BBC on a roll

Spooks, Sherlock and Luther all consistently good over the last year. (Hope it continues).

(If you are not in the UK check these out on NetFlix).

What new shows from the US should we be looking out for?

Game of Thrones was pretty great.

I think Boardwalk Empire is the best series on US television right now.

1 hour ago,Bas wrote

Game of Thrones was pretty great.

Yeah!!!!!!!!   

I like how they did most of the first season with very few "Fantasy" things

for the most part they just gave us hints and peeks into what might happen later.

much like how i would also like to see the "Dragon Riders of Pern" done if it ever gets a good movie or tv deal.

"if you play the game you win or you die"  a lot of stuff like that reminds me of shakespear done right!

Waiting for the new Sherlock "season". August, right?

@figuerres: the almost complete lack of fantasy stuff is what I liked about it too. Even when there actually is some magic involved, it's hidden from the viewer and you can only hear what's going on. It's really great.

I really wanted to like Sherlock, but I thoroughly dislike the smarmy way Cumberbatch plays him. And I know Sherlock Holmes is supposed to be smug, ingratiating and self involved, but something about his performance just puts me off. It's almost as if he's going to wink at he camera after every line.

@PauloM: Sherlock - The BBC is saying Autum 2011 officially (only another 3 episodes).

@Bas: "Smarmy Cumberbatch" - I think he treads a fine line but for me just stays on the 'he's such a clever * I will forgive him' side of brilliant.

@Blowdart: Spooks minus 15 minutes? WTF?

I watched the final episode (4 of 4) of Luther the other night - Series 2 is even better than series one - the final episode really pushes the limits.

You know, I never watch anything British with actors or scripts since Little Britain stopped but I pretty much only watch British TV.
I just watch Time Team, Coast, Countryfile, anything with Ray Mears, Dr. Alice Roberts, Julia Bradbury (all the walking stuff and lately Kill it, Cut it, Use it) Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections, James Mays special shows etc... All pretty educational stuff that would never make it big in the US.
Even Fifth Gear it quite geeky at times and I watch Top Gear too but it's just for fun. Lately I watched all of Extreme Fishing with Robson Green.

There's just so much good TV coming out of England and Scotland.

2 hours ago,blowdart wrote

*snip*

More advertising time *sigh*

Yup - that's the reason I can't stand watching US TV and no longer have cable (relying on Netflix, Hulu and DVD's instead). Media Center used to help, recording shows and skipping the adverts, but I finally realised I was paying $90 a month just to watch BBC America, Discovery and History channels, so I pulled the plug about 2 years ago. Honestly, I don't miss it these days.

@Ian2:
One show I just bought on spec on DVD over here is 'The Walking Dead' and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It stars Andrew Lipton (Egg from This Life) as a Southern Sheriff, trying to survive in a world filled with zombies. Yeah, berfore you start rolling your eyes, it's actually a lot better than most of its genre - more about the people than the zombies. Worth a watch if it comes over.

Other than that, I have no idea what else is good - I really don't watch much on the old goggle box anymore!

@OrigamiCar:We did get series 1 of The Walking Dead a while back - surprisingly even my wife enjoyed it!

@Ian2:Walking dead was/is quite nice, but our next season

Currently I'm watching Outcasts (which is apparently a BBC show) and Falling Skies. 

Both are leaning a bit toward the 'meh' side of the meter, but we'll see.  Outcasts better pick up the pace and FS needs a bit less of the family struggle dynamics.

Oh, and I doubt that you folks in the UK get these adverts, but they've taken to claiming that BBC stands for 'Bamber' broadasting due to us americans only knowing him from battlestar galactica with an american accent. 

@ScanIAm: They have recently allowed brand name adverts in TV programmes, like Coke or Pepsi (or Mowbray Pork Pies - catchy!) which I kinda dislike, but the American TV and Film industry would not be where it is without the sponsorship.

In BBC sitcoms a half hour episode gets you 28 Mins, in America, you are lucky if you get to 21 mins, and it gets worse for full episodes where an hour long eposide clocks in at around 42 minutes

@Bas: Yet to watch GOT but have heard great things about it. Apparently it picks up after the fifth episode

Channel 4 have the occasional gem too -- like Misfits (like a downbeat British version of Heroes where the heroes are a group of young offenders).

Here's a link to episode 1 on YouTube (with age confirmation check because NSFW!)

Herbie

19 hours ago,Ian2 wrote

What new shows from the US should we be looking out for?

I'm waiting to see what Terra Nova is like.