Post-Lupin
Prolific Poster 
Immanentizing the Eschaton
Posts: 5,673 
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Post by Post-Lupin on Jul 9, 2016 10:47:12 GMT -5
Since TOC has almost certainly binned their occasional look at this, a place for the single-season shows you love. First... HERE'S FIREFLY. Now, onto shows which are probably much better. One from each side of the pond from me to start us off... US: NOWHERE MAN (1995-6) The great paranoia show of the 1990s: essentially, a retooling of The Prisoner where the whole of the US is The Village. Bruce Greenwood is the only actor in every episode and carries the show with grace. Bitch of a cliffhanger. UK: BABYLON (2014)  Co-created by Danny Boyle, Robert Jones, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain. A brutal satire of British policing, based in London's Metropolitan force: a TED-veteran American spin doctor is brought into the Met to try and help public relations in the midst of several shooting incidents, scandals and a riot. Insanely strong cast (headed by Brit Marling as the spin doc, with the likes of James Nesbitt, Patterson Joseph, Nicola Walker, Daniel Kaluuya, Ralph Brown and a pre- Strange and Norrell Bertie Carvel), good balance between the inside of the Thin Blue Line and outside it. The plot about a SO19 officer shooting an unarmed black youth & the resulting cover-up could not be more salient. |
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Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber 
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Jul 10, 2016 8:26:17 GMT -5
UK: BABYLON (2014) Co-created by Danny Boyle, Robert Jones, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain. A brutal satire of British policing, based in London's Metropolitan force: a TED-veteran American spin doctor is brought into the Met to try and help public relations in the midst of several shooting incidents, scandals and a riot. Insanely strong cast (headed by Brit Marling as the spin doc, with the likes of James Nesbitt, Patterson Joseph, Nicola Walker, Daniel Kaluuya, Ralph Brown and a pre- Strange and Norrell Bertie Carvel), good balance between the inside of the Thin Blue Line and outside it. The plot about a SO19 officer shooting an unarmed black youth & the resulting cover-up could not be more salient. This was one of my top five series of 2014, for all the reasons you listed. It's a truly excellent one season series given that it ends in a way that feels both thematically and dramatically satisfying, but it's so good that you still want more. A truly excellent bit of television. |
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Jul 10, 2016 13:22:00 GMT -5
Heroes was pretty good, too bad they never made another season of that show. BECAUSE THEY DID NOT.
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Post-Lupin
Prolific Poster
Immanentizing the Eschaton
Posts: 5,673
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Post by Post-Lupin on Jul 10, 2016 13:35:28 GMT -5
Wonderfalls
Trophy Wife
Kings Not seen the others, but Wonderfalls is my favourite Fuller show. |
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Post by sparkyxvi on Jul 20, 2017 22:52:55 GMT -5
I'd go with:
VR.5
Space: Above and Beyond
Odyssey 5
Earth 2
Earth: Final Conflict (of which there is only one season, or we'll fight)
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Post by sparkyxvi on Jul 20, 2017 22:56:09 GMT -5
Also, I'll second Kings - what a different kind of show! Of course, those are the ones who die first.
Nowhere Man was fantastic for the time, but definitely shows its age.
Limitless was hardly deep, but it was fun.
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Post by sarapen on Jul 21, 2017 6:25:18 GMT -5
I liked Profit. Remember that show about a psychopathic businessman committing all kinds of dirty tricks to make his way up the corporate ladder? It's how I mostly know Adrian Pasdar from.
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Post by Ben Grimm on Jul 21, 2017 6:31:00 GMT -5
I liked Profit. Remember that show about a psychopathic businessman committing all kinds of dirty tricks to make his way up the corporate ladder? It's how I mostly know Adrian Pasdar from. I think you've got it mixed up wit CNBC or FBN. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2017 14:04:22 GMT -5
Seriously guys, where can you watch Frank's Place? Sounds intriguing from the piece TOC did on it. Would love to binge it some day.  As for recs on my part: Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous. Bo Burnham and co. basically took the mockumentary format that's grown so stale and blew it up to make a commentary on fame in the modern, YouTube-based area. I think because Burnham started his career from becoming viral, he's able to delve more deeply into the psychology of the kind of millennial kid that makes it their life mission to become famous. There's a constant acknowledgment of the camera crew and characters trying to present themselves in different ways in front of the cameras. Surprisingly, you find yourself rooting for the main character, who's undoubtedly narcissistic but likable and human enough that you hope he finds stability in his life instead and acts like himself for a change. This show is way smarter/heartfelt that it seemed. Of course, MTV canceled it. It's on DVD. |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Jul 25, 2017 14:18:38 GMT -5
Rubicon.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 26, 2017 0:00:52 GMT -5
Aw, I was going to post that one. That was pretty good to start and got really good by the end. Alas. |
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Post by haysoos on Aug 8, 2017 16:19:53 GMT -5
Some of my additional one-season wonders:
Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. - I still have a theory that everything naked lady said was a lie, and she was actually working for Bligh. This requires getting Brisco and Lord Bowler out of retirement in 1917 and sending them into the future to recover the orbs. Note that I'm aware this probably has about as much chance of happening as there is of actually being able to get Julius Carry for the role of Lord Bowler.
Maximum Bob - I don't think this even got a full season, but was a summer series about 10 years ago. Beau Bridges played judge Bob "Maximum Bob" Gibbs based on the Elmore Leonard novel, in a town full of colourful characters, including William Sanderson as Dicky Crowe, head of the eccentric ne'er do well Crowe family. I truly wish they had brought William Sanderson in as the head of the Crowe family on Justified, and tied these two wildly tonally different shows together.
The Cape - Keith David as Max Malini. Nuff said.
