At the end of the day, I like to unwind with a television show. Here are some of my favorites, with a select clip or two (usually humor). Let me know what you think, maybe this will inspire others to try some new shows, and to share good shows of their own that I haven't yet seen.
Party Down
This is one of my all time favorite comedies. Only two seasons, but I pretty much enjoyed every episode (the second half of the 1st season and the 2nd season are probably the strongest parts, but if you don't like the first 5 episodes you probably won't like the show nearly as much as I do). The show is about a group of aspiring actors in Los Angeles (the city in the USA where people go to try to become actors), who are mostly failing actors (the girl is a comedian, one of the guys is a writer, but similar stuff, all kind of failing wannabees), and their real job is catering (providing food) for different types of events (charities, fundraisers, an orgy, a rock show, a birthday, a footall draft party, etc.). They are basically screw ups, led by screw ups and hilarity ensues throughout their gigs.
*Semi Spoiler* FYI, in the above clip, what makes it even funnier is that Henry (the more passive guy that enters the clip first) has actually been sleeping with Casey (the girl in the clip) and Roman (the talker nerd guy here) has always been rejected by her.
In the above clip, the young guys in suits are junior republicans, basically college students that support the republican political party in the USA. For the purposes of this show, they are portrayed in a stereotypical way, "never quit, love america." Oh and Jim Abbot was a famous baseball player. I believe he lost his right arm and ended up throwing left handed. Wiki him if needed, it's been awhile since I had the baseball cards of these guys lol.
Another comedy that I enjoy a lot is Parks and Recreation. This one is about a small rural (farm) town political government in middle USA, specifically an office within that government (Parks and Recreation... aka outdoor parks type stuff).The main character is a hyperactive do it all always trying to tackle big projects (or struggling with various tasks). Her help is pretty terrible, and that provies for a lot of humor. Some good individual characters in this show, Ron Swanson, Tom, April, Andy and Leslie are all pretty good. Plenty of others, including some guest appearances, provide consistent humor. I believe they just concluded season 4, and thus far it hasn't really lost much steam. I still think the first season has been the best, but it is still well written.Tom (played by the funny comedian Aziz Ansari) lists his nicknames for various foods and words. This is a good indicator of his character throughout the show, a sort of never serious, unreliable, spazzy child. He loves the bling and attention. His character was better in the early seasons, he's since become more of a whiny repetitive guy, but he still provides the laughs, even if it is less often than early seasons.If you liked that clip, here's a good one of Tom and John Ralphio, his best friend, as Tom solicits his advice for best man speech.The above embedded clip is a short clip that exemplifies the main character pretty well (Leslie Knope). That sort of serious and ambitious, yet lack of attention to detail to a humorous extent is what you can expect from the show. If you enjoyed that clip, here's a funny clip of Ben talking about Game of Thrones (another great TV show). Ben plays a nerdier version of his role as Henry in Party Down.
Veep is my favorite new comedy, by far. On HBO, they can really let loose on some of the language and jokes. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine in Seinfeld) is the Vice President here, and she's as ridiculous and stupid as you can ever imagine anybody in office (Sarah Palin is the common comparison here, but this isn't anything based on reality). Her staff is at least as backwards, having to save her from terrible meltdowns that they themselves were often the cause of in the first place. Some really good actors here (Jonah's character, the tall dude from the white house, Tony Hale who is Buster from Arrested Development puts out an equally good performance and Mike, from Upright Citizens Brigade, a classic cult comedy hit).It's new, just concluding season 1, I think only 8 episodes, but it was very quickly renewed for season 2.The trailer is below, followed by a character profile of the character Mike.
Great thread :)I also watched Party Down show. Mainly because of Adam Scott (I like him as an actor) and Martin Starr (who was most interesting character in my all-time favorite teen show "Freaks and Geeks").
Parks and Rec - hilarious show!:D Soooo well written! And all characters - soooo strong and unique:) Definately one of my favorites. I also enjoy watching "the office" very much:) Despite the fact that Steve Carell is probably my most favorite actor, I think that this show got a lot better after he decided to leave in Season 8.
I also like: "It is always sunny in Philadelphia" - Youtube is full of funny moments from that show.
-----My favorite new show is "Episodes". Also very strong screenplay. Matt Leblanc got Golden Globe for his acting in season 1 :)
I also like "The Big Bang Theory":) Funny jokes:)----From other genres (not humor), my favorite show is "Mad men".
I am always looking for new interview opportunities with HUSNG and Spin Reg's who play $30s and higher. Please PM me here or on 2p2 (Charles Hawk).
"Why Government Matters" if you watch one clip in this thread, that should be it (even with the poor audio quality). Such an awesome scene, possibly the best in that show.I like Always Sunny too, and Mad Men. Haven't seen Episodes, might have to check that out soon.
The lady and I just flipped on Skins Season 3 tonight for the first time. Wow, we were both amazed at the drop off in quality. It was horrible. Silly exaggerated scenes, weak humor, the writing was a shell of previous seasons. How did season 3 get so screwed up versus 1 and 2? I thought 1 and 2 were excellent television, perhaps some of the best I've ever seen.Talking about UK Skins obviously, American one is brutal (though not all transitions suck, USA Office seems to even have built upon the UK version's solid humor).