TV shows about fairly normal people
-
I have Netflix, I have Hulu, I have Amazon Prime, and I have nothing to watch.
I liked Grey's Anatomy very much. Also, Suits. I'm looking for similar shows. About people who just do their job well, plus get involved in a lot of personal drama. Not necessarily a medical drama or a legal drama. Other shows I liked include House (especially earlier seasons) and Castle. I'm not looking for comedies - in fact, I'm actively avoiding them - but I prefer something a tiny bit on the light-hearted side. So no Breaking Bad. Also, no Game of Thrones or anything else that's about important people doing important things. Also, no historical drama. All of them suck. All of them.
I looked up The Practice but I couldn't even stand 5 minutes of it. Maybe it's just the pilot that's different, but it's throwing the viewer right in the middle of things and there's a lot of seemingly important characters running around and not a word of explanation of who they are or what their relationships are. I also looked up Station 19, thinking that Grey's Anatomy spinoff would be good, but it has the exact same problem.
And since my Netflix profile got destroyed by sharing it with 10 other people, the recommendations are useless to me. And Google is amazingly unhelpful here as well. No matter what search phrase I come up with, there's already some TV series that's named exactly those words and it pollutes all results.
So... Any suggestions?
-
@Gąska said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
Any suggestions?
Do what I do and don't watch TV at all?
-
-
@Luhmann that's disgusting. I approve.
-
Ru Paul's drag race is quite good.
-
@DogsB
I also heard some talk about this Netflix series 'Cuties' sounded like it included fairly normal people ...
-
@Luhmann said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@DogsB
I also heard some talk about this Netflix series 'Cuties' sounded like it included fairly normal people ...He's looking for good tv, not entry to the sex offenders registry.
-
The Wire
-
@Gąska Try Chicago Med. It's hardly novel but it might fit the bill.
-
@DogsB said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
He's looking for good tv, not entry to the sex offenders registry.
Growing up in Sweden I can give plenty examples of TV shows and movies that would get you into that. Naked kids galore. Just look at pretty much any Astrid Lindgren live-action TV series.
-
@loopback0 said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
The Wire
Amazing series but about as light-heated as a mortuary.
-
@Gąska Also I know you said you didn't want comedy but if you enjoyed Suits you might make an exception for Rake. Just make sure to watch the Australian original, I hear the American remake was not great.
-
@Deadfast said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@loopback0 said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
The Wire
Amazing series but about as light-heated as a mortuary.
There are enough moments to qualify it as "tiny bit light-hearted".
-
Killing Eve, especially the first season? OK, not everyone in that fits any reasonable definition of “normal people” but Eve herself certainly does.
Or, if you want tragicomedy which, IMHO, leans more to the tragedy than the comedy, Fleabag?
Strike, perhaps? Detective mini-series around an ex-soldier and his new assistant.
-
I find it impossible to watch "Monk". Too close to home.
-
My wife is a big Grey's Anatomy fan, so I showed her your post and she recommended Army Wives, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (both on Amazon), and How to Get Away With Murder (on Netflix - this is another Shondra Rhimes thing). There's also Night Shift, which is another medical drama on Netflix.
The problem with your judging criteria is that Grey's Anatomy isn't good, so looking for similar shows isn't going to help you find someone enjoyable to watch.
If you're looking for something good, I recommend televised sports.
-
All these times you mentioned Grey’s Anatomy, I had thought you were referring to the book, and couldn’t work out why you claimed to be enjoying it so much. Now the world makes an epsilon more sense.
@Deadfast said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
I hear the American remake was not great.
You’re gonna need a bigger
-
@GuyWhoKilledBear said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
How to Get Away With Murder
I've liked this. I just finished the new season of The BlacklistI also liked, La Reina del Sur**, Quanitco, Shooter, Ozark.I don't know if you are into any supernatural dramas, I've enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, The Originals, Lost Girl.**I started using a lot of Mexican slurs after watching that. I've previously been told I speak spanish like a Dominican (the neighborhood I live in has been primarily Dominican for a generation or so).Nevermind-these are not fairly normal people.
-
@Gąska Law and Order (the original recipe, not any of the spin-offs). Feel free to skip seasons 15-17, they were pretty duff. Might be a bit light on the personal drama though.
Person of Interest.
Maybe Leverage?
-
We binged Longmire on Netflix earlier this year. Based on books about a sheriff in Wyoming, played by one of the Agents from the Matrix, also has the female Starbuck (Katie Sackhoff). Good show.
We also watched The Ranch on Netflix. This might be a bit more comedy than you're looking for but definitely plenty of drama. The cast is great.
-
My favorite streaming cop show is Bosch on Amazon. Another one based on books and the author has been pretty involved.
