What are some good shows to chill and relax?

[MacBH928]

I am looking for suggestion to some shows that are an easy watch to sit back and relax and watch with entertainment. I usually like business oriented stuff, computer tech, or things that talks about modern culture like travel shows. Feel free to suggest a documentary.

Of the shows that I liked were Pawn Stars, Kitchen Nightmares, and Undercover Boss. Its entertaining at first but get boring quickly because of the exact formula repeated each show and obviously its scripted acting.

On the documentary side of things I liked Men Who built America, UpSize Me, Inside Job.

I am not really into fiction shows like "Netflix Originals". They are well made but they feel very "commercial", like made just to grab your attention not much of artistic side to them. The really good ones like Break Bad and Mad Men are far and few in between. For example, I know a lot of people are into Stranger Things but that thing is obviously riding the nostalgia wave. I hate it when they continue the series without anything more to add just because the ratings were high, a lot of shows suffered ill fate because of this.

The show Peaky Blinders seems like a very good show until you realize its just a Boardwalk Empire replica in the UK.

 

[ruslan120]

I like nature documentaries. The Ken Burns documentary on the Civil War is good. Mad men is good.
Ruslan Tulupov makes chill, Lo Fi videos on YouTube.

My $0.02.

 

[D.T.]

There's a massive TV show thread, I bet you'd get better traction if you posted in there ...

 

[MacBH928]

There's a massive TV show thread, I bet you'd get better traction if you posted in there ...

I know but that one is all inclusive of anything on tv and its since 2011, I am not going to read 8 years of data to figure out a good show. Plus its about what people are currently watching, not suggestions. Not sure where it fits best

 

[D.T.]

I know but that one is all inclusive of anything on tv and its since 2011, I am not going to read 8 years of data to figure out a good show. Plus its about what people are currently watching, not suggestions. Not sure where it fits best

Oh yeah, I was just saying that thread has a decent amount of traffic / more eyeballs, way more likely to get a response in the general TV Show discussions.

 

[Gutwrench]

Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I mean who can’t relax to a nice slaughter movie?

 

[Tomorrow]

The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.

 

[max2]

Game of Thrones

 

[chown33]

Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I mean who can’t relax to a nice slaughter movie?

Ergo, Schlachthaus Fünf.

 

[AngerDanger]

I highly recommend Nathan For You. It's a business improvement show with the least charismatic host and a slew of terrible and contrived schemes.

In one of my favorite episodes, the host, Nathan, helps a bar out by allowing smokers indoors under the guise of a live performance, which makes it legal in California. He calls the performance "smokers allowed" and puts a sign outside the bar to advertise. Then, after talking to some theater critics, realizes it might have genuine artistic merit and meticulously recreates the bar as a theater production.

He also tries to help a small coffee shop attract customers by turning it into the world's first Starbucks parody. Not only does the store blow up in popularity, but the steps he has to take to establish himself as a parody artist for use as legal defense are all really funny.

 

[0388631]

Why does he look like Pete Buttiegieg?

 

[yaxomoxay]

Not really a TV show, but "Into Great Silence" (2005) is a beautiful documentary filmed in a monastery; the monks vow their complete silence, so the documentary is mostly without a single word said. It's not an "entertaining" documentary, but it's going to relax you and possibly make you fall asleep like a baby. Looking at how everything moves slow, and in silence, is quite a striking difference from our current society. A calming experience.

 

[JamesMike]

Watching Vera is a good change of pace. It is on Britbox.

 

[MacBH928]

I highly recommend Nathan For You. It's a business improvement show with the least charismatic host and a slew of terrible and contrived schemes.

In one of my favorite episodes, the host, Nathan, helps a bar out by allowing smokers indoors under the guise of a live performance, which makes it legal in California. He calls the performance "smokers allowed" and puts a sign outside the bar to advertise. Then, after talking to some theater critics, realizes it might have genuine artistic merit and meticulously recreates the bar as a theater production.

