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Recommend good stuff you've seen on Netflix streaming

Mad Men is a very slow boil. I still haven't watched the last (two?) season(s). No motivation.
 
The Americans is a great television show, y'all. I'm not sure the acting is flat, actually. It's just kind of the vibe the show cultivates and, IMO, earns. Some of the supporting characters introduced later on are superb. The only thing that throws me off is how badly the show represents DC. The urban locations are pretty obviously in Park Slope, BK.

I'm cool with Mad Men criticism. I quit on the show out of boredom after season 4 or 5, but came back to it by the last season and enjoyed how they wrapped it up. I'm not sure any of the acting is outstanding, though a few characters are really well done.

Season 2 of FNL is really bad, but the show gets a lot better afterwards. I have a handful of episodes left and it's lived up to expectations. Kind of like a good adult version of Degrassi or something. It's soapy, but not in the Shondaland/Quantico way.

I haven't had a chance to watch the most recent Vice Principals yet. I'll check it out tonight.
 
TownieDeac said:
i quit on Mad Men after the first few eps and picked it up again a couple years later and liked it

quit during season 2 of Friday Night Lights though ppl say it gets a lot better after that bad season, and i did enjoy season 1

i still look forward to The Americans
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friday night lights season two had the single worst storyline in history. i might be exaggerating slightly... they completely ignored it in the final 3 seasons. if you liked season 1 it's absolutely worth revisiting. even if you just start with season 3 or fast forward a lot of it. i believe s2 was also affected by the writer's strike.
 
also coach and mrs taylor are one of the all time great couples on tv. writing, acting and chemistry for their relationship are spot on.
 
Rhys in the Americans is not believable as 1) a badass spy 2) a smooth-talking manipulator or 3) conflicted between family and country. None of it. And that is the basis for the show.
 
a few episodes in to the americans is not enough time to let the show really find itself. it improves so much over time.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Rhys in the Americans is not believable as 1) a badass spy 2) a smooth-talking manipulator or 3) conflicted between family and country. None of it. And that is the basis for the show.
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But is he believable as a dorky dad travel agent? I think that's what he's going for. I don't think his main conflict is between country and family, necessarily, but that might be fleshed out more as you go on. That's part of it, but there's more nuance to it as the show matures and you'll start to see arcs along with some stand alone episodic aspects -- they get better with that. I'd stick with it, but sometimes things just don't work, which I can understand.

I watched about 7 episodes of The Man In The High Castle last year, was utterly bored, went back to it this week and wondered how I could have watched 7 episodes and not really remembered anything. I started again and have dug the first few eps now.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Which is why I asked, because I am uninspired.
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fair enough. i would ff through parts that you are not particularly interested in as season 1 is going. you could watch each show in 20 minutes or something and zoom through to season 2. might find yourself watching more of the episodes as it goes. season 2 many critics were saying it was one of the best shows on tv.
 
i think the Americans is an outlier. 3ish hours of TV programming should be enough to prove concept and hook a person.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
i think the Americans is an outlier. 3ish hours of TV programming should be enough to prove concept and hook a person.
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Disagree. Some hook you right away but plenty of shows improve over time as their writers improve and find things that work. Breaking Bad got better. Parks and Rec. 30 Rock.
 
Sure, almost every show gets better but BB and PnR's started way stronger than Americans.
 
disagree. americans has a good concept early and really imprved. the early pnr's were not good. improved greatly after first half season or so. Breaking Bad had a great concept but, in part due to the writer's strike, did not have a great first season.

at any rate, it's a matter of degree. don't think it's that uncommon to start slow, change direction and improve drastically.
 
My concern is that the acting is weak. I give more leeway when writing is the weakness since it seems to have the most room for improvement. You don't usually see positive swings in acting.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
My concern is that the acting is weak. I give more leeway when writing is the weakness since it seems to have the most room for improvement. You don't usually see positive swings in acting.
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In later seasons I think the acting and chemistry between the two is one of the strong parts of the show.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
i think the Americans is an outlier. 3ish hours of TV programming should be enough to prove concept and hook a person.
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I don't know. Deadwood, for instance, took about 8-9 episodes to really get going and I think it's worth sticking with for season 2. The Wire was also pretty excruciatingly slow to start, IMO, with kind of offbeat, uneven performances that you realize fit the general vibe of the show about 3 episodes in.

It seems like the writers on The Americans realized pretty quickly that it had more going for it than the gimmicky concept and adjusted accordingly. You learn more about their chemistry as the show goes on and it becomes a really powerful plot device, IMO.
 
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