Netflix...What to watch

A show about a city in the sky in the Bioshock style is not going to be cheap though. But if they can splash out the big bucks for shows like GoT (15M per episode), Loki, Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (25M per episode) and the new but terrible BSG (6M), surely they can do it and make it succesful (profitable). Not expecting much from Netflix though, even the Witcher (10M) looked rather cheap in comparison with GoT.

Here's a list of the 50 most expensive TV shows (not all are listed, such as BSG, I guess its budget is a little unclear, I got the 6M number from reddit), there are some real turds in there:

50 Most Expensive TV Shows + Budget Per Episode

Some of the biggest turds in that list (in terms of being rather expensive for what you actually get to see, like The Witcher that I already mentioned, so I won't list that one again). OK, I haven't actually seen most of these shows, or perhaps maybe a few scenes here and there, so it's my guess:

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (25M)
WandaVision (25M; seen it, see rating in my list, 3.2)
The Pacific (20M; I think I've seen this one, but since I can't remember anything from it, I doubt it was any good)
See (15M, rating in my list, 1.4)
The Morning Show (15M, haven't seen it, not my type of show, contemporary realism shouldn't be this expensive)
The Crown (13M; what's the term for chickflick if it's a show?)
ER (13M; yuck, contemporary realism for chicks into Doctors and relational and emotional drama, should be way cheaper; I guess it's a big market, making it a bit of a rip-off)
The Get Down (11M; never even heard of it, the website says "This series, about a group of kids navigating New York in the 1970s while hip-hop was rising should have been a hit, ..."; still too expensive for the 70's, which I still count as contemporary realism, too recent.)
Friends (10M; way too expensive for a sitcom with heavy emphasis on targeting females with emotional and relational drama, which should be cheap to make. Overpaid actors.)
Westworld (10M; on my 'still to watch' list, but not expecting much from it)
Big Bang Theory (9M; too expensive for a sitcom promoting pseudoscience like string theory)
Rome (9M; my rating: 2.8)
Marco Polo (9M; on my 'still to watch' list, but not expecting much from it)
Sense 8 (9M; not seen, website says: "This meant that a lot of filming permits had to be obtained and the actors had to travel a whole lot. Money, money, money." So that means not much money left for beautiful scenery and special effects; Heroes got a 3.6 rating for me, so I won't bother with this one cause it's probably not better than Heroes)
The Defenders (8M; put it on my 'still to watch' list for that reason, and that reason alone, hoping they spent that money on special effects)
Jack Ryan (8M; never heard of it, didn't interest me)
Stranger Things (8M; my rating: 2.1)
Bloodline (7-8M; website says: "Bloodline also got cancelled after three seasons, possibly due to its overpriced cost." If other people already don't like it, I certainly won't, cause I'm way more critical or demanding of my entertainment, also not my genre)
Vinyl (7.5M; 1970s music scene, contemporary realism for me, not my genre, and shouldn't be this expensive)
Bridgerton (7M; website: "Let’s not forget Grey’s Anatomy co-creator Shonda Rhimes serves as executive producer ..."; contemporary realism for me; Grey’s Anatomy is as uninteresting to me as ER)
Camelot (7M; website: "Needless to say that the Game of Thrones level of involvement in beautiful set designs and fantasy aesthetics were not compelling enough, as the series was cancelled after only 10 episodes. Everyone together now – “what a waste of money”.")
The Alienist (7M; website: "This psychological thriller, dealing with pretty gory stuff and gritty themes is costly because it had to be ..."; says who? Cheap gore thrills like TWD and gritty like the new BSG, everything that's wrong with modern shows in my opinion)
Altered Carbon (7M; website: "Not to mention, the action scenes and hefty violence. Turns out, Netflix discovered that money can’t reincarnate, because the show was cancelled after two seasons." And good riddance, you call this Sci-Fi? Where are the spaceships that would warrant some higher budgets? And again the cheap violent thrills heavy on indoctrination and conditioning people with a violent disposition. Pushing buttons in people that I disabled in me. I don't want my mind and heart destroyed and polluted by this system of things and "the spirit of the world", thank you very much.)
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (6.5M; that's not worthy of a show, certainly not for anyone outside of the US)
World Without End (5.7M; put it on my 'still to watch' list for that reason, and that reason alone; talking about the high budget in case that wasn't clear before; OK, technically also because it's the history genre, just like Marco Polo before)
Frasier (5.2M; wokeness sitcom, too expensive; overpaid actors)
True Blood (5M; website: "...actors with increasing paychecks, and gory supernatural scenes"; vampires and the supernatural are for chicks, not me, and can we forego on the cheap gore thrills for a change?)
Boardwalk Empire (5M; not sure about this one, I prefer my history to be a little longer ago)
The Tick (5M; website: "The colossal investment of this Amazon Prime series certainly didn’t make a strong impact on viewers, as it only lasted two seasons." And no wonder, is this even a superhero? Who ever heard of the Tick as a superhero?)

