Here it is, folks. The 20 Best Seasons of the Last 20 Years, laid out in all its splendor. We don’t mean to brag, but agree or disagree with the substance of the list, I don’t know any other website or periodical that’s taken on an endeavor of this size: Extensive, detailed write-ups covering on the some of the smartest, most complex, and most irreverent television shows that have aired over the last 20 years.
Since we began this list six months ago, there’s been a lot of chatter about subjectivity, objectivity, the bias of the list, shows we missed from the earlier half of the 20 years, omissions, and shows that had no business belonging in the 20 of 20. Certain people have gotten legitimately upset, while others have insisted we reveal the criteria to make it easier to impugn. Rather than get into defending our choices, we’d just like to say that we feel readers tend to gravitate to Pajiba because of certain like-mindedness, and we put the 20 of 20 together not with a show’s critical or commercial success in mind (after all, many of the shows on our list were ultimately canceled prematurely), but with an eye toward showing an appreciation for our own favorites. We have no problem with a groundbreaking show like “Seinfeld,” or a long-running sitcom like “Friends” or “Frasier,” nor did we think that “The Sopranos” was unworthy of recognition. It’s just that these particular shows, and other incredibly worthy shows, don’t necessarily fit within the mentality of the site - slightly geeky, wholly intelligent, and massively bitchy. There are a lot of other shows that barely missed the cut (“Lost,” “The Boondocks,” “Alias,” “Scrubs,” “Sports Night,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Homicide,” “Quantum Leap,” “My So-Called Life,” “30 Rock,” and yes “The Sopranos,” an amazing show with no stand-out seasons), but in the end, we feel that the Top 20 of 20 best reflects what this site, its writers, and its readers are all about.
So, take a final look at our 20 of 20. Take issue if you’d like; we appreciate that our readers aren’t quick to agree with us simply for the sake of agreeing. But if you can look it over and enthusiastically agree with 10 or 15 of the shows on the list (which is as many as most of those who put together the list can agree upon), then we believe you’ve found an Internet home. It also suggests that you may enjoy some of the shows on our list you haven’t gotten around to watching or may not have heard of. Likewise, if the list inspires fury, rage, bitchiness, or an overwhelming sense that you’ve been morally wronged, then though you might not agree with our tastes, you certainly agree with our values.
Here it is, alphabetically:
1. Arrested Development, Season Two: The second season is where the show was just knocking it out of the park — tits to the wall — for 18 gloriously brilliant episodes. I’ve talked before about my deep infatuation with really good comedy. Not that there’s anything wrong with well-done crass and crude — the dick and fart jokes of the world — but I think that truly smart, engaging comedy is one of the hardest things to get right in the world of entertainment. And while many have been close, no comedy series has ever touched the levels of “Arrested Development,” particularly this second season. I’ve watched this show several times over, and yet I still find new things to laugh at and appreciate with each go-round. The show actually grows, and I find my perspective and appreciation changing with repeated viewings.
2. Battlestar Galactica, Season One: “Battlestar Galactica” is amazing precisely for what it isn’t: It isn’t formulaic, it isn’t predictable, and it sure as hell isn’t your standard science-fiction show. The series is in the process of wrapping up its final year now, a season that’s been mired in mythology and steeped in clunky plots and bad acting, but the first three years were stellar ones, kicked off by a breathless first season in which the show could do almost no wrong, when it turned convention on its head to present a gritty, believable, and thoroughly compelling human drama about the lives and heartbreaks of the sole survivors of an alien genocide. Running a trim but densely packed 13 episodes, Season One remains the best of the show’s run because it balanced the burgeoning mythology with relatable characters and pure-fire run-and-gun storytelling, the kind of adventure show that makes you realize how much damn fun it can be to see it done right.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Two: When it comes down to it, Season Two is the season that defined the series, and has easily got the best overall season arc. In the beginning of the season, Buffy is dealing with a lot of shit. Granted, Buffy is dealing with a lo of shit at any given point during the series, but she was in a particularly dark place at this point. Still dealing with the reality of being The Chosen One, reeling from her brush with death, haunted by the nightmares of that big white maggot of a vampire, The Master, and fending off his tiny Anointed protégé; it was time for a fresh start. And while there’s no denying that Season Two was a hell of a lot of fun, it was the mix of heartbreak and poignancy that made it one of the best seasons of television ever.
4. Deadwood, Season One: In many ways “Deadwood” and “The Wire” are opposite ends of an hourglass. The former deals with a community as it forms, the latter with a community as it disintegrates. But the devil’s in the details, and “Deadwood” goes deeper. Where “The Wire” offers us passing glimpses into the lives of disparate yet interconnected fully formed, compelling characters, “Deadwood” cracks open its characters’ chest cavities and gives us a window into the darkest reaches of their souls. Creator David Milch, scion of Shakespeare, master of the modern soliloquy, offers terrifying insight into just how fucked up we all are. But “Deadwood” doesn’t just plumb the depths of the human soul struggling to survive in a chaotic and complex environment: It does so using every tool in the artists’ arsenal, to the fullest of their potential. Writers, actors, designers and directors: Every performance of every character, every word and gesture, every hair pinned in place, every corset, every cravat, each and every rough hewn ceiling joist seems to have leapt intact from some parallel 1876 South Dakota universe and onto our TV screens. The world of the show, so foreign to modern eyes, is complete, unwavering and undeniable. From every angle, “Deadwood” is storytelling at its absolute finest.
5. Farscape, Season Three: It’s perhaps better testimony than I can give to present the fervor surrounding the show’s abrupt cancellation after Season Four because of ratings issues (read: the Sci Fi Channel being retards). The resultant fan outcry, which led to a concluding miniseries (which was also excellent), was one of the first mass internet campaigns to inveigle something substantial from network politicking. The fans wanted more of something great, and got it. Regardless of whether you’re a sci-fi enthusiast, you’ll probably love this show for the chemistry between the actors and the relationships between the characters, including one of the best love stories (Aeryn/Crichton) and the best hero-villain relationships (Crichton/Scorpius) of the last several decades, more than anything else. And that, in my estimation, makes for damn good television, no matter the genre.
