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Parker Lewis Can’t Lose > Ferris Bueller

Patriot > Mr Inbetween > Barry > Get Shorty

Stranger Things vs. Dark

Kid goes missing in a smaal town, launching friends & family into a sci-fi, fantasy, conspiracy thriller.

Which one is better, though? That’s the question.

More like

12 Monkeys vs Dark

Hard to say which one is better.

NEXT looked at Person of Interest, said “we can do that, but much much worse!” and inexplicably got down to work doing that.

Psych > the mentalist

You know that’s right

There’s a Get Shorty tv show btw

I’d say the first time I ran into this was Parker lewis can’t lose and the Ferris buellers day off ( the tv show)

Parker lewis was amazing Ferris was a quick cash grab to counter program against Parker lewis

I keep telling any fans of Scubs to track down Parker lewis bill Lawrence was good friends with the writers on Parker lewis. The influence is pretty obvious

Star Trek voyager and andromeda

I know I'm talking about the TV show

Scrubs > Grey’s Anatomy and any other medical show on air

Also heard from an ER doc that scrubs is the only medical show he’s ever seen that remotely resembles reality. Most medical shows have 1st-2nd year residents doing more exotic procedures in a month than real doctors see in a career.

I never even put together that Get Shorty and Barry have a similar premise. Huh, that's neat.

Here's one that's sure to start an argument: Star Trek DS9 > Babylon 5.

Billions and Succession and pretty similar, with the latter being much better (though both are good).

While I agree that Scrubs is better, it's much more comedy than drama. The better comparison is E.R. versus any of its clones.

I powered through a whole season of Babylon 5 before I had to accept that I just hate it. Hate it so much. Everyone is so gross and mean and it all looks so crummy. There’s an episode with a Soul Stealer and everyone on board acts genuinely concerned that there’s a Soul Stealer on board and that almost ended it for me, but I kept going. Only to learn that the reason the bone crown people were so obsessed with humans is because the bone crown people discovered bone crown souls were being reincarnated into human bodies and holy shit that’s actually the resolution to the season long mystery they'd been teasing, reincarnated souls!

My first thought too. I loved how Psych made a running joke of taking the piss out of that show

Stranger Things is better if you're in the mood for a lighthearted adventure with likeable characters and 80s nostalgia.

Dark is better if you're more in it for the compelling long term mystery.

It’s sad how bad Billions got

Scrubs is a comedy. but the medical consulting is great on the show

You aren't wrong, but man I love Get Shorty. I hope (wish?) it could get an ending...

No I really like Get Shorty and I wish it could get an ending as well it's just whatever Get Shorty does Barry does better

Ya, they were different enough to scratch a slightly different itch I think tho

Also Star Trek Voyager and BSG.

Breaking Bad >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Ozarks

BrBa - best show ever Ozarks - unwatchably mediocre

Eh I don’t think this counts, BSG came later and was built using another property that long exist, just a bunch of Moore’s spec scripts got repurposed for BSG and that was after the miniseries.

30 Rock vs Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Both about a SNL type sketch show that aired on NBC in 2006.

One had 7 seasons and the other is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

I often forget that White Collar and Suits are two different shows. Not sure if one is better though.

I never watched the mentalist just because it was such a blatant rip off of psych. Enjoyed all the jokes about it though.

Simpsons > Family Guy

Ozark isn’t as good but “unwatchably mediocre” is a complete lie. The only place Ozark truly dropped the ball was a very rushed/sudden ending.

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Arrested Development > Schitts Creek

The Office (US) > The Office (UK)

White Collar is much better

It doesn't have The Donna

No, that wasn't the real reason. But that happens when you stop watching when it gets interesting.

I have seen both DS9 and Babylon 5. B5 is better.

Honestly I know a lot of people loved it but I found the writing so insultingly implausible after a while that I couldn’t watch any more.

12 monkeys show or movie?

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Futurama >>>> Simpsons

I'm halfway through season 6 and it's a real slog.

Losing Damien Lewis basically killed this show.

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see the joke about studio 60 during aaron sorkin's cameo on 30 rock

We're past the prime for it but I've said for years we need a Scrubs treatment to all the CSI/forensic shows. One of my college professors used to run a crime lab and he had just the funniest (awful) stories about cases they worked. The CSI shows generally involve some sort of criminal mastermind vs the cases he worked where people would worry that the corpse bag was leaking so stuff in some of their mail with their name to their address to soak up the blood.

