Wednesday, December 11, 2013

What One TV Series Would You Watch Again in its Entirety?

Mom and Dad at Jeff's around 2000
  


I am rewatching BREAKING BAD from the beginning. I have to say it is as exciting now as the first time.

What TV show would you rewatch front to back. Or wouldn't you rewatch any TV?

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

We watch several British sitcoms at least twice (some more than that) - THE GOOD LIFE, FAWLTY TOWERS, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, GAVIN & STACEY come to mind. It's only six episodes but we're rewatching THE GLITTERING PRIZES now. Have also rewatched JONATHAN CREEK and would watch FOYLE'S WAR again.

I'm not sure there are longer series we'd watch all the way through. We started watching ST. ELSEWHERE but ran out of steam.

Jeff M.

George said...

THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

John DuMond said...

I've been re-watching MY NAME IS EARL on Netflix. Seems even funnier the second time.

pattinase (abbott) said...

MY NAME IS EARL was a great concept, wasn't it? And I liked the diversity of how they enacted his pledge.
I have certainly seen many TWILIGHTS repeatedly but not from front to back.
FAWLTY TOWERS, many times. The rest I don't have access to unless I buy them.

Anonymous said...

We have bought all of the ones I mentioned, Patti. I guess buying the whole TWILIGHT ZONE is the only way to accomplish that.


Jeff M.

Ron Earl Phillips said...

The Shield. I'd watch that again. Breaking Bad, most definitely. Most of Dexter, though I haven't seen the last two seasons, and I have heard it turned into a hot mess.

So much to rewatch between syndication, Netflix and Amazon.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Breaking Bad, The Wire, Carnivale.
Have watched Homicide all the way thru a second time. Some shows like Seinfeld and Twilight Zone I have just seen too many times in rerun. X Files I could watch again up until the point David Duchovny left.

Charles Gramlich said...

Glad someone mentioned the Twilight Zone. That one indeed.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have never seen THE SHIELD. You can skip those last two years and be better for it, Ron. I never saw the third year of THE WIRE.
I wonder if HOMICIDE is on Netflix or Amazon. have to check.

Anonymous said...

Patti, we bought the complete series of THE WIRE and THE SHIELD. Haven't watched either yet. of course, and so far we've only finished season one of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

Jeff M.

pattinase (abbott) said...

We never buy series. Just never got into the habit. Usually we can rent them from our library for a dollar although it sometimes means waiting a while.

Dana King said...

The Beloved Spouse and I recently completed our third (or fourth?) time through THE WIRE; same with DEADWOOD. We've watched THE SOPRANOS all the way through since it went off the air, as well.

HOMICIDE is available on NetFlix, but I don't know if every season is there. We've never seen THE SHIELD, but have it in the queue.

neer said...

I can watch Star Trek: The Original Series once again. The third season would require some real patience though.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have watched TNG at least twice.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

YES MINISTER AND YES PRIME MINISTER and David Suchet's POIROT. I recently watched seven seasons of FRIENDS all over again.

Deb said...

I'd watch the Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett, the Poirots with David Suchet, and the Miss Marples with Joan Hickson; also, the earliest Forsythe Saga (the black-and-white series from the 1960s); possibly the Bob Newhart show (if they can clean up the audio--the sound from those 70s shows tends to be muddy).

Anonymous said...

We do also have the original UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS (the sequel was beneath contempt). I'm from the George Kelley school of thought - I'd rather buy the series, especially if you can get it for a reasonable price. This way if you want to watch it, it is always available. We tried the library for THE WIRE but some of their DVDs get worn and scratched and freeze, or the sound is just too low. I'd rather have my own.


Jeff M.

Fred Zackel said...

I am in the midst of watching the "Detective Montalbano" movies -- all 26 of them!! -- for the second time.

Anders E said...