6. Firefly: When you boil “Firefly” down to its rawest essence, it’s an equally funny and dramatic character piece about a bunch of disparate personalities on a perpetual roadtrip. Yes, it has science fiction elements — they all live on a space ship after all, traveling from planet to planet, scavenging and thieving and taking whatever rogue jobs they can find to get by. And yes, it’s got a lot of Western to it, from Captain Malcom “Mal” Reynolds (as old-school a cowboy as they come) to the frontier settlements on various planets, where folks still travel by horse because they’re too poor to have the fancy technology available to the elite. But what Whedon and company managed to do is not make the show about these things — rather, these elements are deftly used to serve the nine characters that live on Serenity (the name of the Firefly-class ship which the show, itself, is named after).
7. Freaks and Geeks: This show is the high school we all went through, regardless of what era you were there or what group you hung out with. Turning back to the objective/subjective distinction I talked about many thousands of words ago, it’s like this — we might objectively get what it’s like to work in the White House or have a yellow-skinned dim witted father, but we subjectively understand what’s going on in “Freaks and Geeks.” We empathize with the characters and the situations in a way that rarely happens with any movie or TV show and it just hits home. And if that’s not great TV (and great art), then I don’t what the fuck is.
8. Friday Night Lights, Season One: A show best described as a modern-day dramatic-version of “The Wonder Years,” except instead of 1960s suburbia, it takes place in Dillon, Texas, a small Southern town steeped religion and football. It’s “Freaks and Geeks” centered on the side of the cafeteria: The jocks, cheerleaders, bullies, skanks and rally girls, the ones many of us — the band geeks, dorks, geeks, stoners, and outcasts — viewed superficially with equal parts envy and hatred. “Friday Night Lights” humanizes the very people in my high school I was often incapable of humanizing myself. But more than that, and the reason the first season was so outstanding, is because it’s as real-to-life as any show on television. Granted, the characters are slightly idealized, but they are real people, not just the stereotypes that we, ourselves, couldn’t look beyond when we were there.
9. The Larry Sanders Show, Season Five: While it’s style and tone (single camera, often handheld; character-based comedy) feel right at home in today’s TV comedy landscape, it was a gale of fresh air when it premiered on HBO in 1992. It was like nothing that had been on TV. In many ways it put HBO on the map. This was the beginning of “It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” Most everything I love about the genre these days can be traced back to “Larry Sanders.” It was a comedy boot camp of sorts for the likes of Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman and Judd Apatow. Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais wax all kinds of reverent when talking about it (Gervais cites Hank “Hey Now” Kingsley, played by Jeffrey Tambor, as an inspiration for David Brent). Like “Arrested Development,” “The Office,” or “30 Rock,” “The Larry Sanders Show” is a gift that keeps on giving. The more you watch, the more you catch, the funnier it becomes, the deeper the understanding of just how broken these fuckers are that make us laugh so hard.
10. Murder One, Season One: “Murder One” may be yet another legal drama, but it aired before we began to suffer symptoms of law-show fatigue hastened by the David E. Kelley onslaught. The series’ immediate inspiration wasn’t other legal dramas but the recent OJ Simpson trial, and the way that trial harked back to the days of execution broadsheets, which transformed justice into entertainment. “Murder One” plays with many themes — ambition, civility, negotiation, and the lack of trust between individuals and institutions — but its favorite chew-toy is the way justice can, in certain historical moments, be packaged like a consumer product and disseminated through the media with an enticing crust of fiction. This is something we’ve been educated about extensively since the Simpson trial, but the mid-1990s American public — according to pundits, anyway — was still coming to grips with the fact. “Murder One” taps into that anxiety with relish and remains one of the best artistic examinations of the phenomenon.
11. The Office, Season Two<: Aside from the fantastic writing, part of the appeal of the US version of “The Office” is that it’s so damn relatable. The archetypes found here are ones that can be found in virtually any office-type working environment throughout the country: the dipshit boss, who was likely “promoted” to lower-management after proving too incompetent to function as anything else other than a glorified babysitter; the spinster prude who dresses like a grandmother… or possibly a Quaker; the office disgusting guy; the office creepy guy; the not-“out”-in-the-workplace homosexual; the trainwreck office romances and star-crossed crushes; the functioning alcoholics and the old-timers waiting out their pensions — they’re all represented. There’s no greater environment for a melting pot sampling of humankind’s hilariously variant characters quite like an office setting. And that’s what makes not just “The Office,” but particularly Season Two, so great.
12. Sex and the City, Season Four: A lot of what the series had to offer was well worth despising on face value: (1) Characters who enjoy all the perks of adulthood yet never really seem to grow up; (2) Rampant elitist consumerism offset by conveniently rent-controlled brownstone apartments; (3) Supposedly empowered women whose only real power is that they choose to sexualize themselves; (4) All four characters slept with loads of men, yet only one was considered a slut. Unreigned sexual empowerment can do that sometimes, but that’s one of the many ironic twists of this television series. Prada, Fendi, and Manolo Blahnik aside, what I’ve always liked about the show is its satire of dating rituals. One really can have it all — career, independence, beauty, friends — and still get hung up on the fear of ending up all alone in life. So, things really haven’t progressed much from Edith Wharton’s turn-of-the-century novels of social Darwinism. Or have they?
13. Six Feet Under, Season One: The show was at its best when it focused simply on the deaths — when it used the loss of life to prove a point about living. Like no other show before or since, “Six Feet Under” confronted death head on, splintering taboos, and taking a hundred different maxims and extracting all the cliché out of them, making us appreciate what death meant without the torture of “He’s in a better place now.” In fact, in the final episode of that season, Nate offered up the best thing I think anyone has ever said about dying, something that — ten years after my own father’s passing — still manages to offer me a small amount of consolation. When a hysterical woman asked Nate, “Why do people die?” he paused briefly, and then offered the perfect rejoinder: “To make life important.”
14. The Simpsons, Season Four: For a rabid fan of “The Simpsons” such as myself, writing about the show’s fourth season is a bit like a baseball historian considering the ‘27 Yankees, or a European scholar trying to sum up the Renaissance, or a toothless hillbilly struggling to express the soul-rattling edification he feels sitting in the glow of “Blue Collar TV.” In short, it’s overwhelming. This is the best I can do at summation: “The Simpsons” is the best show in television history, and the fourth season was its peak. So much of that season holds up, and in order to fall back under its spell, at its speed — considered wacky at the time, leisurely now — you only need to watch an episode or two. It’s like reading Shakespeare in that way, as long as I’m comparing it to heavyweights.
