# Television Watching



## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

Thanks to the welcome advent of DVD full-season sets, I have quite a number of television series in progress, in correct episode order. Among them:

_All Creatures Great and Small_
_The Avengers_
_Eli Stone_
_Hawaii Five -O_ ("Book 'em, Danno!")
_Hill Street Blues_
_Mad Men_
_Nero Wolfe_
_Northern Exposure_
_The Sopranos_
_The Untouchables_
_The Wild Wild West_

I have watched all of _Six Feet Under_, _Twin Peaks_, and _Upstairs, Downstairs_.


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## &Son (Feb 18, 2008)

Between DVD and DVR I find myself doing the same thing. It started with The West Wing, Twin Peaks and Sopranos but has expanded to include Rome, Mad Men, Get Smart and a host of others. Television shows are much better when watched at once IMHO.


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## DocHolliday (Apr 11, 2005)

Love the Avengers!


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## Carlton-Browne (Jun 4, 2007)

Edge of Darkness.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090424/


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Does anyone (besides me) watch any current TV series...like Caruso? It started out with a promising premier episode but, is rapidly losing momentum in my estimation!


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

DocHolliday said:


> Love the Avengers!


I recently purchased my first John Steed bowler, and have been receiving many admiring comments on it.

_The Avengers_ is as stylish -- in *every* sense -- as television gets.


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

eagle2250 said:


> Does anyone (besides me) watch any current TV series...like Caruso? It started out with a promising premier episode but, is rapidly losing momentum in my estimation!


_Mad Men_ and _Eli Stone _(both with awesome menswear!), but even those I watch on DVDs, not "live." DVDs are just more convenient for me, and I can watch at my own pace.


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

The only television series I have on DVD are Volumes 4 and 5 of Family Guy. :aportnoy:

I don't think this was what Andy had in mind when he started this forum.


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## Lushington (Jul 12, 2006)

topbroker said:


> Thanks to the welcome advent of DVD full-season sets, I have quite a number of television series in progress, in correct episode order. Among them:
> 
> _All Creatures Great and Small_
> _The Avengers_
> ...


_The Wire_. _The Wire_. _The Wire_. Did I mention _The Wire_? If I forgot to, by all means get the DVD sets of _The Wire_. It might very well be The Great American Novel. _Deadwood_ was pretty good as well. HBO had something of a Golden Age from 1999 - 2008. Ricky Gervais' series _The Office_ and _Extras_ are also must haves. _Extras_ is as funny - or funnier - than _Fawlty Towers_. There, I've said it. And I mean it.


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

KenR said:


> The only television series I have on DVD are Volumes 4 and 5 of Family Guy. :aportnoy:
> 
> I don't think this was what Andy had in mind when he started this forum.


I like that show, although my favorite stuff is the earlier years before Stewie went over the top. I think they need to show more of him struggling with the limits if toddlerhood even as he displays his precocity.

I (cringe) also like Survivor. Maybe we can have a low-brow thread someday.

(Hides)


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## Penang Lawyer (May 27, 2008)

topbroker said:


> I recently purchased my first John Steed bowler, and have been receiving many admiring comments on it.
> 
> _The Avengers_ is as stylish -- in *every* sense -- as television gets.


Where did you buy the hat? If you bought it from Locke & Company it is called a "coke". I bought mine in 1970 but was worn for Regimental Remembrance activities. I can't remember if Steed's hat came from Jamison or Locke. The roll of the brim is more Locke. Mine is kept in a leather hat box. Enjoy.


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

Lushington said:


> _The Wire_. _The Wire_. _The Wire_. Did I mention _The Wire_? If I forgot to, by all means get the DVD sets of _The Wire_. It might very well be The Great American Novel.


I definitely plan to get to it. I have a long list!


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## choirmaestro (Aug 27, 2008)

I'm an avid Aaron Sorkin fan. I think that "The West Wing" was one of the wittiest shows I've ever seen. "Sports Night" was also great, but I think I'm the only person in America who watched that one. "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" has SO much potential - wonderful cast and writing. It just seemed to almost try TOO hard. It was almost painful to watch it go through several identity crisis episodes before ending.


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## Simon Myerson (Nov 8, 2007)

Not quite an English equivalent of The West Wing - and not at all well dressed - but Green Wing has to be the funniest (and one of the filthiest) things on TV.


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

Penang Lawyer said:


> Where did you buy the hat? If you bought it from Locke & Company it is called a "coke". I bought mine in 1970 but was worn for Regimental Remembrance activities. I can't remember if Steed's hat came from Jamison or Locke. The roll of the brim is more Locke. Mine is kept in a leather hat box. Enjoy.


It is American vintage, from the B. Altman department store, akin to the "Junior Executive" model that Jack Lemmon memorably buys in _The Apartment_.


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## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

Carlton-Browne said:


> Edge of Darkness.
> 
> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090424/


I concur this would have to be one of the best intelligent dramas that ever went to air, but alongside this you could and should put the Singing Detective.

HBO has some very good dramas which air from time to time and here in Australia the ABC produced some very gritty character driven productions over the years but as a piece of television which captured both the zeitgeist of the day and great acting Edge of Darkness has it all.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Lushington said:


> _The Wire_. _The Wire_. _The Wire_. Did I mention _The Wire_? If I forgot to, by all means get the DVD sets of _The Wire_. It might very well be The Great American Novel. _Deadwood_ was pretty good as well. HBO had something of a Golden Age from 1999 - 2008. Ricky Gervais' series _The Office_ and _Extras_ are also must haves. _Extras_ is as funny - or funnier - than _Fawlty Towers_. There, I've said it. And I mean it.


I've enjoyed _Homicide: Life on the Street. The Wire_ has been described as "_Homicide_ if they'd really let them do what they wanted to."