He also tries to help a small coffee shop attract customers by turning it into the world's first Starbucks parody. Not only does the store blow up in popularity, but the steps he has to take to establish himself as a parody artist for use as legal defense are all really funny.

your suggestion is so offbeat I am impressed, I just have to dig around for the better episodes just not too bump into one of the more boring ones.

 

[0388631]

I've heard Mad Men is a good show to sit back and watch. I've never seen it myself. Only heard about it a few years ago myself.

 

[D.T.]

The really good ones like Break Bad and Mad Men are far and few in between.

There's quite a few fantastic TV shows, I guess some us weren't sure if you were looking for some kind of very specific content, or just high quality television (and that includes original shows from streaming services, etc.)

If it's the latter, then here you go:

The Wire
The Sopranos
Breaking Bad
Deadwood
The Shield
The Americans
Fargo
The Leftovers
WestWorld
Lost
Twin Peaks
Barry
The Good Place
Halt and Catch Fire
Atlanta
Veep
Fleabag
Justified
Black Mirror
True Detective


That's a mix of slightly older to still running shows, some half hour, some an hour, drama, scifi, speculative fiction, comedy (some a bit dark), amazing writing, directing, performances.

That should keep you busy for several months

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Not really a TV show, but "Into Great Silence" (2005) is a beautiful documentary filmed in a monastery; the monks vow their complete silence, so the documentary is mostly without a single word said. It's not an "entertaining" documentary, but it's going to relax you and possibly make you fall asleep like a baby. Looking at how everything moves slow, and in silence, is quite a striking difference from our current society. A calming experience.

That is a brilliant idea.

Some years ago, I recall visiting the Serb Orthodox monastery at Pec (Peja to the Albanians) in Kosovo, by arrangement (I was observing elections in the region), where I was given an extraordinary - and rather moving - guided tour by one of the monks, and it was an exquisitely lovely and tranquil and amazingly spiritual place, the gardens were gorgeous, and the handsome buildings magnificent, yet quite beautiful.

 

[yaxomoxay]

That is a brilliant idea.

Some years ago, I recall visiting the Serb Orthodox monastery at Pec (Peja to the Albanians) in Kosovo, where I was given a guided tour by one of the monks, and it was an exquisitely lovely and tranquil and amazingly spiritual place, the gardens were gorgeous, and the handsome buildings magnificent, yet quite beautiful.

Wow, it must've been a beautiful experience!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Wow, it must've been a beautiful experience!

It was.

Because the town of Pec (Peja) was (mostly) Albanian, and the monastery had been threatened (with destruction) during the war, and was viewed with mute hostility by considerable numbers of the local population, - but was deemed preeminent among all of the monasteries of the Serb Orthodox church - it was ancient - visits had to be arranged in advance and visitors carefully vetted.

At the time, - this was just after the Serb-Kosovo conflict - the monastery was guarded around the clock by armed troops from Kfor, (Italians, if memory serves, the day I was there), to protect against the unwelcome - and possibly arsonist - attentions of some of the more enthusiastic locals.

And yes, I had also seen for myself the wanton damage and nihilistic destruction (of some spectacularly beautiful mosques) wielded by Serb forces in parts of Bosnia where I have observed many elections; it shocked me to see places of worship treated with such vicious vandalism, but in Kosovo, the destroyed places of worship tended to be Serb Orthodox monasteries, some of them quite venerable and ancient.

So, my visit was arranged in advance, and I was given a very impressive - and moving and powerful - tour by an incredibly well educated (he spoke six languages at least) and respectful (some members of the Orthodox communion have issues with independent women; this man was respectful of and impressed by the fact that I was an academic, which I was, at the time) monk, and we had a good chat afterwards; I was asked politely not to take any photographs inside any place of worship, and I respected that request.

The monastery was beautiful, and extraordinarily peaceful and tranquil - I hesitate to use words such as "spiritual" but I would suggest that they applied here.

