Is Black Books the most /lit/ tv show? Are there even any other?
Gilmore Girls is pretty /lit/ but Black Books is probably the best.
>>7902421
Beat me to it. Both use literatury as a plot device / character background but the shows themselves arent particularly connected.
I would say Gilmore as Rory writes a lot and goes off to do it as a career. Bernard and Manny write a drunken epic then burn it out fear of famegreat episode.
Black Books is top tier
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Wire
True Detective
The Sopranos
Anybody here watched Rectify?
>dat dialogue
>>7902368
well there arent any books in it, but The Black Adder is a must-watch, especially the last season where the setting is World War I
>>7902368
The Singing Detective
Northern Exposure
I saw a couple episodes, mainly for Bill Bailey. Can't watch it, though. The chick is the spitting image of an ex-gf of mine. My heart drops every time she's on screen.
>>7902950
that's a shame, she's a good actress and the show is great
>>7902937
This.
Such a comfy and patrician show. Wish there was something like it currently on.
>>7902368
*ordering books on the phone(
"... The complete Trollope.. oh, no no, not you..."
>>7902443
I do, I love it a lot, a shame it doesn't get the exposure it deserves when it is better than 90% of shit on television at the moment.
>It's ending this year and no one cares
People don't deserve Rectify
>That scene where they take Daniel's books in prison
>>7903097
>That Whitman, that great bear of a man, enjoyed the pleasures of other men came as a great surprise to me, and, made me reconsider the queers that I had previously kicked around.
based chris
>>7902437
>Buffy the Vampire Slayer
>>7902368
Watching Poldark right now and as with any masterpiece theater show, its pretty /lit/
>>7903354
>not liking buffy
Were you born in the 90s ?
>>7902428
They all drink lemonade!
>>7903388
Born in 82 here.
My wife still watches reruns and I still hate it as much as charmed. Gilmore Girls is a superior show howeverand I named my daughter after Felicity
>>7903407
does your daughter have the hair?
>>7902368
A different black book is the most /lit/ tv show. Bible Black
>>7903409
No but its me and my wifes fault genetically.
>>7903427
m8 if you're willing to name your kid felicity, you've got to follow through and marry jewfro
>>7903404
THE END
>do you think the fans will find where we live?
Are there any other shows with the same good yet dumb humor as Black Books?
>>7902914
Those that doubt this suck cock by choice.
The first three seasons of Downton Abbey were great.
The end of the show lost me after the season finale where the bad thing happens
>>7903660
Father Ted and It Crowd are quite similar
What does /lit/ think of Mad Men?
>Canned laughter
>Sitcom
>/lit/
I like Black Books, but I'd say Mad Men is a lot more "/lit".
>>7903777
>>Canned laughter
its filmed in front of an audience
>>7903404
Well, instead of the..um..academic and the journalist's daughter? Perhaps it could be about an elephant?
>An elephant?
That's right.
>I see... What's your other suggestion?
Well...um...instead of the Stalinist purges and the divorce and the investigation? It could be about losing..a... balloon.
>>7903829
>Garth Marenghi
Yes!!!! Also about a horror writer. Get on this its amazing
What 'is' a boy to do?
Black books is cheap pandering shit like all of brit """tv""" """""shows""""
>le epic quirky main character omg so misanthropic and snart!!
>le fuckface actress that plays the same shit in every fucking sitcom she is in
>le so funny dumbass look he looks so funny haha
It's Sherlock-tier.
Xavier: Renegade Angel
>>7902368
The Simpsons is the only show I know that features Joyce, DFW and Pynchon.
Also I remember Homer mentioning Witggenstein
And his name is Homer
>>7903829
What's the literature equivalent of Boosh? That show filled up so many of my drunk college nights.
>>7904623
who are they pandering to? people who can read?
>>7904751
Xavier is the only TV show I consider art. Outside of it's bizarre and crass humor is the most elegantly executed and graceful pacing of any show I've ever seen.
>>7903185
I love it too, the goat man scene in the first season is one of the greatest things I've ever seen on television or otherwise.
Also
>THEYRE JUST BOOKS
>ctrl+f
>no Twin Peaks
I mean it's got nothing to do with books but it's /lit/ af
>>7905956
>it's got nothing to do with books but it's /lit/ af
Sums up all of these shit threads
>>7905956
go back to /tv/ you moron
Bernard: [to Fran] You! What have you been telling Kate? She thinks I'm the renaissance. I have to go along with all this "reclusive genius" stuff... she's going to be very upset when she finds out I'm a reclusive wanker.