15. South Park, Season Ten: Very few shows can claim to have permanently altered the entire landscape of television content and style like this poorly made ‘toon about four foul-mouthed 4th-graders and their quiet, little, redneck, podunk, white-trash, hmmmneh, mountain town. Whether you feel it was for better or worse is a matter of personal taste, but it cannot be denied that “South Park” has skidmarked its brown stain on the collective undershorts of not just animation or comedy but all modes of television. If not for this crudely animated gem, Comedy Central would not be as strong a presence in the original programming market, the bar for offensive content would not be set nearly as lowbrow and sewage-skimming, and most cable networks would still be running rebroadcasts of Hangover Theatre-level films and long-dead syndication.
16. Twin Peaks, Season One: The world of “Twin Peaks” is so fully rendered, so intricately detailed, that for much of the show that central theme — the murder of Laura Palmer — seems almost secondary. It instead becomes a series of tales about the lives and relationships of the town’s denizens, and all the strange, sweet, and sometimes terrible and venal actions they take. Although everything seems like it may be linked to the murder, the characters are so richly developed that one could easily imagine any one of them being the focus of their own show. As a result, “Twin Peaks” is a masterpiece of densely plotted, gorgeously filmed television, the likes of which I’ve never seen before and have yet to see since.
17. Veronica Mars, Season One: Season One that remains the sharpest crystallization of what “Veronica Mars” promises: A show about a girl solving the mysteries and exploring the dangers of her own life, from the death of her best friend to the truth about her own family. There’s a comforting beauty in the season’s structure as each episode shifts between levels of intrigue and plot, ranging from the mystery of the week, which was solved by the end of the hour; the gradual evolution of stories closer to the heroine’s heart, including her parentage and more; and through it all, driving like a steady pulse toward an inevitable conclusion, the question driving Veronica to the edge and back: Who killed Lilly Kane? Far more than just a teen drama, “Veronica Mars” was a drama about a teen, a dark and complicated and unavoidably heartbreaking show that did something only the best ones do: It respected its audience enough to ask them to take the ride for something intricate and intelligent and brutally honest.
18. West Wing, Season Two: Season Two of “The West Wing” remains its best because it is the tightest and truest manifestation of the show’s core essences of emotional resonance, pitch-perfect writing, and an unabashed sense of hope that the hearts of men and women can lift American society and its government from its typical vulgarity and elevate it to something like poetry. Season Two possesses a mythical element that gives it an edge, and it brims with an energy and verve the burned brighter than at any other time in the show’s seven-year run. It’s a sweeping human drama about what it means to struggle against impossible odds, to know that a loss is inevitable but to fight nonetheless simply because it’s the right thing to do. As President Bartlet would discuss with a staffer a season later, it does indeed matter how a man falls down: When the fall is all that’s left, it matters a great deal.
19. The Wire, Season Two: The Wire,” addresses various elements of the downfall of America’s Rust Belt inner cities — from the political gamesmanship, to the unmourned deterioration of a school system hanging on by its fingernails, to the petty-minded complicity of the media in the addled, bovine inertia of the public view of poverty and the drug trade. Not content to sound the alarm bell over the utter failure of traditional policing and incarceration in the face of poverty and the drug trade, “The Wire” undertook an epic exploration of the failures of our society to create a viable environment where people have desirable choices other than crime.The first step off the easy path, the leap from the well-worn track … that is the hard step. The second and third steps are critical, even admirable, but they cannot exist without the fundamental decision to abandon rutted convenience. For television — for narrative as an art — “The Wire” represents a New Way, a 90-degree change in course that straightened the line.
20. The X-Files, Season Four: “Star Trek” may have been the original geek show, but “The X-Files” was the modern one, a show that blended sci-fi, horror, and procedural elements with the smallest touch of romantic intrigue — never enough to alienate its viewers or even force a coupling to satiate them, but just enough to leave them curious and maybe slightly hopeful, knowing, of course, that if the two leads ever openly consummated their relationship, the series would be tainted, turned into another melodramatic soap opera, a show where the aliens, mutants, and freaks would take a backseat to arguably the best onscreen couple in the history of television, and certainly the most complicated, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Comments
No Adventure of Brisco County Jr. season 1?
CAMPBELL! John Astin!
Pffffffffffffffft...whatever, you people claim to be some sorts of "critics"?
I laugh at you.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at August 26, 2008 1:15 PM
I still think the original 90210 should have been on the list...
Posted by: David at August 26, 2008 1:18 PM
great list but...what about my so-called life? or the 3rd season of frasier?
Posted by: cici at August 26, 2008 1:23 PM
I say, good list ol' chaps. I've never heard of Farscape but I will take your word for it because I am feeling most amenable today. I applaud your collective six months of work and will stand in defense as the rest of this page slings arrows and barbs at your 'expertise' and 'hipness' and 'taste'. On on!
Posted by: amanda47 at August 26, 2008 1:24 PM
So...no 24 season 5 (the one which featured the most suspenseful and consistent plot) but Sex and the City season 4 (the one where they consistently sleep with numerous people and dress like My Size Barbies)? Hmm...so that's how we're playing it. Well, thanks for at least being honest in your blasphemy.
What? Not even an honorable mention, even amongst the likes of The Sopranos, commonly known as "We Phoned It All In From Season 3 On"? C'mon. 24 had only two sucky seasons, that's 1/3 of its current run. Sopranos had the last 2/3rds of it in Suckville (with some brilliant moments), and that's commonly acknowledged; but Jack Bauer gets no honorable mention for saving the world numerous times? (At least 24 didn't end a season with something that made them think their cable went out.)
You could have at least called it 20 of "some of" the best seasons of the last 20 years. You make me sad. May Jack Bauer turn you all into vampires. And not the cool Lost Boys ones, but the stupid, angsty Twilight ones. Damn you all to a spoof movie.
(Yeah, bad list but good conversation starter. I'll give it that.)
Posted by: Mike R. at August 26, 2008 1:29 PM
Great list guys. I appreciate the work you all put into this. This gives me plenty of things to rent now ( I have to catch up on some of these). I think I will have to start with Deadwood.
Posted by: Zach at August 26, 2008 1:38 PM
In seeing the list in its entirety I realize that we own 6 of these 20 seasons on DVD (and I was a fan at airtime of several others) -- although Arrested Development and Freaks & Geeks see far more action than the others. I really had no idea as this project was unfurling that it was so close to home for me...no wonder I've gotten defensive about it in the Comment Wars!
