My Taste on Tv Shows
This list is of, mostly, series or tv shows that follow a narrative. This means that the episodes and seasons have to be watched in sequential order and is common that these shows have a "previously on" at the beggining of each episode.
I avoid the episodic or "case of the week" format because they lack continuity and therefore the show can be seen without order due to having stand-alone episodes. However, I may include a few shows with stand-alone episodes throughout its seasons on the condition that the premise of the show is really creative, interesting and that the storyline does develop in an accumulative manner.
With this in mind, most of these shows are not really character based but insted are heavy on plot. If the series sets up questions they have to give compelling answers. The genres will mostly be action, horror, mystery, crime, drama, sci-fi, fantasy or thriller. In a few words, series with a serious tone or delicated subjects. No musicals, no satires, no reality shows, no comedies, unless they have a lot of world building, major narrative threads in each episodes or overarching plots throughout parts of their seasons.
Also, I tried to include cancelled or finished series, miniseries or tv shows with the fewest amount of seasons. I avoid series currently on development or long running series that are constantly renewed. In short, tv shows that are manegable to binge watch and/or that are going somewhere with their storyline. Most of these shows give resolution or closure to the viewer by the end of watching them. These series deliver on what they promised or, at least, they attempt to do it in a satisfactory way.
This list avoids shows that just tease or that stretch the story for views. Also, series that seem they don´t know where to go with their plots or that just throw away their set up and forget about what was appealing from them to begin with.
I´ve seen a few of these shows but most of them I haven´t; therefore they are here because I´m interest in watching them. The ones I´ve seen I recommend them, without including spoilers, since I think they are quality storytelling. In a few cases I just found them enjoyable or leaving me with a good feeling even though the narrative may had not been all that great.
I avoid the episodic or "case of the week" format because they lack continuity and therefore the show can be seen without order due to having stand-alone episodes. However, I may include a few shows with stand-alone episodes throughout its seasons on the condition that the premise of the show is really creative, interesting and that the storyline does develop in an accumulative manner.
With this in mind, most of these shows are not really character based but insted are heavy on plot. If the series sets up questions they have to give compelling answers. The genres will mostly be action, horror, mystery, crime, drama, sci-fi, fantasy or thriller. In a few words, series with a serious tone or delicated subjects. No musicals, no satires, no reality shows, no comedies, unless they have a lot of world building, major narrative threads in each episodes or overarching plots throughout parts of their seasons.
Also, I tried to include cancelled or finished series, miniseries or tv shows with the fewest amount of seasons. I avoid series currently on development or long running series that are constantly renewed. In short, tv shows that are manegable to binge watch and/or that are going somewhere with their storyline. Most of these shows give resolution or closure to the viewer by the end of watching them. These series deliver on what they promised or, at least, they attempt to do it in a satisfactory way.
This list avoids shows that just tease or that stretch the story for views. Also, series that seem they don´t know where to go with their plots or that just throw away their set up and forget about what was appealing from them to begin with.
I´ve seen a few of these shows but most of them I haven´t; therefore they are here because I´m interest in watching them. The ones I´ve seen I recommend them, without including spoilers, since I think they are quality storytelling. In a few cases I just found them enjoyable or leaving me with a good feeling even though the narrative may had not been all that great.
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- CreatorChristian TorpeStarsMorgan SpectorAlyssa SutherlandGus BirneyAfter an eerie mist rolls into a small town, the residents must battle the mysterious mist and its threats, fighting to maintain their morality and sanity.
- StarsJoshua ZemanRachel MillsPeter BrendtThe Killing Season is an immersive series that follows documentarians Joshua Zeman and Rachel Mills as they investigate one of the most bizarre unsolved serial killer cases of our time.
- CreatorChad HodgeStarsSiobhan Fallon HoganToby JonesShannyn SossamonA Secret Service agent goes to Wayward Pines, Idaho in search of two federal agents who have gone missing in the bucolic town. He soon learns that he might never get out of Wayward Pines alive.
