Recommendations for a box set please.

[TimeWarp]

The DC are going away with their Dad for about 9 days over Christmas. Now obviously this would be an ideal time to devote myself to deep-cleaning and decluttering the house, so I need you to save me from that by recommending something fascinating to watch instead.

I like strong female leads, dry and cynical humour, maybe a bit of action and intrigue, quirky characters and a fanciable man or two. Series that I have enjoyed in the past are Buffy, Firefly, Castle, West Wing, Veronica Mars, Northern Exposure and NCIS.

TIA

I'm not sure that I could watch all of Dawson's Creek again (for the 3rd or 4th time) unless I fast-forwarded through all the bits that DON'T have Joshua Jackson in them. What's his face who plays Dawson is a tad irritating.

Elementary is great, I watched the first series but somehow missed everything after that, so I might get the second series. Jonny Lee Miller is very much my type too, I like them a little bit twitchy. I've been in his garden you know. I was allowed to be there, I didn't break in or anything, really.

Oh, yes, well, he is a significant bonus Watch Fringe!!!

I have ordered a box set of Fringe and am making a shortlist of the other suggestions. Thanks everyone. I feel a bit of a fool giving you criteria and things I have enjoyed in the past when it turns out that the what I should have asked was "Please tell me things that Joshua Jackson is in".

I am looking for other things he's in now, but I can't find anything, Dawson's Creek just looks a bit wet TBH.

I'm just going to leave this here for everyone who's still unconvinced...

Green wing . Ok only 2 series but so so funny
Teachers. Love it
Rescue me. Ok no strong female lead but firemen. Yes please

Spirals - French police series which includes an interesting female baddy as well as female goodie.

Gilmore girls

Stella

Bikerunski I had only heard of the US series Stella and thought it an unusual suggestion, didn't realise the bbc had made one too.

Did no-one mention Game of Thrones? Was a bit sceptical at first but love it.

Stella is a Sky programme. It's incredibly good.

Greys anatomy?
Prison break
Tru calling is good but v short (got binned)
Unforgettable (only one series so far)

I mean the Sky "Stella". Ruth Jones plays the title lead, and I think she also wrote it. It is a bit like Gavin and Stacey but a little gritty and heavier - not off putingly so - and still funny. But blacker. I had it in DVD from Love Film.

Bertie That photo still fails to convince me, which is odd since he looks a lot like my DH in it.

I liked what I watched of Fringe. Can't remember where I got to, which is a pain. Will have to start again.

Borgen, Borgen Borgen! Scandi, a political drama but such strong and utterly charming female leads, don't miss it, along with The Bridge,

Stealth boast there Kiwi! My DH looks like Russell Howard

Transparent on Amazon Prime is wonderful.

I loved Fringe, enjoy!

The Bridge
Sons of Anarchy
Homeland
The Americans- this is one of the best programs I have ever watched, every episode is brilliant
Justified

My husband looks like Fagin.

at Luann, did he look like Fagin when you married him or has he morphed into him over time?

Thank you for the recommendation of Fringe. I am enjoying it very much. I particularly love the lack of any sort of scientific or technological reality. I find it annoying when a series tries to be accurate but gets it wrong (I'm looking at you Star Trek, I still remember the 'crack in the event horizon' of a black hole), but complete disregard for the laws of physics and biology is very freeing.

I think I may have discovered why Joshua Jackson has been cast in so few things since Dawson's Creek. It's because he can only play Pacey Witter. His character in Fringe is just Pacey all grown up and a bit more intelligent. He's still has a rebellious disregard for authority and societal norms, but is kind-hearted to individuals and has a soft touch for a pretty woman. And I still fancy him way more than I should.

My DB gave me the complete Buffy for Christmas too. As it turns out, I can only watch Buffy in the daylight. I would need to have someone with me in order to watch it after dark. (I am a total wuss.) So I have been watching a bit of Buffy in the mornings, taking a break between each episode to do laundry or blitz one area of the house, and then watching Fringe in the evenings while crocheting. It's been a lovely couple of days.

Big c x

Did anyone mention Nurse Jackie? I love it.
Also the Shield - not a female lead but fantastic series.

I adore adore adore Peter's character in Fringe, should I watch Dawson's Creek then?

When you finish Fringe and are bereft because nothing will ever come close, watch Orphan Black. I can't not binge watch it. I watched season one in about three days and now season two has just been released on Netflix I've watched half of season two in two days

I won't give you any spoilers, but one episode in season three of Fringe makes me absolutely sob, took me totally by surprise as I just don't react like that to TV, never have. There are some totally incredible moments in the series as a whole. The last season is especially touching because it was cancelled, and then they were given the go ahead to write a last half season. You can really tell that they threw their all into it, and were quite ruthless about it - they knew nobody was coming back after that, so they were basically free to do absolutely whatever they wanted with all of the characters.

All the shows I'd suggest have already been mentioned so I'll just second the recommendations for:

Green Wing - humourous, quirky characters, fanciable men

Parks and Recreation - humourous, quirky characters, strong female lead

Borgen - if you liked West Wing, I would expect that you'd like this too. Definitely strong female lead.

I feel quite envious of you that you haven't watched any of these!

Also Black Books is funny in a very dry way I think.

Oops. Also seconding Nurse Jackie and Homeland.