If you mean doing it in one, or a few, marathon sittings then my answer is none. But I'd watch the following again, a few episodes at a time:

Police Squad!
Blackadder
Prime Suspect
The Comeback
The Rockford Files
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Jeeves & Wooster
I, Claudius
Fawlty Towers

J F Norris said...

SIX FEET UNDER, COLUMBO, maybe CHEERS

Thanks to the MeTV network there are several other very good series I watch again repeatedly (THRILLER, TWILIGHT ZONE, ALFRED HITCHCOCK, a lot of 70s sit coms), but none that I could watch *every* episode again.

Sometimes revisiting an old favorite is not worth the effort. I tried to watch again all of the 70s Ellery Queen series with Jim Hutton, but lost interest in it. Didn't have the same novelty or fun as the first time. Also, I purchased the DVD set of GHOST STORY (aka CIRCLE OF FEAR) and watched all those shows from start to finish, but was angry that I had spent money on the set. (I rarely purchase DVDs.) Only two or three really good episodes in the entire batch, the rest were dull or obvious or stupid. One of the many 1970s era series that hasn't aged well at all. The programs were so frightening to my teenage self but not at all impressive or effective nearly forty years later.

Anders E said...

One I'd really like to see again is Acht Stunden sind kein Tag / Eight Hours are Not a Day, a German miniseries (5 feature length episodes) from 1972-73 directed by none other than Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Believe it or not, but this is Fassbinder doing comedy - and he pulls it off really well as I recall. Unfortunately this seems to unavailable in any shape or form.

Then there are a few Swedish titles, but I guess they are meaningless to mention. That said, here's a bit from TÅRTAN - the best children's programme that will ever be made. This is from an episode that is really a Bergman parody. Depression is cured by farting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gFv3ygjoHE

Gerard said...

I don't know I want to take that much time. I can think of a few i might be willing to try.

BLACKADDER
MIAMI VICE
RED DWARF

Rick Robinson said...

Assuming I'd watch between 1 and 4 episodes in any day, once or twice a week.

M*A*S*H
FOYLE'S WAR
RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY
THE ERNIE KOVACKS SHOW
SHERLOCK HOLMES with Jeremy Brett
FAMILY TIES

Ron Scheer said...

Several already mentioned. I'd add DEADWOOD to the list.

Anonymous said...

I love me some Britcoms.

Fawlty Towers
Absolutely Fabulous
Peep Show

***

Twilight Zone

Michael C.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have never seen Peep SHow and I have saved the final season of Deadwood. Don;t know about the Detective Montalbano movies.= but am intrigued
Yes, John, so true. Not do a lot of sitcoms hold up. I was sort of shocked to see how primitive the writing was on a few.
Mysteries often depend on you not knowing whodunnit.

Erik Donald France said...

Lots of goodies up there.

For me, no question The Sopranos -- b/c I've already done it; Breaking Bad ditto;

Twin Peaks was worth doing the first season in one shot over a weekend, with spirits.

Gerard said...

Forgot about TWIN PEAKS.

I really liked the show BAKERSFIELD, PD. That would be an easy one, it only lasted one season.

TracyK said...

We plan to rewatch Foyle's War and Homicide. Homicide is a lot of seasons though. The Wire is great but I am not sure if I can rewatch it. Maybe if I wait long enough.

We have rewatched all of Columbo, but just as the sets came out, and watched some of them twice. I could go through all of those again.

Anonymous said...

Patti, we've picked up a few series of the Montalbano shows (not a surprise since I like the books so much) from a friend in England. The two we've watched so far have been quite good.

Jeff M.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Loved that Bakersfield. Why didn't it stick?
Looking into a lot of shows here. I have two seasons of FOYLE on DVR. And I hope to do SOPRANOS when BB is over.

Unknown said...

Justified. More than once.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Only a month to go!

karabekirus said...

Definitely HILL STREET BLUES.

gak said...

Adding to Tracy's comment, I would include Midsomer Murders and The Big Bang Theory. We've already watched the six seasons of Big Bang three times each, we like it so much.

