Obviously a lot of the really good stuff (along with a lot of the utter crap) makes it onto primetime TV here in the UK, but there are some brilliant shows that either get buried in the middle of the night on obscure satelite channels, or never even make it to our shores. Fortunately, you can get hold of most of them as DVD box-sets:

The Wire
Quite simply, The Wire is one of the best TV crime dramas ever made and although it never managed to become as popular as shows like the Sopranos, it’s rapidly developing a cult following on both sides of the Atlantic. Written by a former police reporter, the first series of The Wire follows a police unit’s efforts to bring down a local drug-lord, but this isn’t just a battle between one dimensional good guy and bad guy stereotypes.

The show gives you a gritty and authentic insight into the daily struggles of people working on both sides of the law. Both the characters and dialogue are well scripted and completely believable, there are no over-the-top cowboy-cops or contrived plot devices - just real people doing their jobs. After a couple of episodes you’ll be hooked, and by the end of the first series you’ll want more. With five series (each exploring a different aspect of the city) and a total of 60 hour-long episodes, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.

(Bonus trivia - two of the main characters are played by British actors, see if you can guess which.)

The Wire: Complete HBO Season 1-5 [DVD] [2002]

Weeds
A slick comedy drama about a middle-class suburban yummy-mummy who turns to dope-dealing in order to maintain her family’s lifestyle after the death of her husband. The humour in Weeds is much edgier and darker than a lot of mainstream American TV; it’s a little like Desperate Housewives on, er… drugs. Also, lead actress Mary-Louise Parker is one of the hottest forty-somethings you’ll ever lay eyes on.

Weeds Seasons 1 - 4 (13 DVD’s region free)

Generation Kill
This seven part mini series is based on the experiences of Rolling Stone journalist, Evan Wright, as an embedded reporter with a US marine unit during the invasion of Iraq; it was adapted from his book by the writer who created The Wire.

The series gives us a close up view of life for the officers and grunts during the invasion. It’s capable of being both depressing and funny, as we’re shown the idiosyncracies of military life alongside the brutality and insanity of war. Plus, lots of cool explosions and big guns.

Generation Kill - Complete HBO Series [DVD] [2008]

Entourage
Imagine if they made Sex and the City for a male audience - a bunch of guys with cool lives, lots of money and plenty of hot women, just hanging out and having a scream. That’s Entourage. Loosely based on the experiences of actor, Mark Wahlberg, the show charts the rise (and occasional falls) of a young Hollywood movie star and his entourage of close friends.

It’s full of cameos from genuine Hollywood types, lots of knowing references to the movie industry and, above all, it’s very funny, primarily because of the relationships between the main characters which, like all good sitcoms, provide the real backbone of the show. There are 66 episodes so far, and a new series is due later this year.

Entourage: Complete HBO Seasons 1&2 Box Set [DVD]

The Office (USA)
Die-hard fans of The Office might find this a little hard to stomach, but the Americans have done a pretty good job of making the show their own. The history of America and Britain attempting local-market remakes of popular sitcoms is littered with disasters, but with The Office, America took one of the most loved British sitcoms of the past decade and did a great job of turning into something a US audience could love too. Some might even argue that the American version is better than the UK show… Either way, it’s definitely worth a watch and not just for curiosity value since there are plenty of new characters and gags.

The Office: An American Workplace Seasons 1-3 [DVD]

Flight of the Conchords
A top-notch sitcom about a struggling band in New York, written by, and starring, Kiwi musical comedy double act Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The pair were succesful in their native New Zealand, and won awards with their BBC radio comedy, but have finally made it big with a US TV show that, sadly, doesn’t seemed to have been picked up in the UK yet. Check out the plentiful YouTube clips…

Flight Of The Conchords: The Complete HBO First Season [DVD]

Arrested Development
One of the most inventive and original comedies to come out of America in recent years, Arrested Development has developed a strong cult following despite not achieving the kind of high ratings enjoyed by more mainstream shows. The story revolves around a quirky family of characters as they struggle to come to turns with a failing business and the loss of their long-standing wealth. So far three seasons have been made, and a movie is in the pipeline.

Arrested Development - Season 1 [DVD]

I-Sobot
Standing just 6.5 inches tall, I-Sobot isn’t likely to be much use when the robot uprising threatens to crush humanity, since it could be easily easily defeated with a gentle slap from a four year old - but on the other hand it does know how to play air-guitar, which is pretty cool. It has 200 pre-programmed moves and can be controlled by your voice or a remote, but it doesn’t have any kind of artificial intelligence to enable it to do anything interesting by itself. More info at the Amazon page for I-Sobot

Robosapien V2
Version two of the original bi-pedal bad-ass comes with much more sophisticated motion capabilities and now stands at two-feet tall, so it’s more than capable of giving the I-Sobot a good kicking. This version also features improved vision with colour recognition allowing it to find objects and play games. It features a range of autonomous behaviours, including a free-roam mode which allows it to explore its environment without being controlled. More info at the Amazon page for Robosapien V2

Lego NXT Robot Kit
Lego + Robot = WIN! Actually, the robot is just one of the things you can build with this Lego robot kit, but the real question is: why would you want to build anything else? This is definitely one for the alpha-geeks, since the robot kit is based around the Lego NXT Intelligent Brick and is highly programmable, so you can pretty much make the thing do anything you want. If you can be bothered to read the manual. More info at the Amazon page for LEGO 8527: Mindstorms NXT

Roboquad
This freaky alien robot spider can chase moving objects, which means its great for scaring the living shit out of pets and small children. Roboquad can be fully remote controlled, or you can set it to an autonomous mode to let it interact with its environment with no user input. Also, it dances, but who cares about that when you can make the thing chase your neighbour’s cat around the garden? More details on the Amazon RoboQuad page.

