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Best TV drama of recent vintage (1 Viewer)

Which to pass up?

  • The Wire

    Votes: 7 5.1%

  • Breaking Bad

    Votes: 4 2.9%

  • The Shield

    Votes: 50 36.5%

  • Game of Thrones

    Votes: 14 10.2%

  • Sopranos

    Votes: 12 8.8%

  • Mad Men

    Votes: 50 36.5%
  • Total voters
    137
D

dutch

Footballguy
With all the talk of GoT recently it got me thinking about some of the more recent tv dramas and how we seem to be in a golden age of sorts.  A big reason for this is the proliferation of cable offerings, both premium channel and basic channels.  I included the shows that seem to generate the most buzz as best of all time type shows.  I know I left some out but I chose what I think are the best of the best.  

The first poll question is self explanatory.  The second one is basically if your going away, to the slammer or to Mars or wherever, and you can only take five shows  to watch in their entirety which is the one you recommend to leave off your packing list.

 
I left out True Detective as it only has one great season and one awful follow up.  Certainly doesn't hold up to the rest of the offerings, imo.  And Fargo may end up on the list but two seasons just isn't enough time to compare.  I also left out Deadwood, Rescue Me and Six Feet Under but gave each serious consideration.  Wanted to keep the voting to the elites and felt adding more would start to water down.

 
Besides, this is a vote for the series as a whole and not just one or two seasons.  If you want folks to vote for best seasons you'll have to start another thread.

 
Understood but for my money, season 1 of True Detective is the best thing I've ever regularly tuned in to watch on tv. Of the options listed, Sopranos for me but I have yet to binge on Breaking Bad. Saving that for when I need a new hip someday or something.

 
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Agreed on The Shield.  I added it because it was at the top of my head when thinking back to earlier in the 00's.  It is more on the level of Rescue Me and Justified although it isn't leading the way on which show to leave behind.

My votes were Breaking Bad and Mad Men.  I have yet to watch The Wire so my vote is incomplete.  Mad Men, I got through the first two seasons and three eps. of season three and bailed.  I understand the appeal but it just isn't for me.

 
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The Shield is right up there with the best of them and has the finest ending of any show on this list. Shield seasons 5 and 7 are as good if not better than the best seasons of any show. No show on this list should be passed up. To the list, I would add Justified and Deadwood.

 
I picked GOT to watch first because it's the only one still current and you could get caught up

never seen the shield but i'd leave it beind

reminder to self:  go finish season 5 of the wire

 
I never watched Justified but it seemed to me it was always over shadowed by Breaking Bad, Mad Men and GoT.  Perhaps i should give this a binge before The Wire.

 
I've never seen The Shield. Never interested me. So, voted for that in poll 2.

Just binge watched and am now current with The Americans. Enjoying that as much as anything else on your list.

 
I only caught bits of Breaking Bad when it aired as it never clicked. Decided to binge it recently. Now I'm only up to season 3, but it is painfully boring to me. Season 1 and 2 had moments and I liked the end of season 2, but damn, it's so mediocre compared to all the rest of these listed. Maybe it gets awesome in 4 & 5, but I actually dread putting it on now. I fell asleep 3x during the "Fly" episode. I don't get the perceived awesomeness of that show at all so far.

 
You ask which to watch first, not which is best, and for that reason I went with The Sopranos. It paved the way for the rest of these shows. 

I would recommend watching The Sopranos > The Wire, then The Shield > Breaking Bad, then Mad Men. In that order. 

The order I watched them is: The Wire > Breaking Bad > The Shield > The Sopranos > Mad Men (on S1E8)

The order I rank them is: The Wire/Breaking Bad......The Sopranos/Mad Men.....................The Shield (in the first two groupings the order is reversible, the shows were equally good IMO)

I voted for skipping GOT. I have only watched a few scenes here and there, other than the nudity I wasn't that interested. Fantasy TV/Movies have never been my thing. I'm not knocking the show itself, it appears to be the highest rated show of those you list, just different strokes for different folks. 

