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Yep. I loathe BBC Sherlock. At least Elementary Sherlock resembles a human being.

But in my opinion in many ways that's truer to the books. Holmes in them is quite alien in many ways.  The way they illustrate that in Sherlock is a bit updated, but it's fitting that he's quite incapable in many ways of connecting with other human beings. Whereas Elementary's Holmes learns all kind of "lessons" and other sentimental claptrap that's totally at odds with the very unsentimental books.

 

Not that Elementary is a bad series. It's just an okay series about a guy named Sherlock Holmes who's vaguely similar to the character from the books, but isn't him (although he's a lot closer than Watson, who as I already mentioned is just completely different).

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I'm on a little sci-fi kick, so I thought I would try Fringe.  The first scenes are really disgusting.  However, the first episode also has Lieutenant Daniels from The Wire (Lance Reddick) who I love.  The other actors seem ok.

 

So, my question is ... is grossness going to happen a lot in this show?  And, if so, is it worth it?  

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Uh, well, the quick answer is, yes. Yes there is some continued grossness--not all the time, mind you--and, yes, IMO it is worth it. At least the first couple seasons are anyway. I haven't seen the show in eons and I don't recall it being gross, but I have a high tolerance for these things. I really like the relationship between Walter and Peter in the first season and Walter and Olivia. And, I think there were some good mysteries too. 

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I don't remember a lot of Fringe episodes involving a gross case, but there was one from time to time. Aren't there on most genre shows? I guess it depends what grosses you out though. In terms of actors, Anna Torv is excellent, which might not be immediately apparent. She'll end up playing different versions of Olivia, sort of like a mini-Tatiana Maslany (no one is as good at that as Tat, ofc).

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I'm on a little sci-fi kick, so I thought I would try Fringe.  The first scenes are really disgusting.  However, the first episode also has Lieutenant Daniels from The Wire (Lance Reddick) who I love.  The other actors seem ok.

 

So, my question is ... is grossness going to happen a lot in this show?  And, if so, is it worth it?  

Warning for Fringe.  Not about grossness per se, but the actual show quality.

 

The first bunch of episodes really misrepresents the rest of the series.  You need to slog through 6 or 7 episodes before it turns a corner, and even then you don't get the first truly epic bit of cray-cray until the last episode of Season 1. Then after that, you can strap on in and expect regular doses of awesome (with a few brief dips, like any show, especially towards the end of the series, but you get a good few solid years in there in a row).

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Thanks, folks.  I'll keep watching Fringe for now.  So far, it reminds me of Numbers, which had potential that I never saw develop into anything.  (Perhaps because I stopped watching too soon.)  I tend to watch more for acting and relationships than icky special effects, so I am hoping the "cray-cray" is some kind of crazy plot twist that turns the characters on their heads, rather than some kind of new form of chemical warfare that makes Olivia grow extra exploding breasts, or some such.  :)

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Last night I gave my husband and friend a few of the titles suggested here and they wanted to try Person of Interest. We thought it was great and also thought it was an eerie coincidence that we chose to try a new show on 9/11 and the one we chose has characters who's motivations are based on the events that took place in NYC on 9/11/01.

Thanks for the suggestions! We'll keep the others on a list for when we are finished with Alias.

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I actually loved Fringe from the very beginning, grew to love it even more, and then rapidly fell out of love with it towards the end. But yes, dealing with the more than occasional grossness was well worth it.

 

I think 12 Monkeys which just had its first season on SyFy has a similar tone as Fringe (without the grossness) and is wonderfully complex in story and characterization. I don't think it's available for free streaming except on OnDemand or the SyFy website (if you're a cable subscriber) though.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the recommends for Life on Mars UK, The Americans, and Orphan Black (at least the first season, I haven't caught up). The first season of Life was also fantastic. As for Being Human, I think the UK version started out better and ended worse while the US version started out worse and ended better. I really enjoyed both. Shrug. On the lighter side, I loved Leverage and on the really lighter side, Psych.

 

If you want a short, but pretty much complete story that you can binge fairly quickly, I would recommend the cancelled too soon Terriers with Donal Logue and Michael Raymond James. Logue plays a recovering PI and it feels almost like an adult version of Veronica Mars with its underbelly of southern California feel.

 

If you want a really short conspiracy show that you can binge in several hours, State of Play (the UK miniseries, not the terrible American film remake) is amazing. 

 

If you like Alias, I'm going to recommend the underrated Nikita. The beginning is shaky as it tries to be a spy show that is palatable for a high school CW crowd, but it gets really good once they ditch the 'assassin high' aspect of it. It really loses its way at the end, but I definitely enjoyed seasons 1 & 2.