Meccano Spykee
Spykee is a build it yourself robot kit that also functions as a roaming, remotely controlled home security spy-robot. The robot features a built in web-cam and can be controlled from your PC, or even over the internet via a WiFi connection, and it can also act as a Skype phone using built in speakers and a microphone. We’re not quite sure why you’d want to do that, but whatever. More info at the Amazon page for Meccano Spykee

Roboraptor
Until somebody invents a robotic ninja-pirate-monkey, this robot dinosaur is pretty much the coolest toy money can buy. It can be set to different ‘moods’ such as Agressive or Playful, which influence its behaviour, and you can leave it on guard mode in your house to terrify elderly relatives when they come to visit this Christmas. More details at the Amazon Roboraptor page.

Kick Ass
Kick Ass is an awesomely violent comic book about an ordinary teenage who decides to become a costumed hero - we’ve never read it but it sounds pretty cool, and we’ve got high hopes for the upcoming film adaptation. Check out the MySpace page, which features a teaser clip for the film.

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Aprillia RSV4
Another stunning piece of machinery from Italy, the brand new RSV4 is one of the most agressive looking superbikes ever designed - it looks like it wants to punch you in the nuts and then take your girlfriend for a good hard ride. This bike uses an exotic 999cc V4 engine to deliver 182bhp, whilst keeping the weight down to a respectable 179kg, giving it a very slight power to weight advantage over the Ducati. If you want to see the RSV4 in action this year, Max Biaggi will be racing one in the 2009 world superbikes season.

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BMW HP2 Sport
The Germans might have a well deserved reputation for producing superbly engineered high performance cars, but their motorcycles are as boring as Belgium. With the HP2 Sport, they’re at least making an effort to be a little more exciting, although with the 1170cc Boxer twin motor pumping out just 130bhp, this bike isn’t exactly going to rock your crotch as hard as some of the others here. Still, if you’re a fan of sturdy German engineering, or you just want to buy a superbike that your grandmother can enjoy, this could be what you’re looking for.

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Buell 1125R
Like the Germans, the Americans aren’t really known for producing mental sports bikes. Buell traditionally turns out bad-ass muscle-bikes based on Harley-Davidson V-twin engines, which look pretty awesome but not so much with the cornering. The Buell 1125R represents the company’s first serious attempt to produce a balls-out sportsbike to compete with the Japanese screamers. Cranking out 146bhp and weighing in at 170kg, it’s certainly got some grunt, and with the right colour scheme the styling looks pretty good too.

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Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
Sixteen years after Honda tore up the rulebook and redefined sportsbikes, the Fireblade continues to moisten panties around the world. The 2009 model styling might not be to everybody’s taste (we think the front end looks a little wierd) but you can’t question the pedigree, and the fact that the Fireblade still wins world superbikes races - this is the bike that changed everything, and for that we salute it. The engine is a howling 1000cc inline four-cyclinder lump that pumps out 175bhp - more than enough to hurl 199kg of bike down the road at a frightening pace.

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Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja
1000cc and 185bhp of bright green awesomeness.
“What bike do you ride?”
“Ninja.”
“Please bone my wife and daughters. And then me.”

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KTM RC8
Austrian manufacturer KTM is best known for its off-road bikes, and the RC8 is the company’s first entry into the superbike market, designed to compete directly with other European manufacturers like Ducati and Aprillia. With unique, razor-sharp styling and a gutsy 1148cc V-twin motor producing 151bhp, the RC8 is bound to win a lot of fans.

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MV Augusta F4 1078 RR 312
Some people think this is one of the most desirable bikes in the world, while others argue that the front end looks like a bucket of soapy frogs. But whatever you think of the styling you can’t argue with the 190bhp produced by this monster’s 1078cc inline four-cylinder engine which was designed with help from Ferrari Formula One engineers.

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Suzuki GSX-R1000
Widely regarded amongst superbike riders as the ultimate toy for lunatics, the GSX-R1000 is guaranteed to put an insane grin on your face (and to send you to an early grave if you don’t treat it with total respect). The 2009 model in the picture has only just been unvieled and Suzuki hasn’t released official bhp figures yet, but you can rest assured that it will be somewhere in the region of shit-loads.

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Triumph Daytona 675
By far the smallest capacity bike here, Triumph’s Daytona 675 is also a lot lighter than the others at just 162Kg, making it ideal for flicking around those narrow, twisty English country lanes. Its engine uses the three cylinder configuration favoured by the British manufacturer and produces 126bhp, giving it a power to weight ratio far higher than most super-cars. Easily the best thing made in Britain since the Spitfire.

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Yamaha YZF R1
When it was originally launched in 1998, Yamaha’s R1 moistened a record number of gussets with its groundbreaking power to weight ratio and game-changing handling, and since then it’s just got better and better. The 2009 model looks sharper than ever and features an all new 998cc inline four cylinder engine capable of producing 180bhp.