Favorite films and TV shows

[Hey 3]

Does anyone have a Favorite film and TV show? If so, I would like to hear.

 

[SteveM70]

Blimey, that’s a big question. Not one I can give a single answer to.

Favourite films:
Once Upon A Time In America
Come And See
The Breakfast Club
BrasseOff

Favourite TV shows:
Minder
Prospects
The Fast Show
Gone Fishing

 

[Peregrine 4903]

My favourite tv show is:

Death in Paradise. Just pure, wonderful, escapism.

Favourite film's is much harder, but my list of my favourites would be:

Inception,
Interstellar,
1917,
Catch Me If You Can,
Argo,
Bridge of Spies,
Casino Royale,
Master and Commander,
The Dark Knight,
Tenet,
Captain America: The Winter Soldier,
Jaws,

 

[birchesgreen]

Favourite film is Buckaroo Banzai across the Eighth Dimension

 

[Ashley Hill]

Television:-
Monty Pythons Flying Circus
Salvage Hunters (I've met Drew and Tee)
Cheers

Film:-
Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
Get Carter
School For Scoundrels
Rise of the Foot Soldier

In reality both lists could go on. A similar thread about what we'd like to see on telly during Covid is on here somewhere.

 

[oxfordray1]

My favourite TV show is Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister. Without a doubt.

Could list a hundred quotes but I will spare you all

 

[backontrack]

In terms of television series, The Simpsons can't be ignored. Those first eight seasons form perhaps the most consistent run of episodes of any series in television history. There's so much inventive brilliance in those episodes the writers' room had a glorious grasp of the fabric and mechanics of a joke - but the very best episodes have an emotional depth to them, too, that none of the cartoon competitors that sprang up in the series' wake can lay claim to. In terms of heartwarming hilarity, The Simpsons is unparalleled.

Father Ted is brilliant, of course. So many episodes make me laugh myself silly, and it all holds up so well today. Again, it's unerringly consistent in quality, and almost infinitely quotable. The series is at its best when it slips into parody of Hollywood movies; these moments are fantastically well-observed. Dermot Morgan had real star quality and it's a real tragedy that he's no longer with us.

Blackadder is brilliant, of course. I find the second series the funniest, but the fourth is spectacular, building with heightened ironic humour and surrealism into an audaciously sombre finale. There's a real intensity to Blackadder Goes Forth, a different kind of energy. The Thick of It, meanwhile, is riotiously funny satire, but it really comes into its own when the drama is dialled up and the brilliantly incendiary Malcolm Tucker - played by Peter Capaldi who is a stunning actor - comes to the fore. Rebecca Front, Roger Allam and Jo Scanlan make hilarious contributions.

 

[52290]

In terms of television series, The Simpsons can't be ignored. Those first eight seasons form perhaps the most consistent run of episodes of any series in television history. There's so much inventive brilliance in those episodes the writers' room had a glorious grasp of the fabric and mechanics of a joke - but the very best episodes have an emotional depth to them, too, that none of the cartoon competitors that sprang up in the series' wake can lay claim to. In terms of heartwarming hilarity, The Simpsons is unparalleled.

Father Ted is brilliant, of course. So many episodes make me laugh myself silly, and it all holds up so well today. Again, it's unerringly consistent in quality, and almost infinitely quotable. The series is at its best when it slips into parody of Hollywood movies; these moments are fantastically well-observed. Dermot Morgan had real star quality and it's a real tragedy that he's no longer with us.

Blackadder is brilliant, of course. I find the second series the funniest, but the fourth is spectacular, building with heightened ironic humour and surrealism into an audaciously sombre finale. There's a real intensity to Blackadder Goes Forth, a different kind of energy. The Thick of It, meanwhile, is riotiously funny satire, but it really comes into its own when the drama is dialled up and the brilliantly incendiary Malcolm Tucker - played by Peter Capaldi who is a stunning actor - comes to the fore. Rebecca Front, Roger Allam and Jo Scanlan make hilarious contributions.