Definitely /lit/
>>7903422
Bible Black is more /mu/ because of the King Crimson reference. Starless too for the same reason
>>7905308
Probably something more on the absurd side like Pynchon or Vonnegut
I'm not really sure, now I really want to know if someone can find one
>FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAN?
>>7904649
So every show with characters is sherlock tier?
>>7904649
>>le epic quirky main character omg so misanthropic and snart!!
About sums you up m8
>>7905318
Read in his voice
>>7903777
It's not about books though. In fact almost none of these suggestions are.
Most obvious answer senpai tb totes h
>>7902368
It's a fantasy for pretentious psueds. There's very little that's literary about it, unless you consider sarcastic references to one's own intellectual superiority to be "literary."
>>7906370
That show was fucking stupid. Like, they ran out of Arthurian shit to talk about so they were just like "fuck it, ram a bunch of retarded fantasy shit in there." I'd be surprised if it wouldn't have eventually ended up being set in Ankh fucking Morpork. Jesus fucking christ. What the fuck.
>>7906510
But sarcastic references to one's own intellectual superiority is what /lit/ is all about.
>>7906510
Sadly this. When you seriously start to become well-read middlebrow shit in general is just too nauseating to entertain. I'd honestly have more fun watching fail videos on YouTube.
>>7906007
fuck off weaboo piece of shit.
>>7906527
>precocious 20something mad that there isn't universal love for his dopey little tv show
Cope with it you goofy cunt.
>>7906532
The virgin rage is real.
>>7906510
There's hardly any literary references because most people wouldn't get them.
>>7906543
Upvote.
/r/books is killing it today.
>>7906564
whatever you say, little wanking virgin.
>>7906567
>lol bait time
No dice, m8. Watch your Reddit show iyw. Remember to laugh really hard at the literary jokes because you read now.
>>7903777
Yeah Black Books is set in a bookshop but has shit all to do with books - Dylan Moran is GOAT though.
Mad Men is a very good suggestion. Not strictly about books but they feature as prominent plot devices in a lot of episodes - and the books that feature are good, /lit/ tier like when the Grandpa forces Sally to read from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Also, Cosgrove is literally a published writer, Campbell writes in his spare time and all the other creatives are mad jealous wannabe authors who just work corporate for the money - which is basically the story of everyone in media.
Also this: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/02/27/mad-men-reading-list
Fishing with John
>>7906575
Cry more, little virgin. I'm sure Jamal's second servings will marry you after she's 30 and has a few kids.
>it's a literary reference episode
Penny Dreadful is kind of lit.
>>7907038
>its a Norman Mailer turns up at your place and just orders iced tea
Northern Exposure <- where can I watch this Senpai?
>>7902443
Had never heard about it before yesterday, when I saw your post Anon. Just finished the 4th episode and I feel the need to thank you. It is so pure, honest, thought-provoking and intellectual without being pretencious in the slightest. It is a rare gem in the shit storm that is tv nowadays.
>>7905845
The cast themselves have pretty patrician taste in /lit/. I remember reading their top ten novels or something and it was basically all Thomas Mann, Marcel Proust, etc.
>>7907828
It really is a gift of a show. Just wait for those last two episodes of the season though, they are God tier, the second season stays just as good too.
Really glad my post got someone to watch it, I saw it for the first time last year and it honestly changed the way I look at the world to a certain extent.
>>7903960
Visionary, dreamweaver, director plus actor
You're The Worst has the best scene mocking /lit/ radio shows of all time.
>>7902914
SWAYGIN
SAN FRANCISCO
COCKSUCKA
Lost and The Wire are the most /lit/ shows
but not because they reference books
because they both use literary devices akin to novels.
>>7903829
>that extended shot in the first episode of Dark Place where he's walking into the cemetery
>>7905308
Richard Brautigan.
>>7902937
MAGGIE IS BEST WAIFU
>>7903829
Nathan Barley is pretty /lit/
>>7906620
> virgin fixation
I bet you're always getting laid. Chicks dig Merlin, right?
>>7910299
>tfw no cursed gf to make a shrine to you after death
>>7902368
black books for /lit/ is like the big bang theory for /g/
>>7910801
You mean like IT-Crowd for /g/. I don't think there's anything like the Big Bang Theory for /lit/.
Two and a half men.
Charlie Harper's alcoholism particularly resonates.