Edited by cynic
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Thanks, folks.  I'll keep watching Fringe for now.  So far, it reminds me of Numbers, which had potential that I never saw develop into anything.  (Perhaps because I stopped watching too soon.)  I tend to watch more for acting and relationships than icky special effects, so I am hoping the "cray-cray" is some kind of crazy plot twist that turns the characters on their heads, rather than some kind of new form of chemical warfare that makes Olivia grow extra exploding breasts, or some such.  :)

Very few shows turn their characters on their heads MORE than Fringe.  That aspect doesn't really happen until well into Season 2 however. The cray-cray at the end of Season 1 isn't really a character moment, as much as a... world-building one.  I won't be more specific than that and hope nobody else would ever be either.

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If you watch Orange Is The New Black and think "I like it but it needs to be darker, more violent and set in another English speaking country."  Then you will like Wentworth  

 

 

<---Edited to add also available on Netflix streaming.  

Edited by Chaos Theory
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A few years ago, I came across "Slings and Arrows," about a Canadian repertory theater (I assume modeled on the Stratford, Ontario Shakespeare festival.) Does anyone know of other shows with a similar "show people" theme? I tried one episode of "Nashville" and couldn't get into it, but otherwise I welcome suggestions, from America or elsewhere.

 

Maybe Sports Night or Episodes? I wouldn't recommend Smash unless you want to hatewatch it.

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We finally have Netflix seems like there are a billion choices!! Mom and I are so sick of crime dramas. Seems that's all Dad watches. Can someone recommend a comedy or romantic show??

There are a few Netflix Originsl Comedies that are pretty good depending on your sensibilities Grace and Frankie and Unbreable Kimmie Schmit There is also Archer which is not Netflix but funny and adult animation spy comedy. Edited by Chaos Theory
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Thumbs up for Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt. It's smart, funny, and surprising. Just be warned: the theme song will get stuck in your head. (But that's not a bad thing, per se.)

I decided to try Life. I like it so far.

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tribeca, What types of comedies have you enjoyed?

 

I think my favorite comedy was Frasier.   I did find Grace and Frankie and enjoyed that comedy very much.  Just really tired of crime shows.  I would like to laugh. 

  I was not crazy about the actor on The Office but Today show has really promoted Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt. On Today show that actress was very likeable JMHO.

thanks to all who responded.

Edited by tribeca
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I think my favorite comedy was Frasier.   I did find Grace and Frankie and enjoyed that comedy very much.  Just really tired of crime shows.  I would like to laugh. 

  I was not crazy about the actor on The Office but Today show has really promoted Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt. On Today show that actress was very likeable JMHO.

thanks to all who responded.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has more of Tina Fey's vibe to it than Ellie Kemper's.
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Certain britcoms are bust-a-gut funny for me.  Yes, Minister & the sequel Yes, Prime Minister (both currently on Hulu Plus), and 'Allo, 'Allo! (closed captioning may be necessary, as accents abound).  I hear Couples is very good (but I haven't watched it).  Soap was hysterical for me, especially the first season, and usually left me craving coffee cake.

 

If you haven't watched Galavant, absolutely watch that.  With captions, and at least twice.

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Certain britcoms are bust-a-gut funny for me.  Yes, Minister & the sequel Yes, Prime Minister (both currently on Hulu Plus), and 'Allo, 'Allo! (closed captioning may be necessary, as accents abound).  I hear Couples is very good (but I haven't watched it).  Soap was hysterical for me, especially the first season, and usually left me craving coffee cake.

 

If you haven't watched Galavant, absolutely watch that.  With captions, and at least twice.

Brits themselves when asked about Allo' Allo' often cringe and deny loving it (but the ratings it got for years support the fact that they actually did).  But I also find it gut-bustingly funny a lot of the time.  I never could get into Yes, Minister though. Similarly I could never get into One Foot In The Grave, or The Vicar of Dibley, or Father Ted, or any of those more straight sitcom-y Britcoms. I like my British comedy a bit absurd.  Keeping Up Appearances isn't too bad though. 

 

It's a bit dated, but another really silly Britcom I love is The Brittas Empire (Allo' Allo' being a period piece escapes being dated). It stars the same guy who played Arnold Rimmer on Red Dwarf, if you've ever see that (and if you HAVEN'T seen Red Dwarf put that near the top of your list).

 

The best, the tip-top, is Blackadder. I love it more than even Fawlty Towers (and that's practically Monty Python).