Chris said...

We are currently in the midst of rewatching TRAILER PARK BOYS. Best TV show ever.

I'd re-watch Game of Thrones, Deadwood, and The Wire.

Anonymous said...

As Time Goes By, on BBC. Middle-aged friends who rediscover each other; he's a writer.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Watching that one right now, Richard. And for the first time!

Bernadette said...

I have watched West Wng right through 3 times now (once as it aired here and twice via my box set). I think I'm ready for another go. It's my favourite fantasy series

I've watched Foyle's War and Prime Suspect twice, and about half-way through my second watching of the whole Inspector Morse series. I know the thing with mysteries is not knowing whodunnit but my memory is pretty bad :)

Todd Mason said...

I utterly endorse Bernadette's characterization of THE WEST WING, while sharing almost none of her enthusiasm (the cast is good). BORGEN, I find, holds up well, and THE GOOD WIFE, with less purely fantasticated content...and if you can watch 'em on Amazon streaming, Patti, you can certainly catch stuff being streamed by others, such as MONTALBANO on MHz Worldview's online presence (Sergio Angelini has an interesting take on the series in the December issue of the British Film Institute magazine SIGHT AND SOUND).

I've mentioned a while back that when I've tried to watch HOMICIDEs again, they've tended to stick with me too well, though they're still enjoyable. ST. ELSEWHERE wears better once one is past the precious first season, and into the episodes post-Brand & Falsey (and Birney). Somewhat similar to how much BABYLON-5 improved after the first season, and STAR TREK: TNG after Roddenberry wasn't around to run it into the ground. Or how much THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE picked up in its second, and only actually good, season.

John, I'm startled your teenaged self could find even a few good episodes of GHOST STORY/CIRCLE OF FEAR...which ones, if you remember?

Among those I've found I can watch repeatedly so far are indeed JUSTIFIED, the first FORSYE SAGA and at least much of THE ROCKFORD FILES (and even more of RUMPOLE), SONS AND DAUGHTERS the partially improvised sitcom, NEWSRADIO (at least the first four seasons, before Phil Hartman's murder and the shunting of the producer away from the series), WKRP IN CINCINNATI, ONCE AND AGAIN, at least much of GILMORE GIRLS, much of BUFFY and to a lesser extent its criminous twin VERONICA MARS, THRILLER despite some of the early criminous episodes being a bit draggy (there's a complete box set of that one, presumably available for interlibrary loan if nothing else), THE VENTURE BROS., ARCHER, the better episodes of COMMUNITY and THE OFFICE (US) and THE PRISONER, but that's cheating, and a whole lot of SCTV. And PYTHON.

There really has been a whole lot of good television, even if the lean periods (such as the early '80s in the US) have been pretty damned lean, and even then there were exceptions.

I'd certainly like to see BUTTERFLIES and NO HONESTLY again, among Britcoms, and perhaps I'll do something about that soonly.

Todd Mason said...

While finding the finale to DEXTER a bit weak, if you want an example of a fine series unraveling, you'd be better served by examining HOUSE...or M*A*S*H...or so many others...

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have watched THE WEST WING first two seasons twice but it does tend to play to the choir too much. With all of the places to watch TV now you can see so many good shows over and over. Want to watch OPPHAN BLACK again and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. If I have to watch on my computer, I don't. I spend too much time here already.

Anders E said...

One Swedish mini-series I can watch again and again forever: TJEJERNA GÖR UPPROR, three 30-minute bursts of no-nonsense take-no-prisoners kick-ass feminism uprising from 1976. Four girls enter high school, meet sexism, start a revolt. The original riot grrrls, by a very wide margin. Based on "Jentene gjør opprør", a Norwegian 1975 novel by Frøydis Guldahl. Not subtle by any means, and the subplot about girl's soccer just would not work today, but lord when it does it right it is SO on the money even today...

Cap'n Bob said...

She asked for ONE, people.

That said, mine is LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.