That's enough expensive turds for now.

Stargate fans are so spoiled with quality entertainment, that no modern Sci-Fi or fantasy show quite does the trick for them I guess. At least that's how it works for me (I always have to think about the episode in Stargate SG-1 where the Stargate spoof, Wormhole Xtreme, is supposed to be made into a movie; where they say something about respecting the intelligence of their audience and when brainstorming about how to make the movie, show a soap Sci-Fi with an entirely young cast and lots of relational and emotional drama, three-way relationships, like in Krypton and See, and other ridiculous stuff to make fun of those kind of cheap tricks with no real depth, cleverness and the type of fun adventure that Stargate SG-1 is; a typical modern show basically, just like the version Cameron Mitchell suggests with zombies, I think the response is that 'zombies have been done to death, no pun intended'; the young cast version, is what I imagine Killjoys to be):

The brainstorming scene with the comment about the intelligence of the audience at 1:05:

I think I'll just watch Stargate again for the 5th time or so, instead of Vikings or one of the superhero shows (the latter probably having a predominantly young cast and being supposedly edgy).

Maybe my rating for See is a little harsh (it does after all have a lot of Stargate Atlantis actors in there), but there are no real Sci-Fi or Fantasy effects (lasers, shields, magical effects), it doesn't feel like a history show (more like survival; although they do have some battles with historical weaponry, which I liked, but mostly small skirmishes, GoT and Rome have bigger battles; GoT = same budget, 15M, Rome = 9M). And the pauses in the middle of sentences that the Queen constantly makes, feels like something the director told her to do as cheap time-filler + it's annoying. Marla has to get married with some guy from Pennsa when she's already married with Baba Voss and has kids from yet another guy = boring emotional and relational threeway (fourway?) drama.

And they have such a huge budget, can't they get something more expensive out of that? Is all the money going towards blindness training for the actors? I've seen complaints in the IMDB review section that it isn't really paying off, although didn't really notice this myself, don't consider this all that important anyway. Scenery and costumes are nice, but costumes aren't that important to me, I think (unless I notice it being really bad perhaps*). *: the costume of Lord Zipacna in Stargate in his introductory episode was bad in a funny way, and the actor was great and made it work somehow, still impressed by that more than good costumes.

