I don't actually have television. Haven't for years. So I generally only watch things (online) that have already been highly recommended. I've still wasted my time with some rather terrible material, but despite how people complain how bad television (which I guess it is as a general rule), a great deal of what I've seen with my recommendation-only filter has actually yielded some wonderful story-telling. A a result, I'm always looking for new recommendations, and happy to offer my own. So if there's television shows you've actually found to be worth watching, feel free to give a title and description here.
My short list:
Carnivale: One of those amazing shows that was idiotically cancelled before the storyline was finished. It only made it through 2 out of an intended 5 series (was cancelled because it was deemed to be "too weird" for most television audiences), but it's still completely worth the time. It creates its own mythology, heavily influenced by Christianity and Gnosticism. It incorporates archetypes such as the Hero's Journey, the battle of good against evil, and the struggle between destiny and free will. At the beginning of the opening episode, the viewer is informed that to every generation is born a creature of light, and a creature of darkness. During the American Great Depression, in the Dust Bowl, a travelling carnival picks up a young man with unexplained healing powers - you guessed it, our creature of light. Meanwhile, in California, a Methodist preacher discovers he has the power to reveal a person's greatest sin, and uses this ability to start his own church in order to minister to the migrants (those who have come from Texas, Oklahoma, etc. to the fertile California looking for work...which they were usually unable to find). He believes that God has given him visions revealing that this is the flock he is intended to lead and deeply believes that he is doing righteous work. Then unexpectedly, his church is burned in an arson fire, and the orphans it housed were killed. Justin, the minister, leaves his small town in California and goes "into the wilderness," believing he is being led by the Holy Spirit. After a series of several discoveries, he realises that he is more powerful than he ever realised, and also that he has a darkness in him that his older sister had hid from him in and effort to protect him. He is a creature of darkness. The first series deals with both characters struggling with and ultimately accepting their destiny and the role they must play, and the second series focuses on revealing more of the mysterious mythology of the show's universe and the main characters taking up their respective banners, drawing closer and closer to their final confrontation. Each episode is honestly a work of art from the opening credit sequence to the conclusion. Definitely not appropriate for the kiddies, though.
Opening credits and monologue and also
Series 1 trailerRome: The first series chronicles the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, and the second the resulting battle between Marc Antony and the future first emperor of Rome, Octavian aka Augustus Caesar. It does an amazing job of bringing such a well-known historical period to life, and showing a tragically human side to many house-hold names from the history books. The story is told through the eyes of two Roman soldiers and shows us both the struggles of everyday life for Rome's "common man," as well as the tense political climate and the everyday lives of the upper class. Highly recommended, though again, not a good one for the kids.
Battlestar Galactica (Re-imagined) Call me a nerd for having this much love for a sci-fi show, but it really is amazing. Cylons were robots created by man to use as slaves, basically, but as intelligent beings, they rebelled. We're brought into the saga after the "First Cylon War," which ended with an armistice being declared between man and machine, with the cylons leaving the twelve planets inhabited by man to find their own home. 40 years later however, they attack again, and an old battlestar (which is like an aircraft carrier in space), along with a small fleet of civilian ships are the sole survivors of the human race. They follow the commander of the battlestar (Galactica) through uncharted space to find a new home, being pursued by the cylons at every turn. It raises a lot of interesting ethical questions, like what constitutes "intelligence," and more importantly, personhood. Are the cylons simply a race of evil robots to be exterminated, or are they a viable civilization of people? With technology advancing an an exponential rate these days, I think it raises a lot of questions that if not already relevant, may very well become relevent in many of our lifetimes. And if nothing else, it's just a darn good epic story. It aired on network television in the States, so although it was intended for an adult audience, it's certainly more censored than the previous two shows I mentioned.
I'm tired of typing now, so I'll give someone else a turn.
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