HBO is such an amazing channel, it has truly made everyone in America up their game when it comes to TV shows. And you can't beat US series for production quality (and money... of course xD). I agree on the theme for Six Feet Under, so distinctive and perfectly suited to the tone of the series.
Anyway, I seem to be veeeeery late compared to you guys when it comes to TV shows, but I must say I love watching them on DVD and I'm lucky to have plenty of them. Here's a non-exhaustive list of the shows I really enjoy watching (not all of them very recent I'm afraid xD). I might introduce you to some French, Canadian, Dutch and German shows I like.
Absolutely Fabulous: SHEER British awesomeness on all levels. This series is simply perfect, the dialogues are unbelievably funny. This is the kind of show Americans could never hope to reproduce, or nobody else on Earth for that matter. I must've seen each and every episode at least four or five times, and I'm already all wet in my pants 'cause they're coming back for three more episodes for Christmas 2011!
Le Coeur a ses raisons (The heart has its reasons): A parody of soaps à la "Bold and Beautiful" from Quebec. It is quite simply the most over-the-top show I have ever seen, it is *beyond* absurd and also hilarious. Here's the most famous scene, EN subtitled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nopXDS-BD1Q&feature=related
Gooische Vrouwen: It's like Dutch Desperate Housewives. I like it because their accent is so exquisitly posh, plus the stories are funny and the characters lovable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ZS-bTAWmc&feature=related
Türkisch für Anfänger is a light-hearted, harmless comedy about a family half-German half-Turkish. I discovered it in its French-dubbed version on RTBF, and instantly liked it. It's not particularly amazing, but it's a nice little series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLybshtMrM
A Flemish series I like is the short-lived
Jes about a girl starting a new life in Brussels. It wasn't very good and got cancelled, but I liked the spirit of it and would wish the French-speaking broadcaster could make up something that really does honour to my beloved city (
)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbGmCUea5vA
Also short-lived is the "French Sex and the City" called
Clara Sheller. It was pretty great and well produced, showed Paris in a great light, and had good plots and characters. But European series tend not to find enough funding and/or talent to last like American ones I guess. Here's an excerpt, EN subs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVwhCIeU4nY
HBO world famous series
Six Feet Under,
Rome and
Sex and the City, which I don't need to introduce :-D. In that category, I've just finished the seventh and last season of
The West Wing, great series although the last two seasons were somewhat disappointing.
Friends is also a personal favourite (grew up with it) and I enjoy watching
Weeds,
Desperate Housewives and
Ugly Betty from time to time.
I'm also a big science-fiction fan, so I enjoy watching both the old and new versions of
Battlestar Galactica. The old version really shows its age and has limited entertainment value, the new one is an absolute jewel, IMO the best SF series of the 2000's by far. I like
Stargate Atlantis too (I'm not too fond of SG-1), the geek-favourite
Babylon 5 and I'm of the "Niners" in Trekkie world, because by favourite Star Trek series is
Deep Space Nine.
Children's shows I love are
Pokémon (yeah, my generation!),
Jem and the Holograms (not my generation at all) and
Thunderbirds (WOW, I loved it when I was young, and still love it now!).
Okay I think I've talked enough for today! LOL!
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