TV series to watch on a plane?

The Mentalist is a good TV series

Air Crash Investigation from NatGeo I guess is out of the question? ;-)

Although you can’t finish all the episodes or you must have a real long flight I would recommend The Wire.
Or maybe an Attenborough docu (Life Of Birds, Planet Earth, First Life).

Slaps @Rebbel… yes .. although it would be funny to see other people’s reactions. I am fine with flying. My husband would love that.. he has an evil streak.

I have the Wire and I have a series I haven’t watched yet. Good idea.

Attenborough is good too. My brother used to fall asleep as soon as he started watching Life on Earth. Every time Attemborough started talking… I would look around and within a few minutes… zzzz zzzzz and he really wanted to watch that series.

I have never watched the Mentalist @coffeenut. I will check that out and hello! Feels like ages since I have seen you.

Amuse yourself with American Dad [ or Family guy ].

I think the first season of The Killing is on DVD now. I would highly recommend it! Oh, and 24 is always a good call.

Dexter

Breaking Bad will keep you sucked in.

@Bellatrix lol, ya it’s been a few months. Another good (but short and older) series is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I’m not sure if you can buy it, but it’s on YouTube (total running time is 3:16:56)

Second The Wire or Breaking Bad. If you want something lighter, the UK version of The Office or Curb Your Enthusiasm are also excellent. Or “An Idiot Abroad.”

@coffeenut I have the original TV series on DVD, so it is available.
Another good suggestion would be the new version of Battlestar Galactica.

If you want to have some fun at the expense of those around you, watch “Alive”, and pay lots of attention and make sure to be seen taking notes.

I love Dexter and Breaking Bad, but I have watched all those.

What is The Killing? That sounds interesting @Joker94.

Lol@ An idiot abroad… sounds a bit biographical…

Alive? Have to check that out.

Never got into Family Guy and the like… not sure why?

I haven’t watched any of the Battlestar Galactica stuff. That’s another idea.

Hitchhikers is always a goodie. Will check it out on YouTube. I actually think I bought this for my husband. Perhaps I need to look in the DVD drawer too!

“An Idiot Abroad” is where Ricky Gervais sends Karl Pilkington to different wonders of the world, but puts him in crappy hotels, books him at gross restaurants, annoying tours, stuff like that. It’s way funnier than it sounds by my inadequate description.

Has that already been aired where you live @cockswain ?
Here it just started, or it has to start still not sure about it.
And you think it already is on DVD?

That sounds so funny @cockswain. I don’t think I have seen that advertised here even on Foxtel. No, it sounds very funny. Poor Karl….

I love Fringe

I second An Idiot Abroad. It’s hilarious.

Don’t watch much TV, but I always loved Xena Warrior Princess. It’s a pretty versatile show, as some episodes are extremely dramatic, others are completely ridiculous, some are even musicals. But it’s always interesting in some way or another, and despite loopholes, all seasons are consistent with the mythos built by the show. Plus there isn’t any character you can’t like lol.

The House of Elliot BBC British mini-series about 2 young women sisters who’s rich father has recently passed away, leaving them destitute. To make ends meet they take jobs as seamstresses and eventually open their own dress shop and then start designing couture clothing. Very good acting, very attractive cast and terrific soap opera like scenarios, that play out like very well done dramas. There was always some kind of a cliff hanger for each episode.

Or the recent version of Charles Dickens Bleak House. I ate this up with a spoon. It’s probably the best adaptation of a Dickens story that I’ve ever seen.

You’ve probably already seen Waiting for God and Keeping Up Appearances but they’re always funny, even as repeats.

I also loved the All Creatures Great and Small

As well as The Barchester Chronicles featuring a very young Alan Rickman, who’s character foreshadow’s Severus Snape.

Arrested Development.
The Simpsons.
The Office (UK and US versions: compare and contrast, and use the last half of the flight to write a humorous critique / review of both)

I have just finished watching “Foyle’s War,” a BBC Masterpiece production that is a masterpiece.