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welp
Newbie
Posts: 3
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Post by welp on Aug 8, 2017 16:45:48 GMT -5
Quarry was absolutely perfect with an insanely good performance from Peter Mullan. Criminal it didn't get renewed.
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Post by goudengans on Aug 8, 2017 19:37:04 GMT -5
Middleman. It remains, without a doubt, my favourite comic book adaptation.
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Rainbow Rosa
TI Forumite
not gay, just colorful
Posts: 3,604 
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Post by Rainbow Rosa on Aug 8, 2017 20:02:53 GMT -5
Middleman. It remains, without a doubt, my favourite comic book adaptation. Yes yes yes! A million times yes. I was one of the ten people who watched the show as it originally aired, and I still rewatch it every year. Not only does it still hold up (which is more than I can say for a lot of the shows I loved in high school: hoo boy, Reaper did not age well), but it somehow gets funnier and funnier every time I watch it. Plus, it's the only SFF show I can think of with a Latina protagonist, which is very much appreciated. |
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Post by brodes87 on Aug 8, 2017 20:14:02 GMT -5
Now and Again. Now and Again, damn it! Surprised it actually got a DVD release a few years back.
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Post by MarkInTexas on Aug 10, 2017 15:41:16 GMT -5
Freaks & Geeks is too obvious, so I'll go with its unofficial sequel, Undeclared. And in keeping the theme of early aught shows with one-word titles starting with U about college freshmen, I'll put in a good word for Undergrads, though admittedly I don't think I've seen that show since 2002.
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on Aug 12, 2017 17:56:57 GMT -5
Freaks & Geeks is too obvious, so I'll go with its unofficial sequel, Undeclared. And in keeping the theme of early aught shows with one-word titles starting with U about college freshmen, I'll put in a good word for Undergrads, though admittedly I don't think I've seen that show since 2002. I haven't seen it since it first ran either, but I remember really liking Undeclared (aside from that awful Adam Sandler guest spot episode). |
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Post by Electric Dragon on Aug 21, 2017 18:30:40 GMT -5
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,683
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Post by Baron von Costume on Aug 22, 2017 14:21:04 GMT -5
Mission Hill  |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 26, 2017 22:49:58 GMT -5
Seriously guys, where can you watch Frank's Place? Sounds intriguing from the piece TOC did on it. Would love to binge it some day. Seriously, if anyone knows where to watch that, I'd like to see it. A older friend of mine said she loved it when it aired. She keeps telling me that she thinks I'd like it. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Aug 29, 2017 10:17:19 GMT -5
Charlie Jade, the strange, mid-00s series about three universes colliding in Cape Town (or Cape City, as it was known in the tech dystopia of Alphaverse) was doing Fringe's serial universe hopping before Fringe was a thing.
In spite of the title, the most compelling character was not Jade - played by Jeffrey Pierce - but the bizarre, contradictory, impulsive 01 Boxer, Michael Filipowich, who is a loving father in one universe and an entitled venomous brat in another - all while being the same man.
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Post by Wallet Inspector on Sept 5, 2017 19:59:48 GMT -5
Sledge Hammer! is a 80s fantastic sitcom satirizing the "loose cannon cop who plays by his own rules" genre.
Also Clone High was pretty great.
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Post by Wallet Inspector on Sept 5, 2017 20:01:16 GMT -5
Sledge Hammer! is a 80s fantastic sitcom satirizing the "loose cannon cop who plays by his own rules" genre. Also Clone High was pretty great. Whoops, I had a look and Sledge Hammer! actually ran for two seasons. Scratch that one! |
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Post by vanessasarah on Sept 5, 2017 20:17:24 GMT -5
Terriers seems like the obvious choice here. Trophy Wife, as well.
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dwarfoscar
TI Forumite
it's complicated
Posts: 503
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Post by dwarfoscar on Sept 6, 2017 6:40:38 GMT -5
John From Cincinnati. The baffling HBO metaphysical comedy/drama about a family of surfers. One of the most abstruse TV shows this side of Twin Peaks. I loved every single second of it...
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Post by MarkInTexas on Sept 6, 2017 9:23:20 GMT -5
Sledge Hammer! is a 80s fantastic sitcom satirizing the "loose cannon cop who plays by his own rules" genre. Also Clone High was pretty great. Whoops, I had a look and Sledge Hammer! actually ran for two seasons. Scratch that one! To be fair, no one, including its producers, figured Sledge Hammer! was going to be renewed. That's why Season 1 ended with Sledge accidentally setting off a nuclear bomb. Of course, if you want a spoof of cop shows from the 80s that aired on ABC and have a title that ends in an exclamation point that did last only one season, you can't go wrong with Police Squad! (In color!). |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Sept 6, 2017 9:54:43 GMT -5
Lucy Daughter of the Devil. I wish that had another season or two.
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Post by Wallet Inspector on Sept 6, 2017 10:32:45 GMT -5
Whoops, I had a look and Sledge Hammer! actually ran for two seasons. Scratch that one! To be fair, no one, including its producers, figured Sledge Hammer! was going to be renewed. That's why Season 1 ended with Sledge accidentally setting off a nuclear bomb. Of course, if you want a spoof of cop shows from the 80s that aired on ABC and have a title that ends in an exclamation point that did last only one season, you can't go wrong with Police Squad! (In color!). Oh, good call - Police Squad! went on to such success and notoriety, I forget the actually series only aired one season. |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Sept 6, 2017 10:39:19 GMT -5
Oh, good call - Police Squad! went on to such success and notoriety, I forget the actually series only aired one season. Then you go back and watch the six episodes and the movies and realize that they ran out of jokes quickly. I love that show, but the format seems hard to sustain. |
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