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What is your ranking of the best series of the past decade? I know next to nothing about anything network related over the past 7 or 8 years but doubt I've missed much. I was given the box set of The Wire as a gift and should likely be more repentant than I am for watching it. AMC is the only non-premium channel that seems to be producing notable original series.
There obviously is a lot of choices and much like food or lovers to each his own. Some notables I've left off my list
* Lost- I never saw an episode. I keep planning to watch the DVD or dowload the series on itunes, but it feels like too much of a commitment at this time.
*Sopranos- I have seen one or two of the edited for TV episodes. Too much is lost when they have to seemingly edit every other word or chop full scenes.
* 24 First season was great. Novel idea, very well executed and one of the best season finales I can think of it. Unfortunately, it quickly degineratived into typical network garbage. I have little to no memories of season 2 and I doubt I washed more than one or two episodes from season 3 on.
* Reality TV Survivor was (is?) king. Again great initial premise but I tired quickly of the tribe and Jeff Probst. I'm not sure I ever watched another reality series more than once or twice. I hear Hard Knocks is great, but have only seen a few clips on youtube.
*Walking Dead and The Killing. I watched both after the fact, via itunes. Each had an interesting premise, but fell just a little short.
*Office/Arrested Development/Curb your Enthusiasm: I know each show has a strong following, but again I've only seen a handful of episodes from each. Funny, but meh.
My top 5 of the past 10 years
1) The Wire: Drama at its best. Rarely, if ever, have a I seen such multi-layered characters. It was so easy to care about and dislike so many individuals. A scarred, gay, Robin Hood-like, gun thug was one of my favorite people of all time.
2) Mad Men: I'm not old enough to remember this time, but my dad would have been almost the same age as Don. Though, very different men so much of what Don and other of that generation went through rings true and reminds me of my father.
3) Breaking Bad: Depending how the first few episodes of season 4 goes, this could vault past MM. Oh, Jesse what will you do?
4) The Shield: Vic Mackey- liar, thief, adulterer, murderer, crooked cop...and yet you somehow made me root for you. The ending to the next to last season was breathtaking. As Lem's car smoldered away and Shane walked away in horror, I sat in stunned silence.
5) The gap between 4th and 5th is, Secretariat at the Belmont, huge. I'm sure someone will remind me of a better show and I reserve the right to edit my list. For now I will go with Justified. Good story lines, Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins are great. The mid-season episodes wander away from the overall story too much and catching the bad guy at the end of every episode is a little too CSIish for me.
There obviously is a lot of choices and much like food or lovers to each his own. Some notables I've left off my list
* Lost- I never saw an episode. I keep planning to watch the DVD or dowload the series on itunes, but it feels like too much of a commitment at this time.
*Sopranos- I have seen one or two of the edited for TV episodes. Too much is lost when they have to seemingly edit every other word or chop full scenes.
* 24 First season was great. Novel idea, very well executed and one of the best season finales I can think of it. Unfortunately, it quickly degineratived into typical network garbage. I have little to no memories of season 2 and I doubt I washed more than one or two episodes from season 3 on.
* Reality TV Survivor was (is?) king. Again great initial premise but I tired quickly of the tribe and Jeff Probst. I'm not sure I ever watched another reality series more than once or twice. I hear Hard Knocks is great, but have only seen a few clips on youtube.
*Walking Dead and The Killing. I watched both after the fact, via itunes. Each had an interesting premise, but fell just a little short.
*Office/Arrested Development/Curb your Enthusiasm: I know each show has a strong following, but again I've only seen a handful of episodes from each. Funny, but meh.
My top 5 of the past 10 years
1) The Wire: Drama at its best. Rarely, if ever, have a I seen such multi-layered characters. It was so easy to care about and dislike so many individuals. A scarred, gay, Robin Hood-like, gun thug was one of my favorite people of all time.
2) Mad Men: I'm not old enough to remember this time, but my dad would have been almost the same age as Don. Though, very different men so much of what Don and other of that generation went through rings true and reminds me of my father.
3) Breaking Bad: Depending how the first few episodes of season 4 goes, this could vault past MM. Oh, Jesse what will you do?
4) The Shield: Vic Mackey- liar, thief, adulterer, murderer, crooked cop...and yet you somehow made me root for you. The ending to the next to last season was breathtaking. As Lem's car smoldered away and Shane walked away in horror, I sat in stunned silence.
5) The gap between 4th and 5th is, Secretariat at the Belmont, huge. I'm sure someone will remind me of a better show and I reserve the right to edit my list. For now I will go with Justified. Good story lines, Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins are great. The mid-season episodes wander away from the overall story too much and catching the bad guy at the end of every episode is a little too CSIish for me.
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