Ya but let me tell you... I loved Studio 60 and miss it dearly.

But the way they weave the drama into their stories is amazing.

These two shows could not be more different lol

White Collar is about a criminal who turns to the FBI to help white collar criminals.

Suits is a legal drama.

A few 90's sci-fi series jump to mind:

• DS9 and Babylon 5... star bases and space diplomacy
• Farscape and the Lexx... space weirdness and high jinx

The classic is the Star Trek Deep Space Nine versus Babylon 5. The creator of B5 had shopped the show to Paramount, it passed on it, yet developed DS9.

Lots of parallels to the two shows so JMS has a valid claim. That said, they are different and there is much to like from both. In my opinion DS9 is among the best of Trek, with its writers/producers going on to other shows like Breaking Bad.

American dad > Family guy.

To piggyback a few years ago it was ER versus Chicago Hope. Both set in Chicago and released the same year.

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Love me some Farscape

I’ve heard that from many medical professionals! It’s because the creator and show runner (and I think head writer, but at least significant influence on writing. Also married to Jordan IRL and plays a janitor in the finale) Bill Lawrence has a good friend who’s a doctor. They were roommates in college, his name is JD. He’s now the chief of medicine at his hospital. I think he and maybe other medical professionals were pretty routinely consulted to make sure it was accurate, both in terms of illnesses and medicine and also general dynamics.

Edit: you may already know that, but I’m just adding it in case others don’t!

You couldn’t be more wrong.

Gotta add a few more “>” signs!!

BCS > BB. For me. I know not everyone will agree with that.

Peaky Blinders>Boardwalk Empire

It really did but it was getting stagnant at the end with him too

The X-Files >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fringe

From what I heard it's also easier for Scrubs to do things right since the focus was never on the illness. A show like House had to make illnesses outlandish to be entertaining.

The morning local news program is 99% of the time better than the evening local news. I have no opinion on the afternoon version, as I am never around to watch it.

1A, 1B

Perpetual Grace LTD > Patriot

Made by the same guy both canceled way to soon

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Stranger Things is really good, Dark is amazing.

I might be one of the half a dozen of people who liked 12 Monkeys more than Dark.

Not to say it's better than Dark, both were great.

When I started watching Schitt's Creek, within the first few minutes I could not stop thinking about Arrested Development. Luckily the show morphed into its own thing. I really like Schitt's Creek, but Arrested Development is in my top tier of comedies.

That’s true! It’s not a focus, but there are often throwaway lines regarding a diagnosis based on symptoms or medicine the can treat/help it. And I’ve heard that’s accurate. But good point- the diseases or illnesses are generally irrelevant to the plot.

You know, I just started my rewatch of 30 Rock from start to finish, today.

Yeah, what the mentalist had going for them was the same that kept Castle alive for some long, a pretty detective that wanted to strangle the titular character with her bare hands half of the time.

There's something almost hypnotizing about seeing Marty trying to figure his way out of a jam. And like clockwork, someone thinks they have a better idea and screws it all up.

Stana Katic was the main reason I watched Castle religiously back in the days. Gorgeous woman.

Doom Patrol feels like someone at WB saw Legion and said “let’s do that but with some of our DC characters instead”

I like both shows and Doom patrol is separating itself more in the later seasons but Legion was so good and criminally undewatched

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Arrested Development was great but fizzled out by the end, where Schitt’s Creek started slow but became something really special and ended beautifully. It’s also more wholesome than Arrested Dev and the humor style is pretty different imo. I love them both though!

These shows aren't remotely similar other than the fact that they both take place in a hospital.

Reasonable argument! I still give BrBa the edge. Both spectacular.

Very different shows, and White Collar was very watchable

Also Babylon 5 > Deep Space Nine

Babylon 5 > Deep Space Nine.

I feel like the similarities only hold up for a few episodes though. Though Dark does keep the elements you say.

Off the top of my head I can think of Brooklyn 99 but that’s not quite it. Angie Tribeca is closer but it’s more full on parody.

Dark is written much better but I enjoy both

Nah, Mr Inbetween is better than all those shows.

