Binge-worthy TV Shows for Isolation

Noted Hollywood writer Ken Levine just posted an interesting list of TV shows for people who are confined to their homes and want to take in some great shows they haven't seen before. Here's his list:

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For sitcoms I would say Everybody Loves Raymond, 30 Rock, Becker, Fawlty Towers, The Coupling (British version), Black Adder, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and Taxi. And if you want to go way back, The Phil Silvers Show and the 39 classic episodes of The Honeymooners.

For dramas, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Justified, Killing Eve, Hustle (British show), The Fugitive, The Rockford Files, Columbo, Hill Street Blues, The Practice, L.A. Law, and Lost (just don’t count on a great finale).

I’m not a sci-fi or horror guy so there are a lot more if you’re into those genres.
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I don't agree with all of Ken's choices, and I think some (particularly L.A. Law) are really dated and tough to watch today. I recently tried to watch Star Trek: TNG and Deep Space Now, and threw in the towel because they all looked like late-1980s TV. Just too slow, creaky, and cheap-looking for me (but I get that the shows had big fans back in the day). I would add to Mr. Levine's list some more-recent dramas along with some classics from the past:

Better Call Saul
Game of Thrones
West Wing (at least the first 4 seasons written by Aaron Sorkin)
The Avengers (at least the Diana Rigg episodes of the classic UK series)
The Prisoner
Mad Men
X-Files (but know going in that the alien conspiracy will never be explained)
House of Cards (great until Kevin Spacey left)
Twilight Zone (the 1960s B&W version; I'm not a fan of any of the reboots, in general)

and for comedies:
Seinfeld
I Love Lucy (also really dated, but it's a classic for a reason)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Monty Python's Flying Circus (a late-'60s/early '70s show that still holds up today)
Larry Sanders (one of the greatest satires about TV ever)

I could watch any of these right now and not get bored or tune out. We just binged on Rick & Morty on Cartoon Network and we enjoyed it very much and look forward to new ones. That's a show I had intended to watch several years ago, and only just now got around to it because of the isolation thing. I also discovered a whole bunch of "adult" cartoons in the last few years that I'd recommend to anybody, including Bojack Horseman, Venture Bros., Big Mouth, F Is for Family, and a few others, but be warned that these ain't exactly for kids.

There's only a handful of shows in history that I'd say never jumped the shark, and those would include The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Honeymooners (at least the classic 39), Fawlty Towers (which only did 12 episodes), and probably Breaking Bad as well. The Writers Guild of America produced their list of the 101 best-written TV shows ever made, and there's some good contenders in there:

The 101 Best-Written TV Shows: 'The Sopranos' Tops WGA List | HuffPost

 

BIG thumbs up on your additions - we're eagerly awaiting each week's new episode of Better Call Saul at the moment and Curb Your Enthusiasm, what a fantastic show. Some episodes had my stomach hurt because I was constantly laughing. Unbelievable most of the dialogue on that show is improvised.

Community was also a great show. As are, in my opinion:

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
sense8
Misfits (the british show)
Babylon Berlin
Supernatural
Firefly
Black Mirror
Rules of Engagement
Parks & Recreation
Fresh Off The Boat

And, for some cheesy 70s fun, The Love Boat.

 

Supernatural
The Vampire Diaries
The Sopranos
Sons of Anarchy
Game of Thrones
Vikings

 

Doctor Who
Life on Mars /Ashes to Ashes
Person Of Interest
The Middle
Red Dwarf

 

Peaky Blinders

 

Six Feet Under
trust me on this

 

Everwood

 

The Office
and
The Office

 

Brooklyn 99

 

The Capture. You'll guess the ending but it's great the way they get there.

 

The Knick - One of my favorite series of all time. Set in The Knickerbocker Hospital in 1900. Amazing period piece. Clive Owens character is based on this man : William Stewart Halsted - Wikipedia

 

I can't watch any of those older comedies because of the laugh tracks, they bother me now. 30 Rock is great though.

I find Murder She Wrote like comfort food but it's off Amazon now. Early season of Monk are good but he gets too cranky in the later seasons. I'm enjoying Star Trek :TNG but being very selective to mostly watch Data, Q, or Picard centric episodes.

The Mandalorian is also getting another run through.

 

No Buffy the vampire slayer?

 

My tv binge watching thread must have inspired you.

 

Letterkenny.

 

The wife and I have been binge watching The Big Bang Theory. Never watched it before. Great writing and acting. One of the few shows that actually make us laugh.

 

The Crown

 

It was superb.

Of near equal quality in feel and texture, bingeing isolationists should consider Babylon Berlin.

Of course Boardwalk Empire.

How depressing, huh? There's always The Office. I've been bingeing that one. I keep forgetting that I now have every Seinfeld, yet I've never seen a single one.

 

All Netflix:

Babylon Berlin
Lady Dynamite
Schitt's Creek
Love
Parks and Recreation
Peaky Blinders
The Crown
Sex Education
Grace & Frankie

 

Mystery Science Theater 3000

 

No mention of The Wire or Deadwood?!

 

Columbo is great, love watching an episode every now and then. My pops used to watch Hill Street Blues in the day - something I should watch as I was too young back then to appreciate it.

Some of my recommends;

Miami Vice (the original series - up to Season 3).
Mysterious Cities of Gold (cartoon TV series from the early 1980's - great adventure series for kids and adults. Great story telling, music, animation)
The Equalizer (original series with Edward Woodward)
The Invaders (Quinn Martin)
Matlock

 

I was just reading through the list with no expectations of adding a 'Like' anywhere even if I liked a show as this is pretty much really just a list of favorite shows... which is OK but there are no real revelations... however; I found Peaky Blinders to be such an exceptional show I had to give it a 'Like' right from Nick Cave's theme song all the way through. The writing, story lines; the direction, the acting; the characterizations all excellent across the board with a special nod to Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons a Conservative Jewish gangster. The art direction; the visuals and cinematography are uniformly stunning and man that soundtrack throughout is outstanding.

 

Trying to think of ones not mentioned.... any of the Star Trek series, Ozark, original Outer Limits, Stranger Things, Fargo.

 

Star Trek ( 1960s Original Series )
Doctor Who ( 1970s '4th Doctor' episodes with Tom Baker )
The Carol Burnette Show ( 1970s / early 80s )
M*A*S*H ( 1970s )
All In The Family ( for a good laugh )
The Muppet Show ( 1970s episodes )
Batman : The Animated Series ( fantastic 1990s animated noir )




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