I'd start off with "101 glorious recipes of potat en beet"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337898/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Modern russian tv shows(and movies with very rare exceptions) are garbage. There were some good series made back in USSR e.g. The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed and Seventeen Moments of Spring but I'm not sure if you would find them watchable as they are quite slow and just old. If you don't really care and just want some practice I would suggest some comedy(most of those are adaptations of foreign shows and could be somewhat decent), Voroniny for example. I have no idea if it's even possible to find subs tho.

Thanks for the input, I'm fine with old stuff, I learned most of my english from the Monty Python Flying Circus, which is from the 70's.

Will check out what you suggested and yes, comedy is generally good, I think it tends to stick in your mind more.

I learned most of my english from the Monty Python Flying Circus

I hope you function normally in social situations :)

I agree with the above, modern Russian TV is garbage, and 'Seventh Moments of Spring' is probably my favorite TV show ever. It also has very good background narrator, speaking slowly and with perfect diction, so it will be good to learn from.

Another decent Russian TV show I know is Idiot, made in 2003: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366028/
But it's pretty heavy on philosophy and uh dostoevshena :)

Is the crime and punishment movie any use?

I think it's pretty bad.

tru dat.

Idi I smotri, brat 1&2, there's also a tv show where Russians learn English but I don't know the name of it, but you'd be getting two birds stoned at once

quakelive.com - russian soap opera with some traditional brazilian influences jajajaja

The show is Polyglot I guess. Here's youtube playlist.

Series? We don't have a lot of decent ones...
"The adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson" by Igor Maslennikov.

Movies - these are mostly modern comedies, as you said you prefer for learning, though, the humour is kinda, hm, black.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1651118/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1275954/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0875122/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_7
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372366/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_8
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588875/?ref_=nm_knf_t1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091341/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096126/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060161/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165901/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

if you're, like, into serious movies too, watch Hamdamov, Aleksey German, Tarkovsky, Marlen Khutsiev, Zeldovich.

stalker from '70s is russian?

yep, also "Solyaris" by the same director, Andrey Tarkovskiy - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/

From the 1st try I can suggest those:

Movies:
1) Obyknovennoye chudo (1978) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186408/
2) Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov (1987) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092745/
3) Sobaka na sene (1978) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076732/
4) Tyomnaya noch (2004) http://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/253754/ (can't find it on imdb)
5) Vozvrashchenie (2003) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376968/ (quite philosophical though)
6) My iz budushchego (2008) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1192431/
7) Strana glukhikh (1998) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143907/
8) Serdtsa tryokh (1992) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963997/
9) A zori zdes tikhie (1972) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068161/

TV series:
1) Sherlok Kholms (2013) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2465266/
2) Mech (2009) http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Sword,_The
3) Grozovye vorota (2006) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902981/

P.S. It is not a top list, just a random selection from my memory :b

1. Ironiya Sudbi
2. Charodei
3. Kawkaskaya Plennitsa
4. Briljantowaja Ruka
5. Dwenatsat Stuljew

(Sorry for how horrible the titles look when written with Latin letters)

All are commedys with simple to understand plot and relatively simple language. They all are a bit older though and I cannot guarantee you that there are subs for them.

As suggested above, Brigada and I would add Likvidatsiya.

both are really bad :(

fairly entertaining, don't see much wrong with them

Ok, second one I don't actually remember that well, but the first one basically glorifying a criminal gang, as if it is a bunch of 'Friends', while actually taking itself seriously, unlike the comedy show 'Friends'. I see a lot wrong with that.

What about Sopranos? Godfather? And any other countless media that "glorify" criminal gangs? It's indeed a glorified story of 90's and for most part it's a really well made TV show for it's time with a great cast.

I think you must have not understood the 'Friends' reference. Sopranos and Godfather don't glorify anything. Also, both a serious (honest) and don't represent mafia as some kind of moral, fun, business, they show the brutality and cruelty of it, there are no good protagonist. Finally, the protagonists self destruct in both shows. Brigada is a bunch of "good" guys. I can't speak to any other movies or shows, I am criticizing Brigada. There are plenty of other fucked up shows.

Why do you see "good" protagonists in Brigada, there are none, they might be the "good" guys, just among the bad guys. It's a show about friends who live through 90's and become big time criminals.

I don't remember very well the plot, but their circle as far as I remember does get destroyed. If you are involved in crime, you will pay some day.

Maybe it's bad for young kids or easily impressed adults who romanticize such stuff and may try to replicate it, but it doesn't make it a bad show

There are no "good" guys among guys who maim, kill and rob every day, nor is there any romance. It's a bad show because it shows characters being constantly being righteous. Every single thing they do or say in it is ridiculous and insulting, at least to me and my sensibilities. If you don't see it, okey.

My wife is learning russian and i show her cartoons because they are generally simpler than adult shows filled with slang and criminal jargon . You just go to youtube and type "russian with english subs". I may give you a list later.

Yes please, a list would be great.

Here's the bookmark file for chrome. It has good cartoons and the links are working.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qe6kprar0gdqedi/bookmarks_6_25_14.html

Also, this is a great list, but it's overwhelmingly big and there are quite a few dead links
http://editthis.info/animatsiya/List_of_Russi...in_English

way to go to pick russian when you plan on staying a quaker :)
best investment in future. finally can understand cypher/cooller/agent jokes

dota2

I got some for you, I won't guarantee they'll all be good but you can learn from them. Brigada and The Idiot have already been recommended above.

First there's The State Counsellor which is based on some recent Russian detective books, it's quite hammy but in a nutshell it's Sherlock Holmes with more action (Oleg Menshikov even looks and acts a bit like Robert Downey Jr. here)

Then there's Diversant which is quite good, it follows some undercover-type soldiers through WWII. Good leading cast of 3 guys. Another decent WWII series is Apostol. Evgeniy Mironov is the tits. There's tons of WWII based series which get produced each year, but most of them are glorified Soviet heroes defeating the evil Nazis with every trope you can imagine (including affairs with cute frontline nurses).

There's a bunch of series based around classic Russian literature and its authors. I've personally seen Esenin, Dostoevskiy and The Master and Margarita

http://videochatru.com/

Theres a very fun TV show called "Interns" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interns_(sitcom)

I find it pretty hilarious even with subtitles.

recommend... RUSSIAN series... bwahahahaha!

play dota 2 on europe east

east Kappa

most of russian series really crappy haha but well I'd recommend you try to watch Univer (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/У&...mp;#1088;_(телесериал), Interny (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/И&...amp;#1099;) or just watch american ones with russian dub (almost all series have a dub so you can watch what you like, can find all dubbed series on rutracker.org )

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075404/reference
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/reference

))