I think with any of the drama series you really have to start with the first episode. I would never recommend anyone start watching Mad Men or SOA or The Newsroom with the current episode or season. Just not fair to the writing. You get a taste of how good the actiing or writing is but have no idea of the story vision. Sopranos a good example. I know people who watched a couple episodes in the middle of season 4 and decided it was no good.

Of course deciding you just don't like that kind of drama is fair enough.

SOA by the way is Hamlet on bikes. <g> I actually find the character you think of as a pretty British boy ( you got that from reading about him rather than his dialogue etc) very convincing. (He's Hamlet) but the people who make the show for me are Katy Segal and Ron Perlman.

Boardwalk Empire another one to watch from the beginning.

Also forgot to mention Deadwood. I will never forgive Milch for abandoning that show to do John from Cincinnatti.

I starting with Breaking Bad now and am on about the 4th episode of the first season.

>>>>>But not on TV? Maybe the internet connection lets you do that. I sure don't want to watch NFL games on a phone
>>>>>
>>>>>I have 2 big screen HD TVs with HDMI, so I can hook up my laptop to one of them.
>>>>>
>>>>>Actually, watching a game on one of the newer phones isn't as bad as you would think.
>>>>
>>>>I wonder if Roku will make that available at some point ( HBOGO and Netflix are great. For some reason ShowtimeAnytime not on Roku yet)
>>>>
>>>>Seems like a natural.
>>>
>>>I gave my Roku box to Emily. There are so many unwatched DVD and Blu-Ray discs already it's ridiculous.
>>>
>>>You might not guess one of the things I have been watching lately. John Wayne movies. There is a terrific interview with him by Peter Bogdonavich on the extras disc of "Stagecoach". Wayne says most people just want to ask me about politics so it's nice to talk about the movies.
>>>
>>>Re Showtime, I reupped to watch the last episodes of "Dexter". "Breaking Bad" is also ending. I won't have any known reasons for watching TV other than sports.
>>j
>>I've watched Dexter since the beginning and I like it but definitely not as much as most people seem to. i've just always found serial killer of any kind as a plotline not very interesting. The fact I watch Dexter at all is surprise to me and definitely a credit to the cast and writers.
>>
>>But there is some terrrific stuff on TV
>>
>>Ray Donovan?
>>
>>Low winters sun?
>>
>>The Bridge?
>>
>>The League?
>>
>>New season of Sons of Anarchy starts Tuesday.
>>
>>New season of Boardwalk Empire starts Sunday
>>
>>You like Sorkin - if you have HBO you can watch all of The Newsroom on HBOGO.
>>
>>And of course Justified - all of it.
>>http://www.fxnetworks.com/justified
>>
>>(and of course if you have Netflix there is House of Cards with Kevin Spacey and Orange is the New Black ...
>>
>>... and seven seasons of Buffy, <g> )
>>
>>and Ronda Rousey and Misha Tate are the coaches on the new season of Ultimate Fighter that just started last week. !!!
>>
>>Life is good.
>
>Taste is personal, of course. I watched a few episodes of "Sons of Anarchy" on my daughter Allie's recommendation. It didn't grab me at all. A blond British pretty boy is surely the world's least convincing biker.
>
>Maybe I will check out "The Newsroom". Emily Nussbaum, the New Yorker TV critic, who I like, tore it a new one and that kept me away.
>
>"Orange is the New Black" sounds good.
>
>I will give "Justified" a try because of the Elmore Leonard connection. I have been rereading a lot of his books.