prison break/24/lost

Daff_Duck · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:14

Another vote for Sleeper Cell here this I think will turn out to be just as good if not better than Prison break. was lead to belive that Thief was going to be a good series but judging by the first episode I'm yet to be convinced

Tachyon · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:25

IceBus said:
Sleeper Cell on FX is shaping up to be very good. IMO much better than this season of 24 which has been weak at best. New episodes on Tuesday night, repeats on Sunday night.

Gets my vote as well. Have enjoyed the first couple of episodes.

Scam · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:53

I'd recommend the West Wing to anyone. The best TV drama i've ever seen, absolutely top quality stuff. I've breezed through the first 4 seasons in the past couple of months or so. Cant recomend it enough. It's hilarious at times, dramatic (duh!) and has a brilliant cast.

Hedge · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:54

If i was you i would buy the first few seasons of The Shield on DVD, sit back and watch em all

Vic mackey rocks

Andelusion · 23 Apr 2006 at 11:54

Alias.

/Hasn't read thread

Non mentioned compare to 24 though

atpbx · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:01

The Shield

The Wire

Battlstar Gallactica.

atpbx · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:04

PinkPig said:
I'm afraid I have to disagree - I completely love Doctor Who, Hustle, Spooks, as well as 24 and Lost and so on.

Perhaps it's not your cup of tea, but last night's Doctor Who was fantastic - probably the best piece of television I've seen in years. I don't think that any single episode of Lost was anywhere near it. Just my opinion.

Spooks and Hustle dont even make it on to the scale when compared to what the best of american dramas have to offer.

Doctor Who is alright for "there is nothing else on at 7pm on a saterday" but there is nothing there to make me make an effort to watch it.

Vertigo · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:12

Raymond Lin said:
The BBC/ITV/Ch4 makes 6 episodes and call it a season. A full US season has 4X that.

Nail. Head. Particularly where the BBC is concerned. They have successful and popular series like Hustle which are over almost before they begin and then you have to wait another year for the next series.

It seriously angers me when they refuse to invest in good programmes like this and produce series of a decent length yet they're more than happy to waste our license fees on East-bloody-enders and sending 300 people to the World Cup for a month's jolly :mad:

PinkPig · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:30

Vertigo1 said:
It seriously angers me when they refuse to invest in good programmes like this and produce series of a decent length yet they're more than happy to waste our license fees on East-bloody-enders and sending 300 people to the World Cup for a month's jolly

The BBC can't spend all of its money on shows that a small minority of the audience love watching and want to see more of. Eastenders gets a better audience than 24 or Lost in this country ever has. So does the World Cup. The BBC is a public broadcaster and has to spend its money to appeal to everyone.

melchy · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:36

Thats the problem that UK TV has. It simply doesnt have the money to compete with the US TV series. Its not that uncommon for some of the Top US series to cost upwards of $2 Million an episode. The entire series of Doctor Who probably only costs the same as one or two episodes of a US series.

Star Trek the Next Generation, was reported to cost around $1.5 Million an episode and that was in the late 80's and early 90's. Babylon 5 which was fairly cheap to make was meant to cost around $750,000 an episode (most of its cheapness was down to its use of CGI rather than models). Part of the reason Farscape was axed was because it was costing a fortune per episode.

I may be wrong, but i though i'd read somewhere that the pilot episode of Deadwood was the most expensive episode of a series ever made, at around $15 Million for that one pilot episode.

Scam · 23 Apr 2006 at 12:42

melchy said:
Thats the problem that UK TV has. It simply doesnt have the money to compete with the US TV series. Its not that uncommon for some of the Top US series to cost upwards of $2 Million an episode. The entire series of Doctor Who probably only costs the same as one or two episodes of a US series.

Star Trek the Next Generation, was reported to cost around $1.5 Million an episode and that was in the late 80's and early 90's. Babylon 5 which was fairly cheap to make was meant to cost around $750,000 an episode. Part of the reason Farscape was axed was because it was costing a fortune per episode.

Wikipedia states that the West Wing costs $6m per episode :eek:

Madness. But it really does show. I'll admit Doctor Who's episode last night was ok, but it was still not a scratch on some of the American dramas. The other episodes of it i've seen were nigh-on embarrassing. :\

Meridian · 23 Apr 2006 at 13:07

Scam said:
I'd recommend the West Wing to anyone. The best TV drama i've ever seen, absolutely top quality stuff. I've breezed through the first 4 seasons in the past couple of months or so.

Unfortunately you've seen all the good stuff now then, and it's mostly downhill from there on.

M

georges · 23 Apr 2006 at 13:24

I guess you might like ER.. can get boring though quite easily.

Sleepy · 23 Apr 2006 at 14:24

Scam said:
Wikipedia states that the West Wing costs $6m per episode

But thats virtually all salery, Martin Sheen get $500,000 per episode, the other main stars get around $300,000. So the saleries of just a few add up to half the cost of each episode. Saleries are a few years out of date.

Sleepy · 23 Apr 2006 at 14:25

Meridian said:
Unfortunately you've seen all the good stuff now then, and it's mostly downhill from there on.

I'm in the minority who didn't think S5 was absolute **** However even TWW in its decline is better than the vast majority of TV.

OzZie · 23 Apr 2006 at 16:04

The O.C

crashuk · 23 Apr 2006 at 16:15

24, Prison Break, House, Grey's Anotomy, Stargate SG1/ Atlantis, spin city, family guy, my name is earl,Hustle,

Stormrider · 23 Apr 2006 at 16:25

melchy said:
I may be wrong, but i though i'd read somewhere that the pilot episode of Deadwood was the most expensive episode of a series ever made, at around $15 Million for that one pilot episode.

I thought Lost had that record. Just googling around, Lost's pilot cost $10 million. Can't find any numbers for Deadwood.

Vandle · 23 Apr 2006 at 16:49

Mark A said:
Ohh Sopranos is also a good show, the latest season is getting really good.

Mark

Cant believe it took 35 posts to mention The Sopranos.
Best show on tv bar none.

Vertigo · 23 Apr 2006 at 17:18

PinkPig said:
The BBC can't spend all of its money on shows that a small minority of the audience love watching and want to see more of. Eastenders gets a better audience than 24 or Lost in this country ever has. So does the World Cup. The BBC is a public broadcaster and has to spend its money to appeal to everyone.

All of which are merely arguments in favour of scrapping the license fee, IMO. Why should those of us who choose not to watch mindless crap like Eastenders be forced to fund its production for others?