The Good Place. Funny, compelling, I cried through the final episode. It also doesn’t waste your time, things will happen mid-season that any other show would have dragged out for the season finale.
More like a miniseries, but HBO’s Chernobyl. Some of the best television I’ve ever seen.
I did watch it twice already. The third rewatch is nearing, now that you make think about it.
I thought it was a little too “Hollywood”.
It’s so damn good! If OP only were to pick a single show from the recommendations here, it should be Chernobyl.
This is a masterpiece. really increeible show
I’ve not owned a TV since 2006 and never watch series yet I’ve seen Chernobyl and would recommend
Scavengers Reign.
Firefly.
Firefly
Found-family space western with excellent music and characters
Yes, it has Joss Whedon’s name on it, but either because it was made much earlier in his career or because Tim Minear was showrunner, it doesn’t have the modern bathos issue commonly associated with him these days
Babylon 5 and Farscape
Fringe.
Not for everyone, but if it is for you, you’ll adore it.
The IT Crowd
Andor is the best piece of Star Wars media and the best TV show I’ve ever seen. You don’t need to like Star Wars. I don’t know if seeing Star Wars would even increase your enjoyment. I think seeing Rogue One would probably be good but otherwise just jump in. No space wizards or laser swords or destiny or whatever. It’s so adult and grounded. I can’t believe Disney let them make this.
Fringe
One I haven’t seen listed here:
Samurai Jack
It’s a cartoon you need to sit down and pay attention to. There’s often action, and it can be goofy, but it also has a lot of really quiet, contemplative scenes.
As a scifi buff: Battlestar Galactica, and The Expanse were excellent. Nightsky was also a really good watch even though it was slow moving, and was more about relationships than SciFi
The Expanse is magnificent. And they are at the perfect time to get certain actors back to continue with the Laconia story in the last three books. I want it so badly.
I’m 60% through the last book, it’s so good!
There was a reason they killed off Alex…
I hate Battlestar Galactica so much. The original mini series was amazing. But when it got picked up, it quickly became obvious that the writers had no idea what they were doing and just made shit up from episode to episode. It was so bad. From what I’ve heard, Lost is another example of this. It’s one of the reasons why I prefer movies. The entire story is clear from the get go and there is no creative bullshit happening for no reason. This is one of the reasons why Chernobyl and Andor are so damn good, because the story was complete before they started shooting. I think it’s better now in the age of streaming.
I’m in the middle of a BSG rewatch right now, and I still love it.
I can see how someone would say that they weren’t sure what they were going to do when they hit season 3. But the first season felt very tight. The miniseries had the cliffhanger that one of the main cast was a cylon. It’s hard to argue that the first few episodes didn’t build on that cliffhanger.
If you’re saying that at the start of the series they didn’t know how they were going to end it, sure. There aren’t a lot of shows that have a multi-season arc all planned out in advance. Babylon 5 is one of the few I know of that did. The problem is that they never know when they’re going to be cancelled, so there’s no point in trying to make a huge story arc when they will probably have to end the story early.
As for movies being better, it’s true that they can tell a longer story than a TV series. But a 2 hour movie is basically only 3 episodes of a TV show (at 45 minutes + commercials each). Movies suffer because everything has to be introduced and resolved so quickly. The “creative bullshit happening for no reason” is often foreshadowing of something that will only be resolved many episodes later.
I agree on lost it got stupid. Battlestar had a full over arching story line though.
I’m feeling so-so about The Expanse. I enjoyed the first few books and seasons, but it didn’t really capture me once they went through the gate.
I had similar thoughts. I was able to read the books through the parts that I liked less, and I really liked the story as a whole. I was not able to continue with the series. It’s not even bad, but episode after episode there was no meaningful progress, and I just stopped
Obligatory Firefly mention.
And if you like Firefly but know nothing about anime, then Cowboy Bebop!
The best two shows for fans of criminally short series.
The Cowboy Bebop live action was offensive to anyone who loves anything about the anime. The anime itself is still criminally short.
I am re-watching Jaynestown as I type this comment.
Yeah Firefly is amazing, even for people who don’t normally like its genres. Avoid the movie Serenity tho.
Occupied, a Norwegian show about Norway trying to stop being a petrostate.
Already mentioned: Chernobyl, Deadwood (avoid its movie), Six Feet Under (the finale is amazing).
What’s wrong with Serenity?
If Firefly is about the little people, then Serenity is about James Bond.
Lots of people liked Serenity, but I think it was like a studio-made sequel: more, bigger, more, for no good reason.
Holy I’m surprised no one has mentioned it yet but Barry with Bill Hader might be one of my faves ever.
Silo
Severance
Succession
The triple threat
