Tell me what to watch on television.

[gement]

I have Netflix Streaming. I have all day. I have watched very few sci-fi serials since 1997. Whedon and Whoniverse franchises are nearly the only exceptions. Until 1997, I watched all the schlock SF I could get my mitts on, including Forever Knight and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, and a few others that were so terrible they only got three episodes.

Tell me what cultural touchstones you think I should geek out on with you, and I'll give it a shot. I'm loopy enough to mimic the receptive state of wide eyed wonder usually only conferred upon drunks and impressionable teenagers up past midnight.

Bonus if you suggest some specific touchstones that are either good summary introductions or fantastic single eps, something to narrow down from "all 20 seasons of...". For example, I'd recommend that someone in my position watch Sherlock, which has only 3 episodes available on Netflix, or Heroes, but only season 1. (That is where I stopped, and I hear I made the right call.)

Also if you know of any speculative fiction on Netflix streaming with non-crap representation of marginalized identities, I'm likely to watch that preferentially, even if it's not the format I suggested above.

Comments

[caladri.livejournal.com]

I think everybody should watch Intelligence, which is exquisite, but not at all what you're looking for. But I'm looking at my top-rated stuff on Netflix and that's the first recent thing I really feel like is awesome. It's about drug runners and intelligence workers in Vancouver, and some episodes even manage to pass the Bechdel Test. It has really, really good characterization and a sense of place in a way that few things do.

Persons Unknown is really fun if you can keep from comparing it to Lost. Not everyone manages this leap.

The Dresden Files is fun, but fully half of the episodes suck.

Have you seen Futurama? You should? I think?

[gement.livejournal.com]

Thanks!