I've learned some things, too. I wasn't even aware of the existence of Firefly or BSG before they appeared here. Now I feel some sort of obligation to go watch them...or not. It's a perfect Midwestern summer day, and I can hear the yard calling me now. Oh, the joys of working from home!
Posted by: Che Grovera at August 26, 2008 1:43 PM
I think I will have to start with Deadwood.
Yes yes yes yes yes yes YES.
Posted by: Julie at August 26, 2008 1:45 PM
I can't believe I missed that Friday Night Lights was on this list.
I mean, sure it got a little crazy second season and yeah, no one knows what's going to happen third season (no seriously...what channel is it on? I'm really confused about that) but the first season was so good. I'm going to go read that review right now.
And uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Veronica Mars season you are talking about being #17 is Season 1 and not Season 2, right?
Cause you got a typo there, my friend.
Season 2 is good though. Just not as good as Season 1.
Overall, I am happy with this list. There's not much wrong to it in my book.
But then, I pretty much watch anything on tv, so who can say?
Posted by: Rica at August 26, 2008 1:50 PM
Thanks for the motivation Julie. I think I will go get the DVD's right now.
Posted by: Zach at August 26, 2008 1:50 PM
I feel like such a dorkus. Totally forgetting that Farscape had already been covered, I voted for it in the reader's choice thread.
I blame the cancer. I really do. Farscape was reviewed the week I was first diagnosed. Nuts and butts.
Thanks guys for this series. For all the pissing and moaning that has gone on about what got left out, (STFU you grumpy weenies... tee hee...) it's a great list. Glad to see sci-fi shows have a solid presence because science fiction gets overlooked when it comes to awards and accolades, as if it's not "serious" television.
Posted by: Alabamapink at August 26, 2008 1:50 PM
Veronica Mars of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer right, Farscape sure, Freaks and Geeks spot on, South Park Wheeee, and finally Arrested Development un huh. Are you fucking kidding me, I mean really, I'd put any season of Homicide: Life on the Streets up against any show you mentioned. Motherfucker stop trying to show how cool and different you are.
Posted by: Pookie at August 26, 2008 1:56 PM
i'll apologise for ahead for beating a dead horse-face (see what i did there? SJP joke!) but considering you wrote this:
We have no problem with a groundbreaking show like "Seinfeld," or a long-running sitcom like "Friends" or "Frasier," nor did we think that "The Sopranos" was unworthy of recognition. It's just that these particular shows, and other incredibly worthy shows, don't necessarily fit within the mentality of the site - slightly geeky, wholly intelligent, and massively bitchy. There are a lot of other shows that barely missed the cut...but in the end, we feel that the Top 20 of 20 best reflects what this site, its writers, and its readers are all about.
...i am still at a complete loss trying to understand SATC's inclusion on this list. slightly geeky? not in the least. wholly intelligent? not even close. massively bitchy? perhaps, but very misguided in its bitchy-ness.
otherwise, the list seems to fit the bill, or at least i could argue the inclusion of any of the other shows on this list.
Posted by: causaubon at August 26, 2008 1:58 PM
i'll apologise for ahead for beating a dead horse-face (see what i did there? SJP joke!) but considering you wrote this:
We have no problem with a groundbreaking show like "Seinfeld," or a long-running sitcom like "Friends" or "Frasier," nor did we think that "The Sopranos" was unworthy of recognition. It's just that these particular shows, and other incredibly worthy shows, don't necessarily fit within the mentality of the site - slightly geeky, wholly intelligent, and massively bitchy. There are a lot of other shows that barely missed the cut...but in the end, we feel that the Top 20 of 20 best reflects what this site, its writers, and its readers are all about.
...i am still at a complete loss trying to understand SATC's inclusion on this list. slightly geeky? not in the least. wholly intelligent? not even close. massively bitchy? perhaps, but it's very misguided in its bitchy-ness.
otherwise, the list seems to fit the bill, or at least i could argue the inclusion of any of the other shows on this list.
Posted by: causaubon at August 26, 2008 1:59 PM
So, before everyone starts making reservations for the Murdertank if their show or season didn't make the list, why not knock of few of these back to get you in the mood?
"[Vincent] Price's recipe for the Hotel Hana-Maui's Hanaho rum punch. A mix of lime juice, pineapple juice, crushed ice, and dark rum, topped with a maraschino cherry, it's to be served in zombie glasses..."
My friends, any drink that requires a zombie glass is a friend of mine.
Posted by: Stella at August 26, 2008 2:03 PM
Definitely going to take a look at Farscape now. I caught some episodes when it was on originally, in the first season I think, but I get nervous when I don't watch things in order, so I gave up because I had missed a lot.
I love this list. I would probably never have even thought about watching Friday Night Lights until I read about it here, and now I'm thinking about it. And it's nice to look back at some of the shows on the list that I love, and be inspired to watch them again. And it's even nice to read passionately written reviews of shows I didn't care about before, and still don't.
Anyway. Che, totally watch Firefly, and if you don't get into it on the first viewing, wait a little bit and try it again. I speak from experience here.
Also, personally, I think Sopranos is overrated. HA!
Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at August 26, 2008 2:03 PM
Did Golden Girls fall outside of the 20 year mark? Cause seriously, that show was completely groundbreaking. It made seniors viable again, and female seniors at that! And they have sex! Godtopus, I want to be a Golden Girl when I grow up.
(Please tell me it was outside the time limit. Please. Otherwise I'll have serious doubts about why I have been spending so much time here for the past 2 years....
Ok, wow, I'm a loser.)
Posted by: boo at August 26, 2008 2:04 PM
I'm going to go ahead and ask, since nobody else is...
What now? You can't really continue on with the next 20. Chances are if you did a Best Single Episodes a good number of them would be pulled from this list. I'd like to offer my suggestion. 20 pictures of naked people. Like real naked. Fuzzy, warty, floppy naked.
Posted by: Skittimus Maximus at August 26, 2008 2:06 PM
How come my picture didn't attach?
Posted by: Skittimus Maximus at August 26, 2008 2:07 PM
I only counted nine. Screw you guys, I'm going to find somewhere cooler to hang out.
Posted by: TeenieBopper at August 26, 2008 2:08 PM
I just have to say this: You guys have done something extraordinary here. The fact that this list has raised so much debate is a GOOD thing, not a bad one. That is what art is all about, no? Creating conversation.
So GOOD ON YOU, I say. And let people argue/converse all day long.
Posted by: boo at August 26, 2008 2:10 PM
Thank you for not including 24 on the list (sorry, Mike R.). A far-fetched, extended commercial for the Republican Party's support for torture does not a good television show make.