Pulls Ray's mad smile

Edit: To add some justification. It was consistently funny and touching. It had a mix of singular (episodic) and long-running storylines which remained compelling. Plus it ended on a bitter sweet high. The central performance was mesmerising, Ray could be in equal parts scary and a heartfelt character.

Dave and Atlanta.

I preferred Dave, I bet you weren't expecting that.

Lil Dicky is a genius who wrote an unflinching character portrayal and wasn't afraid to get vulnerable and satirise his own ego with it. Same with the character of Gator, with an incredible look at bipolar disorder. On top of that, it remained very funny. Season 2 really elevated the show.

Atlanta started out strong but then became a circle-jerk for Donald Glover's ego from season 3. I always felt this was a shame as the first two seasons, especially the second, were really interesting. (Not seen Season 4 yet - I was so put off by Season 3).

Patriot was such a good show. I will definitely check out PG LtD if that’s the case.

Ehh… I mean. Sure, in the most superficial sense, they are similar because both feature the lavish lives of the 1%. But they’re NOTHING alike in basically every other capacity.

Succession is about how dysfunctional and terrible the Roy family is because of their wealth and privilege, and the draw is in seeing the absurd shit and corporate maneuvering they attempt backfire in their faces. Meanwhile, despite being terrible people, there’s still a very real sense of sympathy for them as people, which is a testament to the casting and performances as much as the writing. They suck, but over time we see why they suck, and while they may have infinitely more than what most of us enjoy, they are maladapted, crippled by insecurities, neurotic.

Honestly, Billions is the worst possible comparison, but if you want a series that is basically the closest comparison, it’s actually another HBO series, The Righteous Gemstones. That series is essentially the megachurch version of Succession, with almost the exact same premise and composition of characters (the presumptuous heir apparent who isn’t the man he believes himself to be, the immature younger brother who clearly struggles with his sexuality, and the sister who fancies herself the clever one, but is just as fucked up as the others, and also has a punching bag husband she takes for granted).

edit: Was on mobile before.

To be clear, while I say Righteous Gemstones is the better comparison to Succession, by no means is it within the context of OP's prompt. Righteous Gemstones is a very good series, that just so happens to share the same premise as Succession. It just happens to go in a wildly different direction (as it should).

Meanwhile, Billions is about the rivalry between two titans of their respective realms, and how far they are willing to go to "win," even after it becomes self-destructive. There's ultimately no "winner," because the story always finds a way to preserve the status quo, and after 5+ seasons, Damian Lewis ultimately leaves the show for deeply personal reasons (the sudden loss of his wife), not because the story ultimately arrives at a conclusion as to who prevails in their rivalry. All throughout this time, while other billionaires may be presented as laughably out of touch with reality, Bobby Axelrod himself is generally treated as a "cool" character; someone many finance bro-types probably aspire to be like. And one wouldn't be able to blame them, because Billions does not attempt to present him as anything other than a demigod with near-supernatural powers of calculation in his ability to see the patterns of the market.

Bobby dresses cool, drives cool cars, and the show's use of "cool" cameos and constant (and I mean CONSTANT) references to pop culture make Bobby seem practically pulled right out of the version of cool-guy masculinity Esquire Magazine tries to sell. He's by no means a satire of wealth and privilege, he's like the young, Steve McQueen-version of Logan Roy from Succession, since both are meant to be the level-headed, intelligent sharks who arose from poverty to become titans of industry.

I'm sorry, they're just not comparable and have completely different themes, motifs, characters, and storylines.

I think they're similar for the first half of the first season, but it quickly becomes obvious that AD is about people with, well, arrested development. While SC is about everyone growing. And then they quickly diverge from there.

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Mmm, BSG is what Voy was supposed to be. No end of episode reset.

It’s a Living/ The Bear

Good to know that initial comparison fades away. Maybe I’ll give Schitt’s Creek another try.

I agree with AD. I could not get into the extra seasons after it came back. Sounds like I should give SC another go.

TV

How far into Schitts Creek did you get? Season one was the weakest season by far but after watching the series more than once I appreciate it more than on my first watch. My first run I loved David. My second I really started to appreciate and recognize how funny Alexis was. And YES I watched a third time and that's when I really appreciated Moira and honestly, Roland a bit. It's one of my favorite shows.

