19. The Wire (HBO)

I never really watched it as this deep sociopolitical text like some people, but as an entertaining cops vs drug dealers show it’s still a classic with a lot of memorable characters like Omar, Stringer, Avon, McNulty, Bunk, Lester, etc. as they move their chess pieces against each other. I liked the seasonal arc structure and every year doing a different part of Baltimore, and some surprising turns like dropping the drug dealers for white port owners in season 2 or McNulty taking most of season 4 off. I normally think one of HBO’s weaknesses is shows with too many characters but this show probably did one of the best job of blending the massive cast together. The show always had a good sense of humor and knew how to use side characters like Herc and Carver to that effect (along with McNulty and Bunk) and was willing to do some goofy/fun stuff like the bow tie hitman guy, whereas if it was made now its subject matter would likely be considered too serious to have jokes in or be worried about being entertaining.

18. Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)

I like the subject matter of the early days of computer/gaming/internet technology and even if putting a handful of people in the middle of inventing half of it is unrealistic, it works well enough to get the themes across such as connection, artists, ego, etc. Its characters realized the potential for the internet to connect people, but often fail to see how special the connections they have with each other have been along the way, or give it up to achieve their own goals to be appreciated as geniuses. Lee Pace as Joe is one of the more fascinating characters I’ve seen, but I like how it gives all four of the main characters near equal importance, and all four give excellent performances and have chemistry together.

The Wire is amazing. Season 4 is my fav, mostly cause it has the least amount ot McNulty.

I mightve finished the first season of Halt? It and Silicon Valley are shows that I should have liked more but just gave up on instead.

It is impressive that they lose Stringer, Avon, limit McNulty and give the season to some kids and have one of their best seasons.

17. Farscape (Sci-Fi)

I normally don’t like the “episodic” style of sci-fi show like Trek as much as the more serialized ones, but this is my favorite of that style I’ve seen, although it has some semi long term arcs. I like the whole aesthetic of this show from the costumes to ship and the Henson puppets. John Crichton is a great lead character and anchors the humor of the show, and I bought into the main romance with the sexy badass Aeryn (although my biggest crush may have been on Chiana in that alien character way), and he has superb chemistry with Scorpius who is one of my favorite movie/tv villains. This show has a lot of heart and I like that the crew members feel like family to each other.

16. The Good Place (NBC)

I like how creative the good place/bad place concept allowed them to be setting up new plans or shenanigans by the architects, for a network comedy it always felt like the story was going places and it used the cliffhangers well. The art design of the worlds was great and it had one of the best costumes I’ve seen for a comedy, it’s just one of those shows that thought about what colors everyone was wearing represented about them etc. The cast members all get their moments with D’Arcy as Janet as an especially classic character, along with Danson as Michael and Bell as Eleanor as my favourites, and some other smaller characters like Fake Elenaor and Mindy also were fun. It was a feel good/optimistic watch and the philosophy style while taking a slight/101 approach on its themes worked for this format. The series finale was one of the best I’ve seen.

15. Mad Men (AMC)

I never had a problem with this show from an entertainment perspective, in part because it had humor and fun side characters working in the office like the Ken and Kinsey type characters (and of course Roger) and to go along with the heavier parts. I like the psychological balance between repressed/unhappy characters and it made the times they did show real emotion like when Don finds out about Anna Draper’s death or the big suicide scene more effective and memorable. I felt like sometimes the storyline went in circles with a lot of clients chased after and women Don was sleeping with bleeding together in my mind, but it kind of works because when Don is 80 he’s not going to remember that teacher’s name he had an affair with or why he cared so much about landing Jaguar either, only the important stuff. Maybe I would have been a more aggressive contrarian criticizing this if it came out later, but as is I had a good time watching Mad Men for many years.

