Recommend a non-American TV series

[Canadave]

Made in Canada is probably one of the best Canadian comedies of the last decade or so, and hasn't been mentioned so far. I believe it was known as The Industry in the US.

I've also heard good things about The Border, which is a recent Canadian drama, but I haven't gotten around to watching it myself.

 

[Jono]

Here are a couple of Australian comedy shows:

The Adventures of Lano and Woodley
The Micallef Program
Newstopia
Full Frontal/Fast Forward
CNNNN
CHasers War on Everything
Summer Heights High

 

[nevermore]

Spaced
Black Books
Peep Show
Extras

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Here are a couple of Australian comedy shows:

The Adventures of Lano and Woodley
The Micallef Program

Both these shows are really good.

If you want a drama series - try Underbelly - billed as the best crime drama here ever.

Also agree with Life On mars.

 

[BigFoot]

Coupling

 

[captcalhoun]

now, bear in mind, i'm only after an hour or so's entertainment, not high art...

Robin Hood

Primeval

Ashes to Ashes

Sarah-Jane Adventures

Torchwood

Doctor Who

 

[doubleohfive]

i like coupling. the original. and as time goes by. and sandbaggers. and the prisoner. and the avengers.

damn you brits. your tv is better.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The IT Crowd

Agreed. The really downside is there are only 12 episodes! I am going through IT Crowd withdraw right now after I finished those in about a week.

I believe the third series is in production, and I read somewhere that a 4th is possible, as long as the actors are interested.

 

[Cicero]

I'll echo the recommendations of Poirot. In both the BBC and (US) A&E seasons, it's an outstanding production.

The Doctor Who with the long scarf is also very enjoyable, if clearly a low budget semi-comedy.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I used to love cracker with Robbie Coltrane and Messiah.

 

[Delsaber]

I figured (correctly) that there would already be a dozen Doctor Who recommendations in here, but whatever, count me in as well.

From Canada, Trailer Park Boys is a classic, but I've noticed that it tends to be a hard sell outside this country for whatever reason. The Newsroom would be an easy step for anyone who enjoys The Office. I haven't seen much of Intelligence, but what little I have seen has been pretty damned solid.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes used to be pretty brilliant, but just like every other CBC comedy, it's about five years past its expiry date by now. Still a step above Air Farce, sure; but so are the bad drunken jokes my friends tend to ramble to passing chicks in bars on a friday night.

 

[Bak_and_Blue]

Yeah, love Trailer Park Boys
the british The Office
Most Haunted
The Prisoner (older, I know)

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The last series was over the slot average with 7.1m viewers. But the last series was set in 1944/5, so they're at the end of the war...

There must be a lot that aren't out on DVD here then, because they hadn't even gotten to D-Day in the bunch I saw. I guess the DVD releases are slow.

Sorry, I just read, it didn't come to an end, it was axed by an out going chairman, and they're in thinking about bringing it back.

If they made it to the end of the war, then the story's over anyway. I guess it could go on and on, but I don't think I'd be interested in seeing more. I'd always assumed the premise was to cover the war years only.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The last series was over the slot average with 7.1m viewers. But the last series was set in 1944/5, so they're at the end of the war...

There must be a lot that aren't out on DVD here then, because they hadn't even gotten to D-Day in the bunch I saw. I guess the DVD releases are slow.

Sorry, I just read, it didn't come to an end, it was axed by an out going chairman, and they're in thinking about bringing it back.

If they made it to the end of the war, then the story's over anyway. I guess it could go on and on, but I don't think I'd be interested in seeing more. I'd always assumed the premise was to cover the war years only.

Exactly what I thought, so that's why I assumed it had just ended.

And 5 of the 6 series are out on Region 1 DVD.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

One British show I just loved was Father Ted. It's long off the air and it's star has passed away, but it's a hilarious show and well worth the price of the DVDs.

