TV Series on Premium Channels

[fantine33]

I haven't had any pay channels for years, after Oz and Dead Like Me ended, I never watched them and couldn't justify the expense.

Since I got Directv a few months ago, I now have more of these channels that anybody could ever need (and I still don't watch them much, but they come with). Figures, I finally get them back after Deadwood and Rome have ended (I got those from my brother).

So far, the only reason I have to keep any of them after my promotional price goes away is I've really gotten into the Showtime series Dexter. But it seems there are more and more series on these channels now than ever. I tried watching one or two of them, but was underwhelmed. Mostly because coming in on the middle of something, you have no frame of reference.

For those who watch any of the pay cable series, can you give some opinions, recommendations, ratings? Are any of them actually worth keeping the channel solely for that purpose (aka the Oz test)?

[MarleysGh0st]

For those who watch any of the pay cable series, can you give some opinions, recommendations, ratings? Are any of them actually worth keeping the channel solely for that purpose (aka the Oz test)?

Good question. I get HBO, and I've enjoyed The Sopranos and Rome, which are both over now, and Big Love, which has ended its short, second season. I've been considering whether to ditch HBO and replace it with a Netflix subscription.

Since most TV shows transition to DVD in a few months, the question really is if any of these series are so good that you have to see them immediately--to keep up with the watercooler chats and so forth--or if you don't mind delaying the viewing until their DVD release.

[eyégor]

perhaps this will ease the pain when the promo pricing goes away

http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2007 ... -showtime/

[dimmzy]

I am not excited about premium shows ending up on the networks. TBS sliced and diced Sex and the City in such a horrid way that even DEXTER would be appalled.

I tape most of the premium shows for friends and families since I am the Woman Who Tapes Too Much (and yes, I do offer a "taping service" for folks who can't wait!)

I love DEXTER (it is one of the few shows that has managed to maintain its super high quality into the second season, unlike Desperate Housewives). I also enjoy ENTOURAGE, but that may be because I have nephews that age who are TOTALLY Vince and his friends. EXTRAS is an acquired taste, as is WEEDS. Haven't gotten into Californication yet, but since I have the On Demand channels, I can always catch them from the beginning ...

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I really liked Rome and The Sopranos, but they are finished. I also really liked The Chris Isaak Show, but that hasn't been on in a while.

We still watch Big Love but the second season didn't seem as good.

My favorite show is The Tudors. The show is fraught with historical inaccuracies that drive me crazy, but it's great entertainment.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Jeff is reading over my shoulder. He says that he likes watching The Tudors because it has "boobies."

[ToLiveIsToFly]

For those who watch any of the pay cable series, can you give some opinions, recommendations, ratings? Are any of them actually worth keeping the channel solely for that purpose (aka the Oz test)?

I canceled HBO after The Sopranos ended, but I'm going to have to re-subscribe again for a while in January, because the final season of The Wire will be on.

The Wire is probably the best tv series I've ever seen. And you've got time. Start renting the DVDs at season one (season four came out yesterday). You'll go through them much faster than you expect; you'll probably be ready just in time to start watching season 5.

[silverscreenselect]

The best way to watch a TV series is usually on DVD. For the price of about two single movies on DVD, you get a season that can run from 10 to 25 episodes or so. Many of these series have good extras as well, documentaries, interviews and audio commentaries, and you can watch them at your own pace.

[starfish1113]

The only premium channel I have is HBO. The only two current shows I watch now are Curb Your Enthusiasm and Flight of the Conchords (if you haven't seen it, give it a chance when Season 2 comes around). I'll occasionally watch This is the NFL and various movies, but for the most part I think my ROI is quite low and I might end up cancelling.

[tlynn78]

I will second, third and fourth the Suchard's recommendation of 'The Tudors" historical inaccuracies be damned. Besides boobies, it has hot men with nekkid hineys

I own very few DVD's, but I'm actively searching for the first season of The Tudors for my scant collection.


t.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

The only premium channel I have is HBO. The only two current shows I watch now are Curb Your Enthusiasm and Flight of the Conchords (if you haven't seen it, give it a chance when Season 2 comes around).

We watched two episodes of Flight of the Conchords and enjoyed them both.

[fantine33]

I totally forgot about The Tudors! That is the one show besides Dexter that I would have liked to see when when I read the reviews before it debuted. I'm hoping they will replay the first season before the second one. That's why I got into Dexter, I'm sure had I tried to start out cold in the middle, I wouldn't have liked it that much. However, I wouldn't be totally at sea plopping down to watch Season Two, since I pretty much know how the whole thing turned out.

I have been on the Netflix precipice for years, but haven't made the jump. I just know I would have to do nothing but watch DVDs to create a turnover where I felt I was getting my money's worth and then it would just be a chore.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to go onto the various websites to read some synopses of some of the ones mentioned to see if they would be worth a look.

[cindy.wellman]

I love Netflix. (why don't you marry it....lol)

If anything, it has helped me to put in order all the movies I've always wanted to see, or re-watch. Oh, of course there are all of the other things like TV shows, workout videos, etc.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I love Netflix. (why don't you marry it....lol)

We have had Netflix for a while. Some months the cost is justified, some it is not.

Still it's better than having late fees at Blockbuster.

[fantine33]

I love Netflix. (why don't you marry it....lol)

We have had Netflix for a while. Some months the cost is justified, some it is not.

Still it's better than having late fees at Blockbuster.

What makes it even "worse" is that one of their distribution centers is in Denver. I have a couple of friends who say their turnaround is 1 day. They mailed the old one today and they get their next one tomorrow!

While that's certainly admirable on the parts of both Netflix and the US Postal Service, that would put even more pressure on my determination to get my money's worth.

