I like seeing a group evolve and form good friendships. I also like sci fi and weirdness. For these reasons, two of my favorite shows are The Expanse and Severance. In both, by the end, I felt like I was “part of the team” in some way.
What are a couple of your favorites? What kind of itch do they scratch?
Avatar The Last Airbender. An animated series with a complete story arch that takes place in a unique world. The characters are very relatable and have great development over time, even the villians are better than what most shows have. The animation is sophisticated in the way it is used to help tell the story, and the story is wonderful, it hooks you in from the intro:
“*Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.”
This show truly deserves all the praise. My older brother used to watch it back in its time, and I couldn’t understand how a 30-ish year old could watch cartoons like that.
15 years passed and someone recommends it. One day, while recovering from some cold in bed, I put Avatar out of boredom, some days after that recommendation. Damn. First couple of chapters are not very strong, but enough to keep digging. As these are short episodes, it really doesn’t matter. But the ending of the first season? That is art.
Futurama!
Batman: The Animated Series
Unique art style (it was drawn on black paper), excellent writing, excellent voice acting.
Inequivocal yes! Grew up with Batman:TAS.
Westworld (Season 1). The other seasons are good and have great moments but season 1 is special.
Yeah season 1 was so good, it got worse after which is a shame
Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. From the sound of it if you haven’t already watched them you would really like them. Sci fi and definitely has the group/team evolving aspect.
Didn’t see it mentioned yet so i’ll shout out:
Devs.
Super super good sci-fi mystery series relating to quantum theory that introduced some … moral quandaries that stick with you. I dont see it talked about much but I really enjoyed it. Nick Offerman plays the main “bad guy” and it was a jarring but refreshing role change, kinda like John Goodman in the second cloverfield movie. God Damn he killed it.
The first and ONLY season of Altered Carbon. I love the dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi film noir style.
I’m so excited for severance season 2. I can’t fathom how they could recreate the perfection of season 1 but I have my hopes up regardless
Poirot. It’s charming, full of mostly subtle humor, and generally just well written, acted, and produced. I appreciate that it has a deeply humane perspective where justice matters, and that effort has been put into historical accuracy. It’s also sufficiently detached from contemporary reality that its not a downer to watch even though it still has a very honest view of human nature.
The Magicians. It’s like a more mature and dark Harry Potter/Chronicles of Narnia crossover. It has really good character development and isn’t afraid to have fun with things like musical numbers and self aware plotlines. The first season is the weakest of the bunch, but it’s still pretty good. So give it a chance past then if you are still on the fence.
I really like Black Mirror. I watched a bunch of TV shows, started and left midway through others, but I always go back to Black Mirror. Like the creator said, it’s sci-fi techno dystopia. And he is working on the 7th season. One of the episodes will be a follow up to USS Callister. Awesome!
I’ve just caught up with Slow Horses. The main character is played by Gary Oldman in top form. He’s a spy, so decrepit and filthy you can almost smell him. He runs an outpost of British intelligence from a filthy, decrepit office staffed by a bunch of fuck-ups. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in ages. Lots of character development, back stories, car chases, bloodshed, even a tiny splash of romance. It’s on its 4th series, so I’m very late to the game. Probably because I don’t have Apple+.
The books are great
The Wire is one of those shows that portray the detective work with different approaches. They also show brilliant criminal minds, leadership and organization. There are bits of heroism in some rogue characters, too. The political and juducial aspects of organized crime are unashamedly put in front of you. Acting and writing are top-notch. It’s just a must watch if you like TV shows.
BTW, great picks Severance and The Expanse, however, the latter had so many problems to find enough financial support that ends up showing on the screen. Being said that, the show is awesome in a Battlestar Galactica way to make things happen no matter the circumstance.
The X-Files because childhood and Gillian Anderson.
Star Trek TNG because childhood and Gates McFadden.
Smiling friends. The humor isn’t anything like I’ve seen before. I tend to love random humor.
Letterkenny. The insults are top notch.
