TV shows to learn social skills

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I started watching Lie to Me. Nice show but I find it hard to believe that you can tell so much by facial expressions. Are people so predictable?

I think Girls is a really good example of what NOT to do - oftentimes the choices they make result in really really cringe-inducingly awkward interactions which are totally relatable to an Aspie. Speaking of, there's a lot of buzz going around that one of the characters (Adam) has Asperger's, and it's really interesting to compare his behavior and social skills to those of the rest of the cast, which is presumably NT. The last two episodes were especially interesting because they featured a breakup involving an Aspie and a breakup involving an NT couple, and you can clearly see the differences spelled out. Plus it's just super funny and well written.

I've found Two and a Half Men to be a very good show for learning social skills.

It may have a distorted view of love, dating, and relationships, but when it comes to actual verbal and non-verbal communication, things like tone and gesture, also dealing with awkward situations and complicated relationship issues, Two and a Half men is a very good source.

I've found Charlie is a good character to learn confidence, assurance, and self-happiness, while Allan is a good character to learn how to deal with problems you have with another person...

I don't really watch entire shows to learn to become better at socializing, although I tend to lend a close eye at single interaction moments while watching a TV show or a movie. If the interaction looks really awkward from the third person's perspective, I try to learn not to do the same mistakes than the unlucky character, the next time I find myself in a similar situation. Recognizing an awkward moment is based on gut feeling.

I agree with you. It´s really helpful that I can see how others react to a specific behaviour of Sheldon and can avoid it when I am in a similar situation because I know it would make people uncomfortable.

TV is a terrible place to learn social skills. You need a GOOD therapist who will tell you what the nuances, subtleties, and mannerisms actually mean. On TV, everything is so straight forward. I speak from experience: I was highly corrupted in my youth by TV and movies, even shows like the Simpsons, King of the Hill, South Park, American Pie, etc.

I do somewhat agree with this. When I was a kid I used quotes from stuff like those shows but didn't even know what they meant, I pretty much just liked the sound of them or thought they meant something else. A kid would bully me, I'd say in suprise: "Are you coming onto me?! !" (hehe).

Tv is straightforward indeed, I think, really, we need to learn a little about socializing and THEN use tv as a guide/reference/source and example of certain situations where what we have learned.

We learn in theory, tv shows us how to apply is in practical ways...