14. Broad City (Comedy Central)

This is one of the hardest I’ve laughed at a show. I really love the chemistry between its leads that you can’t fake, and it uses physical comedy so well. I feel like the directing is the secret sauce of this show as it understands how to film its characters walking around, montages, soundtrack, etc. and create the vibe of the city. While it’s more episodic than long term storyline driven, it still is about growing up and a friendship where one person has bigger dreams than the other and sees this fun times smoking weed and being broke as just a transition to her real life, while the other friend is having the time of her life being broke and living through her friend’s dreams, but knowing one day she’ll have to lose her. I have no clue why this can't break out on streaming both its walking meme style, being made for rewatching and views being perfect for young hip people, but I guess these days the biggest factor is whether you’re on Netflix or not, plus the episode they jizzed over Hillary didn’t help.

Good choices but you're gonna have to adjust your list to put Scott Pilgrim Takes Off at #1.

I think I liked Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist more than Scott Pilgrim vs the World... Maybe it was Kat Dennings boobs.

13. The Sopranos (HBO)

Tony himself is the highlight of this show for me, just an amazing character and I loved the therapy scenes diving into his complex sociopathy, depression and mother/father issues. Likewise Carmela is one of the most interesting wife characters on these types of shows because of asking how guilty she is by association. The other characters are entertaining as well like Paulie, Chris, Bobby, Olivia, etc., the humor of characters busting each other's balls was always good, and also allows them to be in denial that they're bad guys, I like the supporting cast more than a show like Breaking Bad. Some of the dream sequences were excellent from an artistic standpoint. If I had to pick hairs I did think the seasonal structure felt a little neat and tidy sometimes, but that's partly from the time period it came out.

She does have really nice boobs. Andrew WK is a lucky man.

Sopranos is a weird one for me. I know that if I watched it at the time I probably would have loved it in the same way I love The Wire. Waiting so long was a mistake. Now, there are so many other shows, movies, games, etc... that ripped off The Sopranos, watching it is boring since I feel like I've seen it all before. I got to season 3, the episode where the therapist gets raped and then threw in the towel.

Sopranos is an all timer. That said the last watch (perhaps my second full series watch) would have been in 2009. It was still fresh and groundbreaking then. I tend to agree - watching it for the first time now probably doesn't have the same impact.

Mad Men on the other hand is pure brilliance. My love for that show is immense.

The fact that Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire were developed and run by Sopranos writing alumni highlights the immense writing talent behind The Sopranos.

I felt that way trying to watch Deadwood in mid 2010s (probably the best reviewed of 00-09 dramas I didn’t like) where I think Ian McShane’s bad guy you like character felt less fresh than if I saw it in 2004, albeit I had other issues with it.

Despite how they’ve made about 8 network dramas that have tried with the long term storylines in the last 20 years instead of cop or hospital shit, there are 4 in the top 12... starting with the coolest one and then every one making me progressively more lame:



12. Lost (ABC)

The plot in this was one of my favorites of all time with all the mysteries of the island, hatch, numbers, Dhrama initiative, etc. I love the format of present day scenes mixed with character development flashbacks showing how people’s decisions led them to be who they are, and helping some of its characters be classics like Locke, Ben, Jack and others. The score is superb and I’m always down for an island and jungle type setting aesthetically. I originally had this at #10 but I decided to take into account how its worst stretches were a bit rough, and maybe the nostalgia of following it on the internet on the time made me overlook some flaws at the time.

Definitely need to do a Lost rewatch but its a bummer that those first few seasons have so many episodes. One of the best changes to tv over the years has been lowering those 22 episode seasons down to 8-12.

11. This Is Us (NBC)

Like Lost I’m a big fan of the flashback format that uses the past to add development to present day characters, in this case it always being about the same people but at different points in their life made it a little bit different but was great to show the themes of emotional change and growing up, they also did a superb job editing the flashbacks with the present. Of course they know how to pull the right manipulative strings to make you cry but I’m down with that as it got me a number of times. The soundtrack is excellent and adds to the optimistic vibe. The cast feels like a real family that help make it still feel real enough instead of crossing the line into being too saccharine. This show is the story of life with the heartbreaks, romances, grief, fights, etc. which is quite a big undertaking but they pulled it off.