Tell me why again, that all the shows are American (I can't rememebr if this was one of the initial rules or not)? As good as the US Office is, c'mon, people. It's not a fookin' PATCH on the UK version.
And I suppose you can't have everything, the list being decidedly sci-fi-biased (I know, I know. One of your parameters was "slightly geeky"). But Farscape? Farscape??!! BSG I can understand, but that's. It.
No Curb? No The Shield?
Posted by: boogs at August 26, 2008 2:12 PM
I tried watching Friday Night Lights and Freaks and Geeks, but Godtopus did they suck. I guess I had a radically different experience in high school then the reviewers, because there were no characters I could identify with. Maybe because I played Dungeons and Dragons and Varsity baseball instead of football?
Posted by: Adam C at August 26, 2008 2:14 PM
Let's just sum up what the bulk of these replies are gonna be:
harrumph harrumph harrumph...Clarissa Explains It All Season 2 should be on here, not Veronica Mars...
harrumph harrumph harrumph...Wanda at Large Season 1 was better than The Larry Sanders Show...
I didn't get a harrumph outta that guy!
I disagree with some as well, but I read Pajiba for the drinking tips, sexual deviancy, and savagery of all things Haggis and Bay, not to argue the validity of lists.
Posted by: branded at August 26, 2008 2:15 PM
AVB,
The Sporanos? Overrated? It changed TV and forever changed what we DEMAND from quality television!!
It's WORST episode is better than most of the sci-fi shite on this list (and no, I don't hate sci-fi 'cause it's sci-fi...BSG and, even better, Star Trek: TNG are fantastic television).
Posted by: boogs at August 26, 2008 2:20 PM
"..The Sporanos? Overrated? It changed TV..."
----------------------------------------------
It pioneered flat-screens.
True Story.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at August 26, 2008 2:22 PM
The Sporanos? Sounds like a sitcom about mould. "It's no Goodfellas, but it stars a Fungi!"
[slinking away before anyone reads this...]
Posted by: MO(meaux) at August 26, 2008 2:30 PM
OK - Farscape is going on the DVD list as soon as I finish Mad Men. I have to pile on, though, with the SATC hate. I'm all for a little suspension of disbelief when I'm watching the TV. I never had a problem with Monica and Rachel's giant apartment. I'd have let Doogie Howser diagnose me (that sounds way dirtier than I meant). But there's just no way a writer the caliber of Carrie Bradshaw makes a living writing. Of course, now that I said that, writers the caliber of SATC writers made a living... so I guess I'm wrong. The dialog and voice overs on that show were painful, though. Painful.
Posted by: megbon at August 26, 2008 2:30 PM
Thank you for not including 24 on the list (sorry, Mike R.). A far-fetched, extended commercial for the Republican Party's support for torture does not a good television show make.
As opposed to a far fetched, extended commercial for shoes, dresses, alcohol, and generally living like a stereotypical doll out of a crappy rom-com novel? For the record, I only enjoy the torture inside of the fictional confines of 24, and even they have addressed (and will continue to address) the over the top nature of it and what it can do to the torturer.
And Boogs, if I were not in my office, I would have let out a triumphant "Oh YES!" a la Begby from Trainspotting when I saw your comment. Let it begin.
Posted by: Mike R. at August 26, 2008 2:33 PM
Oh.....My God.
I AGREE with Pookie.
I actually agree with you, Pooks. Even on your most lucid days, I wouldn't think that was possible.
(Not that I won't think the list is valid, but my vot eis with Homicide over Murder One any day).
If you will all excuse me, I need to go re-examine my existence, as I am not really sure who I am any more.
Posted by: Tammy at August 26, 2008 2:37 PM
P.S. I would have loved to see Sports Night here, but so be it.
Posted by: branded at August 26, 2008 2:43 PM
How about 20 best mini-series (is there a word for plural mini-series?) ever?
Posted by: jack at August 26, 2008 2:45 PM
I'm curious about the logic used in numbering the entries for the purposes of this summary: It's not the order in which they were published. So, why are they numbered as they are?
Posted by: ariadne at August 26, 2008 2:47 PM
Mike R.,
It's Begbie, not Begby.
Sorry.
"The Sporanos." Yes. I thought about correcting it with another post, but then though, "Nah, fuck it. No-one will notice..." Tsk, tsk. Typos. My editor "would have my guts for garters" if he read that.
Posted by: boogs at August 26, 2008 2:47 PM
Jack, that's a good idea. Off the top of my head I can think of Stephen King's The Stand, Medusa's Child (you should like that one Boogs, it has Mr. Big), Band of Brothers, John Adams...could we split that into best Broadcast, best Cable and best HBO miniseries, if it happens?
(And thanks for the typo correct. Sorry I screwed that one up.)
Posted by: Mike R. at August 26, 2008 2:49 PM
there were no characters I could identify with. Maybe because I played Dungeons and Dragons
Not to say you're contradicting yourself, and tastes are a matter of taste, but you're talking about "Freaks and Geeks", right?
Posted by: Jay at August 26, 2008 2:52 PM
Tammy do not deny yourself of my wisdom, you are but one of many who follow me. My tongue unleash many truths that some in the pajiba family would rather I not speak of.
Posted by: Pookie at August 26, 2008 2:53 PM
ariadne They're in alpha order.
Posted by: tamatha at August 26, 2008 2:53 PM
So, I haven't seen Farscape of Battlestar so I can't issue any criticism there. I am pretty satisfied with the list, especially Arrested Development, Buffy, The Office, Six Feet Under and South Park. However, I really wish The Shield, Season 2,4, or 5 had been included...Maybe I am totally alone on this, but god damn I love that show. I find myself strangely attracted to that humpty dumpty looking mother effer, Michael Chiklis...
Posted by: Lux at August 26, 2008 2:57 PM
Sorry, boogs my dear; terrible as the pun was, I still couldn't resist....
"Have my guts for garters"?! I may have to borrow that one from your editor!
Posted by: MO(meaux) at August 26, 2008 2:58 PM
The Stand combined two characters into one. I will always hate it for that. So much so that I have forgotten what other crimes it committed, but I know there were more. (I think I'm one of those people, though, who will always hate any adaptation of SK.)[*Correction: hate any TV adaptation.]
