Monday, May 2, 2016

Binge Watching: The Best Crime TV



Binge watching TV can be the best, or the worst if you can't find any shows that are binge-worthy.  Binge-worthy shows have to:

1) Be good enough to want to keep watching
2) Have enough episodes that a binge is possible
3) Be freely available on Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, mobile apps or run regularly on cable

When I recently found my binge-watching list empty, I turned to the Mystery Playground Facebook page, to see what you all love to binge watch. 



Here are the recommendations:

Carrie suggests:






Bernie recommends Death in Paradise... "A stiff upper lip British Detective gets sent to a laid back Caribbean island, great location, great plots and humour." It's now in its fifth season with BBC One, and available on iTunes.





Midsomer Murders


Cathi also suggests Death in Paradise, Miss Marple and Miss Fisher. And to that list she adds:



Dru Ann recommends, Angela Lansbury's hit TV show from the 80s and 90s, Murder, She Wrote. Kris agreed with her and added Hart to Hart, where a glamorous rich couple, Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers solve crimes with their butler Max and a god named Freeway. 







Julie recommends three shows:

  • New Tricks - A unit of retired police detectives solve cold cases.
  • NBC's Crossing Lines - A special unit sanctioned by the Internation Criminal Court focuses on international crimes.
  • Rosemary and Thyme - This show about a crime-solving gardening loving duo aired on the BBC.


Dina suggests:
  • Columbo - This show started in the early 70s and featured a brilliant detective who hid behind a bumbling exterior.  
  • Inspector Morse - Excellent ITV series that ran on Mystery for years. 
  • Prime Suspect - Helen Miran's show, also for ITV in Britain, makes for great entertainment and storylines dealt with racism and sexism. NBC tried a US reboot of this in 2011, but it didn't last long. 
  • Rumpole of the Bailey - This courtroom ran from 1978 - 1992, and Rumpole helped the lower classes find justice. 



And if you want to a mini-binge watch, there's always to new ABC TV show - The Catch I watched one episode and then watched all five episodes that have aired to date like I was eating potato chips out of a bag. I don't know how they keep this show this fresh, but for now, I'll keep watching. 

Now tell us what you like to binge watch...

4 comments:

  1. So many of my favorites are listed here and some new ones as well. Don't forget Foyle's Way - a classic on PBS.

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  2. I've watched most of these already - you can't avoid Midsomer Murders on Australian TV. I tried to get into Columbo recently but it felt very dated.

    Agree with the previous poster that Foyles War is very good, also

    Dalziel and Pascoe
    Blue Murder with Caroline Quentin in the lead role
    George Gently is decent too - Martin Shaw as a curmudgeon
    Jonathan Creek is a bit lighter but still good - especially the first 3-4 seasons
    Monk - Tony Shaloub is great and the show gets better as it goes on
    Lewis - the follow up to Morse
    Silent Witness - at least the early seasons with Amanda Ryan in the lead
    Vera
    Unit One (it's Danish so you gotta read subtitles) (or speak Danish) - about a squad that moves around the country to solve crimes the locals can't tackle - there's 4 seasons I think and all are good

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  3. PS...no idea if any of these are available to you...I'm in Australia...most of those shows are English

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    Replies
    1. Bernadette - what a great list. Many of them available here. I'm not sure about Unit One or Blue Murder, but I will look into it. Thank you for adding your picks!

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