The Blockbuster thing is funny. As some people have suggested, I've given thought before to checking out some tv shows on DVD (I try not to watch anything when it first comes on because, if I like it, they invariably cancel it. So I end up watching very few tv series). But I haven't rented a video since they were still just in VHS form, so I doubt my Blockbuster card is even good anymore.

[KillerTomato]

For those who watch any of the pay cable series, can you give some opinions, recommendations, ratings? Are any of them actually worth keeping the channel solely for that purpose (aka the Oz test)?

I got HBO for "The Sopranos," and miss it terribly.

At the moment, the only reason I have HBO is for the hopefully-not-too-much-longer return of "Entourage". IMO, it's the second-best show currently on TV (after "Reaper," which I like more and more every week).

[cindy.wellman]

For those who watch any of the pay cable series, can you give some opinions, recommendations, ratings? Are any of them actually worth keeping the channel solely for that purpose (aka the Oz test)?

I got HBO for "The Sopranos," and miss it terribly.

At the moment, the only reason I have HBO is for the hopefully-not-too-much-longer return of "Entourage". IMO, it's the second-best show currently on TV (after "Reaper," which I like more and more every week).

I would have liked to see Sopranos on a first run basis too. I didn't get into it when it first came out on tv. It was only after several years, that I started watching the DVDs. One of the gals (lol gals), in the ROF with me, was an actress on the show. I thought that was pretty neat.

Right now, I would have liked to have seen the resurrected Curb Your Enthusiasm of this season. Man, that show can make me laugh out loud.

Has anyone watched the BIG LOVE series?

**Edited to add.... Come to think of it, the Sopranos gal shared a dressing room with me and my entourage. She seemed so glamorous to me.

[MarleysGh0st]

Has anyone watched the BIG LOVE series?

Yes, I like that series. The second season got kind of bizarre--too much of a Mormon version of The Sopranos--but the interplay between the characters is great!

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Has anyone watched the BIG LOVE series?

Yes, I like that series. The second season got kind of bizarre--too much of a Mormon version of The Sopranos--but the interplay between the characters is great!

We watch it as well.

I agree that the second season got bizarre.

[gotribego26]

(and yes, I do offer a "taping service" for folks who can't wait!)

A taping service could help Ace.

[minimetoo26]

I've seen a few episodes of Entourage and it cracks me up. The acting is first-rate, even if I can't relate to tthe lifestyle in the least. Real Time with Bill Maher is my only "appointment TV" besides American Idol, but it's a strike casualty, and I found myself watching it OnDemand more often than live because I was falling asleep before 11.

I'm not a big TV watcher at all, but I keep HBO and Starz for the OnDemand movies. I had Skinemax but switched to Starz because they had the Pixar movies for the kids. Now I laugh at that Springsteen song about 57 channels and nothing on, because I have more than 10 times that many channels and watch next to nothing....

[cindy.wellman]

Has anyone watched the BIG LOVE series?

Yes, I like that series. The second season got kind of bizarre--too much of a Mormon version of The Sopranos--but the interplay between the characters is great!

Great description! Thanks.

[ghostjmf]

Don't have cable.

Might have cable (or dish) if it would run:

Intelligence, the CBC show my sister is DVDing for me.

ReGenesis, another Canadian series, non-CBC, currently running in the middle of the night once weekly in local network syndication.

Cold Squad, the Canadian (non-CBC) show the local network station abruptly stopped showing mid-run in syndication so that it could show ReGenesis instead.

The New Dr. Who, just to see if I like it; a CBC series, apparently.

Torchwood, a CBC sci-fi series, just to see if I like it.

And I strongly considered getting cable when WGN was running Da Vinci's Inquest week-nightly (the primo CBC series of all time) but only one of the local cable/dish companies had WGN, & not as part of their basic package, either. By now I've tortured my sister into recording all of Da Vinci, except that movie that the CBC had made but has not yet aired, off of a combination of CBC reruns & WGN censor-edited but nightly-series runs.

I also could be talked to about premium cable/dish only if they are offering BBC new versions of Waking the Dead & that semi-comedy Odd Squad of retired detectives show that I'm blocking on the name of; "Its all right, its OK, it don't matter if you're old & gray" goes the great theme song. Which I have heard done as a "real" song; it deserves to be one even if it isn't.

PBS stopped running year 1 of the 2nd after it ran it to death, & its currently still recycling the 1st few years of Waking.


I have very little interest in The Tudors. Which, by the way, is 1st-run on CBC apparently concurrently with HBO. They funded it or whatever.


Needless to say, there is no CBC available on Boston cable/dish.


I might ante up for a "pick your choice of stuff" cable package. I have little interest in paying for 47,000 programs I don't want in order to get one I do.

[Catfish]

I think DVDTV is one of the greatest inventions ever. We use Blockbuster online. (We had Netflix but the two monthly free-game coupons from BB make the service pay for itself in this house with a 14-year-old). We have HBO but not Showtime and watched Dexter not too long ago. I'm seriously considering getting rid of HBO.

I was introduced to the joys of DVDTV when I missed the first couple of episodes of Prison Break (Fanny, do you watch/like Prison Break) and decided to wait till the DVDs came out. Commerical-free Michael Scofield. Delish. Some DVDs, like PB, have cool behind-the-scenes extra features.

I had never seen 24 until last Christmas, when the boxed sets of the first and second seasons that had been circulated among my rather large extended family were given to us, and we were threatened with disinheritance if we didn't watch. Of course, we became addicted and spent the spring and summer watching seasons 3--5 via Blockbuster. The biggest shocker of that wasn't terrorism and torture, but seeing the amount of time that had elapsed for commercials.

Just last night we finished season 1 of Heroes. And don't tell my guys, but not too far down on my queue from season 6 of 24 is every fleebin' episode of Upstairs, Downstairs.