I also messed up a bit by starting with the first episode of season 2, being thrilled by the show in how it made me think about all the weird terminology and ways of doing things, trying to think about why they would do it that way in a blind world, which was really engaging for my mind, then realizing the next day that I had skipped a season, and all these mysteries were spelled out in the first season, upon which my excitement about the show dropped significantly somehow. Suddenly I wasn't thinking about it anymore and just thought, get on with it already, what's next, how do we get to the point in season 2. I get it already, and I know what the crazy Queen is going to do. Oh, more violence and gore because it's already rated in the highest audience rating (don't know all the codes, PG, etc.). Skip that. More relational and emotional drama (I don't care about the characters yet, make it a bit lighter, have some fun adventure), skip that. Queen kills someone and keeps on stabbing her victim with the knife when her victim is already dead (something to do with losing a baby, more emotional drama; see the "I'm pregnant" line in the young cast edgy Stargate video, or should I say Wormhole Xtreme), next episode please, I get it, she's crazy and filled with emotional pain and the victim wasn't allowed to tell anyone, fairly cliché, I know what O'Neill would have to say about clichés. But nobody in this show will make a proper joke about it that fits the character, making the show light and fun (one half of the way I would describe Stargate SG1: a fun 10 * 24-26 episodes wonderous adventure that challenges my mind to think about what I'm seeing, what would I do in this situation? What's going on here, what will happen next? How would this or that character feel or react? What would be typical for them, and thus usually funny or entertaining/pleasing because it's typical, Carter using her smarts, O'Neill using his wits, bravado and impudence, Daniel using his 'woo'-factor, or should I say 'Oma', Teal'c remaining quiet and giving meaningful looks that say more than words ever can, O'Neill getting it, etc.; and because it's 10 * 24-26 episodes, unlike modern shows with about 10 episodes per season, or shows with more filler episodes with little to nothing redeeming in them, packed with adventure, like a thick fantasy book, as per my reading preference).

Just looking for a statement of O'Neill about clichés on youtube (the one where he says something like "well that would be a cliché, and you know how I feel about those...no actually, you do" [pointing to someone else]) I'm laughing my ass off with all the other jokes. I thought he said something about clichés when Daniel looked like an Ori prior, something about him being evil and that than being a cliché. Evil twins are clichés as well (from an alternate universe, which I think now is the one I'm looking for, he says that to alternate universe Carter, then points to the 'real' Carter; not that alternate Carter in that episode is evil, just discussing the possibility).

"Mine-Me", "Carter, I should be irked currently, yes?" (that's the one that really got me, after already being warmed up with the Daniel as a prior - O'Neill scene)

I do secretly look forward to the next episode of See though, so perhaps it's a bit of disappointment that is reflected in that 1.4 rating. Perhaps I should rate it a little higher, and I haven't skipped as much as some other shows. Actually, I think I've skipped hardly anything. Maybe I was just looking for something to put in between TWD and FTWD, since TWD is a bit better than FTWD (maybe I should just lower FTWD to 1.1 and re-evaluate See). Yeah, I'm doing it. Making See 2.6, cause Rome at 2.8 has bigger battles. And I kinda like it that The Boys (2.7) addresses the subject of propaganda and marketing. Lost in Space (2.9) and Dark Matter (3) have space ships and/or Sci-Fi effects (lasers, blasters, shields, glowy technology, robots, etc.). Ash vs Evil Dead (3.1) was funnier, i.e. more fun. With WandaVision (3.2) you could really see that a lot of money went into Sci-Fi and fantasy effects, which I can't really see in See, "no pun intended" (I guess it's in the scenery there, but that's less interesting to me). The Orville (3.3) spaceships again, definitely a boon over See. Black Sails (3.4), pirates, who doesn't prefer pirates and naval vessels over some people wandering in the wilderness most of the time (and having conversations interspersed with brutal violence and gore, and then dragging it out, sometimes quite literally rather than verbally; you can tone it down a bit, no need to put that much emphasis on it as if you're copying Stranger Things with 'pretty boy' teenagers wailing on eachother concerning some emotional and/or relational drama). The Last Kingdom (3.5) has bigger battles again, more episodes. So I really can't put See any higher than 2.6 for now.

originally posted by: whereislogic
... O'Neill using his wits, bravado and impudence, ...

Rule #4 at 1:37...

I'm probably gonna end up making every thread in this subforum a Stargate thread until they finally bring it back, in some way. Guess Stargate is no longer on Netflix, read something about that some time ago. Only show of this century truly worth spending the big bucks on.

originally posted by: whereislogic
A show about a city in the sky in the Bioshock style is not going to be cheap though.