Upload on Amazon was really good. Drama, comedy, romance, intrigue, interesting SF premise. Could be a Neal Stephenson book.
-
I started watching cobra Kai recently, and there is a surprising depth to that series considering the source material being karate kid.
-
@Unperverted-Vixen There'd also be Flashpoint
-
@Unperverted-Vixen said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
Person of Interest.
Good shout
@boomzilla said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
Upload on Amazon was really good.
+1
-
+1 for Rake and Longmire.
-
@Unperverted-Vixen said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@Gąska Law and Order (the original recipe, not any of the spin-offs)
Where does one watch this via streaming. Asking for a friend.
-
I would suggest taking a look at Justified.
-
@Carnage said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
I started watching cobra Kai recently, and there is a surprising depth to that series considering the source material being karate kid.
I watched that. It was interesting, but I feel that it largely failed to live up to its stated premise: the redemption of Johnny.
It doesn't help that you're starting from a bully who, in the movie, attempted to straight-up murder Daniel on two separate occasions. (In the real world, Mr. Miyagi would have helped Daniel by calling the police, and Johnny and his little band of thugs might be getting out of prison sometime around now.) This is not a sympathetic character, and the series doesn't do much to improve on that, particularly in the first season. 2018 Johnny is a total loser, a classic "peaked in high school" jock who can't let go of the past, can't hold down a job, is racist, sexist, and just generally offensive, and he blames Daniel, not himself, for all his problems.
They try to sympathize the character by showing bad things happen to him, but that's not how it works. When bad things happen to good people, that makes the character sympathetic; when bad things happen to bad people, the audience calls that "karma" and they cheer. And it's not until the very end of the first season that he finally begins to realize that his own choices have caused harm to people he cares about, that he's been a bad person and needs to improve himself morally.
It gets better in the second season, but at the same time worse. Johnny is actively trying to be a better person, but he makes one massive mistake: it starts off with yet another situation that would have been best resolved by calling the police and having someone arrested. Johnny instead tries to handle it himself, and that decision ends up causing pretty much every bad thing that happens in season 2, particularly the tragic ending!
I like the idea of Cobra Kai, but it just doesn't feel like they did a good job of delivering on the premise. Hopefully season 3 will be better, whenever it finally comes around. (Also, completely unrelated to anything, does anyone else think modern-day Daniel looks a lot like Matthew Broderick?)
-
@izzion said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@Unperverted-Vixen said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@Gąska Law and Order (the original recipe, not any of the spin-offs)
Where does one watch this via streaming. Asking for a friend.
Good question. Looks like Comcast (owners of Universal) moved it to their own streaming service, Peacock. I bought the 20-season DVD set years ago, so I haven't exactly been following its current home...
-
@Dragoon said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
I would suggest taking a look at Justified.
I was thinking of that too. I'm not sure there are three characters in the whole series that fit the description "fairly normal", but it's a fun show.
-
@Bim-Zively said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@Dragoon said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
I would suggest taking a look at Justified.
I was thinking of that too. I'm not sure there are three characters in the whole series that fit the description "fairly normal", but it's a fun show.
True, but given his starting point of Gray's Anatomy, Suits and House, I don't feel that Justified is that far away from "normal people" than any of those shows.
-
@Dragoon I'm only familiar with two of them, and now you mention it I agree completely!
-
@Bim-Zively what @Dragoon said. I meant it more as no paranormal activity, no politics, no magical girls suddenly gifted with superpowers they can't control.
Thanks everyone for suggestions. Suddenly I have a loooong backlog!
My sister also recommended Jane the Virgin. Anyone seen it? Is it any good?
-
@Gąska A bit older but The Mentalist would also be fine if you liked Castle.
-
@Gąska said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
My sister also recommended Jane the Virgin. Anyone seen it? Is it any good?
I stopped somewhere in season 2, but I'd say it's worth watching.
-
Let's see... there's ER, JAG, CSI:NY, CSI:LV, L&O, L&O SVU, Monk, etc. etc.
The Good Wife was a good lawyer/drama show with relatively normal people. And the spin off is good too. If I had to recommend ONE show based on your list, this would be it.
I'll probably think of a couple more, but that's all that's coming to mind right now.
edit: My wife and I are watching "The Closer," another procedural cop drama. It's okay, and it sounds like it might be right up your alley.
The Good Place is a comedy, but it might still fit in since the characters are all normal in an abnormal situation. Maybe too much magic though.
Larry Sanders show is another comedy, but it's fairly "serious" in tone and very procedural.
Veep and The Thick of It and Avenue 5-- all comedies, but mostly procedural. Characters are all bad at their jobs.
Ugly Betty: like Jane the Virgin in a lot of ways -- a telenovela adapted to English. Normal lady works in a fashion magazine. Some stupid non-normal people though.
