OT: Your Top 5 TV Dramas of all-time

Submitted by BeatOSU52 on

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?

UofM626

June 5th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^

1 Sopranos - nothing compared to this show as this show is the #1 ever on TV in my eyes.

2 Sons of Anarchy - show was so intense and I think everyone should watch this.

3 Oz - Prison show that was graphic but opened people's eyes what real prison could be like.

4 90210 - great show and touched on many issues we all relate to.

5 NYPD Blue - was awesome and intense!

smwilliams

June 5th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^

1. Breaking Bad

An experience that played out more like a visual novel penned by a Great American Writer rather than something we'd traditionally associate with television.

2. LOST

The first show that probably caused an unhealthy level of devotion for me. Some of the iconic scenes still stick with me after all these years.

3. The Simpsons

Is there anything funnier than Seasons 3-10 of The Simpsons. The quality has become subpar since then, but it's probably the pinnacle of comedy for me.

4. Game of Thrones

Not a book reader, but the scope of the world has me reading wikia articles about Joramun and Harrenhal.

5. Friday Night Lights

Texas forever.

BlueSky

June 5th, 2015 at 3:54 PM ^

Getting long in the tooth, and can only come up with 4.

4. Star Trek
3. Twin Peaks
2. St. Elsewhere
1. Homocide - Life on the Streets

MikeCohodes

June 5th, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^

Because I don't think its fair to compare a show that's still running to one that hasn't wrapped yet, as we don't know how it will go. One user earlier had Heroes in his top 5, (the first responder actually) and that show would've been if it stopped after season 1. Instead it got way crappy by the end.

Top 5 still airing - if you aren't watching these, shame on you!:

5. True Detective

4. Walking Dead

3. The Americans

2. Orphan Black

1. Game of Thrones

Top 5 completed (sadly I still have to watch Mad Men, the Wire, & Breaking Bad so this is subject to revision some day):

5. NYPD Blue

4. Veronica Mars

3. Sopranos

2. Battlestar Galactica

1. Lost

 

Brewers Yost

June 5th, 2015 at 4:08 PM ^

X-Files
Breaking Bad
Twin Peaks
Twilight Zone/ Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Boardwalk Empire

A lot of recent shows I haven't watched yet like The Wire, GoT, Mad Men

bluebrains98

June 5th, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^

1. Breaking Bad

2. Sons of Anarchy

3. Dexter

4. Game of Thrones

5. Lost/Sopranos/Six Feet Under...

Lots of amazing shows I could fill in at #5, but 1-4 are clearly the ones that impacted me most. It takes a couple days to catch your breath after an episode of any of those series.

50shadesofHARBAUGH

June 5th, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^

1. Breaking Bad.

Mike Ehrmantraut is one of the best characters on TV, he's even better now with Better Call Saul.

2. LOST

The others still piss me off.

3. The Wire

Omar also one of the best TV characters.

4. Band Of Brothers

Although it was only a mini series, it was pretty epic.

5. Game Of Thrones.

I want a dragon.

j-turn14

June 5th, 2015 at 6:06 PM ^

1. Justified
2. 24
3. The Walking Dead
4. GoT
5. Homeland

Really liked S1 of True Detective and Daredevil, but one season isn't a big enough sample size... Caveats being that I haven't watched BrBa, Mad Men, or House of Cards, or really any subscription cable shows other than those mentioned

dRich

June 5th, 2015 at 6:09 PM ^

Life, Orange is the new black, prison break, breaking bad, life on Mars (US), Harpers island, Weeds before Nancy goes to prison.

Rodriguesqe

June 5th, 2015 at 8:07 PM ^

mine have been mentioned a dozen times in this thread. One that is probably just outside my top 5 is 'i, claudius'. its a mini seris, but i think 10 - 20 hrs long.  Fans of "Rome" or just history geeks would love it. Also a novel, it presents a historically plausible narrative  of the end of Augustus' reign to the end of Claudius'. Most will think its boring beyond words, but for the history nerds its like crack. 

Blue in Denver

June 6th, 2015 at 12:13 AM ^

1.  West Wing (a little dated now, but was amazing then)

2. The Wire

3. The Newsroom

4. Deadwood

5. Tie - Justified and Foyle's War  (yes, I know that's cheating)

Honorable mention: The other Sorkin series: Sports Night and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

UMgradMSUdad

June 6th, 2015 at 1:48 AM ^

Ok. I'm old and have simple tastes, so I'll list mine chronologically.

1. Perry Mason

2. Rockford Files

3. Hillstreet Blues

4. Davinci's Inquest (a Canadian show that's not easy to find now)

5. The Mentalist

 

Yes, they all have to do with solving crimes in one way or another.