But they can have a stargate there...like Atlantis, the flying city. I'll even take an animated version at this point, with the right voice overs like "What if...", so Richard Dean Anderson can do O'Neill, etc. (mixing the characters from Atlantis and SG1). That way, there are no problems with the age of actors (although Patrick Stewart/Picard is still acting, so I see no problem).

edit: when writing that last bit I started re-arranging my rating list to more reflect my desire for more episodes, rather than entertaintment value as it was before (which considered nr. of episodes available), I get quite a different rating then (a little weird with shows that have already ended). All the still running shows that I somewhat liked go up. The top is now (changes bolded):

Stargate SG-1 (9)
Stargate Atlantis (8.8)
Babylon 5 (8.5)
Star Trek DS9 (8)
Blackadder (7.9)
Picard (7.8)*
Game of Thrones (7.3)
The Expanse (7.2)*
The Mandalorian (7)*
Stargate Universe (6.5)
ST TNG (6.4)
Loki (6.4)*
Band of Brothers (6.3)
Hornblower (6.2)
Hatfields & McCoys (6.1)
Space: Above and Beyond (6)
The Witcher (5.9)*
Firefly (5.9)
What If...? (5.8)*
ST Voyager and Enterprise (5.8)
Farscape (5.6)
The old BSG (5.5)

originally posted by: whereislogic
...
edit: when writing that last bit I started re-arranging my rating list to more reflect my desire for more episodes, rather than entertaintment value as it was before (which considered nr. of episodes available), I get quite a different rating then (a little weird with shows that have already ended). All the still running shows that I somewhat liked go up. The top is now (changes bolded): ...

And when changing my ratings like that I had to admit that my desire to see new episodes for currently running shows is much higher than my rating for the entertainment value of currently available episodes in comparison with Stargate SG1 as the standard (10 * 24-26 great episodes, the more boring ones few and far between). Especially See went up considerably in my rating list now, but also The Last Kingdom and The Boys. And suddenly I find myself wanting to see Vikings a lot more than yesterday, ain't that odd. Now my list looks like this, starting with the first change (the top above this is the same as my previous comment, changes bolded):

The Witcher (6)*
What If...? (6)*
Space: Above and Beyond (6)
Firefly (5.9)
ST Voyager and Enterprise (5.8)
Farscape (5.7)
The Last Kingdom (5.6)*
See (5.5)*
The old BSG (5.5)
The Dark Crystal (5.4)
WandaVision (5.3)
Deadwood (5)
Lost (5)
The Boys (4.9)*
ST Discovery (4)*
Rome (3.9)
Heroes (3.8)
The Orville (3.7)*
Lost in Space (3.6)*
His Dark Materials (3.5)*
Black Sails (3.5)
Ash vs Evil Dead (3.4)
Dark Matter (3)
Krypton (2.9)
Doctor Who (2.8)*
Stranger Things (2.5)*
Andromeda (2)
Falling Skies (1.7)
Merlin (1.6)
TWD (1.5)*
FTWD (1.1)*
The new BSG (1)

Open to future refinement, cause it's a bit tricky, the rating of shows that are finished is still based on entertainment value for me, because they're not getting any new episodes anyway (given up hope; even though I'm thinking, if Picard can do it, they all can, no one is too old unless they're dead).

The old BSG (5.5), Lost (5), ST Discovery (4)*, Black Sails (3.5), Dark Matter (3), Andromeda (2) and The new BSG (1), are sort of set values for me, they are the easiest to rate. Everything else goes around that. Or in other words, when deciding to rate a show around that rating (6 and below), I tend to compare with these rather than Stargate cause they don't even come close to Stargate anyway, it's an unfair comparison. I originally had Stranger Things as a set value at 2.5 as well, then made some adjustments before posting my list on page 2, and now returned it to its set value, even though it's still running, just like ST Discovery, I can do without new episodes if that money is invested elsewhere (like those shows listed above them, even those that are no longer running; being remade/restarted then, like Picard is almost a remake/restart of ST TNG, with lots of the same actors showing up in the show in the same character role, or something close. With that last thing said, I prefer Data as Data, the original funny one, regardless of age, and not as Soong; but the updated visuals in Picard compared to ST TNG definitely warrants it a higher rating for me, it's also the one still running that I want to see new episodes of the most; although GoT's rating is affected by its last season, otherwise, in terms of desire for new episodes, somewhere between 8-9; so that's not reflected in the list now, which is a bit mixed that way between desire and value of what's available).