>>7903829
>calling Brass Eye dumb
nigga i will fight you
agree on the other ones, though, i'd also that mitchell and webb look, and of course blackadder
>>7904838
classicSimpsons is all around patrician.
Hell, even the post-classic era drivel occasionally displays yearning for past glory from time to time.
>>7902368
Dekalog
Heimat
The Wire
>>7904478
Underrated post.
>>7910853
Never noticed the junior illustrated version part. Just thought it was a contemporary pointer, not an actual joke.
>>7904838
>>And his name is Homer
I think I read that the Simpsons creator Matt Groening named Homer after his real father, not the author. I think maybe his grandpa is named Abe, too; he named his son Abe and I doubt he'd name him after the character.
Oh, and a bunch of the characters are named after the main streets in his hometown, Seattle I think.
>>7910941
Homer Simpson is a character in Day of the Locust.
>>7907038
goddamn comfy rory
>>7911015
tfw no rory gilmore gf
Californication is about an author.
I think they quote Kafka, Nabokov and a few other.
>>7902368
garth marenghi's darkplace
True Detective
Twin Peaks
Six Feet Under
>>7910959
>Matt Groening
>his German American father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996),[6] was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist
>Day of the Locust
>It has been assumed that The Simpsons (1989) creator Matt Groening named his most famous character, Homer Simpson, after his own father, but in several interviews given in 1990, Groening reportedly stated that he named the character after the Homer in this novel, although neither explanation is considered definitive.
he claims the father on the show that happens to have the same highly uncommon name as his actual dad was not named after his dad. sure thing, Matt. I could see how he named the family "Simpson" to reference the book, too, but come on. his father was not named after the book, either. (1919 and '39, respectively)
he also claims that the writers picked "Abraham" out of thin air although that is in fact his grandpa's name, too.
oh, and the street names are taken from Portland, not Seattle
>The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney.[62]
>>7911211
>word of god is lying to us
>it's not even the entry level lit reference homeros is, it's his dad's name
cool story, bro
>>7910829
I fucking love the show, I didn't mean it was stupid, but more absurd and ridiculous, like the pedo dressing up as a school.
>>7904751
YES! I can't believe I forgot to mention this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn7QvnhJgeA
>>7904649
>Le thoughtless reductive meme arrows
>>7906370
This was just an awful show. Not once did they even show Gaius pilfering Merlins fudge store, as was the norm for master and apprentice back then.
0/10
>>7911034
This kills me insideI'm not even kidding
>owning a TV or watching anything but documentaries and classics
I'm disgusted. Truly disgusted.
>>7908345
>Something was pouring from his mouth. He examined his sleeve. Blood!? Blood. Crimson copper-smelling blood, his blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.....And bits of sick.
fucking lol. Seeing some suggestions here for True Detective. There's a difference between referencing literature and total plagiarism. Most of Rust's monologues were carbon copies of passages in Cioran, Ligotti and Thacker. Seems like most people just got an edgy kick from seeing a nihilistic character.
![Man.Seeking.Woman.S01E03.HDTV.x264-KILLERS.mp4_snapshot_07.21_[2016.02.26_14.47.44].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/gMCXyDN.jpg "Man.Seeking.Woman.S01E03.HDTV.x264-KILLERS.mp4_snapshot_07.21_[2016.02.26_14.47.44].jpg")
Is Man Seeking Woman /lit/? Infinite Jest is constantly shoehorned in at every second.
The Sopranos is /lit/. It's a retelling of The Stranger but actually good.
>>7911947
Shoehorning /lit/ references is only /lit/ to the newly initiated that find any mention of their secret palace titillating. Above this tier of pandering shit is decent shows that feature some basic philosophy or literary ideas, but these are still well bellow actual literature and not worth your time.
We can substitute /quality/ tv shows for /lit/ shows at no loss, and here all the show has to do is offer something a person interested in film would interesting, as we can be both ofc. Black Books isn't funny or profound or interestingly directed enough to be worth watching if you really want literature-equal films.
Some frequently mentioned shows: Scenes from a Marriage, the Decalogue, Hiamat, Berlin Alexanderplatz,Seinfeld
>>7903766
It's probably the tv equivalent of whatever someone would call a great American novel, but that's my biggest problem with it. It's great, and anyone who doubts its great is retarded, but it's so in your face that Matthew Weiner sat down and was like, "I'm gonna make a tv show that is like the tv equivalent of whatever someone would call the great American novel," that it kinda pisses me off sometimes. But of course it's great.
