The Greatest TV Series of All Time

ER
The Wire
Sopranos

ER seasons 1-6 are phenomenal, 7-8 are good, but a lot of the initial cast left the show in 8 and the show started to sputter for a while. While the show really overstayed its welcome in those later seasons, it had a pretty decent final season for a show that went on that long. Some of those early episodes like "Love's Labor Lost" and "The Storm" are so good. Dr. Carter will probably always be my favorite TV character of all time. I've watched through the entire series 5-6 times and I fucking love it.

The Wire was the shit, through and through. I loved the format in which each season centered on a different part of Baltimore. Season 2 got a lot of shit, but that was my 2nd favorite, after 4.

Don't think it deserved 'of all time' status, but The Good Wife was really fucking good. The supporting cast could be hit or miss, but that main cast was fantastic. Rough 5th season, but all the others were really enjoyable.

As much as I loved Breaking Bad, Skylar was so fucking irritating, I can't bring myself to rewatch it again. I'd put Mad Men over it, to be honest.

Kiroy said:

If skyler and Dexter's sister (Debra Morgan) were standing in a room and I had a gun and two bullets I'd shoot dexters sister twice.

Click to expand...

I hear ya to some extent, Debra's annoying but I have to confess I find her kind of hot. Her character sucks but if she just STFU she wouldnt be abrasive. Skyler on the other hand, no.

Kiroy said:

I don't think westworld deserves a spot in here. It's some really great high quality sci fi but it had some serious fucking logical problems.

Click to expand...

Some of that is nitpicking but yeah, Westworld's the only new show I could think of that really stands out.

I just don't get all the Sopranos love, there were definitely some good episodes and the early seasons were fantastic but then you got into Big Fat Gay Mobster, My Daughters Dating a Mooly, Carmela goes to Europe, My Frenemy loves Getting Pegged By My Sister, and My Bodyguard Loves My Wife and there were just a lot of REALLY bad episodes in the last few seasons.

As someone said earlier, if the Sopranos were rebooted today it would probably be a lot better with a more serialized story but then again it would probably also get a lot more contemporary social topics which would kinda be boring. A Sopranos style show about mobsters in the 50s and 60s would be perfect. I'd also love a TV show about asian mobsters in Hong Kong and California in the 80s and 90s (Sleeping Dogs, Infernal Affairs style) or Russian mobsters after the fall of the Wall.

Screamfeeder said:

Ozark, Stranger Things, and Narcos for sure. Better Call Saul is...maybe getting there (and I am EXTREMELY biased toward New Mexico shows). Only watched the first episode of Mindhunter so can't really comment.

I still need to watch Fargo...too much fucking good television is the real take away from this thread.

Click to expand...

I think everyone overrates Ozark. I love the show, it has great acting and I love the actors, and the story is pretty decent, but I just don't feel like the story is on par with these shows we're talking about here. I also don't think it was really intended to be the next Sopranos or something, it's in the vein of Breaking Bad of course, but not as good.

You should put seasons 1 and 2 of Fargo at the top of your list. Billy Bob Thornton and Bokeem Woodbine fucking crushed. Nothing else you have in the queue is better than those 2.

pharmakos said:

too early to say The Expanse is one of the greatest shows, but it has potential to be.

Click to expand...

I wanted to say The Expanse, I really did. It's amazing sci-fi. But the story feels disjointed. At least season 2 did. I say this having not read the books, which I will eventually but I shouldn't have to.

Kiroy said:

Not at all, even if he didn't personally care (he called his wife a fatty to her face), you can't be an effective boss and have people talking shit about you behind your back, not in that business.

Click to expand...

He isn't the boss, and he disobeyed the actual boss (carmine), multiple times and even went as far as putting out a hit after he was explicitly told (multiple times) he needed to swallow his pride. All this after he was a toe the line, follow the rules, I'm not stickin my beak in softie for the entirety of the series until that point. That change in character was jarring and out of nowhere. And then after he said "forget it" that was the last we saw of his character for the rest of that season.

And after finishing the rest of season 4 I can comfortably say that The Sopranos fell into the trap of feeding the herd. If you watched it when it was airing I can see the love for it as one of the greats. Watching it now, in 2017, after watching so many other great TV shows? It really fell far from grace fast. I can't imagine what season 5, and the "oh I guess we aren't done, we're coming back" season 6 have in store for me...

Here's how I would categorize the sopranos:

*Showtime Exec*: Holy shit have you seen this TV show HBO has? The Sopranos? We need to do that, get into TV and model all our shows after that formula
*HBO Exec*: The Sopranos... I think we can milk it for another season or two, maybe bring it back after a fake ending... but honestly... we can do better

Best animated:
Simpsons
Rick & Morty
South Park
Deadlock between Futurama and Archer

Best sci fi:
Firefly
X-Files
BSG

There's a distinct lack of Deadwood around here.

1. Deadwood
2. The Wire
3. ST:TNG
4. Seinfeld
5. Utopia

Feanor said:

Best animated:
Simpsons
Rick & Morty
South Park
Deadlock between Futurama and Archer

Best sci fi:
Firefly
X-Files
BSG

Click to expand...

I put Gravity Falls and Adventure Time above Archer.

gogusrl said:

There's a distinct lack of Deadwood around here.

1. Deadwood
2. The Wire
3. ST:TNG
4. Seinfeld
5. Utopia

Click to expand...

Almost every post mentions Deadwood.

Deadwood was good but I find the setting not very compelling. As far as consistency and quality it's great.

Anyone mentioned The West Wing yet?

No clue why shit like BBT and Friends are being mentioned in the sitcom category in a world in which Married with Children and Seinfeld exist. Like, this isn't even a matter of opinion. They're factually worse shows (even if you happen to enjoy them).

I mean, BBT? There's literally like 30 sitcoms factually and provably funnier than that within like the last 10 years. There's like half a dozen just on HBO alone.

Sebudai said:

I mean, BBT? There's literally like 30 sitcoms factually and provably funnier than that within like the last 10 years. There's like half a dozen just on HBO alone.

Click to expand...

Sebudai said:

No clue why shit like BBT and Friends are being mentioned in the sitcom category in a world in which Married with Children and Seinfeld exist. Like, this isn't even a matter of opinion. They're factually worse shows (even if you happen to enjoy them).

Click to expand...

Can definitely agree Married With Children and Seinfeld are better, BBT and Friends still damn good. I wish Married With Children was still on more.

BBT is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. In fact if I ever meet anyone who tells me they like it I immediately lose all respect for them. It's a good barometer.