TWD is probably a set value as well, cause there's only 1 episode in the entire show that I really like (quite a lot), 1 redeeming episode in such a long running show, that possibly has a fairly hefty budget (haven't checked), is not enough to warrant much more than 1.5. Even Andromeda at 2 has more fun, interesting or entertaining episodes. It's the episode after they discover the horde of zombies in the quarry, and have to come up with a plan to deal with this threat, then executed it (the order in which everything is shown is a little confusing, they could have done without that I guess, that's not the reason I like this episode). It looks like quite a bit of money also went into this episode, not sure. There is the zombie+whisperers attack on Hilltop, but by then the show had already become rather annoying and boring (and perhaps predictable and clichéd, if I remember correctly).

Now that I'm no longer compairing with Stargate as the standard, the top changes as well:

Stargate SG-1 (9)
Stargate Atlantis (8.9)
Babylon 5 (8.8)
Star Trek DS9 (8.7)
Game of Thrones (8.7; not counting the last season, some mixture between desire for new episodes and entertainment value)
Picard (8.6)*
The Expanse (8.5)*
Stargate Universe (8.4) (purely desire)
The Mandalorian (8.3)*
Blackadder (8.2)
ST TNG (8.1)
Loki (8)*
Band of Brothers (7.5)
Hornblower (7)
Hatfields & McCoys (6.5)

In the meantime, I've gone from 1.4 to 8.2 for See once I abandoned my Stargate standard and based my rating on desire to see more of this show rather than what's currently available. Over 24 hours and being half-way through the latest episode. Just a hint at certain other of my latest adjustments, such as:

The Witcher (8.1)*
Space: Above and Beyond (8)
Blackadder (8)
The Last Kingdom (7.9)*
What If...? (7.6)*
ST Voyager and Enterprise (7.5)
Firefly (7.5)
Farscape (6)
The Dark Crystal (6)
WandaVision (6)
The Boys (6)*
Heroes (5)
Krypton (5)
ST Discovery (5)*
The Orville (5)*
Lost in Space (5)*
His Dark Materials (5)*
Dark Matter (4.9)
Rome (4.8)
Black Sails (4.7)
Ash vs Evil Dead (4.6)
Doctor Who (4.5)*
Andromeda (4)
Stranger Things (4)*
TWD (4)*
Falling Skies (4)
Merlin (4)

Apparently, Stargate SG1 is on Netflix. And all 3 Stargate shows (Atlantis and SGU) are still available on Hulu, but will be taken off (expire) on September 30. Just read it on Gateworld.net. The same article also mentions that it's possible they will be on Amazon Prime (next year though) as "Prime exclusives", whatever that means.

In the meantime, this is my rating list now based almost completely on desire to see more of this show rather than what's currently available using Stargate as the standard (as described before):

Stargate SG-1 (9)
Stargate Atlantis (8.9)
Babylon 5 (8.8)
Star Trek DS9 (8.7)
Game of Thrones (8.7; ignoring the last season, this rating is based on some mixture between desire for new episodes and entertainment value of what is currently already available)
Picard (8.6)*
The Expanse (8.5)*
Stargate Universe (8.5) (purely desire)
The Mandalorian (8.4)*
Loki (8.4)*
See (8.3)*
The Witcher (8.3)*
What If...? (8.2)*
The Last Kingdom (8.1)*
ST TNG (8.1)
Blackadder (8.1)
Vikings (8)*
Band of Brothers (8)
Space: Above and Beyond (8)
Firefly (8)
Hornblower (8)
WandaVision (8)
Hatfields & McCoys (7.9)
The Dark Crystal (7.9)
ST Voyager and Enterprise (7.9)
The Boys (7.8)*
Farscape (7.7)
The old BSG (7.6)
Deadwood (7.5)
Lost (7.5)
Heroes (7.5)
Krypton (7.4)
ST Discovery (7.3)*
The Orville (7.2)*
Lost in Space (7.1)*
His Dark Materials (7)*
Dark Matter (7)
Rome (7)
Black Sails (7)
Ash vs Evil Dead (7)
Doctor Who (7)*
Andromeda (6.9)
Stranger Things (6.8)*
TWD (6.7)*
Falling Skies (6.6)
Merlin (6.5)
FTWD (6.5)*
The new BSG (6.5)

originally posted by: HairForceOne
a reply to: Wide-Eyes

Forgot about Schitt's Creek!! Absolutely superb series. I have watched it through twice. I am not sure I have seen another series I laughed so hard at.

