6 TV Series that shook your world (or at least gently nudged it)

[Andrew]

I guess someone has to add "Dr. Who" too

[Kingmonkey]

1. Yes! Kung fu (ofcourse), but as a child of 10 or maybe 12 years I didn't watch it for the western or kung fu scenes, I allways waited for the cast back scenes where Kwai chang caine is thaught by his master at the shaolin temple....
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Allthough some 10 or 15 years later I found out that there initially was a BBC radioplay which I prefer, The TV series changed my live...
3. and yees, Star Trek (Thee Original)
4. whoo,The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, I would have done everything to avoid missing an episode
5. Pan Tau, May be not known to any body outside continental Europe
6. and last but not at all least Monty Python's flying Circus

well, and a lot of other loony stuff like the family of John Boy Walton, The Marx Brothers, TV- education series like "Telekolleg Physik/ Chemie/Allgebra",The Avengers, etc

[yasminejade]

1. CSI: Miami
2. CSI: Las Vegas
3. The Legend of Bruce Lee (2007)
4. The X Files
5. ..... may be ... Ghost Whisperer
6. ..... Las Vegas

Hi Chiahua,

Not sure about Indonesia, but korean dramas are broascast in Malaysia 5 times a week at 830pm, dubbed in Mandarin.

[drunken boxer]

PS Paul.... Friends??? Really??? wow.

YES really! Ok I started watching it because my neighbours at uni (who were all girls admittedly) used to watch it when me and my friends went round there to do a bit of fraternising, but I ended up laughing at it a lot. I think apart from the slushy parts, which were thoroughly sickening, it was really really good!

- ...so far "V" and Flashforward is not bad, we will see; i also like Supernatural. Black Adder and Red Dwarf is cool. BSG was not so bad, but i did not like the ending (no spoilers, do not worry)

I think V is ok so far, don't like the concept of flashforward.
I agree with you about BSG ending - definitely yin yang harmony of sorts involved, the ending was as poor as the rest of the show is great. But there is at least one more TV movie coming out, so maybe it can put things right - it wouldn't be difficult to put it right if they wanted to.

[*] Farscape
Very clever twist on common sci-fi themes. Which reminds me of...
[*] Babylon5
Genius series in its heyday!

Really? Never seen either of these but now I'm done with BSG I need a sci fi fix so looking into all options - till Caprica starts on SyFy.

Stargate.

Is Stargate good then? Where would you recommend starting with it?

[drunken boxer]

Ok, now I have obviously either lost my mind or else I really enjoyed the "Defence Against Multiple Attack" principles that Sifu taught me this year, therefore I'm going to bravely go where not many men have returned from before and say that:

Battlestar Galactica (Reimagined) is WAY better than ANY version of Star Trek!

[Dougie]

Fawlty Towers - still watch this regularly helpless with laughter
Lost - Even if it unravels in the last season the first few were worth it alone
Rome - A brutal and brilliant HBO mini-series
The Simpsons - untouchable at one point
Kung Fu - as a kid this had me hooked
Monty Python - The English have the most wonderfully absurd sense of humour

Also loved Star Trek TNG because well, Picard was awesome

[DiegoM]

Battlestar Galactica (Reimagined) is WAY better than ANY version of Star Trek!

I love a good debate, so I cannot allow this statement to stand

In shows as multidimensional as Star Trek or BSG, I don't think we can qualify one as 'better' than the other. In fact, even within the Star Trek universe we can talk about the shows we like and the ones we don't.
In reference to Galactica, I looooved the original, BECAUSE of its campyness. Being a young kid, I thought Starbuck was DA MAN. Adama projected an aura of 'gravitas' to the funny misadventures.

On the other hand, BSG was much more political, much more serious. Such 'culture shock' sent me far, far away from it. And to top it off, Starbuck, a woman??!!??. Apollo with serious 'daddy issues'? Way much more than I wanted from a TV show.

In a way, it reminded me a lot of "Star Trek - Deep Space 9". A lot more political intrigue, less of the good ole cowboy antics we came to appreciate from Captain James T Kirk. As such, didn't like it much.

BTW, I don't think "Enterprise" even belongs in the Star Trek Universe. I just consider it some crew member's bad dream and get on with it.

The beauty of SciFi is that we can make of it what WE want (for the most part). That's why I don't think a SciFi show can possibly be 'better' than other.

Now, if you talk about production values, that's a different story.

Let the debate begin!

Diego

[joko]

Did you used to live in Korea or do they play lots of Korean dramas in Indonesia?

I visited Korea in 1990 and 1994. At that time I had not seen any Korean Drama.

In Indonesia, I subscribe to Cable-TV, which airs, among other channels, KBS-World and Arirang.
KBS-World has daily Korean Drama Series, with English subtitles and sometimes, Indonesian subtitles. On Mon-Fri there are 25 minute-series, and on Saturday-Sunday 70 minute-series.
Arirang has Mon-Fri 25-minute drama series, English subtitled.

You can watch Korean Drama via streaming video, too, provided you have broadband access.
Here is a link, one of many:

http://www.mysoju.com/empress-chun-chu/

And a list which you can choose from:

http://www.koreandrama.org/?page_id=439

Joko

[drunken boxer]

Hey Diego, nice to virtually meet you!
Fortunately I have a well balanced personality - Nice Paul agrees with almost everything you say, but Bad Paul doesn't consider that a good enough reason not to argue with it anyway!

In shows as multidimensional as Star Trek or BSG, I don't think we can qualify one as 'better' than the other.