Edited by Kromm
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Brits themselves when asked about Allo' Allo' often cringe and deny loving it (but the ratings it got for years support the fact that they actually did).  But I also find it gut-bustingly funny a lot of the time.  I never could get into Yes, Minister though. Similarly I could never get into One Foot In The Grave, or The Vicar of Dibley, or Father Ted, or any of those more straight sitcom-y Britcoms. I like my British comedy a bit absurd.  Keeping Up Appearances isn't too bad though. 

 

It's a bit dated, but another really silly Britcom I love is The Brittas Empire (Allo' Allo' beng a period piece escapes being dated). It stars the same guy who played Arnold Rimmer on Red Dwarf, if you've ever see that (and if you HAVEN'T seen Red Dwarf put that near the top of your list).

 

The best, the tip-top, is Blackadder. I love it more than even Fawlty Towers (and that's practically Monty Python).

I knew I was forgetting something.  Blackadder!  Bitingly funny (an early reference to all three popes just kills me, I have that kind of brain).  Fawlty Towers of course, although I tend to assume that everyone has watched that.  And Red Dwarf unless you are easily offended.

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We finally have Netflix seems like there are a billion choices!! Mom and I are so sick of crime dramas. Seems that's all Dad watches. Can someone recommend a comedy or romantic show??

If you need an interim step between crime and comedy, I recommend Leverage (again). It's a group of thieves that help people, and it's surprisingly funny.

Edited by MargeGunderson
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Maybe Sports Night or Episodes? I wouldn't recommend Smash unless you want to hatewatch it.

 

Episodes can be a lot of fun, but IIRC, it takes 4-5 episodes to really start to gel and have the characters seem a bit three dimensional. The first few episodes are a little too stuck on quirky Brits dumped in Hollywood Plasticland, but things perk up when people start to come together and realize that, yes, they're making a horrible tv show, but it's their job to make it, and they're going to do the best they can in a bad situation.

Edited by selkie
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If you want to watch something weird, hilarious, sometimes unnerving and unlike anything you've seen before (probably) you should watch Psychoville. The plot is a bit difficult to explain, but it involves a cast of seemingly unrelated people (including an angry clown, a nurse with an unhealthy relationship to a plastic baby, a little person, someone who is incredibly backwards and a wealthy blind man) receiving a note saying "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID". From there a truly demented story unfolds and it's absolutely hilarious and so, so weird. The humour is very British. It's described as a horror comedy, but it's more unnerving in places, and the humour is more prominent (although it is very dark and "off"), it's not scary or gory or anything.

It's two seasons, 13 halfhour episodes all in all and there is an ending. I've seen it three times. Still funny.

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I never would have thought to recommend Psychoville, but now that someone else has I can agree it's interesting.  It was done by the UK comedy troupe, The League of Gentlemen, who have done other shows that are interesting too (well, mainly one called "The League of Gentlemen"). Mark Gatiss, a man a lot of people here might know as a writer, from Doctor Who and Sherlock is one of these folks (although he mostly opted out of Psychoville--which he acts in for one episode but otherwise didn't write or appear in). 

 

The clown character is actually oddly interesting. He's not quite the Evil Clown Trope he could be, although he's creepy in other ways. He's more like Shakes the Clown--you know, the sad drunk clown type.

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Not that Elementary is a bad series. It's just an okay series about a guy named Sherlock Holmes who's vaguely similar to the character from the books, but isn't him (although he's a lot closer than Watson, who as I already mentioned is just completely different).

I like Both but I think Sherlock wouldn't do as a 20+ eps a year show. Elementary has a more pleasant  vibe that doesn't need too be limited to 6 hours a year.

 

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You all calling Life on Mars 'Life', reminded me of a great short-lived show named LIFE. It starred Damien Lewis as a LA cop who spent 12 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Somehow he survived and wants to be a cop again. If you can find it - it doesn't leave you hanging and ends satisfactorily. Great show. Funny, quirky, damaged hero.

Edited by crowswork
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a great short-lived show named LIFE. It starred Damien Lewis as a LA cop who spent 12 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Somehow he survived and wants to be a cop again. If you can find it

I mentioned that show upthread-- it's one of my favorites.

 

I thought of another little-known gem-- Forever-- the premise sounds ridiculous but if you like vaguely sci fi type stuff and crime procedurals with great character development, I highly recommend it. Stars Ioan Gruffudd and Alona De La Garza. Netflix has it.

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Interested in politics?

 

Want to watch a real life House of Cards?

 

Consider The Killing Season, a 3 part documentary about the political partnership of Paul Rudd and Julia Gillard, their leadership of the Australian Labour Party and of Australia, and their subsequent falling out.  It aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation earlier this year and is still available for viewing on its web site.

