I haven’t been watching much in terms of actual shows for a good while, then while listening to a podcast a host casually mentioned they had rewatched Chernobyl, how it still holds up, that there’s a reason it got as much acclaim as it did, etc. So I thought I’d give it a go and wow, loved it (still one episode left to watch).
Had me thinking, what else have I missed out on? What are some “absolute cinema” TV shows that still hold up and and are considered must watch?
I just started watching Kevin can Fuck Himself. Im really enjoying it. I’m only 3 episodes in so no spoilers please.
It takes on the trope of the goofy sitcom husband with the exasperated hot wife.
Every scene Kevin is in is played as a sitcom, but when he’s not around it’s about his wife planning to kill him.
Shogun and Andor
For an older one I would go with “Jericho”
My wife and I have been binging a show called The Last Ship. Supposedly came out a number of years ago. It’s a Michael Bay production and kind of a post apocalyptic scenario but well worth a watch.
And of course there’s Always Sunny.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexx
It’s old-ish and maybe not the greatest work of art on screen, but I love that it had a very unique world and characters and humour and it keeps on developing and changing throughout.
It’s been too long. I really kind of want to watch it again.
Comedies that are must watch to understand the media landscape that follows Friends Seinfeld How i met your mother Sex and the city
Top of all The wire Chernobyl Breaking bad The office (the British one) Battlestar galactica Band of Brothers Fargo The West Wing Dark
Incredible, but took a turn for the worse Dexter (s1-3 are good) Game of Thrones (s1-4) Stranger things (s1-4.5) True detective (s1)
Incredible, but cut short Mindhunter Firefly
Animation The last airbender Spectacular Spider man Attack on titan Batman: the animated series Death note South Park (note. There are a lot of seasons. I like 13, but you might very well hate it)
Fringe Classics that are aquried tastes Black adder Fawlty towers Freaks and geeks Twin Peaks
Chernobyl is good show but one thing it got very wrong is the idea that the molten down reactor could somehow explode again for some gigantic fireball larger than the Tsar Bomba.
It increases fear of nuclear power unreasonably. Also much much less people died or suffered from nuclear power including Chernobyl compared to fossil fuels. Even solar power causes more deaths from roofing accidents. We now know at least some of the nuclear hysteria is / was funded by fossil fuel interests.
It feels a bit dated, but Veronica Mars is still an excellent and somehow still underrated show.
I also think Scrubs and Community are both peak television that stand up to countless rewatches.
Deadwood Invincible Mr. Robot
Lots of great suggestions, I’m surprised nobody’s said Shogun. Season 1 came out in 2024, they just started working on season 2.
The Carbonyl serial is running the Russian propaganda, it doesn’t respect the real person and it does further damage to the families of the victims. I personally don’t recommend it and please don’t refer to it as a documentary, it is a work of fiction inspired from real events.
This is PEAK of my last year.
Black Books
Phineas and Ferb; I love their music and evil adventures Dr. Doofenshmirtz
I’m a huge sci-fi nerd, and can highly recommend The Eternaut I love when movies/shows come up with interesting ideas like this. It’s been renewed for 2 more seasons, but sadly it’s going to be over a year before season 2 comes out. It was so popular that they greatly expanded the budget and scope. Oh well.
At least season 3 of Silo starts soon.