*tee hee* "The Sporanos". I was just starting shit, boogs. As I once mentioned in a previous post, I've seen a total of 3 minutes of the show. I caught a bit of Tony's dream of his teeth falling out on the table in a restaurant. though I suppose I could argue that since I've never watched it, it hasn't changed TV for me..... Plus I seem to recall that one of the reviewers (I b'lieve it was DR) said they hated the word "overrated." So, in short, I'm just feisty today.
Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at August 26, 2008 2:59 PM
Surprised to find that most of my favorite TV shows (and the season selections) of all time are on this list! Battlestar Galactica, Freaks and Geeks, Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development, South Park, Veronica Mars, Six Feet Under, Firefly, The Office... they're all shows I'm enthusiastic enough about to try and force them on everyone I know. I definitely want to check out Deadwood and Farscape now, and maybe even some of the others that I'd never heard of. And all indicators suggest I'm doing myself a disservice by not watching Buffy. So thanks for that!
Posted by: Erin at August 26, 2008 3:00 PM
Oh, Mike R.... I've got to disagree with you on The Stand. That sucked ass. Same for IT. Obviously, it's a huge undertaking making the transition from novel to small screen, but I saw about two hours of each before deciding not to taint my mind's version of who the characters were/are. Brandis (RIP) as Stuttering Bill? No. Ritter (RIP) as Ben? No. There's no way in hell that casting directors are gonna nail every character and keep the fans of the source material happy, but I'm gonna guess that fans of the books (although not all), were disappointed with these two series. Were there kick-ass moments? Yeah. Could it have been done better? Definitely. Am I drinking NyQuill out of a Capri Sun pack? Yes.
Posted by: Skittimus Maximus at August 26, 2008 3:04 PM
It's okay AVB, you're still the biz.
And you don't need to have seen The Sopranos in order to have "seen" The Sopranos. Its influence on modern television (all of HBO's output and, by extension, all of the rest of TV's output) can be seen every time you watch a (quality) show.
No Sopranos? Then there'd be no (deep breath) Mad Men, Nip/Tuck, Deadwood, The Wire (though I consider this to even surpass The Sopranos), Pushing Daisies, Six Feet Under, etc., etc.
Posted by: boogs at August 26, 2008 3:07 PM
It's a shame this list wasn't compiled just a few months later. Then it could have included either season of MAD MEN which easily would have qualified for this round-up.
Posted by: Brad at August 26, 2008 3:07 PM
No Sopranos? Then there'd be no (deep breath) Mad Men, Nip/Tuck, Deadwood, The Wire (though I consider this to even surpass The Sopranos), Pushing Daisies, Six Feet Under, etc., etc.
My only experience with any of those shows is finding "Mad Men"'s characters too unpleasant to care about.
Try again, kid!
Posted by: Jay at August 26, 2008 3:09 PM
Let's replace SaTC with Xena: Warrior Princess S3, shall we? Otherwise I'm revoking all your feminist decoder rings. WWXD?
Posted by: Elfrieda at August 26, 2008 3:18 PM
Only a homo would think that Veronica Mars is one of the best t.v. shows of the last twenty years. And that Ladies and Gentlemen is my contribution to this debate.
Posted by: Pookie at August 26, 2008 3:19 PM
Lux, Chiklis = Awesome. It's a fact. It can even be printed on T-Shirts. In fact, the more I think about it, I do disagree with The Shield getting passed over. C'mon, season 4! Glenn Close single handedly going from new guy to holding her own with the regular cast, who continued to kick ass. And the ending of the season...so realistic it was tragic.
Speaking of Glenn Close, Damages should have been on that list too.
No Sopranos? Then there'd be no (deep breath) Mad Men, Nip/Tuck, Deadwood, The Wire (though I consider this to even surpass The Sopranos), Pushing Daisies, Six Feet Under, etc., etc
Boogs, Sopranos doesn't really share anything with any of those shows, except the fact that the creator of Mad Men was an exec. producer, and some of them were on HBO. Then again, that's the credit you give to your secretary instead of a raise. (Especially Pushing Daisies...that can be linked to Six Feet Under, but that really can't be linked to Sopranos, unless you play the HBO card.)
It's just be easier to save your breath and say "Without HBO, there'd be no quality original shows on cable".
Posted by: Mike R. at August 26, 2008 3:28 PM
Maybe because I played Dungeons and Dragons and Varsity baseball instead of football?
I don't see how anyone who really ever played "Dungeons & Dragons" could think Freaks & Geeks sucked. I mean, they had some of the most authentic D&D discussions EVER. Their DM, the "cool" geek, when he flashed "Dieties and Demigods" with excitement? The crack about being able to see Ishtar's breast? Then the D&D game at the end with Carlos The Dwarf and the banter around all of that? Come on!
As for this list in general, I apparently have found an found an Internet home. I own 8 of the 20 seasons on DVD and agree with almost all of the rest.
Good work.
Posted by: ajax19 at August 26, 2008 3:34 PM
I agree with 17 of these, which isn't bad. I'd swap Farscape for Homicide: Life on the Streets, Sex and the City for The Chapelle Show, and Veronica Mars for My So-Called Life. Seriously though, how do you miss Andre Braugher? For his work alone, Homicide should've been on here. That feels like a serious omission.
Posted by: Krishna at August 26, 2008 3:36 PM
Great list; tough I miss shows like Seinfeld, Lost or The Sopranos, I agree with most of the choices (and the ones I don't agree are show I haven't watched yet, like Murder One, but now I want to see watch them)
Posted by: Radlum at August 26, 2008 3:39 PM
Elfrieda, that's a good idea to replace SatC with Xena. Just not the last 2 seasons where they added in that weird Eve chick and suddenly everything had a homoerotic message.
While I wish The Boondocks was on here, I'm glad it was at least considered. Hands down, it's one of the smartest, funniest shows on TV, and whenever I think of the shitpile that BET has become, I turn to Riley, Huey, & Granddad "Bitches" Freeman and know that is hope for the future.
Posted by: Brie at August 26, 2008 3:43 PM
Mike R., my argument is not that The Sopranos "shares" anything with the shows I mentioned...more it was a huge influence on them. And no, I'm not talking about sharing exec. producers as you stated. It goes beyond that into things such as a show's "feel" (as unquantifiable as that is), it's treatment of the audience not as dummies but as parts of the show, etc.
At least we agree on The Shield, though if I had to choose, it would be Season 2 or Season 5.