- CreatorHarlan CobenStarsMichael C. HallAmanda AbbingtonMarc WarrenAfter his teenage daughter goes missing, a widowed surgeon begins uncovering dark secrets of the people closest to him.
- CreatorCris ColeStarsBen ChaplinMichael ImperioliRomany MalcoA group of guys travel to Belize to see an old friend, when things take an unexpectedly dark turn.
- CreatorAlon AranyaJeffrey NachmanoffOmri GivonStarsToni ColletteTate DonovanRhys CoiroA premiere surgeon is blackmailed in a plot to assassinate the president after her family is taken hostage by a rogue federal agent.
- CreatorJason SmilovicStarsJeremy SistoCarmen EjogoDelroy LindoComplex overtones surround the kidnapping of a wealthy New York family's 15-year-old son, leading a specialist and a retiring FBI agent to figure it out.
- CreatorJoe PenhallStarsJonathan GroffHolt McCallanyAnna TorvIn the late 1970s, two FBI agents broaden the realm of criminal science by investigating the psychology behind murder and end up getting too close to real-life monsters.The first season was GREAT, really a wonderful and exhilarating experience. It´s really suspenseful with overwhelming moments of tension and a fascinating exploration of a extremely dark, disturbing and twisted subject matter told in a brutal an crude way.
I love criminal profiling, I´m very interested in serial killers and I admire that branch of the FBI and the goals the BAU attemps to achieve. Therefore, this show had that going for me. Something like a dream come true, a deep dive into the origins, emergence and creation of modern criminal profiling along with a look at the struggles of their founders to bringing it about into a serious and useful endeavour.
Now, the second season turned out to be a major let down. Yeah, it took a deeper look at the obstacles, setbacks, failures and troubles on shaping up their pioneering and groundbreaking new approach to the study of violent crimes and their perpetrators but it didn´t feel that compelling. The narrative felt stalled, way too many episodes revolving on the same storyline without any major progress. It became a little bit boring by the late part of the season. Also each main character endend up splitting up the narrative to the point of each being on their own through a major part of each episode making the story feel disjointed at the end. Of course, that decision granted a really noteworthy and impressive character development of the main cast but it hurt the overall plot. I´m not saying that the 2nd season is bad or that it´s not worth your time. Actually, the take they had on this season is really bold, realistic and raw in the sense that avoided sugar coating, exaggerating and fantasizing to make the early days of the BAU look like a fairy tale where everything goes right and well for the characters and the good guys are sucessful in defeating the bad guys and solving every crime with ease. Despite that and other good things like the performances, the directing and the atmosphere, the season ended up being a disappointment. Sadly, it let me with no real interest into watching the next season, which is terrible in comparison with the ending of the 1st one since that one left my heart pounding like a drum and me feeling completely hooked to watch more.
Anyhow, overall I recommend the show if you like Fincher style of his early movies (I hate Zodiac & The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and if you care about the subject matter. If you love Criminal Minds, you DEFINATELY have to watch it. You wont regret it. - CreatorDavid GuggenheimStarsKiefer SutherlandAdan CantoItalia RicciA low-level Cabinet member becomes President of the United States after a catastrophic attack kills everyone above him in the line of succession.
- CreatorRobert CochranJoel SurnowStarsKiefer SutherlandMary Lynn RajskubCarlos BernardCounter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.
- CreatorPaul T. ScheuringStarsDominic PurcellWentworth MillerAmaury NolascoA structural engineer installs himself in a prison he helped design, in order to save his falsely accused brother from a death sentence by breaking themselves out from the inside.
- StarsJohn HurtKiefer SutherlandMax CasellaA tale of unique redemption, and an exploration of good and evil featuring a hitman and a Priest.This story actually works as a movie or a play instead of a show or a series. Because of that I don´t feel this is a good example of quality storytelling in television format. However, I include it here since it´s technically a tv miniseries and, well, I truly enjoyed it and was blown away by its suspenseful premise, its complex characters, its subtle drama, its constand tension and surprising twists.