It stars a police inspector who lives on the south coast of Britain and solves mysteries in conjunction with WWII events. The action starts in 1941 and, 22 episodes later, ends in 1945.

Fascinating for story, character development, historical accuracy, period clothes and the extraordinary cast…lead by Michael Kitchen as Christopher Foyle.

East episode stands alone but the stories are also sequential.

Edit: “Each”

Another vote for Dexter. We just started watching the series this summer and our entire family was hooked from the start. We watched all 5 seasons in 3 weeks and can’t wait for the new season to start this fall.

nevermind, just read that you have watched it. Great show, eh?

Sons Of Anarchy

it’s white trash sopranos on motorcycles. what’s not to like?

Is that what that’s like? I keep thinking.. should I record that? Now I know I should. I love the Sopranos.

And @jonsblond, it certainly is. I am also hanging out for the next series.

I have seen some of the Foyle’s War series, but not from the beginning. I will check that out too.

It will ultimately depend on what is in the store. I leave next week.

Any 24, The Wire, Dexter, and for a bit of fun Scrubs.

(Where are you going???)

Myself i’d watch Thunderbirds, then I could pretend I was piloting TB2 on my way to rescuing some damsel in distress…......or was it this dress?

Hmm Scott might have worn a dress.. it is possible. And of course Parker. Reminds me of that old joke about Parker and Lady Penelope. Yus M’Lady.

Thunderbirds… I like Thunderbirds and Fireball XL5 and Stingray
and…Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Ahh they don’t make television like that any more .. okay regression over.

Loads of excellent suggestions from my fellow jellies. Can I add Case Histories starring the gorgeous Jason Isaacs as a private detective. Six (1 hour) episodes and a little slice of heaven. Please see here and not only a great series, Mr Isaacs does spend rather a lot of his time with his shirt off which in my opinion is enough of a reason to watch lol. Enjoy honey, hugs xx

I just read that book @bunnygrl!! I didn’t know there was a television series! I would love to see that. I don’t think we have seen that here yet. I hope we do soon. i doubt I would be able to buy it before I go because it won’t have been released here. Might be able to get it online for later though.

OMG it is amazing honey!! you’ll love it!! and Mr Isaacs is amazing in it. I would just LOVE the bbc to make a 2nd series, which he’d now have to squeeze in around making his new series, which I am about to burst through waiting for lol called Awake I think it’s going to be huge. Premieres in the US on NBC in October, and I’m hoping that one of the Sky channels have bought it here, play already have it listed on dvd

If you’ve read Case Histories (the series is a dramatisation of 3 of the Jackson Brodie books, inc of course case histories) did you know that Mr Isaacs reads the audio versions? you can see them here
hugs honey xx

My all time favourite series is Gilmore Girls and I have all the DVDS (7 series in all). I have watched and rewatched them all so many times and would love it if I could take them all on my plane journey in a couple of weeks time! I also really enjoy Heartland and I have just started watching Sons of Anarchy which I am quite enjoying and, when all else fails I crack open my Big Bang Theory box sets!

As for British series, I am a huge fan of Doc Martin which has about 5 series I believe.

If you want documentaries I love all of Michael Palin’s travel series.

I totally forgot to mention the new BBC series called Sherlock which is set in modern times. The actors playing Holmes and Watson are terrific. Holmes is a bit of a sociopath and no one can really figure out if he’s gay, straight or aesexual, but he’s very funny whilst being brilliant. Watson even gets a little romance this time!

Audio versions, might be a good present for the step monster too. What is Awake about? Do you know that series Sea of Souls or something? I have only seen one or maybe two of them and I liked them but never seen it on the TV again. I watched Silent Witness last night and .. someone…one of the main characters died! I am so cross they killed that person off!

Oh I liked Sherlock! I have no idea what I will watch on the plane, but there are so many good ideas here. Thank you people. At worst, I will be watching a lot of TV when I get back :D

OOOO good suggestion @Kardamom Sherlock (link takes you to the wonderful BBC homepage, although not updated to include upcoming series yet) is fabulous, they have been filming a second series recently (I’ve been following the odd nugget of news about it on twitter through @markgatiss). Sea of Souls is the UK (Scottish actually) version of the X Files pretty much and the stories are wonderful.