I didn't like Atlanta's season 3 either, but thankfully season 4 went back to its roots and closed the series beautifully. You really should watch it if you liked the first two seasons.

They really did such a good job with each characters growth and development.

Addams Family & Munsters?

hey Gus!

Alexis's growth is so well done. I think the last season was fairly weak in comparison to the rest except for Alexis's story with Ted. They knocked that one out of the park. (Closely followed by that Stevie/David scene from one of the final episodes)

Yeah, the characters actually grow and change. As the show goes on it has way more feel-good stuff than AD ever had. I still like AD more, but Schitt's Creek is a nice show with good jokes.

That’s fair! I think the biggest difference for me was that I binged BB and the character changes were just too quick, it was jarring and I had to quit. BCS I watched much more episodically, and that was way better for the slow burn.

I remember at the time many people saying that they felt bad for 30 Rock because of the unfortunate timing. Studio 60 got more hype and most people thought it would have the better staying power.

Might as well squeeze in Studio 60. It won’t take very long.

I liked 12 Monkeys more as well. Just more fun to watch!

The weirdest is that Red Dwarf and Star Trek Voyager have a similar premiss but the former is not only better but is easier to take seriously because even Lister isn't as thick headed as Janeway or as racist as Chakotay

I love the history of thematically competing tv shows that happen at the same (or roughly the same) time.

The Adams Family > The Munsters

Bewitched > I Dream of Jeannie

Parker Louis Can't Lose > Ferris Bueller (TV version)

The Real Ghostbusters > Ghostbusters (Cartoons)

Seinfeld > Friends

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace > Children's Hospital

The Bad Half: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself > Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

I only watched the first episode, had trouble not comparing it to Arrested Development. Usually I give a show at least 3 episodes. I’ll have to give it another try.

Oh yeah. Definitely give it more time. The first season is definitely the weakest of all 6. One good thing is the episodes are so short so it's easy to binge.lol

Succession and billions ?

Lets be honest..Red Dwarf was a better show about being marooned in deep space and easier to take seriously

I'm halfway through season 4 (just came out in the UK) and so far I would rank the seasons as follows: 4 > 2 > 1 > 3

To be fair watching paint dry is better than Office UK

A classic example is Addams Family and The Munsters. Addams Family was so much better.

And bewitched and I dream of Jeannie

Strong disagree. Once Fringe gets going, it's aces.

Ozark is worth watching for Julia Garner alone. Not to mention Laura Linney.

You had me in the first half...

That’s true but to be fair they took each show in a very different direction. Mentalist is a drama first with some elements of comedy while Psych is the opposite. Plus Patrick Jane outright says he’s not a psychic while Shawn is the opposite.

Came here for this, the opening episode for FB had the new actor ripping on Mathew Broderick. Way to shit on your built in fan base.

Teen Titans GO! >Teen Titans > Titans

The 4400=Heroes (havent seen all of either)

Unsolved mysteries>Ripley's believe it or not

Twilight Zone> the outer limits

Avengers Earth's mightiest heroes >>>avengers assemble

The OC > 90210
This is Us > A million little things
The Orville > ST: Strange New Worlds

It’s a matter of opinion so I can’t say you are wrong but for me you can’t even compare the two besides the name. One isn’t better than the other because they were both trying to accomplish a different style of comedy. They aimed for different reactions from the audience. People think the Scott’s tots episode of the office is so cringey its hard to watch, but that is nothing compared to most episodes of the uk office. Maybe it’s a cultural thing but in the UK that type of humour is beloved.

Stranger things is great, but Dark blew me away. The way that Dark tied that insanely confusing and convoluted plot line up into a nice beat little bow with the series finale was just beautiful. It might be the most satisfying ending of any series I've watched.

Get Shorty and Barry are very different from each other and they are being compared here. Both forms of the office are a lot more alike than different, US version just had a lot stronger writing and a better cast

I don't think B5/DS9 really fits the premise - they're both excellent shows, and neither one is really better than the other overall.

Funnily enough, I'm in the middle of doing a double rewatch of The Paradise and Mr Selfridge.

I still stand by my original opinion that Paradise S1 > Selfridge S1 and Selfridge S2 > Paradise S2. I'm currently on Selfridge S3 and so far it's a hot mess, so we'll see how the final verdict plays out.

