Stuck For Something to Watch?

Since I met BBF I can probably mark our meagre 9 months together by the box sets we've watched. There has been some series that have been so good that they really should get a mention. You may have seen some of them but if you haven't then these  are really worth a look. I watched up to 6 episodes in a row of all of these, so don't be daunted by the fact some of them are already in series 4 or later.

Deadwood - Although this had been recommended to me numerous times I wasn't too sure about it at first as the language and treatment of women is pretty coarse; it took a couple of episodes and then I was completely hooked. Set in the town of Deadwood in the wild west, this town and the people portrayed in the series actually existed although most of the storyline is fictitious. 

The best character in it is Al Swearengen played by the brilliant Ian McShane; who you start off despising but eventually start to empathise with. Many of the characters are pretty vile but most of them seem to have some kind of redeeming feature. Unfortunately it got cancelled after the third series and I still think about what happened to them - it was almost like a bereavement! This is a great rough and ready gritty programme and you should try to see it if you can.

Mad Men - I'm sure most of you have seen this already; I'd gotten to the third series when I met BBF so I made him start from the beginning and I watched them all again! This is a stylish, well-acted, programme with a fantastic score and a gorgeous manly leading star. Watching his chiselled face alone is probably enough to get you happily to the end of series 4!

Dexter - Not to everyone's taste is seems, but I love Dexter so much I even named my cat after him. An unlikely hero for our times, Dexter is a serial-killing blood-splatter expert working for the Miami Metro Police Department who only kills people who have slipped through the net and who really do deserve to be culled. Dexter is also quite fanciable and the theme music is catchy as hell! It seems to be losing some steam not we've gotten to series 5 but I'd watch as many as they decide to make.

The Walking Dead - You know me, I love a bit of zombie-action and this is a humdinger of undead activity. It's tense, the effects are great, the story is compelling and it's well acted. If you don't like zombies then this is not for you, but if you're partial to a bit of the ravenous brain-dead then you'll love it.

The Sopranos - Already finished, if you've never seen this then you are missing out. Although the main character is head of a Mafia family, the programme is more about him and his 2 families, one of which just happens to be a Mafia family. I liked this so much that I watched the first series of 13 episodes in one sitting! I still think about the characters and could have watched it forever; it was brilliantly written, the acting was fantastic, it was funny without being a comedy and the plots were intricate and compelling. You really have to watch this one.

Last night we started watching the first series of Breaking Bad and have just been recommended Justified so are going to give that a shot as well. One we didn't get into was Boardwalk Empire; this was surprising as on paper it had everything: Martin Scorsese, a good cast and a big budget - but when each episode ended we didn't feel compelled to watch the next one. We saw 4 episodes and gave up on it - it was more style over substance sadly. 

So have you guys seen any of these and what do you think of my recommendations? I've yet to watch The Wire which I hear is brilliant, but there's only so many hours in the day you know!