If you liked Sea of Souls, and like stories that raise the hairs on the back of the neck, it would be very well worth checking out Afterlife which is truly chilling and each story, although mostly stand alone, does build into… well… what a story! Another little gem that I followed (it was originally shown in late, late evening 30 min instalments on the bbc in amongst a season of ghost stories by M.R.James etc) was Crooked House starring (and written by) the always amazing Mark Gatiss, and is made up of very creepy stories which eventually all tie together into….. well that would be telling lol. Definitely well worth a watch though if you haven’t seen it.

Awake (link to nbc homepage with info pics etc) I have been so excited about since I heard about it a while ago, what originally drew me was that Jason Isaacs was going to be in it, but the more I hear (and see, the link in my original reply takes you to a 4 min preview) the more I cannot wait to see it. A police detective is in a car accident with his wife and son. He then discovers that he is, literally living in two different realities. In one, his wife survived the crash and they lost their son, in the other his son survived and he lost his wife. He goes to sleep at night and when he wakes, he awakes into one of these realities. I really can’t wait to see it, it was supposed to premiere in the US in oct but has since been moved back to late sept? enjoy honey, and have a good trip <hugs> xx

Oh wow! That sounds great. I just went to the ABC shop and managed to find An Idiot Abroad . Couldn’t find any of the things mentioned here yet. Will try another store tomorrow. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

@Bellatrix if you’re in Austrailia honey, that means your dvds are region 4, and so your player will also play region 2 (UK) discs? I know from a dear friend in Australia that regions 2 and 4 are interchangable, at least we’ve always been able to view each others regions without any problems. Amazon and Play are good sites here, and watch out for their “new and used versions” which can sometimes be a lot cheaper too, hope that helps honey, huggles xx

Hi @bunnygrl, yes I know but I leave on Tuesday so there is no way to get the DVDs here before then. I should have thought about this earlier… but didn’t. I can probably look for some of these while I am away though for the trip back. So, the ideas here aren’t wasted, I will just have to wait until the trip back to enjoy some of them.

oh no!! I’m sorry honey. I know the mail can take forever :-( I wish I could speed things up for you. Enjoy your trip though, huggles xx

My favs——The Waltons, Little House on The Prairie, and Leave it to Beaver (the old episodes). Good entertainment for the entire family too.

@MRSHINYSHOES I didn’t even think of the older shows. I LOVE The Waltons. Especially the made for TV movie called The Homecoming which started the series. All of the cast from the TV series was the same as in the movie, except for the mom who was played in the movie by Patricia Neal in the movie and by Michael Learned in the TV show.

I almost pooped my pants when Ralph Waite (the dad on The Waltons) turned up on NCIS to play Gibb’s father!

And I had a brush with fame about 10 years ago, when Kami Cotler (the actress who played Elizabeth, the youngest Walton) came through my place of business.

Also, in 2005 there was a new Little House on the Prairie mini-series that came out, that was more strictly based on the books. I was wary at first, because the show with Michael Landon is so beloved by me and other people that appreciate the story, but this new mini-series stole my heart. There is no need to compare the two shows, they’re both excellent.

@Kardamom Yes, and I like the early Christmas episode too, where little Elizabeth wins a doll or something like that in an outdoor contest. My kids like that one.

Omg, Ralph Waite must be very old now. Wow, I wonder how Kami Cotler looks now? I’m sure she’s not the cute little Elizabeth we all knew then anymore.

@MRSHINYSHOES When I saw Kami Cotler (10 years ago) she was gorgeous. Her hair is long and thick and she had that beautiful dark red/auburn colored hair with very pale skin, like an Irish lass.

The episode where Elizabeth wins the doll is from the movie The Homecoming.

Not sure how old Ralph Waite is, probably in his late 70’s but he still has it!