Note, I haven't seen any of these and I am one of those rather anal types who hate spoilers, so please no spoilers.

That said, what do people think of the following series? Which can you recommend, and why?

The Grid
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

The Wire
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

Las Vegas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

Re-Genesis
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

Bones (which I understand some countries see as being an sf series)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

I really like Bones. An intelligent, female, atheistic protaganist is a rare enough thing to see and she carries it off well. Plus the series is good on its own grounds. The ex-Angel guy was a bit hard to put into a different role for a while, but he grows on you.

Bones is pretty good.  Seconded on the main character, plus Stephen Frye is on it now, and he pretty much clubs his co-stars over the head and runs off with his scenes every time.  

That, and Alex "Bill" Winter was on the show not long ago.  Righteous!

The Wire's simply THE BEST thing on TV.  No ifs, buts or maybes about it.

It's a character driven police procedural that starts with some cops looking into the affairs of a local drug dealer.  Gradually, over the first four series, as the team follow the money and the influence, the focus pulls out, first to the criminal underworld as a whole in Baltimore then to the politics of law enforcement and finally to the nature of city politics as a whole taking in not only the relationship between the government of a city and the state it's in but also operational matters such as the downsides to chasing statistics in education.

The performances are fantastically good and the characters are all totally engaging and utterly fascinating in their values, histories and quirks.  The dialogue is frequently breath-taking, the writing is relentlessly challenging and intelligent and the scope of the series is just mesmerising.  It's easily the most intelligent piece of genre drama ever produced.  It makes the Shield look like The Bill even though The Shield is pretty bloody good too.

Quote from: GRIMI really like Bones. An intelligent, female, atheistic protaganist is a rare enough thing to see and she carries it off well. Plus the series is good on its own grounds. The ex-Angel guy was a bit hard to put into a different role for a while, but he grows on you.

Try reading the honor harrington series...

I like Bones the series, but the principal female lead annoys the hell out of me. She's an olympic class Mary Sue who's one negative aspect (lack of social skills) is negated because she's played by a pretty actress and it becomes clear one of the male leads has the hots for her.

Las Vagas isn't bad, but suffers from a touch of Mary Sue for the main character. When the Black Eyed Peas guest starred, main character not only knew them, but was bosom buddies with the band.

Quote from: O'BorgLas Vagas ....

...means "The (female) Tramps/Vagabonds/Hooligans" in Spanish, and although I'm not gonna fault you on for a typo, it did make me laugh.

Quote from: BalbinusThat said, what do people think of the following series? Which can you recommend, and why?

The Grid
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

The Wire
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

Las Vegas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

Re-Genesis
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

Bones (which I understand some countries see as being an sf series)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...165310-6706804

I haven't seen The Grid. All the others I find either too bland, too inconsistent and/or too formulaic, except The Wire. The Wire is pretty solid TV, even if it isn't exactly to my tastes.

I'm not quite as impressed as Mr. Analytical but I somewhat agree with his assessment. It's high quality, rewarding and worthwhile. It's light years ahead of the other options listed (except as I said, I don't know The Grid).

I think it also depends upon your relationship with TV.  When I stopped watching it and unplugged my aerial I discovered that stuff that I'd been quite happy to watch because it was free and well... I was sitting there anyway, suddenly lost their appeal.

I haven't watched muh of Bones but it definitely struck me as a series of the kind you'd happily watch if you were going to be sitting in front of the TV anyway but if you've got other things to do then it's probably not worth getting on DVD.

Registered just to say that like Mr Analytical, I  think the Wire is the best thing on television. By keeping the series length to 12/13 episodes, they ensure there is never a fluff episode - everything is very focused and it avoids the soap opera trap of say BSG S3. You do get in the skins of several characters but it never becomes just about them.

It also treats the audience as intelligent viewers who want to be engaged and don't need to be talked down to. The program never stops to explain itself and consistently avoids the easy way out sticking true to its idea of how bureaucracy and human pettiness shafts most endeavours. I found the best thing about it is you end up hating the 'good' characters for their flaws and loving the 'bad' characters for their humanity which for me makes it very realistic and gripping.