A TV query

[curtana]

People with more current TV knowledge than me - I hear good things about The Killing. I have no idea if the good things have mostly been about the original or the remake. If you have seen one or both, what's your advice? Is one superior, or are there a lot of differences between the two? Is it worth watching both? I am perfectly fine with

Comments

[mikaelian]

Try Downton Abbey, it's not bad! I like it.

[deeplyunhip]

I think Downtown Abbey is fantastic, particularly for its cast of interesting characters and its balance between drama and humor. I wouldn't call it a soap opera.

[whatifoundthere]

Downton Abbey has an immense amount of genderfail (the most egregious example is a revolting "woman falls in love with her rapist" subplot, which is extra gross because [spoiler]) and some queerfail as an added bonus. Though it's got pretty scenery and is reasonably well-acted (with the exception of a couple of hilariously shitty accents), I found it kind of unwatchable. It tries to be progressive with respect to class (e.g., a woman studies medicine and gets shit for it but IS FEISTY and PERSEVERES, PROVING THE MEN WRONG), but IMO it ends up being a little too smitten with the very very very rich and has clearly thrown their lot in with them. I can provide spoilery examples to illustrate what I mean if you like, and am thinking of writing a separate post about it when I get back from my trip

[fishmalk]

Archer is Awesome, but if you really want that razor-sharp funniness, you need to go for Frisky Dingo. It's b y the same people that made Archer, and even some of the same voice actors, but it's even more crazy-over-the-top. Also, on the topic of Adult Swim shows, Robot Chicken is a must-see.

I'm not really the type for serious drama shows or soapy things, so I probably won't be any help there, but If you're looking for historical dramas with a bit of bite to them, you can't do better than Deadwood. It's a western with really awesome characters, great acting, and a good bit of dark comedy thrown in.

[whatifoundthere]

I haven't seen Frisky Dingo yet, but it's totally on my list -- not least because apparently the title was originally going to be Whiskey Tango, and my cats are called Whiskey, Tango, and Foxtrot, so it seems kind of important that I watch it. :)

I found Deadwood a bit slow to be honest; I enjoyed it well enough, but see little need to watch it again. As I mentioned in the post I linked above, I'm getting kind of tired of HBO and HBO-style series that take themselves soooooooooooo seeeeeeeeeeriously. There's a sort of, I don't know what you'd call it, self-congratulatory tone of all this Important Television that kind of rubs me the wrong way. Even The Wire (which I loved, don't get me wrong) slipped into that from time to time, like, "LOOK AT US WRITING SOCIALLY RELEVANT DRAMA." If I never hear the word "gritty" again it'll be too soon.

As for comedies, I like Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force in small doses. I have a soft spot for Harvey Birdman (is it still on?). And, as curtana well knows, Venture Bros. is in my top