Following my less-than-100% rating for Downton Abbey, saying that it falls short of true greatness, my friend Reed asked me which shows I /would/ consider as great. Here are ten:
- All in the Family
- Battlestar Galactica (new)
- Breaking Bad
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Doctor Who (new)
- Futurama
- Game of Thrones
- Hillstreet Blues
- M*A*S*H
- Sherlock
Disagree? Please feel free to debate me on these; I welcome it!
And to illuminate what I mean by "greatness," here are some shows that I'm crazy about; which I could watch endlessly, but I'd stop short of canonizing as great.
- Firefly
- Big Bang Theory
- X Files
- Star Trek OS & V
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- Venture Bros
- Bob's Burgers
- American Horror Story
- Tinker Taylor Solder Spy
- Twin Peaks (if it weren't for that weak middle, I'd have put it on the first list).
- Lonsome Dove
- 24 (season one)
- Dexter
- Desperate Housewives
- Dark Angel
- Lost
- Soap
- Twilight Zone
- Wild Wild West
- Odd Couple
- Little House on the Prairie
- Moonlighting
- Heroes (season 1)
- The Prisoner
- Malcolm in the Middle
To be truly great, I want a show that delivers greatness in all areas, script, acting, production, sound, editing...within the limits of it's means...the kind of results you only get if >everyone< involved is either at the top of thier field or the peak of enthusiasm. Passion and prowess, approaching perfection. I also want to walk away with something; I want to have learned something or had a veritable experience, the kind of thing you don't get from a show where people are merely doing a great "job."
And for what it's worth, I haven't yet seen:
- The Sopranos
- Mad Men
- Six Feet Under
- Boardwalk Empire
- West Wing
- The Wire
- The Shield
- House
...so I can't comment on those.