- CreatorEric KripkeStarsJared PadaleckiJensen AcklesJim BeaverTwo brothers follow their father's footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.
- CreatorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonMitch PileggiTwo F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
- CreatorOren PeliMichael R. PerryStarsBruce GreenwoodJoe AndersonLeslie HopeThe crew of a research vessel are on a quest to find a missing TV explorer in the Amazon.
- CreatorPaul ZbyszewskiStarsTaye DiggsMoon BloodgoodVictoria PrattToday Detective Brett Hopper will be accused of shooting state attorney Alberto Garza. He will offer his rock solid alibi. He will realize he's been framed. And he will run. Then he will wake up and start the day over again.
- CreatorManny CotoStarsPeter WellerSebastian RochéChristopher GorhamAfter witnessing the sudden implosion of Earth from orbit, a group of five Odyssey astronauts is sent five years back in time by an alien force to find the cause and prevent the disaster. A vast conspiracy stands in their way.
- CreatorBridget CarpenterStarsJames FrancoSarah GadonGeorge MacKayJake Epping, a teacher, gets a chance to travel back in time to avert the death of John F. Kennedy. However, history's aversion to alteration and his love for the era and a woman endanger him.
- CreatorSeth MacFarlaneStarsSeth MacFarlaneAdrianne PalickiPenny Johnson JeraldSet 400 years in the future, the crew of the U.S.S. Orville continue their mission of exploration, navigating both the mysteries of the universe, and the complexities of their own interpersonal relationships.
- CreatorKyle KillenStarsJason IsaacsLaura AllenSteve HarrisAfter a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his "realities" merely a dream?
- CreatorMatthew MillerStarsIoan GruffuddAlana De La GarzaJoel David MooreDr Henry Morgan, a medical examiner, works with his partner Detective Jo Martinez, to solve criminal cases. Along the way, he tries to uncover the mystery to his 200-year-old immortality.
- CreatorAlexandra CunninghamKem NunnStarsHugh LaurieEthan SupleeGreta LeeA forensic neuro-psychiatrist reluctantly enters a dangerous and violent world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness.
- CreatorDavid FarrStarsTom HiddlestonHugh LaurieElizabeth DebickiThe night manager of a Cairo hotel is recruited to infiltrate an arms dealer's inner circle.
- CreatorRyan J. CondalCarlton CuseStarsJosh HollowaySarah Wayne CalliesPeter JacobsonIn the wake of a mysterious alien invasion, a family fights to stay together in a new world order.
- CreatorRyan MurphyStarsDylan WalshJulian McMahonJoely RichardsonTwo plastic surgeons--one a dedicated family man and one an unscrupulous playboy--strive to maintain their business whilst having to work their way through numerous hardships ranging from personal to clients with criminal connections.
- CreatorDrew DowdleJohn Erick DowdleStarsMichael ShannonTaylor KitschAndrea RiseboroughThe FBI and ATF seize religious leader David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas in the spring of 1993.An unexpected surprise of a show. I wasn´t interested in watching it but since I found out that it was made by the Dowdle Brothers, of whose I´m a fan of, I did. The first two episodes are boring as hell. I almost stopped watching it because of that. They even wasted John Leguizamo, an actor which I admire.
Surprisingly, by the third episode the show picks up and it becomes a brutally tense story with overwhelming drama and, in overall, an extremely moving experience. Its greatness is evident in the character development, the craft of the dialogue, the exploration of the beliefs of each side involved in the conflict in order to expose the complexity the tragedy with an impartial perspective and in the effectiveness of eliciting big emotional responses towards the events depicted and getting one to care about everyone of the characters.