Top ten predictions:

1) Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
2) nbc comedy
3) nbc comedy
4) Battlestar Galactica
5) A random scyfy network show like Eureka
6) Survivor
7) Jeopardy
8) nbc comedy
9) usa drama
10) Fringe

3 of 10 are on there

10. Succession (HBO)

This is about as well executed as it gets in terms of acting, writing, etc., the dialog is gold and not only does the main characters have some of the best performances I’ve seen on tv but the smaller roles like your Willa, Gerri, Frank, etc. are all good too. The sense of humor is at the heart of the show as it has burns and one liners for days before also being able to pull off the more emotional scenes that makes them feel human instead of caricatures. I never disliked the characters, I always found them endearing in a damaged way as they desperately seek out approval and navigate their insecurities and crushing pressure they put on themselves.

9. Survivor (CBS)

It’s been a pleasure to get back into GOAT-vivor in recent years (since the all winners season) after missing seasons about 16 to 39, not only has the new seasons been a great semi annual tradition, but watching old seasons I missed even when I know who wins has been way more enjoyable than I would have guessed. Watching the human strategy is fascinating with the show’s balance of having to both make it to the end and then have them vote for you to win, tribal council is always a banger and the immunity challenges as fun to watch as well. The show’s editing is overall terrific between the pacing and having the perfect amount of twisting of real events to make it a more entertaining show/story. I really like the feeling of someone starting out the show as a stranger and then by by the end you’ve got to know them. It’s also just nice to get away to an island for 12-13 episodes.

8. American Horror Story (FX)

For me AHS was never about the horror or shock moments at its core, that just gives it a fun canvas to tell its short stories. I find this to be an emotionally driven show, its characters are frequently lost souls on some journey to find their meaning or peace, or finding connection in the other damaged outcasts. The directing/editing is one of my favourites for a tv show I’ve seen, it’s hard to describe but something about it just pulsates and works for me. I also really like how the seasons plots are structured and pay off in the end, despite the chaos it feels like everything they do has a purpose, it’s somehow a controlled fire. The actors coming in and eating as much scenery as they can fit in their mouth is a lot of fun and seeing the same actors play different characters in multiple seasons was such a cool concept. This is stellar tv art for me all around, the only reason it’s not higher is expected inconsistency in season quality.

7. The Mindy Project (Fox/Hulu)

Well some people might have a different sitcom with a female comedian from that generation like 30 Rock, Parks and Rec or maybe New Girl here, for me it was the Mindy Project I felt that way about and where the array of one liners and reactions clicked. Morgan is a classic comedy creation for me while some others like Beverley also are amazing and Mindy herself also being funny and her style of dropping backhanded lines about her character (hard to describe) takes it to another level comedically. More than just the laughs, I really enjoyed story as this is my favorite romantic comedy of the 2000s, the Mindy and Danny combo is a superb use of the bickering will they or won’t they with both actors playing their parts perfectly, Kaling’s performance is great not just on a comedy level but selling the emotional arc of her character. But the show is also about how someone in this romcom fantasy mindset has to get hit in the face by real life and deal with it - What happens to the work mortal enemies who fell in love but a few years later, when they’re back to fighting all the time again but now over how to raise a kid and struggling with how little they have in common? The balance between real but still believing the fantasy ending is possible part of what makes it great.

I've seen Arrested Development, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Succession and the first seasons of The Sopranos, Lost and Mad Men, all great to see them on this list.

6. The Walking Dead (AMC)

As spectacular as I find the zombie attacks thanks to the cinematography, sound, art direction, etc. at its core this is about the humans survival story, not them. It’s about the internal conflict of how to keep hope in a doomed scenario and keeping the light/humanity, because if you don’t there’s nothing worthwhile you’re fighting for anyway. And the humans who did go into anything to survive mode end up the most dangerous threats of all. Not that this is the only zombie movie or show to take that perspective, but I find TWD executed it the best and made me invested in the characters and had that emotional hook and writing whereas if you watch something like the spin off they just seem like bland meat in comparison. I found the cast likeable and I think they were doing physical acting things that made it better performances than it seemed when they talked where they were good enough. Lincoln as Rick is an especially strong mix of masculinity and vulnerability. This is a stone cold classic that at its best perfected the genre over the zombie Hound and Arya version.