I mean they’re not really all that similar. Succession is significantly closer to Yellowstone than Billions, or even the Righteous Gemstones. It’s about family dynamics in the .01%

Billions is like Suits, but with different gimmicks. Super hero lawyers vs. super hero hedge fund Guys and DA’s and psychiatrists. It’s just marvel presents Ivy League professionals.

On paper it looked that way. Sorkin was just coming off of West Wing and Tina Fey wasn’t a sure thing at this point. While she was on SNL and Mean Girls was a success, to the public she was just the Weekend Update anchor and Mean Girls was more associated with Lohan. This was her first thing where she was front and center. Without seeing either I would have thought Sunset Strip would be the one that survives.

Wow I didn’t realize how similar they both were until you pointed this out

KUBE EAT NOW

Gomez > Herman and Samantha > Jeannie

I've heard it both ways

1994 is "a few years ago"?

<performs the extra long salute, reserved for especially important people>

Ya fringe took a bit to find its feet, and it’s filler episodes were usually shitty, but damn it was fucking good on main story arc, I think one of the most underrated shows

Hmm this one is tough. I felt like Babylon 5 started off stronger than DS9 and then they kinda dipped towards each other and swapped places as time progressed. The early seasons of Babylon 5 had so much political intrigue and then it seemed to get watered down a bit, no idea why.

Tom Pelphrey also did an amazing piece of acting in that show. That whole diatribe in the taxi was so good.

30 Rock > Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Does anyone else remember that TWO series started at the same time based on Saturday Night Live? Studio 60 was written by Aaron Sorkin and starred Matthew Perry. It was supposed to be the hit winner, but we all know what happened.

The Office > Superstore.

The first few seasons of Suits is good before it goes down hill, but every season of White Collar is good. White Collar > Suits in my opinion

DS9 did have a pretty weak start tbh

CSI>Criminal Minds. Fight me.

The 4400 started out fine and mostly stayed that way until it finished, Heroes started out stronger but took a nosedive.

Also Manifest has a more similar premise to 4400 than Heroes does.

Synchronize Swatches!

Love me the Jim Henson puppets on Farscape.

I found Lexx randomly on the Roku Channel and watched that for a while and had to go on TV Tropes to understand in detail what I was watching.

Lexx is what Farscape would be if it was more lewd-in-disguise (referring to the way Lexx got around censorship.)

It was a Canadian/German production, so, that might explain some things. Might.

Between the two, gotta go with FarScape. Much more tighter in terms of story. And again, Jim Henson puppets.

What!? I LOVED Mentalist. Couldn’t stand Psych.

Southpark BEATS them all!

Lie to Me > both

Loved Mr Selfridge (thought it was Selfridges - had to google) so so so much:

Yellowstone is basically just a mediocre cowboy succession

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Friends and Living Single 👀

Degrassi and Skins> every other teen show

Controversial but

Brockmire >>>>> Ted Lasso

Why though? What’s the difference?

Eh. They’re pretty different. Psych is a comedy and The Mentalist is pretty dark. Also Shawn pretends to be psychic, whereas Patrick never does. I personally thought the mentalist was more interesting in terms of watching how Patrick’s brain works and the tricks he uses and how he thinks. Shawn’s is more just quick flashes of things and then he’ll make his claim etc.

That is a big mistake. They’re very different and the Red John plot is really great.

This never even crossed my mind because of how different they are. I don’t think they should be compared because they are both absolutely brilliant.

I’ve never seen the x-files but this is a bad take

One is better than the other

https://gfycat.com/definitereflectingdipper

Yeah, maybe he meant Burn Notice

You know I recently rewatched the season where the whole crew comes back to life. And even though it's considered a low point for the series I would still take it over trying to watch the first season of Voyager again

Eh, depends on your local stations and why you’re watching, I guess. The local morning news shows in my area all pretty much follow the same formula, everything’s broken up into easily digestible ~10 minute chunks so that the average person heading out the door to work/school can get a couple of top headlines, today’s weather, and the traffic report in just a few minutes no matter when they tune in. If you actually want to sit down and watch all of the news or get the full weather forecast, this format can be annoying.

So say we all.

I rewatched some Voyager episodes in the lead-up to Picard. It was even worse than I remembered.

Beyond the thousand other nonsensical things, there are honest-to-god Injun Chief jokes in the fucking pilot. The mind reels.