Black Mofoin' MIRROR. And other UK shows.

SubJeff on 8/2/2013 at 14:16

So now I'm a big fan of a whole bunch of US TV shows, current ones being Breaking Bad, Homeland, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Community, 30 Rock, True Blood. I may have missed a few. I've just started The Following and 2 episodes in its pretty meh so far, much as I like Bacon, but we'll see.

There aren't any current UK shows that I really like though. I don't know if its that we don't have the budgets to make quality series (and don't suggest Downton Abbey please, I just cannot bear that nonsense) or what, but in general we're lacking in current stuff. Lets not hark back to some of our finer comedy years with Black Adder, Monty Python and so on, I'm talking current.

Misfits was pretty fun for a bit but the new series has been pretty dull; I think Rudy was better as a supporting character.

Utopia has just started and looks great. Nice use of colours, great pace, excellent mood music and mostly good actors. But its not really going anywhere as far as I can see.

Black Mirror though, was excellent. The first series was solid and we're finally getting the second one starting in a few days. The trailers themselves have been great: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5AKVtvkdc)

Someone let Charlie Brooker make a longer series or a film or something. I saw Weekly Wipe yesterday - I think he's taken over as my favourite Brit. Sorry Will Self, David Mitchell and Tony Benn, you've been usurped.

june gloom on 8/2/2013 at 20:27

Top Gear is increasingly becoming one of only two shows I care about, the other being The Mentalist. I miss the 90s.

demagogue on 9/2/2013 at 03:49

Somebody just posted this same topic in the Darkmod forum, except just for comedies.

Others posted Trailer Park Boys, Extras, The Office (UK & US version), League of Gentlemen, 30 Rock, Community, & Big Bang Theory... And I was looking at that list & thinking of what to add (even looking at the wiki list) and realizing it's pretty sparse what's out there... Modern Family? How I Met Your Mother?? Parks & Recreation? Curb Your Enthusiasm? (maybe 10 years ago), I liked Outsourced but not for the comedy & they pulled it after a year... And I liked Eureka but it's too quirky to be a really "great" show in an objective sense. Also Castle. (I like quirky shows.) I was sort of lukewarm on most of them; they're all watchable for me though.

Then I realized there's just not a lot out there. And while I've been overseas, there's just been one show I've consistently downloaded to watch without fail, and that's been ... The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, because that's the most consistently funny to me, and it's not even a sitcom.

Thirith on 9/2/2013 at 10:07

One of my all-time favourite UK series/comedies is Spaced. Anyone who's enjoyed Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz should check it out.

SubJeff on 9/2/2013 at 10:28

Yeah Spaced is great. Green Wing too. And many others.

But we don't seem to have any good current stuff.

Sulphur on 9/2/2013 at 10:36

You know, I'm just going to say that everyone needs to watch The Thick of It. It wrapped up recently, and the ending was pitch-perfect, note for bitter note. That's doubly amazing: despite the cynical and satirical bent to its observations of political manoeuvring - often skewered by general incompetence - it manages to humanise some of its cast more than I thought possible. Whatever you do, watch it unbleeped - creative profanity is roughly half of any given episode's runtime.

Thirith on 9/2/2013 at 16:48

I've only watched the first season, and while I liked it I got the impression it'd be easy for the series to do variations on the same scenario that would get old after a while. Does The Thick of It change things up enough to stay engaging if you don't have a wait of a year or so in between series?

Sulphur on 9/2/2013 at 19:00

It depends on your entertainment threshold for political hijinks. The general pattern of things going to pot, people being inept, Malcolm swooping in and attempting to sweep up the pieces by cursing and browbeating people into doing his bidding remains through most of the show; season 2 might look like the series gets comfortable spinning its wheels, but it's only three episodes, and it's never, ever less than smart, keenly observed, and consistently entertaining. There's twists and turns to almost every situation along the way. The show never lets up on the sheer density of information it throws at you per episode, and even small incidents balloon and become larger crises later on*, just like in a real office.

Seasons 3 and 4 change things up some (and the nature of the show makes these changes look effortlessly natural) and are longer to boot. You don't need to worry about it retreading its themes so often that you get bored by the setup - it's really too smartly written for that, but if you haven't taken a shine to Malcolm yet, you'd probably find it difficult to watch most of the rest of the show.

*And even makes a running toilet humour gag have considerable ramifications in an episode. 'Have you ever had to clean up your mother's piss?'

SubJeff on 10/2/2013 at 00:17

Right. The Thick of It. Check. I'll get on it.

Thirith on 10/2/2013 at 10:36

Quote Posted by Sulphur

... if you haven't taken a shine to Malcolm yet, you'd probably find it difficult to watch most of the rest of the show.

How could anyone *not* take a shine to Malcolm? :ebil: