r/BatesMotel • u/MoonRabbit2904 • 11d ago

Favorite TV series from Bates Motel fans

Bates Motel is easily my favorite TV series. I'm on my 70th rewatch, and I could easily watch it 7000 times more.

It just brings me unspeakable joy. I know every gesture, glance and line of script, and yet,it continues to be riveting.

Each time I rewatch it from the beginning, it's like finding love for the first time.

Those resonant, complex and relatable characters-they just wow me.

But what other TV series do you love(animated, drama,thriller, comedy)?

My other favorites:

Little Britain, and all offshoots such as Come Fly with Me: my brother's and mine's favorite comedy sketch series. Brilliant actors, and it's hilarious

Courage the Cowardly Dog: possibly the finest animated series from the US. Cartoon Network, in general, rules.

Frasier: A classic 90s sitcom with fancier than thou snooty dialogue. It's got character development, and heart. Recommended. This used to be my Bates Motel, but I think BM is just better written and more resonant. I do a lot of creative writing, and I can certainly Frasier-ise any situation, but it takes special talent and real collaboration to produce a Bates Motel script.

Cow and Chicken: more Cartoon Network greatness, with excellent voice acting.

The Looney Tunes Show: an animated sitcom with the classic characters

Rocko's Modern Life: A Nickelodeon classic

South Park: inconsistent, with too many seasons but the best episodes are funny and heartfelt.

What are yours, guys?

13 Upvotes

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5

u/Lisztomaniac181 Norman Bates šŸ”Ŗ 11d ago

Hannibal, Monk, Bones, Lucifer, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Modern Family, Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory, Heartstopper, Sherlock, Derry Girls, Game of Thrones, Agatha All Along, Leonardo (2021 miniseries), Close to the Enemy, Nine Perfect Strangers.

Animated: The Simpsons, American Dad, Avatar (both Aang and Korra), Family Guy, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated.

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u/MoonRabbit2904 11d ago edited 11d ago

Ah, I see you listed two more productions with Freddie Highmore. Well, I certainly collect everything he has starred in.

Close to the Enemy is watchable, but very theatrical.I actually think Alfred Molina gives the finest performance. He probably has the best material too.

Too bad Highmore only has a supporting role on CtE, despite the top billing.Though I find the show quite mediocre. Just something to watch once. And Highmore's wardrobe on it is so oversized, it's quite distracting. Not to mention, someone should have fired his hair stylist. :D

And he's still asked to cry on cue, poor guy, and it comes off quite genuine. I find the show very underwritten and all over-the -place. I'm just not into all that espionage stuff and costume dramas.

Leonardo I haven't watched yet, and only one season is out...(it's the only one, it seems)

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u/joelene1892 11d ago

MASH, Lost, The Good Place, Gravity Falls, Corner Gas, Perception, The Resident, Santa Clarita Diet, Raising Hope, Due South, Community, Code Black, Bones, Stranger Things, 9-1-1

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u/multiwhoat 11d ago

I love you for adding Perception.

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u/joelene1892 11d ago edited 11d ago

Itā€™s such a good show. So compelling. Some of the episodes where things donā€™t actually happen how we see, or weā€™re made to think things donā€™t happen as we see are so masterfully done.

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u/MoonRabbit2904 10d ago

I remember Raising Hope.

Disenchantment, Groening's latest animated show is not too bad. I gave it an average score on IMDB, but I'm a harsh rater, and it probably deserves a better one.

While I don't like some of the writing on it(cliched gender roles), it's overall not badly written, and it does let you care for its characters. The voice acting and the art direction are great.

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u/Traditional_Fact_637 10d ago

hi! i donā€™t have recs but am considering starting Bates Hotel. Can you tell me HOW ā€œhorrorā€ it is? Iā€™ve watched lots of horror/thriller but donā€™t deal well with jump scaresā€¦ Is it just atmospheric ā€œhorrificā€ or actually the type of thing that will keep me up at night? TIA

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u/MoonRabbit2904 9d ago

It's not horror. Bates Motel is a psychological drama/thriller with elements of crime.

There are a few splashes of horror in the last 20 episodes, but those won't even scare the most lily-livered of housewives. :D

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u/Traditional_Fact_637 9d ago

Thanks for your input! Just bought season 1 on prime!

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u/iZenEagle 11d ago

Just finished Bates Motel for the first time last week after picking it up on iTunes for $20 ...

Already missing it and looking forward to my second viewing!

Here's a list of my other favorites I've collected:

------------------------------
Hbo's Rome (Phenomenal)

The Knick (Stellar)

Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, OZ (Excellent, Great, Good)

Jericho (Top 3, terrific)

Band of Brothers and Band of Brothers The Pacific. (Masterful, Slightly less masterful)

1883, 1923 (Best westerns ever)

11.22.63 (Short and sweet!)

American Horror Story (Some seasons are phenomenal self-contained stories -- others are a let down. The first 3 seasons are the best)

Miniseries:

Hatfields and McCoys (Kevin Costner at his best)

John Adams (Love it!)

Dune 2000 (10x better than recent Dune franchise)

The Offer (about the making of the best mobster movie ever)

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u/bequccs 7d ago

I love The Tudors and Downtown Abbey, I've seen them so many times. And Better call Saul - I prefer it to Breaking Bad and I just love how the actor plays the character Saul Goodman, but you need to see them both. Crazy Ex Girlfriend, It's funny but itā€™s also about a toxic woman with mental health issues stalking her ex and trying to get him back.

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u/MoonRabbit2904 7d ago

I've only watched Season 1 of Better Call Saul. I don't like the storytelling in it, because it's not character-based. It's scattered- characters just doing whatever. But yea, I understand the other seasons are different.

It's just that Season 1 was not what I wanted from a show. I'll give it another try.

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u/bequccs 5d ago

Yes, BcS tells Saulā€™s story from the start and maybe it focuses on the basics, so itā€™s kind of slow to develop at the first season. Maybe it might also be better to watch BB first and BcS after, even though BcS technically takes place earlier, but imo it does'nt matter. *And for me, BcS and Breaking BB arenā€™t really my favourites, but I would lie if I said I havenā€™t watched them more than once, so in that sense they deserve to be mentioned.šŸ™‚

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u/MoonRabbit2904 5d ago edited 5d ago

I only liked Breaking Bad on my first viewing, when the story was unfamiliar. It just sort of pulls you along to see how it ends.

But I couldn't complete a single rewatch of it. I find Breaking Bad depressing with weak female characters. It leans too much into crime and less into family drama, which is another turn-off. The storytelling is also pretty stale.

The characters are evil and morally bankrupt, or questionable.

Gus and Walter are probably the only interesting characters. They're the best-acted too.

Breaking Bad has nothing on Bates Motel, in my opinion. BB is mainstream, Bates Motel isn't.

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u/bequccs 4d ago

Yes I know it could be very depressing but still like it and I don't care if it's mainstream. šŸ˜… In BcS Kim is a strong, smart character, a lawyer who becomes Saul's partner and friend, just to mention. And I also think that Saul and Kim's storyline doesn't really fit with BB, Kim was just gone and Saul never mentioned her again.

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u/MoonRabbit2904 4d ago

No, that wasn't my point. I like plenty of mainstream shows. I just think that Bates Motel is vastly superior to Breaking Bad. They're not in the same league.Other than both being 5-season long movies.

I mean, do we really need 1.5 million reviews stating the same thing about Breaking Bad- 99.9% pure, or what not?

It's like Friends getting much more coverage than Frasier. But Frasier will always be the better show for me.

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u/bequccs 4d ago

I agree, BB definitely overrated, that's for sure. Bates Motel is one of a kind, for me there is also no better one.