Posted by: boogs at August 26, 2008 3:46 PM
Krishna,
I think I figured it out, since I'm also a huge fan of Homicide:
Both The Wire and Homicide feature cesspools of depravity, rampant criminality, ruthless politicians and constant violence, of which the city of Baltimore represents as such in both of these shows. Maybe someone at Pajiba used to live there and would rather not see this shit-hole of a city represented in such a negative way with two shows on the list of Best 20 Seasons.
Hell, if I lived in Baltimore I'd probably have killed myself by now, if some gangbanger hadn't done the job for me already!
Posted by: TMax at August 26, 2008 3:52 PM
Hmmm....
I love love love most of what's been selected. I wholeheartedly support the inclusion of some shows (Freaks and Geeks, The Wire, FNL, Firefly, West Wing); I have not (yet) seen others, but have heard enough buzz about them to believe they were good choices (Deadwood, for example...and Buffy initially, though thanks to you guys, I'm hooked); and I personally disagree with but completely understand a few (like South Park).
However, in retrospect, I think Sex and the City doesn't really fit. It isn't smart television. Maybe I should read the review again and reconsider its merits, but I'm just not thinking of many. And I think we've discussed this, but I thought it incredibly disappointing that all the women really were, at their core, merely looking to get hitched. Teaches a very very baaad lesson to all the young ladies watching it. With all the other great shows out there - My So Called Life, Alias, The Sopranos (yes, I think it's a fantastic show), Seinfeld, Ally McBeal (I know everyone probably disagrees with that, but I thought the first couple seasons were great), and even 24 - I just can't understand how the Sex and the City pick is justified. I don't hate the show or anything, but it just doesn't seem to belong here. You might as well pick Gossip Girl or Laguna Beach. I mean, I don't hate them, but they're essentially throwaway, meaningless, trashy tv - the stuff you watch to numb your brain. And if you simply needed to pick a show about single women in their thirties enjoying sex...what about Living Single, people! Hee.
In a 90s kind of world, I'm glad I got my girls.
Posted by: tt_marie at August 26, 2008 3:56 PM
TMax, I'm sure you're right. Makes absolute sense.
And since I'm writing again anyway, I'd trade The Office for Sports Night on my fantasy TV season team.
Posted by: Krishna at August 26, 2008 4:10 PM
Oh, and when Sex and the City was first included, I didn't argue because I thought it was justified because of how much it actually influenced people and how widely adored it is by women. But we've talked ad nauseam about how this list is not about that, how it is by Pajiba for Pajiba - smart, bitchy, geeky, and all that. So I think that justification doesn't work anymore.
Posted by: tt_marie at August 26, 2008 4:27 PM
"Lost", season one.
Posted by: James S at August 26, 2008 4:40 PM
A "best mini-series" would be good. I would've put my vote toward Band of Brothers but it didn't really qualify.
Posted by: Mick J at August 26, 2008 4:55 PM
SATC? Really? It's not even that intelligent, it's sort of, I don't know, predictably "sexy". You made a list to prove how smart, bitchy, geeky Pajiba is...gah, why try so hard and just be yourself, dammit! It's sort of self-conscious to include SATC, which is sort of like including Friends on the list. Sort of makes me feel ashamed of reading this list...and trying to take it seriously.
Posted by: ph at August 26, 2008 4:55 PM
I think The Boondocks is a brave show...in that it has taken cues from South Park to develop its on voice against the mainstreaming of black culture. IT's a DAMN important show and it should have been on this list...I think there's a definite smart and bitchy element to it that could be more fitting that SATC ever has been!
Posted by: ph at August 26, 2008 5:00 PM
boogs wrote: No Sopranos? Then there'd be no (deep breath) Mad Men, Nip/Tuck, Deadwood, The Wire (though I consider this to even surpass The Sopranos), Pushing Daisies, Six Feet Under, etc., etc
Pushing Daisies is just an extension of Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me...it's ridiculous to say it owes anything to The (overrated) Sopranos. I watched The Sopranos the whole way through, but often while I did crosswords in the background. I don't think I'd ever watch it again.
Hehehe...I'm watching Freaks and Geeks right now, and Shia LeBoeuf is a the mascot...never caught that. Or maybe I did and I forgot...
Posted by: jamiepants at August 26, 2008 5:01 PM
Can I just say "Murphy Brown"? I LOVED that show. People forget about it a lot, but it was The Daily Show (funny, relevant political satire) before The Daily Show.
The writing was insane and Candice Bergen OWNED that character...and Dan Quayle. ;)
Posted by: Hayden Tompkins at August 26, 2008 5:02 PM
I don't know, I for one find Sex and the City far more relatable than FNL, having never been one of the cool-side-of-the-cafeteria kids back in the day. Sure, it has its moments of frustrating vapidity, but I really don't think it falls into Gossip Girl/Laguna Beach territory, from what I've heard of them...?
Posted by: MO(meaux) at August 26, 2008 5:14 PM
Thank CHRIST you put Veronica Mars on this list, and season one no doubt! If Pajiba had overlooked it, I would have wept bitterly with tears of blood.
Hell of a list. Well done.
Posted by: Gwenn at August 26, 2008 5:24 PM
Now that this is over and summer's coming to an end, you guys should do another "10 Worst Blockbusters" article. That was one of my favorites :P
Posted by: Mike at August 26, 2008 5:58 PM
UNREINED.
UNREINED.
U-n-r-e-i-n-e-d, goddamnit.
Posted by: Maryscott O'Connor at August 26, 2008 5:59 PM
U-n-r-e-i-n-e-d, goddamnit.
Posted by: Maryscott O'Connor at August 26, 2008 5:59 PM
That took more than a minute or two to figure out what you were griping about! I was surprised I missed that until I realized it was in the middle of the SaTC write-up -- my eyes had simply hurdled that section.
I am somewhat taken by the idea of "unreigned empowerment" (of any flavor). You know..."Here's some power -- you just can't use it. Bwahahahaha!"
Posted by: Che Grovera at August 26, 2008 6:18 PM
I've gotta say it again - a lot of great shows were very well reviewed in this list, some of them I had already seen and enthusiastically supported, others I had only barely heard of. Each review made a good case and some of those shows have since been viewed, or at least queued up for screenings in the near future, so in that respect this list is a success for me. I hope that whatever the next big group staff project is that it is as useful, informative, and insightful as this one, if not more.
I didn't get a harrumph outta that guy!
Give the governor a harrumph!
Harrumph!
You watch your ass.