-
@Captain said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
Let's see... there's ER, JAG, CSI:NY, CSI:LV, L&O, L&O SVU, Monk, etc. etc.
CSI:Cyber
@Captain said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
The Good Place
The Good Place is excellent.
House of Lies is also worth a watch. It's technically a comedy but not in the canned-laughter constant jokes for the sake of jokes sense.
-
Maybe Burn Notice? (Hulu)
-
So I made a list of everything that was posted here, thrown out things I'm definitely not going to watch, done some subjective ranking based on gut feeling and synopses, used some random number generation, and now I have a handy dandy watchlist!
Shows I look forward to watching:
- The Good Wife (removed from all streaming services I have - it used to be available! But maybe one day...)
- Killing Eve
- Flashpoint
- The Good Place
- Upload
Shows I want to check out sometime:
- Longmire
- Rake (AU)
- Jane the Virgin
- Fleabag
- Justified
- Bosch
Shows I will take a look at if I run out of other ideas:
- The Closer
- Army Wives
- The Wire
- Law and Order
- The Ranch
- Chicago Med
- How to Get Away With Murder
- The Mentalist
- Monk
-
@Unperverted-Vixen said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@izzion said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@Unperverted-Vixen said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@Gąska Law and Order (the original recipe, not any of the spin-offs)
Where does one watch this via streaming. Asking for a friend.
Good question. Looks like Comcast (owners of Universal) moved it to their own streaming service, Peacock. I bought the 20-season DVD set years ago, so I haven't exactly been following its current home...
A little sad that they only have seasons 13-20. Though I'm not horribly surprised, since streaming rights weren't really a thing way back when so they probably don't have them
-
Started watching Killing Eve, and wow, the very first episode has a Polish VIP who's very uncooperative due to being drunk. Of course they've done piss poor job writing her lines, probably hoping nobody knows Polish enough to notice. It's funny how her calls for one more drink were subtitled as "[slurs]".
Edit: the main character telling the VIP to GTFO was 100% correct Polish, though. I also hope it's not a one-off thing.
-
-
@loopback0 said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
House of Lies is also worth a watch. It's technically a comedy but not in the canned-laughter constant jokes for the sake of jokes sense.
How about the follow up - Black Monday?
-
@dangeRuss said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@loopback0 said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
House of Lies is also worth a watch. It's technically a comedy but not in the canned-laughter constant jokes for the sake of jokes sense.
How about the follow up - Black Monday?
Hadn't heard of it but will check it out.
-
@Gąska said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
Started watching Killing Eve, and wow, the very first episode has a Polish VIP who's very uncooperative due to being drunk. Of course they've done piss poor job writing her lines, probably hoping nobody knows Polish enough to notice. It's funny how her calls for one more drink were subtitled as "[slurs]".
Edit: the main character telling the VIP to GTFO was 100% correct Polish, though. I also hope it's not a one-off thing.
Rake has a Polish element, which is very well done. Although I don't remember if it's present in the first season.
-
La Casa de Papel aka Money Heist may or may not fit your requirements.
There's certainly a lot of personal drama and character development.I haven't personally seen Chicago Fire, but it sounds like it could be up your alley.
I also second Flashpoint, not that you need the recommendation anymore.
-
@Parody said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
Maybe Burn Notice? (Hulu)
Burn Notice was good, except the last season which was awful. (Also, it's unconscionable that, during the episode when Lucy Lawless was playing the villain of the week, at no point did Bruce Campbell's character make a "she looks oddly familiar" aside-joke!)
If you like Burn Notice, try Leverage. Different premise but a fairly similar feel, and it remained good throughout the show's run.
-
@loopback0 said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@dangeRuss said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
@loopback0 said in TV shows about fairly normal people:
House of Lies is also worth a watch. It's technically a comedy but not in the canned-laughter constant jokes for the sake of jokes sense.
How about the follow up - Black Monday?
Hadn't heard of it but will check it out.
Only a follow up in the sense that Don Cheadle is also in it.
-
Also look at Anne with an e. Watched the first few episodes, seemed interesting, but it is a period piece.
-
I'm a bit late to the party, but there are two suggestions I can make:
Borgen isn't really about "normal" people since it's about the government of a country, but on the other hand it's a pretty minor one (Danemark). More to the point, while the plot is about passing laws and handling a political coalition and so on, it's still very much about how those people live "normal lives" despite having those jobs, so you might still like it?
Spiral is a French crime drama, I watched the first 3-4 seasons and quite liked it. It's probably somewhat hard to follow if you're not at least a little bit familiar with the French judicial system (like, what's the difference between a procureur, a juge d'instruction and a juge?) but other than that it's pretty much about normal people from police officers to lawyers and judge living their lives.