And, of course, Richard Belzer's Detective Munch has been on both series. I think that he has now played this role on ten different television series.


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## Penang Lawyer (May 27, 2008)

topbroker said:


> It is American vintage, from the B. Altman department store, akin to the "Junior Executive" model that Jack Lemmon memorably buys in _The Apartment_.


Watched that film being shot in Manhattan. The building which was used for the terrace was around 55th and 6th now since gone.


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## Helvetia (Apr 8, 2008)

The West Wing got me started on full season sets


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## Lushington (Jul 12, 2006)

Miket61 said:


> I've enjoyed _Homicide: Life on the Street. The Wire_ has been described as "_Homicide_ if they'd really let them do what they wanted to."
> 
> And, of course, Richard Belzer's Detective Munch has been on both series. I think that he has now played this role on ten different television series.


I haven't seen _Homicide_, but after _The Wire_ it would seem to be something of a come down. Belzer only did a single cameo in the final season of _The Wire_, having a drink in a "cop bar." It was kind of funny.


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## Bertie Wooster (Feb 11, 2006)

choirmaestro said:


> I'm an avid Aaron Sorkin fan. I think that "The West Wing" was one of the wittiest shows I've ever seen. "Sports Night" was also great, but I think I'm the only person in America who watched that one. "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" has SO much potential - wonderful cast and writing. It just seemed to almost try TOO hard. It was almost painful to watch it go through several identity crisis episodes before ending.


+1 ! I'm not 100% certain, but I think we never got Sports Night over here in the UK. Shame really as it has a huge part to play in the Sorkin body of work. 
Studio 60 on the other hand, we did get over here. Me, I really liked it ( in fact just bought it on DVD ) but have yet to meet anyone else who even watched it. Maybe it's just that we don't have that SNL type of TV tradition over here or that we prefer out TV spoon fed to us. Maybe it was simply the weight of expectation on Sorkin after West Wing. Whatever it was I feared from the first episode I saw that, despite loving the idea of the show, it was doomed to fail. Smart, funny and well nailed together......like I said, doomed. Oh well, bring on Big Brother season four million and two.......


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## pweller (May 21, 2008)

I've been watching some older tv shows on www.hulu.com

I like Rockford Files and Newsradio, and hulu has quite a few full episodes for free. With a standard DSL connection you get a smallish picture, but it really looks pretty decent. I suppose if you have a faster cable connection the screen size would be larger.

You'll have to click around some, but if you click on 'TV' and then 'Browse' everything they have comes up in alphabetical order. My prediction is that this will eventually take over cable TV, as it's all on-demand.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

Andy take offence at this thread?
When I was little I provided cover for many a B western hero with my Red Ryder BB gun and always watched my personal favourite, Lost Horizons ( not the awfull musical) in a black buddhist robe.
If I can ever get an inverness cape the Holmes series will be next.
I'm slowly acquiring FOYLE'S WAR, taking notes for my future Matt Deckard suit.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Lushington said:


> I haven't seen _Homicide_, but after _The Wire_ it would seem to be something of a come down. Belzer only did a single cameo in the final season of _The Wire_, having a drink in a "cop bar." It was kind of funny.


In _Homicide_, Belzer owned the bar across the street from the police station.

We also find out in a _Law & Order_ crossover that Lenny Briscoe dated Munch's ex-wife.

The series is good, and has some outstanding actors. What you'll miss is the explicit language and the political overtones. This is more of a straight crime drama. Yaphet Kotto, who was "Mr. Big" in _Live and Let Die_, is the big, hearty, tough-but-friendly lieutenant.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

Lushington said:


> _The Wire_. _The Wire_. _The Wire_. Did I mention _The Wire_? If I forgot to, by all means get the DVD sets of _The Wire_. It might very well be The Great American Novel.


You're right, Lush. Although I thought the last season lost a little bit because the newspaper plot was a little bit too transparent, it's still the best series on TV. Ever.


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## Ay329 (Sep 22, 2007)

Kav said:


> Andy take offence at this thread?
> When I was little I provided cover for many a B western hero with my Red Ryder BB gun
> 
> Be careful Kav...you'll shoot your eye out


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## rgrossicone (Jan 27, 2008)

*my faves*

The wife aqnd I are really into the crime dramas, specifically, Coldcase, Without a Trace, Law and Order (SVU and original), CSI NY, as well as SKY's Dream Team (shown on FSC here in the states) but have absolutely loved for a while:

Flight of the Conchords
Simpsons
Family Guy
Sopranos

and the new stuff we've gotten into:

True Blood (the novels are utter trash)
Little Britain USA 
and just recently Summer Heights High

Jonah is the funniest mofo on that show, but thats probably because he is a mixture of about 5 of my worst students ever...funny, the worst students always had the best sense of humor.


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## chatsworth osborne jr. (Feb 2, 2008)

*C'mon, everybody is watching Gossip Girl, right?*

Does anybody remember the _Married With Children_ episode where Al and Jefferson are giddy about receiving episodes of _The Avengers_ on tape, remembering when "Emma Peel kicked real high," but are disappointed to watch their first episode featuring a less athletic/comely sidekick (Tara King?)?

Also, am I the only earthling tuning into _Privileged_?


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## wessex (Feb 1, 2008)

_Gossip Girl_ is clearly the best thing currently showing during prime time. My high school years weren't nearly as exciting, but the writing, characters, wardrobe, and locations are absolutely fantastic.


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## chatsworth osborne jr. (Feb 2, 2008)

*I concur. Gossip Girl is stupendous.*

I must also advise everyone to indulge in the guilty pleasure of the farce that is the new _Knight Rider_ series. Something so absurd only comes around so often!


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