I like the Simpsons but better still from the same stable is Futurama, now sadly discontinued. However since it and the Simpsons have been sold by Fox to Disney we can hope that the professor will be able to announce "good news everyone" sometime within the next 1000 years.

 

[Bevan Price]

No single favourites on TV or film. Some examples below.
Drama - Things I like typically include(d) Sci-Fi, Westerns, Some comedies. Some police series. But dislike anything with too much violence, or too many close-ups of blood & guts. So yes to Star Trek & spin-offs, for example.
Police: Z-Cars & spin-offs; also Line Of Duty (just hope the scriptwriters don't run out of ideas, and lose credibility by turning Supt. Hastings into a "bad guy".)
Westerns : High Noon (film), Maverick, The Virginian, etc.
Comedies - Likely Lads & sequel; Bread; another vote for Yes Minister/Prime Minister, etc..
Documentaries - just about anything by David Attenborough.

 

[Strathclyder]

In terms of television series, The Simpsons can't be ignored. Those first eight seasons form perhaps the most consistent run of episodes of any series in television history. There's so much inventive brilliance in those episodes the writers' room had a glorious grasp of the fabric and mechanics of a joke - but the very best episodes have an emotional depth to them, too, that none of the cartoon competitors that sprang up in the series' wake can lay claim to. In terms of heartwarming hilarity, The Simpsons is unparalleled.

The Simpsons' first 8 seasons are among the greatest in television history, in terms of quality, emotional depth flawlessly coupled with gut-busting hilarity, rewatchabilty, influence and lasting legacy. It's frankly impossible for me to pick a single favourite season from them; S4, S6 & S7 have shared my top spot for years now. Comparing 'golden era' Simpsons to current Simpsons is for the most part depressing; almost as if they're two completely different shows. But, if it continues to make money, it'll keep going. But I digress. That doesn't detract from it being one of my favorite TV shows of all time.

Another TV show (well, a 5 episode-long miniseries) I'd highly recommend (my profile pic is a clue) is HBO/Sky Atlantic's Chernobyl (2019). A dramatization of the April 1986 nuclear catastrophe at the infamous power plant in the Soviet Union's Ukrainian SSR (modern-day Ukraine), it's effects on the people and surrounding landscape, the people who threw themselves into a literal hell on earth in order to clean up and contain the mess and stop it from getting any worse with little to no regard for their own lives and certain elements of the Soviet government doing their utmost to suppress or downplay the disaster.

While changes were made for the sake of character development & storytelling/pacing/runtime (tbh, you'd have to make a 20 episode series on the Chernobyl disaster and it's aftermath if you wanted to tell the whole story, given everything it encompasses), it nonetheless remains a unflinching glimpse at what can result from supressing the truth, aka 'the cost of lies'. The cast (Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård & Emily Watson are a collective tour-de-force in their lead roles, with a stellar supporting cast backing them up), set design/location, atmosphere, attention to detail, soundtrack, script & camerawork; all are brilliant on their own, but combined, they constitute perhaps one of the most masterfully crafted mini-series to ever hit the small screen. Make no mistake however: this is a mentally draining show to say the least, and I personally would advise against watching all 5 episodes in one sitting. But as I say, it makes for essential viewing and is actually more relevent now than in it's late 1980s Soviet Union setting. 'Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.' Good god, that line still chills me to the bone...

As one final tidbit, the series creator (Craig Mazin) was best-known for his work on the Scary Movie and Hangover movie franchises prior to Chernobyl. Yeah, I was more than a little surprised too...

 

[Peter C]

It's already been mentioned but I'm a big fan of Yes (Prime) Minister, along with Open All Hours, dinnerladies, and countless others. I also really like Brief Encounter - and not just for the trains - and Victoria Wood's TV plays Talent, Nearly a Happy Ending, and Happy Since I Met You.

-Peter