 

Episode 1: The Prime Minister and his Loyal Deputy  (approx 71 minutes)

 

Episode 2: The Great Moral Challenge  (approx 90 minutes)

 

Episode 3: The Long Shadow  (approx 74 minutes)

 

Alternatively, you can watch the 2 minute Breakfast Club parody put together by a video editor at ABC with Paul Rudd as Judd Nelson and Julia Gillard as Molly Ringwald.

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If you watch Orange Is The New Black and think "I like it but it needs to be darker, more violent and set in another English speaking country."  Then you will like Wentworth  

 

 

<---Edited to add also available on Netflix streaming.  

I love Wentworth, everyone should be watching  this show! incredible cast..

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I am going to recommend a bunch of CW shows.

 

iZombie

Jane the Virgin

The 100

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

 

It is really stunning to me how good these shows are. They all have different settings. They all treat women as functional human beings, they are diverse. The characters and relationships on the shows are complex and fun to watch. They'll never win Emmy awards (although Rebecca Bloom and Gina Rodriguez are both Golden Globe winners!), but that doesn't mean they're not quality. All four are genuinely well-done shows.

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The Emmys did debatably screw Jane The Virgin over though. It got Emmy nominated simply for the category nobody's ever heard of, "Outstanding Narrator" (and lost). 


it was considered a snub since either Gina, the show as a whole, or both, got nominations from virtually every other major TV award organization.

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I'll recommend two darker shows I haven't seen on this thread: Black Mirror and River.  Black Mirror must be British - each season has 3 stand alone episodes long.  The first season is jaw-dropping.  I didn't like the rest as much, but I highly recommend the 1st season.  I don't know why I hadn't heard of it before.

 

River is a Netflix original and, after a hesitant beginning, I'm becoming fond of its titular character and the understated acting of the actor : Stellan Skarsgard.  Mostly, though, I stopped dead in my tracks to see Nicola Walker, who I loved on Spooks.  She creates incredible chemistry with the River character.  The show is somewhat familiar as yet another misunderstood, lonely genius detective story, but it has a twist which makes it very fresh for me.  I'd say the tone of the show is closest to the UK Prime Suspect - in the US, perhaps like (what little I saw of) Awake.

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I haven't seen the version with Kim Catrall but I highly recommend the original British series which stars Joanna Lumley from Absolutely Fabulous. It is a difficult show to describe the tone of, I'd describe it as a drama with a healthy dose of dark humour. Basically the plot is that the Joanna Lumley character is in her early 60s and has an seemingly successful life but is having the growing realisation that she isn't as fulfilled as she thought.

 

Has anyone watched both The Thick of It and Veep? I loved TTOI and my dad loves Veep and keeps telling me to watch it but I keep putting it off because I don''t see how it can possibly be as good as TTOI. If I loved TTOI is Veep worth watching, especially considering that I don't have a lot of time to watch TV.

That you so much for recommending Sensitive Skin - although what I thought was the UK version turned out to be the Canadian one, so I still have something to look forward too! I really like these drama with a light tone, for lack of a better wording, which I usuallty seem to find more in European broadcasts (I'm fluent in French, so can watch both French and English ones, and if anyone is interested there are some fantastic French thingies out there).

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(edited)

It almost physically pains me that Limitless isn't being trumpeted from rooftops (and in the media) as the best show currently on broadcast TV. It's really being totally ignored, based I think, off an okay but not very special pilot episode.  This demonstrates that critics have gotten into the habit of just making snap judgments on shows based on pilots and don't seem to revisit anymore (due no doubt to the pure volume of entertainment out there). The show, even from Episode 2, but most especially from around episode 7, just becomes totally brilliant. It's one of the most fun shows you'll ever see, but also takes the intelligence of it's viewers seriously at the same time. It's on the same network as the totally brain dead Scorpion (ironic given that show is about geniuses), but I'd call it the anti-Scorpion (then again it's also on the same network as the also clever Person of Interest--a very different show from this but also one that takes it's viewers intelligence seriously). 

Edited by Kromm
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I watched a show last night that has me questioning whether my reactions were notable or just wimpy.  Two In A Million. A woman who didn't have space between her chest and legs got a chance to meet a woman with same condition. I felt like it was a free, all you can gawk thing while acknowledging they had a right to tell their story. 