I totally agree. Its for the same reasons that I cannot pick a favourite between The Sopranos and Battlestar Galactica. They both do many different things and do them well, and don't do the same thing. Sopranos does comedy, BSG doesn't. BSG does robot special effects, Soprano's doesn't etc.

In fact, even within the Star Trek universe we can talk about the shows we like and the ones we don't.
In reference to Galactica, I looooved the original, BECAUSE of its campyness. Being a young kid, I thought Starbuck was DA MAN. Adama projected an aura of 'gravitas' to the funny misadventures.

I wasn't a fan of the original Galactica. As for Star Trek, yes it can be very different, between shows and series. One of the reasons I loved Battlestar Galactica was because of the consistency of it over 5 series I only saw 3 episodes I didn't like.

On the other hand, BSG was much more political, much more serious. Such 'culture shock' sent me far, far away from it. And to top it off, Starbuck, a woman??!!??. Apollo with serious 'daddy issues'? Way much more than I wanted from a TV show.

Well, yes but it was SO good I got around this. To the extent that, I never liked the subject matter of Lost, or the West Wing for example so I avoided those shows - But where BSG did episodes that covered these same sorts of subjects, I loved it! I also had no issues with Starbuck being a woman, on the contrary! Though can see for a fan of the original series it'd be like finding out BA Baracus is a woman in the new A-Team!

In a way, it reminded me a lot of "Star Trek - Deep Space 9". A lot more political intrigue, less of the good ole cowboy antics we came to appreciate from Captain James T Kirk. As such, didn't like it much.

Now this is the only point that I would genuinely argue strongly against! Are you sure you've watched all of BSG??? For me there is WAY more military/action/gungho/cowboy stuff in BSG than Star Trek or any other scif fi series I've seen and that is the main reason I like it! And the main reason I think its the best! Its absolutely brutal in places, and moved me more than most tv does. Only in film sci fi does anything come close, eg star wars, the terminator... and not much else.

BTW, I don't think "Enterprise" even belongs in the Star Trek Universe. I just consider it some crew member's bad dream and get on with it.

Heh heh, can't really comment - except that to me there aren't all these divisions in star trek there is only one division between the old ones where william shatner is kirk and the subsequent new ones with Picard etc.

The beauty of SciFi is that we can make of it what WE want (for the most part). That's why I don't think a SciFi show can possibly be 'better' than other.

Well, absolutely. I like a bit of action, I like to see spaceships, machine guns, lazer guns, light sabres, death stars, robots and robot armies battling it out. Some people hate that, or find it tedious.
I on the other hand hate the puzzle element "Is this person really a terminator/cylon/lizard/replicant/dark lord of the sith... oooo its so spooky, tune into next week to find out, isn't it so exciting..." NO IT ISN'T! Just tell me who the goodies and baddies are, and let them get on with fighting each other! If I want puzzles I'll watch Countdown!

Now, if you talk about production values, that's a different story.

Well thats the "Golden Age" thing coming in I reckon.

[Guest]

Hello Paul, how are you doing!! Hope everything is going well in your training!

My top 6 is:
On top with no doubt: Band of Brothers. About an elite group of soldiers, who after a mere 3 years intensive training (and building friendships) are dropped during D-Day in WW2. If you liked Saving Private Ryan, you will love this! It's made by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

2. The Wire
3. The Sopranos

4. Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm (hilarious!)
5. Entourage (about a movie superstar and his 'entourage', awesome show)

a 6th... maybe Rome or Dead Wood (also from HBO)

I never saw the series "Kung Fu", will check them out for sure!

Best Regards,
Tim

[Charles David]

Recently enjoyed four seasons of Dexter. Adventures of a pathological vigilante.

Now enjoying The Sopranos which has some very interesting parallels to Dexter in terms of the attempted moralization of murder.

Off to Practice,

Chas.

[Cymon]

When I was a kid:
Transformers
Airwolf
The A Team
Monkey
Equinox
M.A.S.K

Recently:
Firefly
Dexter
Chuck
Tribe
Planet Earth
How its made

However I have to admit that I have not owned a TV for over 10 years and don't really watch much. If I do it is when I visit friends and family or occasionally I watch something online that interests me specifically or has been recommended to me.

Laters.....

Cy.

[Chiahua]

To be honest, one of the nicest side effects of the internet is the capability of watching all the shows at once without commercial interruption (legally procured thru iTunes, of course).
Now I can share the magic that is Red Dwarf through Netflix with my girlfriend without having to endure a public television pledge drive (though those had their time and place, replete with take-out curry).

[Omar]

Hm, I did not think I would be able to fill out six slots as I very rarely watch television, I deliberately do not own a TV set as there's just too much nonsense on the box for it to be a valid investment.

What happened to the Discovery channel, there's only angry motorcycle makers on it now?

Still after looking through this thread I realized there are some true gems out here I have enjoyed, thus in no specific order whatsoever:

1. The Sopranos
2. The Wire
3. The X-Files
4. Seinfeld
5. Monty Python's Flying circus, Fawlty Towers, aka everything with John Cleese (And then, I eat the banana!)
6. Cosmos by Carl Sagan

Also, as a kid back in the late 80s I was an absolute Transformers nutcase. Roll out

[mike3396815]

Some I have loved:

House, M.D - even though i'm a chinese medicine advocate, his thought process and the plot development are the best
Knight Rider
Family Guy
Man vs Wild
Da Ali G Show /Borat - hilarious, some clips from it: www.aligvideos.com/