3 Cancelled/Ended TV Dramas That You Should Be Watching

This is a continuation of my previous post entitles 3 Current TV Dramas That You Should Be Watching. This post focuses on cancelled or ended TV shows.

3. House MD

Although I'm disappointed that they didn't have the guts to end the series the way that they should've, this show almost always managed to keep my attention.  Hugh Laurie was perfect as the eccentric Dr. House, and Olivia Wilde was just straight up fine.  The stories were usually pretty interesting (and I've been told that they're remarkably accurate by an old roommate who was in pre-med at the time), but my favorite aspect of the series was the witty dialogue.  Listening to House belittle his friends and co-workers was the highlight of my week for 8 years.
House MD isn't on Netflix, which sucks.... But you can download it off of Amazon Instant here.

2. Firefly

A lot of you have probably heard about Joss Whedon's cult series Firefly or maybe his follow-up movie Serenity. If you haven't seen these yet, I would highly recommend watching them.  There's only 14 episodes in the entire series, and then a 2 hour movie. You could hammer through the whole thing in a few days if you live a sad life where you can spend 6 hours a day in front of a TV (I know that I do). The whole western/space mash-up was unsettling at first, but within a few episodes I was already warming up to it. By the time you finish Serenity, you'll be wishing that there was more.
Firefly and Serenity are both on Netflix right now.

1. Deadwood

It may be a little premature for me to suggest this series, since I only discovered it about a month ago. Even though I haven't even finished the first season, I'm already blown away by this show.  The characters are so complicated and just plain messed up. When I started watching it, I was (foolishly) expecting a typical western in a TV show format - gunfights, good vs evil, etc. What I got was a brilliant show about civilization coming to the wild west, and the struggle of the people living in Deadwood, SD who are trying to adapt. I have never been as attached to fictional characters as I am right now. The acting is near flawless (Powers Boothe as Cy Tolliver is possibly the most mind blowing performance I have ever witnessed in television), and the story somehow keeps me on the edge of my seat with minimal action. Watch this show. You Won't regret it.
Deadwood is available on Amazon Instant here. 

Bonus - The one upcoming TV series that I couldn't be more excited about

Has anybody else noticed that pirates don't get the attention they deserve in film? Look at this list. The only mainstream movies from the 21st century are the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Maybe it's just because I'm nostalgic from spending a huge portion of my childhood doing this, but I think pirates are the coolest thing ever, and we need more of them in film. Anyway, apparently NBC has approved a series called Crossbones about the life of Edward Teach. I'm not sure about their choice of John Malkovich to play Blackbeard, and I'd rather see it aired on a premium channel such as HBO or Showtime, but I'm still hopeful. If this project is done right, maybe it will summon in a new era of pirate movies and television.

3 Current TV Dramas That You Should Be Watching

This was originally one post, but I'm breaking it out into two - the first will list three current TV shows, while the second will post three TV shows that are no longer on air.

3. Vikings

Like many people, I was slightly wary of History Channel's first scripted programming.  I was also pleasantly surprised.  This is a fantastic show about Norse legend Ragnar Lodbrok and his family.  If you aren't familiar with his story, I would recommend not doing any research on him.  There's no way of knowing how closely the series will reflect traditional Viking lore, but it may be better to play it safe to avoid any spoilers.  Regardless, this is an intriguing new series that gives some fascinating (although maybe not always 100% accurate) insight into a culture that seems to be underutilized by modern film and television. 

The series will return for a second season sometime in 2014 on History Channel.
 

2. The Walking Dead

This show is great.  I love a good zombie movie every now and then, and this delivers just enough zombie action every week to keep me interested.  The pace seems to dip a bit every now and then, but it always manages to pick itself back up.  I do have to point out though, that they manage to kill off all of the characters that I like while keeping all the awful ones.

The series will return for a fourth season in October 2013 on AMC.

1. Game of Thrones

If you haven't seen any Game of Thrones yet, you're probably sick of hearing about how awesome it is and having people try to get you to watch it.  Stop reading right now and watch it.  The reason your friends are telling you to watch it is because they love you.  The acting is incredible, the special effects are stunning for television, and the story (based on George R.R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire) is absolutely breathtaking at times.  If you only watch one TV show at a time, this should be that show.

The series will return for a fourth season in Spring 2014 on HBO.