OT: Your Top 5 TV Dramas of all-time
There was a sub-discussion in the Mad Men series final for this the other week and it got me thinking. Mine would be:
5. Boardwalk Empire - probably not on a lot of people's top 5. I think Michael Pitt's potrayal as Jimmy Darmody is one of more underrated tv performances of all time.
4. The Sopranos - Credited as the show that got presitige tv drama series really going. People still talk/debate about the finale to this day. Also great acting as a whole. RIP James Gandolfini.
3. Breaking Bad - Has as some of the best use of cinematography I've ever seen. Gustavo Fring is probably my favorite villain of all-time in a series.
2. Mad Men - Don Draper is probably my favorite drama character of all time in terms of level of intrique. Hamm better finally win an Emmy this year! This show is more character--driven than most shows which causes some to stay away from it and either love it or hate it. I thought the series finale was great and stayed true to the show being an accurate illistration of human behavior.
1. The Wire - It seems there's not a lot of middle ground in regards to this show in that people think it's the most overrated show ever, or that it's the greatest show ever. I obviously fall in the latter. I think it's as close to a flawless show as you can get, and I believe it has the overall best acting on a show that we'll ever see.
So I like AMC and HBO shows as you can see, and probably favor shows in recent time. But all just my opinion.
What are yours?
It certainly is all of those things like you mentioned, and the feel of the show changes depending on who is playing the doctor, who is playing his companion, and what the situation is. David Tennant episodes are generally more drama than Matt Smith episodes, while at the same time, David Tennant's doctor with Donna Knoble is more comedic than David Tennant's doctor with Rose Tyler. I think it fits on this thread as a drama, but it is much more than just that.
I can get behind that. Peter Capaldi is probably the most dramatic Doctor of them all even with Clara being a little more light hearted.
He certainly has the potential for it, but I'm still trying to figure Capaldi out. I think he would benefit from a companion that he can play off of a little better, rather than one who's personality was created for Matt Smith's version of the doctor.
5. The Americans / Game of Thrones / Orphan Black (tie)
4. Lost (until the last episode; it couldn't stick the landing; if it had, it might have been number one)
3. Doctor Who
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1. Twin Peaks
My man!
1. The Wire
2. Breaking Bad
3. Game of Thrones
4. Boardwalk Empire
5. Hannibal*
*That's the new one. It's one of the very few "big four" network TV shows I watch...but it is so, so good. I can't recommend it enough. The acting is phenomenal; one of the standout surprises for me is just how good Gillian Anderson is.
'True Detective' is right now just outside my top 5...as much as I thought Season 1 was one of the best seasons of any show I've ever seen -- ever -- I'm gonna refrain from elevating it any higher until I see the second season.
Other honorable mentions: The Sopranos, The Shield, Homeland (I'm completely in love with Claire Danes), and Six Feet Under.
Speaking of Hannibal, season 3 premiere was last night, but I can't watch that show week to week. I have to binge it all at once.
All within the past 2 months. And yeah, that's the way to do it, for sure. All of those episodes are on Amazon Prime.
1. Jersey Shore
2. Breaking Bad
3. My second favorite Jersey-centric show, The Sopranos.
4. Michigan Replay
5. ER
4. The Americans
3. Lost
2. the Wire
1. Breaking Bad
There is plenty out there I have yet to see though. Just started Boardwalk.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I was wondering if someone was going to list The Americans. I think it's the best show on TV right now (and I'm both a book and TV GOT loyalist).
Another is the BBC series MI-5 (called Spooks there).
Love GoT but The Americans is an amazing multilayered drama dealing with internal conflict, international politics, and first and foremost family dynamics.
Some nice redemption there after the subpar (IMO) "Gyp Rosetti" season. I always wanted to see more Eli, though. MOAR ELI!
It just got too much away from the core characters for me, I suppose...and took away from "Eli time." ;-)
It was a very appropriate ending, all things considered. But it was kinda of a cheap way to do it. For me, the series really ended at the finale of season 4.
Hill Street Blues
Breaking Bad
dunno from there
Recency bias of course, and I don't know if one season allows for entrance into the top 5, but man did I love True Detective. Brilliant performance by McConaughey. The directing and cinematography perfectly captured the essence of the Bayou.
1. The Wire
2. Breaking Bad
3. Alfred Hitchcock Presents/Hitchcock Hour
4. Lost
5. Game of Thrones (if that counts, since it isn't over).
I don't like ranking shows that are still on since they can always tank. For instance, the first few seasons of Dexter were captivating. If the show ended there, it would probably be in my top 5. Unfortunately, it got really bad as it went on. Great example of a show lasting too long.
First season brilliant...the John Lithgow season, brilliant...but just way too much "eh" the rest of the way throughout.
I stuck with it all the way through, just because...but the season with Colin Hanks really tested my patience, and the last season just about ruined the entire series for me, especially the ending. Gack.
10. The Twilight Zone
9. M*A*S*H (loved this as a kid.)
8. Original Star Trek
7. Damages/The Killing/House of Cards
6. Justified / The X Files
5. The Americans/Orphan Black
4. Deadwood (first two seasons)
3. Rome
2. GOT/Breaking Bad
1. The Wire
I count to tne sort of like the B1G
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Anyone else enjoying Wayward Pines? Very promising start.