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It almost physically pains me that Limitless isn't being trumpeted from rooftops (and in the media) as the best show currently on broadcast TV. It's really being totally ignored, based I think, off an okay but not very special pilot episode.  This demonstrates that critics have gotten into the habit of just making snap judgments on shows based on pilots and don't seem to revisit anymore (due no doubt to the pure volume of entertainment out there). The show, even from Episode 2, but most especially from around episode 7, just becomes totally brilliant. It's one of the most fun shows you'll ever see, but also takes the intelligence of it's viewers seriously at the same time. It's on the same network as the totally brain dead Scorpion (ironic given that show is about geniuses), but I'd call it the anti-Scorpion (then again it's also on the same network as the also clever Person of Interest--a very different show from this but also one that takes it's viewers intelligence seriously). 

 

I really did not care for the movie Limitless and the pilot for the TV show was very meh.  And episode 7, or the Ferris Bueller episode, happens to be the one that I randomly watched because there was nothing else on.  And yes, I agree with you... totally brilliant and really a lot of fun.  I've seen all the episodes now.

 

But I'm not sure if its getting ignored because it got one shot and no one looked at it again.  I think the show may appear mainstream but is really niche.  I tried to recruit someone to this show, someone who has much more mainstream tastes than me.  Tastes that I frankly don't understand but align with ratings.  The reaction to Limitless I got was 'Its like that show Psych.  I hate Psych.'  I put Limitless in a class of shows like Chuck.  Totally brilliant and mesh perfectly with my tastes. But these are shows are never hugely popular and its frustrating that they don't get more support or eyeballs. 

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But I'm not sure if its getting ignored because it got one shot and no one looked at it again. I think the show may appear mainstream but is really niche.

 

I'm pretty mainstream and didn't like it. So there's one. :)

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I've giggled my way through a few episodes of The IT Crowd.  It's on Netflix and I'd think of it as a very British screwball workplace comedy.  Stupid?  Probably, but all the actors deliver in a very lighthearted way.

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4 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

So, with so many tv shows being produced these days, it's really hard to stay on top and pick what to watch and what not. I think some of my favorite shows, like Banshee or Enlightened, I probably would have missed out on if they were on tv today, because there so many tv shows on so many different networks and streaming channels that it's difficult to keep track of what shows even do exist.

 

So, next in my rotation are Underground and Mr. Robot, which I didn't have time to watch beyond the pilot.

 

But I also have a few potential other series on my list that I've been thinking about trying out, so I was wondering if anyone here would recommend them or just tell me a little bit on whether they're worth checking out.

 

So, the following shows are on my list:

Humans - So, I enjoyed the first season of the original Swedish, but I have been wary of this remake, because I didn't feel like the look of it was as convincing. Is it still worth watching?

Casual - I've seen critics rave about this show, not entirely sure if I should check it out though. The premise sounds kind of lame.

Outcast / Preacher - The Walking Dead has been getting on my nerves in recent months, so I am wary of picking up a new Kirkman series, but it's a different creative team behind the series. Anyone seen it yet and care to comment if it avoids TWD mistakes and whether it has better writing? Meanwhile, Preacher is another comic series that seems a little over the top for me. Is there like a genuine emotional hook too?

The Knick - Heard critics rave about this one. So, I'm curious. I'm generally not into hospital dramas all that much.

Penny Dreadful

I recommend The Knick and Penny Dreadful. Have fun watching!

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18 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

So, the following shows are on my list:

Humans -  I have been wary of this remake, because I didn't feel like the look of it was as convincing. Is it still worth watching?

Casual - I've seen critics rave about this show, not entirely sure if I should check it out though. The premise sounds kind of lame.

Outcast / Preacher -  Is there like a genuine emotional hook too?T

The Knick

Penny Dreadful

I would recommend Humans because of Colin Morgan, and Preacher because of Dominic Cooper.  I watched maybe 3 episodes of Casual and didn't like the characters very much.  With Penny Dreadful and The Knick, I've never got past the first episode of each, too dark and dirty looking for me. 

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I just finished the first season of Humans and liked it, especially the first few episodes. It's not the best plotted show, but the acting, writing and production quality is good and there's some very good ideas throughout the entire first season. The plotting kinda fell apart for me towards the end of the season, but I still enjoyed those episodes anyway. 

Penny Dreadful is a weird one. I only watched the first season and there were things I liked about it, but can't say I actually liked the show itself. The acting and all that is good, but I think the show takes itself too seriously and I found it needlessly overly melodramatic in tone.  

Can't help with the others. I too have them on my list of things to get to some day.

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Virtually in Love- these people actually are who they say they are for the most part. In other words, no phony pictures, they actually agree to meet each other regardless of country. It's just when they meet the interesting things begin, lol. The second episode had my moth open mostly all the way through it. 

Teenage Newlyweds- this one is different from Arranged. It has been interesting so far (only one episode). It a fresh take on the younger marrieds but not in the least like Teen Mom...

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