Zone is usually earthbound. Perhaps it's just that I'm not a fan of shows that take place in outer space. 

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, Neurochick said:

May I ask why you hate HBO?  My issue with HBO is, it's too expensive and not worth the money IMO.

Me, too, most of the time.  I only get HBO for Game of Thrones and cancel it immediately afterward.  I have gotten lucky the last two years, though, and gotten a free three month deal just in time for GOT.

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

And I did see the first season of Doctor Who because it was such a hot topic. I liked the episodes that dealt with historical figures. I hated the episodes in the future or with Daleks.

Now I'm curious: by first season, do you mean the real first season with William Hartnell, or the Christopher Eccleston season?

[DittyDotDot]

38 minutes ago, topanga said:

I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but I love Orphan Black and The Twilight Zone reruns, both of which air on ScyFy. So maybe I do like sci-fi. Although I consider Orphan Black more of a 'medical-fi' show, and The Twilight Zone is usually earthbound. Perhaps it's just that I'm not a fan of shows that take place in outer space. 

I think that's the great thing about sci fi, it's not really just one thing. Most people think of it as aliens and space, but science fiction is really just a story about people in imagined reality that doesn't currently exist. I tend to think if you can't actually classify it as any one thing, it's probably a good thing. 

[DittyDotDot]

22 hours ago, festivus said:

The fact that I've seen Battlestar Galactica described as more of a political show than science fiction is the main reason I haven't watched it yet. I do not like political shows. I'm still going to watch it one of these days though because I'm fine with the war/drama aspect of it. Plus I love Mary McDonnell so honestly I'll watch it just for her.

I wouldn't describe it as a political show really. Yes, there is some political stuff in the sense that the military and what was left of the civilian government clashed on how to proceed at times but, more than anything, it's a show about war refugees who, by circumstance, are living in space. As far as science fiction goes, it's actually very relate-able since it's mostly grounded in a society similar to what we currently have, except they have space flight capabilities. But, it could've just as easily been set an earth-based ocean with a mix military and civilian ships. 

That's not to say you should watch it or even want to watch it. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences and likes on these things.

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Now I'm curious: by first season, do you mean the real first season with William Hartnell, or the Christopher Eccleston season?

Sorry, I meant the new first season so CE.  And I tried again with Peter because I love him but same issues.

[Chaos Theory]

Battlestar Galactica is one of those shows that is incredibly hard to classify into one or even three categories,   Yes there is a lot of science fiction:  Robots trying to kill humans and space travel but it also has a lot of politics dealing with who gets to govern in a time of extreme war.  it also deals a lot with existentialism and the meaning of life and freedom.  There is some religion in there as well.  The meaning of God.  There are also several romances some of them even good.  

Edited January 11, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[SVNBob]

On 1/10/2017 at 9:07 AM, fishcakes said:

maybe it's because a sci-fi universe doesn't have to conform to the rules of everyday existence and so it feels like a bit of a cheat to me. For example, I really liked the first season of Lost because it's a group of ordinary people trying to figure out what's happening on this bizarre island they've landed on. But starting with season 2, it became painfully apparent that the writers had no idea either, were pretty much just pulling scripts directly out of their lower regions five minutes before filming, and the audience was expected to accept it because in the Lost universe, normal rules aren't supposed to apply. [snip] I'm not saying that all sci-fi is like that; if it's well-done, then it creates its own rules and has its own internal consistency, but even then, for me anyway, it lacks relatability.

20 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think I'm more turned off by futuristic-themed shows than science-based sci fi.  Or maybe it's that I don't like worlds that are so unlike anything I see as realistic.

Thank you both for answering (and everyone else that did too).  And as I kind of suspected, the things that you dislike about sci-fi are a lot of the things that I do like; the fantastical and futuristic, the possibilities for what could be instead of what is. 

To each their own, though.

As to the main topic, I also have not watched (intentionally), nor do I care to, the Kardashians or any of the "Real" Housewives series.  Sometimes, a lack of cable is a good thing.

[Chaos Theory]

It's kind of funny I love science fiction and hate reality tv.  Yeah yeah I know it's not really real but I just can't with Kardashians,  Teen Moms,  Duck Dynasty's etc etc.

[proserpina65]

21 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Sorry, I meant the new first season so CE.  And I tried again with Peter because I love him but same issues.

I asked because historical stories were a much bigger thing way, way back.  But I understand your reasoning.  I like SF (mostly the more fantasy-type stuff than the hardware based shows) but if something isn't your thing to start with, it's hard to get into a show no matter how good it is.

[bosawks]

I've never seen Game of Thrones because it just looks so damn muddy.

[topanga]

13 minutes ago, bosawks said:

I've never seen Game of Thrones because it just looks so damn muddy.

It is! And you rarely see people bathing. I wonder how everyone smells. (And I'm a fan of the show). 

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, bosawks said:

I've never seen Game of Thrones because it just looks so damn muddy.

 

1 hour ago, topanga said:

It is! And you rarely see people bathing. I wonder how everyone smells. (And I'm a fan of the show). 

Now I am thinking about the smells of shows like Salem and Vikings.  Thank you for that.  Oh and Spartacus.  Wait!  Thay bathed alot in Spartacus naked too.  Visualizing now!!!! 

[DearEvette]

I acknowledge that is is probably very shallow and irrational, but I couldn't bring myself to watch Penny Dreadful because Eva Green's face annoys me.  It is a really weird visceral reaction, not sure why, I just don't want to watch her.  I am sure she is a fine actress, but there is just something about her that rather repels me

[Ohwell]

16 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I acknowledge that is is probably very shallow and irrational, but I couldn't bring myself to watch Penny Dreadful because Eva Green's face annoys me.  It is a really weird visceral reaction, not sure why, I just don't want to watch her.  I am sure she is a fine actress, but there is just something about her that rather repels me

I know exactly how you feel.  She has spoiled several movies for me that would have been much more enjoyable had I not been looking at her face. 

(I feel the same way about Amy Adams and that upturned nose of hers, lol.  It's shallow but I can't help it.)

[Hybridcookie]

The Wire for me, I want to like it, because I've heard so many good things about it, but I've tried it 3 times, and never made it past the sixth episode

[cleo]

I hate BB and on paper it should appeal to me. I loved Sopranos and the Wire for example.

The big difference to me- all of the BB characters were thoroughly unlikable. Whereas with the other shows there were characters I liked and cared about. If I wanted to watch awful people do awful things for hours on end I could just watch the news.

YMMV.

[festivus]

7 hours ago, Hybridcookie said:

The Wire for me, I want to like it, because I've heard so many good things about it, but I've tried it 3 times, and never made it past the sixth episode

I only tried once, but like you I didn't make it past six episodes. I don't know why but I just couldn't get into it. I may try again some day.

 

I have decided that I'm going to watch Breaking Bad but probably not for another couple of months because I'm just watching too much right now. I actually don't mind that all the characters are unlikable, I watched Mad Men and loved it and I think everyone on that show is unlikable.

[blueray]

I have to agree with those who said  Breaking Bad. I don't like shows where the main character is not someone I want to root for. I don't get the appeal of the show. I get that it is well written and acted just not my type of show.

Game of thrones: I'll say is on this list right now, but I'm being pressured into trying it. I think my hesitation comes from the same reason as Breaking Bad, in that nobody is completely a "good person". All the characters seem like power-hungry assholes, that are all trying to get each other.  I want to be able to relate to the characters. And since it's a "fantasy" story I want to escape into it. The world is bad enough, I don't need my entertainment to be as cruel as the real world is.  That being said I love some realism in the story (such as DS9 provides). I may eventually give this a try, but I'm still hesitating.

the walking dead: I've never seen this show. But I have heard that the characters aren't developed and nothing happens. So I'm going to continued to avoid this one.

[cleo]

1 hour ago, blueray said:

I don't need my entertainment to be as cruel as the real world is.

Yes. Game of Thrones is the only series that has not only turned me off the show, but the books as well. I had read up to the fourth one one or something when the show started. I made it to about 2 episodes into the second season. The ongoing rape, torture, sadism- I couldn't watch it, I also can't go back to the books now. I guess I'm squeamish. 

[Moose135]

5 hours ago, blueray said:

I have to agree with those who said  Breaking Bad. I don't like shows where the main character is not someone I want to root for. I don't get the appeal of the show. I get that it is well written and acted just not my type of show.

I watched the pilot of Breaking Bad, and while it was interesting, I just never went back for more.  I sort of feel the same about the main character being a bad guy - that's why I'm a bit ambivalent about The Americans, where the main characters are Soviet spies.  On the other hand, I loved The Shield, where the lead, Vic Mackey, killed a fellow officer in the pilot to cover up his team's illegal activities.