RF Generation Message Board

I need a new TV show to get into, preferably one that is still on the air, but has been on for a few seasons and is available for download. It should also be from within the last 10 years or so, I don't really want to go back to watch really old stuff. I guess I'd prefer something that's drama/action but I'm not really picky. I'm basically looking to fill in the gaps of "shows that everyone needs to watch in their lifetime". So just list some shows that you think I should have watched.

Shows already recommended (roughly in order of how interested I am in them):
The Wire
Dexter
Boardwalk Empire
Game of Thrones
Deadwood
Weeds
Community
Spartacus
Shameless
Downtown Abbey
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Twin Peaks
Battlestar Galactica
Psych!
Prison Break


Shows that I've already watched or am currently watching:
Breaking Bad
American Horror Story
Walking Dead
Rescue Me
Freaks & Geeks
Hell on Wheels
Bob's Burgers

Well, Parks and Recreation has 4 seasons on Netflix and is hilarious.  Breaking Bad is on Netflix too and is really good.  We just watched the first season of Homeland and it was pretty amazing, though its the only season out.  Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire are two really good HBO shows with a few seasons under their belt.  That's what we've been watching lately in the moonraker household.  If you haven't watched a lot from the last ten years or so, Netflix is totally worth the $9 a month...tons of shows on there.

Already watch Breaking Bad. And I should mention I'd prefer shows that aren't on premium cable (HBO, Showtime, etc) since I don't have those channels and won't be able to keep up on them. And Netflix isn't really an option for me, my internet just isn't fast enough to stream anything.

Boardwalk Empire is worth tracking down the DVDs, or maybe some strange internet thing called a torrential or something. Fantastic show.

Deadwood is another good HBO series. It has been done for years and only has 3 seasons, so it should be a quick romp.

American Horror Story, Mad Men, Spartacus, and of course the Walking Dead.

Rescue Me, Prison Break was an ok show

i've heard good things about Breaking Bad and Mad Men. this one isn't on air anymore but i highly recommend Battlestar Galactica (the reimagined one). i've heard some fanboys of the original rage at it, but i never watched the original and absolutely love the new one. great drama, well acted, good sci-fi action, amazing soundtrack. all around a great show.

I second Game of Thrones and I've heard good things about Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead as well. I know you are looking for something still on the air, but if you're open to some that are not, check out The Wire, Twin Peaks, and Freaks & Geeks.

Psych! It's a detective type of show that is also quite funny.

As far as stuff that's still going that I give the time of day (also I'm going to belay your no premium channel show request, those channels are what have made TV worth watching over movies):

Dexter (first few seasons are good, haven't kept up with it since, however)
Weeds (same, I haven't kept up with after first four or five seasons)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (great comedy in the vein of Seinfeld, just more absurd)
Shameless (the US version, I haven't gotten into the UK one)
Downton Abbey (PBS!)
Hell on Wheels (AMC)
Community was good until this season
Bob's Burgers is actually really funny.
Breaking Bad but you've seen it...
Game of Thrones is worth watching.

I don't understand the Walking Dead appeal, there's only been about two good episodes. No one can present to me a viable argument as to how it's not just terribly written slop. Mad Men I've not gotten into, tried a couple times but it starts slow I guess.

There's more than enough off air TV to keep you occupied for a good while, though I understand wanting to have something to look forward too.

Some good suggestions so far. I've updated my first post with a list of what's been suggested and what I've already seen.

I don't get why people keep saying the writing on Walking Dead is terrible, I think the problem is that there have been so many bad zombie movies that a lot of stuff in the show seems cliche and the really good stuff goes unnoticed.
And Mad Men does take a long time to get into, I think it was somewhere in season 2 or 3 that I really got into it. The show just throws so many characters and so many back stories at you at once that its somewhat hard to care about any of the characters. 

Hell, the writing is tolerable. It's more the pacing and character development that suck. You have DOZENS of episodes where there is very little action, and yet they don't develop the characters AT ALL. No one is very likable except for their badassery. Some mild spoilers to follow:


The one OK episode this season was when Michonne, Rick, and Carl went back to the hometown and ran into Morgan. You had a great blend of action, intimacy, and meaningful character building conversation. You saw in Morgan what Rick could become if he lost Carl, you saw Carl thinking about the future, and lots more, it was a great episode. The entirety of the rest of the season, however, was building up to this war with the Govenor which, in the end DIDN'T EVEN AMOUNT TO ANYTHING INTERESTING.

The Wire is definitely a great place to start! If you like cop drama, I also highly recommend The Shield...the first season is a bit corny, and it got flubbed up a little because of the writers' strike that happened, but for me it was the first show that I just wanted to watch episode after episode.

The Wire is the best TV drama. It takes a few episodes to get into but dayum, let it ride.

I'll throw in another recommendation for The Wire.

MCNULTY GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!

Vikings on History Channel.

EDIT

Also this.

I'm "obtaining" The Wire now, any other suggestions on different shows or if I should move something up/down in my list?

Sons of Anarchy
Walking Dead
Hell on Wheels
Deadwood

Friend told me Homeland is amazing. At least the first season. I need to check it out, but kind of want to rewatch the Wire.

Finished up The Wire last night, and I absolutely loved it. The first season was a bit weird with how out of date the technology was, but I'm thinking at least some of it was on purpose now.

Does anyone watch The Killing? I've seen commercials for it, but never caught an episode. And given AMC's track record with awesome shows the last few years, I have to assume it's good.

I know I've talked about it to death elsewhere on the boards, but I am not kidding when I say you have to check out Air Crash Investigation, which also goes by Mayday or Air Disasters in some regions, airing on the Smithsonian Channel.

It's not exactly heavy on the action (though it has its moments), but for drama and suspense, I dare say the reenactments of actual events on the show are far more interesting and compelling than any fictional stuff. The best ones are edited and paced to deliver maximum emotional impact. Just watch the moment of collision in the Deadly Crossroads episode on the Uberlingen disaster, and you'll see what I mean. The immediate aftermath of the Aeromexico airliner crash in Cerritos in the Out of Sight episode is another amazing (and appalling) example. It also helps that the reenactment scenes are surprisingly realistic, and the CGI effects are pretty good too. Whichever outfit produces these things is actually putting some money into the budget.

Fortunately, not every episode features death and widespread destruction. My favorite shows include the legendary "Gimli Glider" incident, and Nowhere to Land, where an airliner without engine power, piloted by a man with one eye, landed safely on a levee outside New Orleans.

Please note, however, that the first one-third to two-thirds of the show deals with the accident itself, while the rest of the show goes into figuring out why it all went down. Which is probably not your jam if you're into analytical stuff.

BTW I think it's fun to see how the actors depicting the pilots and passengers in the reenactments compare to their real-life counterparts in the interview segments. I also wonder if any of the people have met the folks who played them?

The first three seasons are available to download off of Amazon for $1.99 an eppie.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094PQAWO/ref=atv_dp_season_select?ie=UTF8&redirect=true

Or, if you're a super-cheapass like me, you can also catch 'em on YouTube.

Carnivale, its so bizaRre

I like low-brow humor so:

The League
The In-betweeners

The league may be low brow but its done really well! Also archer. The comedy on that show can be so fast paced if I watch an episode I find jokes I missed the first time. Maybe I'm just slow.

The Blacklist!!!!

If you really like Sci-Fi I would recommend Defiance. I was not sure if I would like it and LOVED it, I watch it almost religiously now. Season 1 is over and the 2nd season isn't due till around June of next year. OMG! I can't wait. I play the game too, it's pretty fun actually.