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maxwellyoung

What are the must-see TV series?

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Probably The Sopranos, although I've never seen it. Ditto for The Wire and Treme. Of the TV I have watched, none of it is "must see" in the sense that I'd recommend it to anyone without reservations, the way a ton of books are "must read" and the way a lot of movies are "must see." I haven't watched a ton of TV, so that's probably my fault as much as it is the TV's fault. There's stuff I really, really, really like (Band of Brothers, Terriers, Firefly, Danger 5, Police Squad, Arrested Development) but none of that is "must see," I would say. Someone can totally get by in life without seeing any of those series.

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Master's Sun 

 

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After an assumably tragic accident, Tae Gong-Shil becomes some sort of medium who can see ghosts. They haunt her constantly asking her to communicate with the living they've left behind. She wants to help, but the attention is too much and has made basic necessities such as sleep impossible. 

Joo Joong-Won is a no-nonsense chaebol who has no time for superstition or compassion; could it be because he lost his first love? 

The two of them meet and Tae Gong-Shil discovers that the ghosts stop haunting her whenever she and Joo Joong-Won touch. He becomes her only shelter from the terror she faces daily, but she'll have to offer the businessman something of value to keep him close by.

 

This show is pretty much a 16-episode Quantum Leap with one of the most convincing romances I've ever seen. The dynamism of both main characters and the way they end up curing each other's isolation is intoxicating. 

 

 

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Playful Kiss

 

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This is the best show I've ever seen. The first time I watched it, I was so frustrated with how Oh Ha-Ni's thoughtless obsession keeps her steadfast in taking all of the punishment Baek Seung-Jo dishes out. Baek Seung-jo doesn't deserve her, but the second time I watched it I saw how Oh Ha-Ni was changing him from even the early episodes. Baek Seung-Jo has one of the most believable and relevant personality developments I've seen in any fictional media. Oh Ha-Ni's realization that high intelligence is not the most useful tool to find purpose in your life is just as relevant though. Watching how these two characters inspire the best out of each other in the course of 16-episodes is something I never tire of. 

 

Note: The actor who plays Baek Seung-Jo is a violent misogynist. 

 

 

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Dream High

 

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This was just a fun musical that manages to present some vague but useful platitudes for creatives and a few serious issues for shitty parts of life. All of the romances are completely unsatisfying, but I cried during a few songs and rooted for success as if it was a sports movie. It was a lot of fun and I think about it all the time. The show is cast with a surprising amount of K-pop stars including larger than life himself... J.Y. (motha-fuckin) P. 

If you decide to watch this one know that the first episode is SO BAD. It is a horrible first episode. The first episode is boring and long.

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This show is pretty much a 16-episode Quantum Leap

 

In.

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In.

 

Just to clarify, the reason I make the comparison is because each episode depicts an upsetting imbalance in a family or relationship which Tae Gong-Shil finds herself forced into. She has to figure out what the misunderstanding is, and put right what once went wrong.

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The Prisoner - 2 year series from 1967 - 68, a 17 episode master class of cold war paranoia meets surrealism that sets the stage for basically all modern TV. Great commitment to modern style, midcentury furniture, etc...

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The Simpsons until season 9 or so. The Wire, absolutely. Probably a classic sitcom. I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith Show, Leave it to Beaver were all influential. Looney Tunes shorts ought to count if you ask me. 

 

Also, yeah I have actually used those lists from /v/ to find cool DS games to play. A lot of there choices are, uh, bad, but they cover nearly every worthwhile game on a platform. Would be great to have a broad list with niche titles that were over looked but without the garbage associations that come from 4chan.

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Just to clarify, the reason I make the comparison is because each episode depicts an upsetting imbalance in a family or relationship which Tae Gong-Shil finds herself forced into. She has to figure out what the misunderstanding is, and put right what once went wrong.

 

yeah whatever dude she can see ghosts

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Babylon 5 is good stuff, but be warned that it starts out kind of rocky and the last season drags on a bit.  The overall story arc is good and the high points are pretty high, the problem is that the lowest points are really fucking low as well.  I think that's partially due to its lack of budget compared to its contemporaries combined with the fact that a lot of the standalone episodes just weren't very good (there are exceptions, Passing Through Gethsemane and Believers are both excellent standalone episodes and there are others as well).

 

Edit: I will second feelthedarkness's recommendation of The Prisoner.  Not only is it very good, but it also had a huge influence on a large number of other works.

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Deadwood, Freaks and Geeks, Community (season 1 & 2, not so sure about the rest), The Wire

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This thread needs some rules! Are we just naming good tv shows (or even just good seasons of tv shows)? I'm sure there are a thousand lists already prepared by the internet of the best hundred shows ever that we could link to and close the thread.

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Some of my personal favourites, and limiting myself to what I have seen (no Farscape, Sopranos, Mad Men, Clone High, Orange is the New Black, Pushing Daisies, Broadchurch, and countless other shows), so take with a grain of sodium chloride:

British comedies: Spaced, Black Books, Green Wing.

Paranoia Agent, True Detective, Rick & Morty, Portlandia, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Generation Kill.

Also even though I said no shows I haven't seen completely, Hit & Miss looks really interesting.

Is there a reason for this thread topic existing outside of the pinned "Movie/TV recommendations" one?

^What Ben X said

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My avatar obligates me to mention Clone High, the greatest contiguous 13 episodes of television comedy. I'll let the theme song explain itself.

 

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The Americans is the best thing on television right now, and no one seems to be watching.

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I kinda feel like it might be valuable if every person could only nominate a single TV show/series, if we're actually interested in reaching some kind of "must-see" consensus-ish list. Frankly, it doesn't matter how much a thing is must-see if there are literally tens of thousands of hours of television that I also "must see".

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Alright, I'm going with Playful Kiss, but the actor who plays the male-lead is known to physically assault women and then deny it which is something I have a problem with.

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 Generation Kill

 

Generation Kill is shockingly good. I don't know whether there is any other TV series that manages to be as impactful without being draining for me. I feel like it says and shows worthwhile things, but I don't feel like I need to rest after an episode (which I often too, I'm a wuss when it comes to putting myself through difficult entertainment) - on the contrary, I want to start the next one. The only other series I feel the same way about is the West Wing.

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As far as shows that have ingrained themselves in the mass cultural consciousness (in America at least), I would say Seinfeld is pretty far up there.

 

Seinfeld was even on a programming block called Must See TV, so I guess everything that NBC aired in primetime on Thursdays for a while counts as must see TV.

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