Even the gardens were astounding - a contrast in colours, shapes, shade and textures, beautifully cared for with fountains and manicured lawns, and stunning arresting colours - a striking and stark contrast to the contemptuously treated, filthy arid and uncared for landscape outside the guarded walls of the monastery; the frescoes and mosaics inside the monastery were equally amazing and quite beautiful.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Not really a TV show, but "Into Great Silence" (2005) is a beautiful documentary filmed in a monastery; the monks vow their complete silence, so the documentary is mostly without a single word said. It's not an "entertaining" documentary, but it's going to relax you and possibly make you fall asleep like a baby. Looking at how everything moves slow, and in silence, is quite a striking difference from our current society. A calming experience.

I saw a screening of this at a theater a couple years ago. Excellent.

 

[MacBH928]

There's quite a few fantastic TV shows, I guess some us weren't sure if you were looking for some kind of very specific content, or just high quality television (and that includes original shows from streaming services, etc.)

If it's the latter, then here you go:

The Wire
The Sopranos
Breaking Bad
Deadwood
The Shield
The Americans
Fargo
The Leftovers
WestWorld
Lost
Twin Peaks
Barry
The Good Place
Halt and Catch Fire
Atlanta
Veep
Fleabag
Justified
Black Mirror
True Detective


That's a mix of slightly older to still running shows, some half hour, some an hour, drama, scifi, speculative fiction, comedy (some a bit dark), amazing writing, directing, performances.

That should keep you busy for several months

thats a nice curated set of shows I have seen some,know some, and some are new to me. I keep forgeting about DeadWood, did they complete it or left it hanging like FireFly?

 

[yaxomoxay]

I saw a screening of this at a theater a couple years ago. Excellent.

Must’ve been great on a giant screen with good audio. It’s difficult to find a more relaxing “movie”.

 

[D.T.]

thats a nice curated set of shows I have seen some,know some, and some are new to me. I keep forgeting about DeadWood, did they complete it or left it hanging like FireFly?

Great question! It ended after 3 seasons in 2006, it was an ending, but not very satisfying, like not so much a cliffhanger, but kind of unresolved fates/destinies for the main characters.

Word was Milch (the showrunner/creator) was big on another show, did it, that ended, did a few other series, but there was always this talk of wanting to go back to Deadwood. Well, in 2019, they released a movie, so a 2 hours wrapup of the series, done in more or less "real time" (i.e., ~13 years had passed).

It's a fantastic end to the series, which itself was just brilliant.

Kind of sad footnote, Milch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2015 shortly before beginning work on the script for the Deadwood film. It's definitely like he wanted to tell the story before he lost the ability to do so - and there's a nice parallel to one of the main characters (the amazing Ian McShane).

If you're interested at all, definitely watch it, in the top 5 best series ever, and now with a proper finale. FYI, it's a bit violent and very littered with foul language (the dialog is spectacular, he used swearing like poetry, the whole show is very Shakespearean).

 

[yaxomoxay]

Twin Peaks

Can’t recommend this enough. However, I have been obsessed by this show since I was 9, so take my advice as you would take the advice of building a nuclear shelter for the impending nuclear war from a strange, slightly deranged-looking man you meet on the street.

 

[MacBH928]

Great question! It ended after 3 seasons in 2006, it was an ending, but not very satisfying, like not so much a cliffhanger, but kind of unresolved fates/destinies for the main characters.

Word was Milch (the showrunner/creator) was big on another show, did it, that ended, did a few other series, but there was always this talk of wanting to go back to Deadwood. Well, in 2019, they released a movie, so a 2 hours wrapup of the series, done in more or less "real time" (i.e., ~13 years had passed).

It's a fantastic end to the series, which itself was just brilliant.

Is the movie a finale to the series, or is it the whole series summed into a movie form? Is it titled Deadwood too?

Can’t recommend this enough. However, I have been obsessed by this show since I was 9, so take my advice as you would take the advice of building a nuclear shelter for the impending nuclear war from a strange, slightly deranged-looking man you meet on the street.

That show is very weird it is un-categroizeable. Things get pretty stale by the beginning of season 2(if you know what I mean, no spoilers). I couldn't finish it after that.