It´s a very good miniseries based on true events and a great example of making a drama balanced with tension and action. I recommed it but skip the first two episodes. They don´t matter and you´d be fine with the "previously". - CreatorAmi CohenHenri DebeurmeJulien LacombeStarsHélène VivièsMathias MlekuzGiorgia SinicorniThe first manned mission to Mars is now approaching the red planet. The crew includes top-flight scientists and a young female psychiatrist, responsible for their mental health. But just as they are about to land, something goes wrong.
- CreatorKevin WilliamsonStarsKevin BaconJames PurefoyShawn AshmoreA brilliant, charismatic, and psychotic serial killer communicates with other active serial killers and activates a cult of believers who follow his every command.
- CreatorBryan FullerStarsHugh DancyMads MikkelsenCaroline DhavernasExplores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.I stopped watching at the middle of season 2. By that point I just hated the story and specially the characters. It became a disgusting experience. I´m not interested at all on watching the rest of the show and I think I wouldn´t recommend it in general.
I include it in this list because of its first season mostly. I have a huge interest in criminal profiling, I enjoyed the character development throughout it and also the storyline about catching Hannibal. In a sentence, I just cared to see how he went down.
Sadly the direction of story was unpleasand for me. Specially because, since I truly didn´t care AT ALL about the character of Hannibal, I lost all interest when the main character, which I was fascinated by, changed in an unrecognizible way. - CreatorTodd KatzbergKen RobinsonJason SmilovicStarsMax IronsKristen HagerBob BalabanA brilliant, young, idealistic CIA analyst finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy that kills everyone else at his office. Can he, with no field experience, stay alive long enough to get to the bottom of it?
- CreatorRonan BennettKit HaringtonDaniel WestStarsKit HaringtonLiv TylerEdward HolcroftRobert Catesby leads Guy Fawkes a group of English Catholic traitors plan to blow up the Palace Of Westminster and kill King James I in the infamous Gunpowder Plot.
- StarsJu Ji-hoonBae DoonaKim SungkyuWhile strange rumors about their ill King grip a kingdom, the crown prince becomes their only hope against a mysterious plague overtaking the land.
- CreatorFrank SpotnitzStarsAlexa DavalosLuke KleintankRufus SewellIn a dystopian America dominated by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, a young woman discovers a mysterious film that may hold the key to toppling the totalitarian regimes.
- CreatorEric WaldDean WhiteStarsAlex RoeEline PowellFola Evans-AkingbolaA coastal town known for its legend of once being home to mermaids is turned upside down when a mysterious girl appears and begins wreaking havoc.
- CreatorMike BartlettStarsAdrian LesterJohn SimmLyndsey MarshalA three-part drama set in the trauma unit of a London hospital, a grieving father blames a high-achieving trauma consultant for the death of his teenage son.
- CreatorJoshua LongStarsRobert WieckiewiczMaciej MusialMichalina OlszanskaDecades after a 1983 terrorist attack, a law student and a cop uncover a conspiracy that's kept Poland as a police state and the Iron Curtain standing.
- CreatorHarlan CobenStarsO-T FagbenleTom CullenHannah ArtertonA mystery series created by author Harlan Coben. Jesse, a five-year-old boy, goes missing. Twenty years later, his DNA shows up at a crime scene.
- CreatorCarlton CuseGraham RolandStarsJohn KrasinskiWendell PierceMichael KellyUp-and-coming CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, is thrust into dangerous field assignments.
- CreatorRod LurieStarsGeena DavisDonald SutherlandHarry LennixMacKenzie Allen becomes the first woman American president after she ascends to the job following the death of president Teddy Bridges.
- CreatorJed MercurioStarsRichard MaddenSophie RundleVincent FranklinTroubled war veteran turned Police Officer David Budd is assigned to the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Protection Branch.
- CreatorBrad FalchukTim MinearRyan MurphyStarsAngela BassettPeter KrauseOliver StarkExplores the high-pressure experiences of the first responders who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking, and heart-stopping situations.