OPINIONS ON THE BEST TV SERIES OUT THERE!

[The Desolate One]

Hello all. I've just finished watching disc 4 from series 4 of "The 4400". It's time for me to "absorb" another series. I would like some recommendations on some TRULY GREAT series, not average or low entertainment ones. I realize that this is completely subjective and some will give suggestions of what they consider to be great series, and I might not be interested in them. But if everyone recommends what they consider to be "the best", then law of average will dictate that the majority of the suggestions will at least be considered to be better than average by the general consensus.To give you an idea of what I've personally seen and consider to be the best (I've already seen) they are: The 4400, Heroes, Nip/Tuck, Dexter, Ugly Betty, The Office, The L Word. Please keep these in mind when you make your suggestions as any series that are similar in nature will at least get my attention. I think that others will also benefit from reading this list, so please post any and all of what you consider to be the best out there!!

[Opinionated-Gal]

They actually allowed David Simon, creator of The Wire, to finish his story, which he had always intended to be a 5-season tale. This generous deal was rumored to be the result of a compromise brokered by President of Programming Carolyn Strauss, reportedly in compensation for CEO Chris (PTUI!) Albrecht's idiotic decision to cancel "Deadwood," a Strauss favorite. Thanks to that deal, "The Wire" had a full chance to tell its whole story, and it was beyond a masterpiece, with an arc that truly traveled from episode one to the end. And, in true postmodern fashion, the villain of all this wheeling-dealing, Chris (PTUI!) Albrecht, was forced to resign in disgrace after getting arrested for beating up his girlfriend in a Las Vegas parking lot (CHEERS!!!) and the hero-lady, Caroline Strauss, was recently forced to resign from HBO (BOOOOO!!!) presumably for loss of ratings. As for me, I would pay almost anything to bring back "Deadwood" whose aborted demise still hurts my tummy, but I'm very, very grateful for "The Wire."

PS: I finally permanently cancelled HBO after "Wire" Season Five ... and discovered Netflix.

[jessie]

I am so glad you mentioned THE WIRE. I just saved season 5!!!!
I finished season 4 a while ago and never checked for season 5.

[Gattopardo]

Thanks for this info. Boo and ptui to all those peoples too. The Wire was simply amazing. I wonder how it was that Baltimore allowed this to be filmed? What courage it took. I feel I have learned a lot about drugs, ports, longshoremen -- and we're just getting started. We just heard about this series recently. Why did it never get an Emmy?

[Opinionated-Gal]

Your guess is as good as mine. I'm not even sure it was ever even nominated! Too big for the room? Probably. And Baltimore seemed to welcome the show. "The Wire" brought in lots of dollars and hundreds of jobs and the highest quality storytelling and a level of elevated attention to the town -- besides, B'More's problems are not different from most other American cities'. Actually, many of Baltimore's dignitaries from both sides of the imaginary line actually made appearances on the show in an act of civic pride, and sometimes in recurring roles. I think that group includes the mayor, a former governor, the ex-police-chief, the original Omar, and the original Avon. BTW: rumor has it that David Simon's next project for HBO will be a series about New Orleans. If that happens, I'll subscribe again.

[jeldobar]

I could never trust HBO again with starting another show and get into it .... because i know they would stop it prematurely.
I'm already really worried about " Big Love " another terrific show I never thought I would like will get the AXE for no apparent reason

[Opinionated-Gal]

Good point.

[Gattopardo]

Of course we are waiting for Season Five DVDs on Netflix but #1 is very long wait and we don't want to get disc #2 first. Any ideas on how to deal with this problem? Anyhow, we understood that the character who plays the minister was a former inmate -- he was a very good actor. We are disappointed with "Generation Kill", so I do hope they go on to do a series on New Orleans. Again, I wish that the entire series were available at Costco as Sopranos and other series are. "The Wire" is an American treasure and more people should see it and learn about cities and their problems and pleasures too. We always skipped over it thinking it was "The Shield" (which we also enjoyed), but watching one episode of "The Wire" at random left us puzzled and unimpressed.

[trowerboy]

The only TV I watch is cable news, history channel and travel channel. I only watch those in the morning with coffee so I guess you could say I don't really watch much TV at all. What I do like is checking out the TV series that come out on DVD since I can watch episodes back to back and not have to wait for the next episode. That said, Supernatural is the best current series as far as I am concerned. (But I have very limited TV interests).

[Biff]

One of my favorite series is "Freaks and Geeks".

[Janine]

I just Q'ed Freaks and Geeks that all I hear about on here, I have to see what everyone is talking about

[horrorfan247]

i love freaks and geeks.

[borkabob]

too bad its not available on dvd yet. netflix doesn't even have a listing for it. but i thought Breaking Bad was excellent. the first season is available for download thru amazon.com. and according to this article AMC is renewing it for a season 2.