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I can’t really say why, but I’ve always been drawn to the “tortured soul” characters on TV shows... meaning those with some kind of inner turmoil, like a drug/alcohol addiction, mental health issues, or even just a bad-but-charming personality type. Examples: Dr. House, Nurse Jackie, Tony Soprano, Walter White & Pinkman, Alan from Boston Legal, Lucifer, Jack from Lost (or his Charlie character from PO5), etc.
Anyway, the point of this is that I’m kinda desperate for a “new” (to me) show to sink my teeth into - and I think what’s missing from the ones I’ve tried so far is a character like those. A few websites mentioned Sherlock as a companion/inspiration for House MD, but I’ve had trouble getting into that one. Any other suggestions? Preferably with at least 3 full seasons, and one that falls under the drama/dramedy genre.
FYI: I do streaming only, but have access to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Tubi TV; also know how to use a few “creative” sources, so there isn’t much I can’t find.
I can’t really say why, but I’ve always been drawn to the “tortured soul” characters on TV shows... meaning those with some kind of inner turmoil, like a drug/alcohol addiction, mental health issues, or even just a bad-but-charming personality type. Examples: Dr. House, Nurse Jackie, Tony Soprano, Walter White & Pinkman, Alan from Boston Legal, Lucifer, Jack from Lost (or his Charlie character from PO5), etc.
Anyway, the point of this is that I’m kinda desperate for a “new” (to me) show to sink my teeth into - and I think what’s missing from the ones I’ve tried so far is a character like those. A few websites mentioned Sherlock as a companion/inspiration for House MD, but I’ve had trouble getting into that one. Any other suggestions? Preferably with at least 3 full seasons, and one that falls under the drama/dramedy genre.
FYI: I do streaming only, but have access to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Tubi TV; also know how to use a few “creative” sources, so there isn’t much I can’t find.
BETTER CALL SAUL. The episode "Five O" from Season 1 is the best 47 minutes of American television I have ever seen. If you liked BREAKING BAD even a little, you owe it to yourself to watch this show.
WONDERFALLS. Definitely a comedy of tortured souls. One of the most under-appreciated TV series in the past 20 years.
FARGO. Wow. Season 1 may be my all-time favorite TV show. Great heroes. Great villains. And great in-betweens. Season 2 is excellent as well. Season 3 is really good.
DEXTER. This show took me a while to get into. The first couple of times I tried to watch, it was just too icky even for me. But once I forced myself to watch 3-4 episodes, I really got into the characters.
DOC MARTIN. Another tortured soul comedy.
STRANGER THINGS. Season 1 is excellent. Season 2 was good. Season 3 will premiere before too much longer.
JUSTIFIED. The bad guys on this show are so spectacular that you'll find yourself actually hoping the bad guys win. Boyd Crowder in particular is definitely one of the best TV characters ever.
THE DETECTORISTS. Dry, dark comedy at its best.
DEAD LIKE ME. The first two seasons of the series are fantastic. The single-shot movie done a few years later you can ignore.
PUSHING DAISIES. One of the weirdest, sweetest, darkest shows ever to air on network television.
SNEAKY PETE. Watch JUSTIFIED first, then watch this.
On SHERLOCK ... I thought the first series was brilliant. After that ... meh. Series 2 was downright bad. How can you make Hound of the Baskervilles boring? SHERLOCK pulled it off. How can you make Victorian England look positively progressive in its portrayal of a female villain? Again, SHERLOCK nailed it. After that, the show is hit and miss, but honestly more style than substance.
BETTER CALL SAUL. The episode "Five O" from Season 1 is the best 47 minutes of American television I have ever seen. If you liked BREAKING BAD even a little, you owe it to yourself to watch this show.
Breaking Bad is one of my favorite shows EVER, so I did try this one... couldn't really get into it, but that was a while ago (when I may have been in a different "head space"). So maybe I'll give it another shot?
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FARGO. Wow. Season 1 may be my all-time favorite TV show. Great heroes. Great villains. And great in-betweens. Season 2 is excellent as well. Season 3 is really good.
I just recently watched the first two seasons, and agree it's a great show - especially season one! Having trouble finding the third season online, so I'm actually on hold for it at the library (where I happen to work, lol).
Quote:
DEXTER. This show took me a while to get into. The first couple of times I tried to watch, it was just too icky even for me. But once I forced myself to watch 3-4 episodes, I really got into the characters.
STRANGER THINGS. Season 1 is excellent. Season 2 was good. Season 3 will premiere before too much longer.
DEAD LIKE ME. The first two seasons of the series are fantastic. The single-shot movie done a few years later you can ignore.
Already did these, and agree they are very good... I did watch the Dead Like Me movie, just out of curiosity, and it was kinda bad in comparison. It kept my interest enough to finish, though, so wasn't a complete waste of time.
Quote:
WONDERFALLS. Definitely a comedy of tortured souls. One of the most under-appreciated TV series in the past 20 years.
DOC MARTIN. Another tortured soul comedy.
JUSTIFIED. The bad guys on this show are so spectacular that you'll find yourself actually hoping the bad guys win. Boyd Crowder in particular is definitely one of the best TV characters ever.
THE DETECTORISTS. Dry, dark comedy at its best.
PUSHING DAISIES. One of the weirdest, sweetest, darkest shows ever to air on network television.
SNEAKY PETE. Watch JUSTIFIED first, then watch this.
I haven't watched any of these, so thanks for the recommendations! I'll see if they're readily available, maybe starting with Pushing Daisies... is it similar to Six Feet Under? Because that's one of the best shows I've watched in a LONG time. Just loved it from beginning to end.
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On SHERLOCK ... I thought the first series was brilliant. After that ... meh. Series 2 was downright bad. How can you make Hound of the Baskervilles boring? SHERLOCK pulled it off. How can you make Victorian England look positively progressive in its portrayal of a female villain? Again, SHERLOCK nailed it. After that, the show is hit and miss, but honestly more style than substance.
I liked the first two or three episodes; after that (I guess by series 2?) it just got SO BORING. I really tried, but eventually turned it off mid-episode.
To be honest, there are very few British shows I do like! IT Crowd is one of the exceptions, and even that one took me a while to get excited about. The only reason I stuck with it was because my boss + a few colleagues are obsessed with it, and I was sick of their references going over my head.
Don Draper from Mad Men is a pretty tortured soul. He's carrying around a pretty significant secret.
That's been on my list for a while, so it might be time to finally take a look. Is there enough drama to keep things interesting for all (however many - 5?) seasons?
Have you watched Longmire? Walt is a bit of a tortured soul--or a 5-year-old brat, sometimes I can't decide.
I started that one, but it wasn't holding my interest... might try again, though, if I run out of other ideas. I did like his character, so it was just the story-lines that weren't doing it for me.
What do you all think about Oz, Prison Break, and/or The Wire? People can't seem to shut up about these, but I'm not sure they would appeal to me... I watched maybe 10 minutes of The Wire's first episode, and it seemed too "dry" and dark. I usually like dark shows, though. So???
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