Breaking Bad. * amc.

Big Love. * hbo.
True Blood. hbo, summer.

Dexter. showtime, now (fall).
Weeds. showtime, summer.
US of Tara. showtime.

Jan ~ March 2010 returning, I think: Breaking Bad S3, Big LoveS4, USofTara S2. and! Lost S6, the final one.
oh: March mostly. Breaking Bad in March. Lost in March. and Tara "early in 2010." but Big Love, wkp:: According to imdb the fourth season will premiere on January 10, 2010.^[15]
so, January: Big Love. March: Breaking Bad. Lost. it's mainly Lost that I will want to follow as it airs, reading responses. partake in it as a social Event.

just heard, also in March, a third season of In Treatment. had tht S2 was it. S3 will be fully original, BeTipul only had two seasons. In Treatment top notch, but in own category, more different from the others on this list than the rest from each other. therapy, one on one, the drama of the dyad -vs- suspenseful situation around one or more main character.


*Breaking Bad & Big Love the best, to me. wld watch again.
could watch those w mom, also maybe US of Tara which is lighter ~ fun.

True Blood, Dexter, Weeds. very entertaining, but after knowing wh happens, not that engaging to watch a second time. the minutiae, the direction & filming not as intriguing.
24 is the same, further down list in quality, wld be even more unpleasant to watch a second time. but did work for me for a while, 'the tick tick will get you long before the bomb.'
Dexter was totally compelling when had a lot of episodes to watch at once, bcs Michael C Hall mesmerizing to me, I like being in Dexter's head.

the best, to me?
Breaking Bad S1. I really like how little time it covers, how they only cook once. (much slower pace than Weeds, but with both I am on edge bcs looking for it to settle, at lst for a bit, into an organized set-up. but never does. no sooner get a plan in place for business, a deal that could possibly be repeated, sustained, than it blows up. also with The Riches, I kept wanting it to settle into a groove, have a while where the family lives as the Riches, goes to work, goes to school. never did ~ but there I think they could have, might have made it better. with that show only the pilot episode was great. but it was, that first episode was really good.)
Big Love S3. esp epsd 8 the road trip "Come all ye, Saints."
In Treatment S2. esp the Thursday sessions with Walter, fantastic.

write-ups of each episode of all three of those shows by Alan Sepinwall, with lots of blog commenters. and also nuanced writeups of Big Love and of Breaking Bad by Todd VanDerWerff at the House Next Door.


not as high quality but also favorites, first seasons of Lost, Life, Veronica Mars. and a bit below those, Nip/Tuck which did have that compellingly angsty first season.
Lost no longer as totally compelling viewing, but the discussion around it is exciting. occasions so much conversation, imagination. and S1 was really moving, I love the scenario of ppl together after a disaster, and I found every character's story involving.
Life: I really like Damian Lewis and his character Charlie Crews, how he approaches every encounter with that calm, watchful consideration. life after the end, again the hook for me.
Veronica Mars, also. life after all falls apart. and I like Veronica with her dad, and I really enjoy Jason Dohring as Logan.
been thinking of what if Dohring as Jesse in Breaking Bad, and Terry O'Quinn (Locke in Lost) as Walt. not that they could be better than Cranston & Aaron Paul, but they are similarly suited to the roles.


not esp my cup of tea? Mad Men. eh. depressing formal lives.
The Sopranos, just haven't cottoned to Tony & family.
The Wire, though I get it that is very good, still only just barely got to point of finding S1 compelling. not as psychologically intimate as I like? a wide view, the city, the institutions.
Carnivale seems haunting, but d n hook me in.
Deadwood seems haunting, grand, dark. have to get past all the dust, everything shades of brown, then, still expect it to be my favorite ever?
that's amc then hbo hbo hbo hbo.
The Shield (fx) maybe will get into this if start at the beginning. now, having liked Dean Norris as DEA agent Hank in Breaking Bad, somehow seems a way in.
so those two, The Shield and Deadwood, are my future immersion possibilities list.


Bad Guys on TV | Newsweek Entertainment | Newsweek.com :
Vic on The Shield. Jack Bauer, Dexter, Don Draper. 'These kinds of fully rendered characters—dark streaked with some light—have changed the television landscape to the point where what we see on the small screen is, pound for pound, superior to what we see at the movies.'



and over in another room, Always Sunny in Philadelphia makes me laugh with mean spirited bleak playful comedy.
and now, Modern Family, happy and funny.