No order
The Wire, House, and Breaking Bad are definitive top 3.
Hannibal, True Detective, and Sherlock are creeping up there depending on how they finish.
Dexter would have been up there, but fell off a cliff the last 3 seasons.
I'm the only one who owned a television prior to 2005:
1. The A-Team
2. McGyver
3. Cagney & Lacey
4. Trapper John, MD
5. Mangum PI
I admit, I watched and enjoyed most of those shows back in the day, too -- you can add 'Dukes of Hazzard' and 'Knight Rider' to that list for me...and maybe even 'Airwolf.'
And apparently you haven't owned one since...
Older TV wasn't very good. The rise of cable series, which are not beholden to advertisers, really upped the bar. Cable shows have to be better because you're paying for it so they are more edgy. You can probably thank HBO for creating the competition.
Those older shows really insulted my intelligence as they were too predictable.
While Cable shows have benefitted from the lack of typical self censorship found on network shows, I find that many so-called "groundbreaking" cable shows are nly groundbreaking because they tend for the cheap thrill and titilation, and an overliance on "shock" value. It's kind of like comparing horror movies now with all the special effects to (good) horror movies from the past that had to suck you in with long game story telling and character development. Some newer shows accomplish that, some fail horribly. Also, I want TV to be entertaining, not just tell me how depressing the world was/is and enrapture itself in always gray morality.
In all seriousness, that's why Magnum PI as an entire series was really a great TV show. The setting of Hawaii was the hook for the casual viewer, but a lot of the best episodes dealt fairly maturely and fairly with some of the pressing issues of the day such as Post-Vietnam reculturement for our vets, ramifications of war on society, intercultural relations, etc. Sure there were the throwaway episodes with funny guest stars, farcical plots, or the like, but go watch episodes like the plane crash one, the one where Thomas has to figure out whether his Vietnam bride is still alive, or the one where Rick almost goes sniper, and there's excellent drama wrapped up in a digestible format. And its not reliant on tits, on screen sex, flesh eating zombies, graphic prison beat downs, and excessive use of the 7 words banned on network TV.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I'm pissed at the egregious omissions of Riptide and Mama's Family.
Thunder in Paradise
Simon & Simon
CHiPS
NightHawk
and ADAM-12
but thought I'd keep it to only 5.
I feel like your list is missing Magnum P.I.
There I said it.
The CBC ran a show called Intelligence that was almost as good as The Wire. People who've seen it call it the Canadian Wire. It only lasted two seasons because it told the truth about both the US and Canadian govts and may have made the sponsors uncomfortable. The network never promoted it either. I got it from Netflix.
1. The Sopranos - I rewatch every season 1x per year. I'm not going to get involved in an argument with anyone that wants to claim that The Wire or Mad Men are better. I love all three, but I'll go with the order here - it's based on the probably sheer number of times I've rewatched every episode of each season.
2. Mad Men - see above.
3. Breaking Bad - see also above.
4. Game of Thrones - Evaluated exclusively by the television series and not the books. The book loyalists need to relax. This show is better than everything currently on TV, notwithstanding the departure of the series from the books this year.
5. Black Mirror (If you consider this British television "series" format similar to the approach we use in the States). Each epidode profoundly affected me emotionally and not necessarily in a good way.
I love Black Mirror so freakin' much. Like you said, it really can emotionally impact you, especially since some of the plot lines aren't out of the realm of being possible one day. It didn't make my list because it's not really a show as much as short movies, seeing as there is no continuation in the story from episode to episode.
That said, it's really great stuff for any one who loves sci-fi, and technology...
I'm fearing a shitty American version in 5...4....3...2...
Hate to break the news, but the US has been planning to Americanize at least one of the episodes for about 2 years now...
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/12/robert-downey-jr-black-mirr…
That's fine--that's the show's best episode.
I just watched Black Mirror on Netflix. The quality was uneven though I loved "The Entire History of You" and "White Bear". The first episode "The National Anthem" was good, but made me feel so terrible watching it, which I guess was the point.
Every single episode of the 1st season was absolutely gut wrenching. It took a lot out of me to watch each one, and that horrible, embarrassed feeling you have while watching National Anthem first is really what hooks you in. It's impressive for a show to make you feel like that.
I could, however, completely do without "The Waldo Moment" in season 2. Not a fan of that one at all and I don't think it was up to par with any other ones.
1. Deadwood(Really? Nobody else? You're doing it wrong...)
2. Mad Men
3. The Wire
4. Boardwalk Empire
5. My So-Called Life
Breaking Bad and House are probably 4/5 on my list if I can ignore the end of their runs.
First season was fantastic. After that...after the death of Wild Bill...it kinda lost it a bit for me. I found much of the "Pinkerton" storyline very tedious.
Speaking of My So Called Life, I'm kinda suprised there's no love on the board for Freaks and Geeks.
I love TV.
One season only, though. SHOULD have been 3-4 more, at the very least.