 

[captcalhoun]

The last series was over the slot average with 7.1m viewers. But the last series was set in 1944/5, so they're at the end of the war...

There must be a lot that aren't out on DVD here then, because they hadn't even gotten to D-Day in the bunch I saw. I guess the DVD releases are slow.

Sorry, I just read, it didn't come to an end, it was axed by an out going chairman, and they're in thinking about bringing it back.

If they made it to the end of the war, then the story's over anyway. I guess it could go on and on, but I don't think I'd be interested in seeing more. I'd always assumed the premise was to cover the war years only.

the last 2 were (IIRC) set in '44 and then in '45. the previous ones (again, IIRC) were in '43. there's scope for doing 'missing adventures' so to speak in between...

 

[MyCylon]

Any Trek fan who speaks German or is able to find a subtitled version of it should check out the seven episodes of Raumpatrouille.
It`s a fun sci-fi show much like the Original Trek, roughly from the same time period and it did a great mixture of stand-alones and an arc story. Four episodes deal with an invasion force with an outstanding conclusion while the other three show a robot insurrection, a hostage scenario on a prison planet and a forgotten matriarch earth colony.

Not to be picky but I believe it's "Raumpatrouille Orion" (space patrol or space patrol ship "Orion"). And yeah, it's pretty cool. It's fun to pick out some of the things they used to create the controls on the ship (e.g. an iron or a pencil sharpener ).
One of the things that totally fascinates me is that although the original Trek and RO aired at about the same time, RO was literally lightyears ahead in terms of the roles women were 'allowed' to play. They're not just com officers relaying stuff and wearing REALLY short skirts but actually occupy important positions and make important decisions.

Many great shows have been mentioned that I can only second. Interestingly, most of them are British comedy classics:

- Monty Python's Flying Circus
- Fawlty Towers
- Blackadder
- Red Dwarf

Another German show that I had to think of is "Tatort" (crime scene). They've been producing it for decades now but not on a weekly basis (I'm not quite sure if and what the rhythm actually is).
It's a crime show with a set of varying detectives and it's based in the Ruhr area as well as in the Rheinland, I believe (depending on which team is featured). One of the coolest detectives is Schimanski (played by IMHO the great Götz George). A rather tough and not very PC cop who's just great fun to watch.
Production value IMHO is good (not Hollywood level but definitely good), and many of the stories and characters are worthwhile.

 

[Guybrushtw]

Although it's not everyone's cup of tea, you might want to try out some Japanese anime series. "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is particuarly interesting-it kind of takes the familiar and somewhat tired mecha (Giant robot) genre and spins it on it's head with religious symbolism, characters suffering from depression and bizzare plot twists. It's not light and fast-paced by any means but it's still pretty good.

 

[Count Zero]

Any Trek fan who speaks German or is able to find a subtitled version of it should check out the seven episodes of Raumpatrouille.
It`s a fun sci-fi show much like the Original Trek, roughly from the same time period and it did a great mixture of stand-alones and an arc story. Four episodes deal with an invasion force with an outstanding conclusion while the other three show a robot insurrection, a hostage scenario on a prison planet and a forgotten matriarch earth colony.

Not to be picky but I believe it's "Raumpatrouille Orion" (space patrol or space patrol ship "Orion"). And yeah, it's pretty cool. It's fun to pick out some of the things they used to create the controls on the ship (e.g. an iron or a pencil sharpener ).
One of the things that totally fascinates me is that although the original Trek and RO aired at about the same time, RO was literally lightyears ahead in terms of the roles women were 'allowed' to play. They're not just com officers relaying stuff and wearing REALLY short skirts but actually occupy important positions and make important decisions.

Until they throw everything out of the window in the chauvinistic episode with the matriarchal colony ("Kampf um die Sonne"). It's cringeworthy.

 

[MyCylon]

^
I'll confess I haven't seen all of RO. That doesn't sound very good, and that's a real shame.