Excellent taste!!

Thank you! You too.

I'm not into woke stuff but Schitt's Creek pulls it off without being obvious. It's extremely well made and makes me and my Mrs laugh whenever we watch it.

a reply to: whereislogic

Stargate SG1 is probably the best Sci-fi show ever created.

I saw the original Stargate movie at the cinema and I was in awe. When SG1 was released a few years later I was ecstatic.

Egyptian gods and Aliens, what a formula.

I have just finished the first series of Squid Game (only one so far). Fantastic, hope series 2 is just as good whenever it comes out. It's in South Korean so i watched it with english dubs and subs.

It's about 500 people who take part in childrens games to win money. Thats all i'll say because i don't want to spoil it.

The trailer, although if you are going watch it don't bother with this trailer. Enjoy

a reply to: TheGreazel

Crime & Penalties was fascinating. How that story never made it to the national press like ESPN is beyond me. They should have done a 30 For 30 on this years ago.

@OP: Cocaine Cowboys: Kings of Miami is awesome. A story you won't believe.

The Wire, one of the best crime/drama shows ever made.

Season 1 of True Detective.

Babylon Berlin - a high quality German production detective-drama series set in the Weimar Republic with all different groups & sects with references to MKULTRA & Tavistock level stuff, trains of gold, Berlin mafia, drug & weapons trafficking, porno & intel networks, corporate and banking elite leading to Weimar's degeneracy. The power struggle between economic elite, Monarchists, Trotskyites, Stalinists going after Trotskyites, a satanic cult, Expressionists making Metropolis style films who also are part of a satanic cult. What we're seeing right now is literally what's in season 3 regards to the corporate & banking elite to restructure the whole society on a new great plan/great reset.

Most expensive non-English-language TV series (w/English subs) ever made and also the most expensive German TV series ever with a budget of approximately $40 million Euros.

My two top Netflix series are:
Santa Clarita Diet.
Sweet Tooth.

Does anyone know if there are going to be anymore seasons coming for these two?

Interesting thread!

A whole lot of shows here I've never heard of before.

Sadly, I can't do any of the movie download sites...not enough bandwidth.

But maybe I'll look on Amazon or something for some of these on DVD.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Netflix: Sweet Tooth is officially coming back for Season 2

Santa Clarita Diet was Cancelled.

A few others on Netflix:

Sense8 (if you liked The OA)
Stranger Things
Money Heist
The Sinner
The Umbrella Academy
Tribes of Europa
The One
Shadow and Bone

"new" Archer episodes are out and available on Netflix.

I thought I post it in case others have missed it too.

"An Angel at My Table."

Wow ..... what an incredible film.

Kerry Fox plays Janet Frame (New Zealand writer and poet) in this auto biography.... I loved this film so much I watched it again the following day.

Do not miss this film.

originally posted by: LordAhriman
The Last Kingdom is my favorite show of all time.

It is good but as an avid Bernard Cornwell fan I had already read most of the series before the show came along (last few books came after the show had started). The books are beyond good so, unfortunately for me, the show never lived up to them.

Like I say, it is a good show but it just doesn't compare. For a start, Uhtred is wrong - nowhere near big enough and his hair is dark instead of blonde. There are lots of such differences that just detract a bit.

Just finished How To Get Away With Murder and quite enjoyed it but as a Brit there are a lot of episodes.

Quite enjoyed Knightfall. Marco Polo was good. Locke & Key was good. There is a lot of decent content when you start thinking back.

a reply to: TheMirrorSelf

Hangar One series is another of my favorites!