He fucked up the ending, though.
The Book Group
>>7912384
>Scenes from a Marriage
DUDE a couple arguing back and forth with each other is /lit/ LMAO
>>7912412
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVImuPqtdKQ
>>7912384
Is Everybody Loves Raymond the American equivalent of Scenes from a Marriage?
What about the classics?
>>7908767
Lost does both d e s u
>>7911947
>they refer to Infinite Jest as postmodern
I did kek a little when he placed IJ on his nightstand whilst preparing his apartment for his ladyfriend
>>7912509
That scene where he slaps the book off the night stand in a very effeminate way is unintentionally hilarious.
>>7912509
Infinite Jest is postmodern.
>>7902937
I started watching the show because of this post.
Best decision I did since browsing /lit/.
I want to live in Cecily. Such a comfy place.
>not one person has mentioned I, Claudius
It's literally patrician
>>7912559
>don't eat the figs
>>7912490
Definitely this, Monty Python's Flying Circus and classic Tom Baker Doctor Who
The colour of television, tuned to a dead channel.
>>7912318
>It's a retelling of The Stranger but actually good.
elaborate please
>>7902919
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08
>>7913876
The Sopranos was one long exposition on the supposed emptiness - as per sanctioned psychiatry - of these gestures which we hold in such high regard in our society - putting them before us anyway, letting us come to our own decisions. In truth, it was a masterful retelling of The Stranger, full of life in spite of the ills.
That near-final scene of the car rolling over the dude's head, the kids in the car - just a bump in the road; The Stranger's beginning, basically; and after it had been revealed to us that Tony's emotions were all fake. And then that final cliff-hanger scene, the assassin in the toilet, equal to the pending execution in The Stranger, but this time The Stranger has a family.
>>7911947
eric is a shitty actor and a mediocre comedian, but somehow The Eric Andre Show is still GOAT
>>7912975
>>7913932
There was no cliffhanger stupid
What do you think the10 seconds of black before creditsrolled meant?
>>7904751
A BILLION TIMES THIS
>>7913932
Interesting, thanks.
>>7910833
er negro mio
>>7911437
Was this made in Second Life?
>>7904751
I had a laugh at one of the creators Wikipedia page (the info under his picture).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Chatman
>>7912399
Don finds enlightenment, and then sells it.
What could be a more perfect ending?
The Twilight Zone and Star Trek had some established writers work on them, and both feature tropes tired and true in literature.
The Outer Limits and The Next Generation as well.
>>7914293
>Don finds enlightenment, and then sells it.
O X Y M O R O N
X
Y
M
O
R
O
N
>>7914505
That's not what the word "trope" means.
>>7914536
Full Definition of trope
>a : a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech
>b : a common or overused theme or device : cliché <the usual horror movie tropes>
I was obviously referring to common themes and devices.
>>7912399
Elaborate on the Great American TV show please. I am interested.
>>7914906
That's an incorrect use of the word.
>>7912530
I've started re-watching it again because of this thread.
Have had the inkling to for a while and it might fill up a part of a void that I thought I had suppressed but has begun haunting me again.
>>7903407
Fuck you're old as shit lmao
>>7916869
4chan was made 13 years ago
>>7904751
But what doth life?
>>7916858
I'm in a similar place at the moment, has it filled the void?
>>7914974
this is me ignoring you
>>7918224
Enjoy being wrong for the rest of your life.
>>7918162
It's gone a long way, but it will make you want more from life as well.
>>7903829
I went researching about Chris Morris stuff and now I'm watching The Day Today. It's bizarrely funny at times, others just strange but they play it straight at all times. Liking it so far. Also, Alan Partridge!
>>7903407
Care to share any of your favorite memories from the civil war?
>>7913978
That the show was entirely filmed first person and the ghost following the Sopranos around suddenly went blind.
I like how some people impose their opinion on something intentionally left open and then go "hurr it's so objective and obvious, everyone else is dumb"
Never heard of it, apparently it's a SoL comedy about an asshole that runs a bookshop?
That sounds like a dream.
Also, he looks like Neil Gaiman 20 or 25 years ago.
>>7921477
Its about a misanthropic, chainsmoking alcoholic who just wants to sit and read, has no interest in customers and inevitably is dragged into things by his friends.
Its hilarious and as someone who works in retail, the stuff he gets away with saying to his customers is something i think we'd all like to say
>>7910299
Marilyn best waifu. Maggie a shit.