Also, The Shield might be the most exciting show on the list. It isn't as deep as Breaking Bad, but it is just as action packed and :popcorn:  from one episode to the next. 

 
dutch said:
I never watched Justified but it seemed to me it was always over shadowed by Breaking Bad, Mad Men and GoT.  Perhaps i should give this a binge before The Wire.
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Totally different lighter action/humor/drama.  Justified is great entertainment.  I voted Sopranos, second would be Breaking Bad.  Every season end of breaking bad I felt worse and worse due to the character choices (great show, but incredibly dark).

 
ericttspikes said:
I only caught bits of Breaking Bad when it aired as it never clicked. Decided to binge it recently. Now I'm only up to season 3, but it is painfully boring to me. Season 1 and 2 had moments and I liked the end of season 2, but damn, it's so mediocre compared to all the rest of these listed. Maybe it gets awesome in 4 & 5, but I actually dread putting it on now. I fell asleep 3x during the "Fly" episode. I don't get the perceived awesomeness of that show at all so far.
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We need a dislike button.

 
Mad Men and The Wire are the best shows ever put on TV. Breaking Bad and GoT are the most entertaining tv shows I have ever seen. The Sopranos was too uneven for me to be on the same tier as MM or The Wire, but it was genius and deserves credit for being first. The Shield is whatever. 

 
Vanilla Guerrilla said:
Totally different lighter action/humor/drama.  Justified is great entertainment.  I voted Sopranos, second would be Breaking Bad.  Every season end of breaking bad I felt worse and worse due to the character choices (great show, but incredibly dark).
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:goodposting: That scene of Walt and Walt Jr. in last/second to last episode is powerful stuff and truly gut wrenching.

 
ericttspikes said:
I only caught bits of Breaking Bad when it aired as it never clicked. Decided to binge it recently. Now I'm only up to season 3, but it is painfully boring to me. Season 1 and 2 had moments and I liked the end of season 2, but damn, it's so mediocre compared to all the rest of these listed. Maybe it gets awesome in 4 & 5, but I actually dread putting it on now. I fell asleep 3x during the "Fly" episode. I don't get the perceived awesomeness of that show at all so far.
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Not a popular opinion but I agree. I'm somewhere in the middle of season 3 from a couple years ago and have watched probably a dozen other shows in the meantime rather than push through the dirge that season is.

 
Poke_4_Life said:
Not sure it's out on Amazon yet since is just finished this year, but Downton Abbey should be on this list.  
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Thought about it but with this crowd I don't see much in the way of conversation on the show so I left it off based on what I perceive to be group ignorance.

 
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Really when Breaking Bad gets awesome is S3. It was good up until then. The pilot was amazing. But the writer's strike cutting short the first season had a negative impact. S2 took a step forward but didn't love the storyline. From S3 on it is elite.

 
ericttspikes said:
I only caught bits of Breaking Bad when it aired as it never clicked. Decided to binge it recently. Now I'm only up to season 3, but it is painfully boring to me. Season 1 and 2 had moments and I liked the end of season 2, but damn, it's so mediocre compared to all the rest of these listed. Maybe it gets awesome in 4 & 5, but I actually dread putting it on now. I fell asleep 3x during the "Fly" episode. I don't get the perceived awesomeness of that show at all so far.
Click to expand...


This is quite possibly the worst post I've ever seen on this board.  

 
dutch said:
:goodposting: That scene of Walt and Walt Jr. in last/second to last episode is powerful stuff and truly gut wrenching.
Click to expand...
I think of Jessie's hot GF and the plant near the pool in the backyard, and I still feel dirty having watched it.  The funny thing is that the cooking meth and selling it storyline was maybe the least morally bankrupt part of the show.  It was the indirect stuff that always creeped me out the most, just being manipulative, and to that extent.

 
I'm not sure how a show can be on my all-time top 10 list yet I feel that it's overrated, but I guess that's where I am with Breaking Bad.  Great great show, but doesn't even compete with GoT to me.

 
I'd probably top the list with some "Two and a Half Men". Start with season 2 when the characters really began to show depth.

 
Sopranos got a little too full of itself in its later years.  The movie stuff, the "war" with NY.....the idea that Tony's "Family" was even remotely effective after all the purgings over the years. .......it's still entertaining....but when you got Christopha meeting with Ben Kingsley and mugging Lauren Bacall, that's jumped the shark.

Wire is excellent for 4 seasons.  Last season was mediocre at best.

Game of Thrones might have them all of them beat in "OMG" moments that involved major characters and the development of the story.

Breaking Bad is the best of them all......BUT......1) going back to watch it again......it does drag and 2) I think its so well regarded that it can't live up to the hype that it gets.....particularly as the years go on and other shows stand on its shoulders. 

 
Since we are at that point where instead of answering the question, we just name something we like:  Six Feet Under or Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

 
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