Posted by: lordhelmet at August 26, 2008 6:27 PM
From the Buffy paragraph:
"And while there's no denying that Season Two was a hell of a lot of fun, it was the mix of heartbreak and poignancy that made it one of the best seasons of television ever."
The fact that it was a hell of a lot of fun is important too. Entertainment value is often brushed under the rug by smart people to make way for emotional weight and symbolism and post-analysis didgeridoo. Fun is what brings me back and keeps me holding on for more.
Posted by: Lucas at August 26, 2008 6:50 PM
What about Futurama?
Posted by: AM at August 26, 2008 7:01 PM
there were no characters I could identify with. Maybe because I played Dungeons and Dragons
Not to say you're contradicting yourself, and tastes are a matter of taste, but you're talking about "Freaks and Geeks", right?
I had never seen that episode so I just grabbed my housemates copy and spooled it up. The dialogue was correct, but the characters were totally unlike anybody I went to high school with. Maybe Madison WI is really that much weirder then the rest of the USA...
Posted by: Adam C at August 26, 2008 7:12 PM
I didn't check the original comment thread to see if this was already addressed but I think that Season 4 of the Wire was clearly the best of an incredible series. I loved season 2 (and 1, 3, and 5) but 4 was the best season of a television series EVER.
Posted by: Handel at August 26, 2008 7:37 PM
The lack of a Sports Night nod makes me a sad panda.
Posted by: bartap at August 26, 2008 7:54 PM
Can I just say "Murphy Brown"? I LOVED that show. People forget about it a lot, but it was The Daily Show (funny, relevant political satire) before The Daily Show.
The writing was insane and Candice Bergen OWNED that character...and Dan Quayle. ;)
Posted by: Hayden Tompkins at August 26, 2008 5:02 PM
AMEN SISTER!
Posted by: popejenn at August 26, 2008 8:02 PM
Oh my goodness I've only seen 4 of these shows!
I've been living under a rock or something! :(
I think I've got some catching up to do...
Posted by: BrisVegasBec at August 26, 2008 8:11 PM
I don't know why you "pajibans..pajascists or my personal favorite: Paja-quaedans" keep looking up to these Goebbelian false gods to validate your choices.
Face it, you are all SHEEP! kneeling down before the phallus of Rowles and "Litelysalted" you've been WARNED, the destruction of Alderaan will come to pass unless you reveal the location of the rebel...err *cough* *cough* Oh, yeah, you will all KNEEL, before me. Only *I* can take to the promised land...
The preceding post was brought to you by cold, delicious BEER....
PS: I will NOT accept this list.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at August 26, 2008 8:22 PM
Oh, Mr. Slim, at LAST, the original kiss my ass/fuck you straight up/Re-takes are for AMATEURS/Shaddup & make me a sandwich sugartits/king-of-one-liners & perrenial Pajiba favorite,
I'm SO glad you took some time out to weigh in again at this late time, since I've wanted to post some more for awhile, and you give me the inspiration to do moreso (you're not gonna win many new friends with this endorsement, mind ya - be warned.)
As for your (much) earlier comment: I myself absolutely HATE 96.7321% of all Western movies, in the entire film history of this genre (NEVER seen a John Wayne film, never plan on it-am I clear enough on that?)
But I love movies such as High Noon, Butch Cassidy.., Little Big Man, the Italian comedy-westerns with that cool blue-eyed "McQueen" kind of bemused character (Terrence Howard? I'm guessing), Blazing Saddles (of course) and many others I can't recall just now in order to get to my original fucking point:
While I empathize with B-Slim over his choice for the 'Briscoe County, Jr.' series, a short-lived one and 1/2 seasons (?) Fox series,
I can say, upon owning ALL these episodes, that the Fox TV Movie 'The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.' is one of the single greatest westerns I've ever had the pleasure of watching, TV/Movie or otherwise. For those of you who love Bruce Campbell, a unique, hilarious and ever-expanding story & are willing to sit still for more than 15 minutes of this excellently-executed movie (writing, directing, costumes, everything just perfect),
then I MUST say, BarbadoSlim, dear friend and brethren, we are BOTH guilty of incredibly singular good taste, which provides a bond between us that even cellophane cannot penetrate.
*Tomorrow morning hangover*
B-Slim, I only said I really loved the MOVIE itself- after three or four episodes of the series I was already catching the all-on-bored train away from the show's continuingly more noticable half-assed scripts that certainly never helped the series' demise.
It coulda been a contender, I don't deny you that, but after it's one great shot it went slowly back to Palookaville.
And so concludes another useless Pajiba rant. But it was enjoyable, people, thanks for indulging me.
(ps Mo(Meaux): If you can get Julie to come to our DVD fest, we'd better add some more Pajibans to the list- I'd be too shy by my lonesome in front of two of the coolest chicks on my favorite site- I'm thinking Skittimus, lordhelmet & Shadows of Dakaron might be some good party guests, but the final list is up to you since it's at your place. BTW, you live in CANADA?? I've wanted to go there since about 5 - 7 yrs ago - AND NEVER LEAVE - so you might want to have some job prospects lined up for me in case I need to camp out in your basement/attic/igloo, what have you...
Posted by: TMax at August 26, 2008 9:13 PM
For you to put Buffy the fucking vampire slayer 17 spots about the wire is out of this world, shit-filled colostomy-bag crazy. The only thing crazier than that is that you picked season 2 of the wire for your incredibly flawed list.
If anything the best and most complete all around seasons of the wire were 1 and 4. Season 2 has a lot to it but really didn't measure up to 1 or 4.
I agree that Deadwood was also an excellent show, and as much as i love David Milch he is not the better series creator than David Simon.
David Simon and Ed Burns not only REALISTICALLY displayed a period in time, but they did it and made every audience with an IQ higher than a field mouse something to seriously ponder about life in an urban society and how the government reacts to the society that it's backward ideals have created.
The Wire was authentic down to the exact dialect of everyone in the show, from a corner boy to the single white father of two, the show made you feel a part of the place it depicted. The show actually had a purpose beyond entertainment. It wanted people to open their eyes to the serious urban problems in America's cities and the government's inadequacies in dealing with them, and even their hand in created them and irritating them worse.
I've loved this site for a while (minus the positive Zohan review...) and this is my first comment. I expected a site oozing with intelligence such as this not to come up with such a goddamn piss-poor list as this one.
Posted by: Malik Carr at August 26, 2008 9:25 PM
Seriously though, how do you miss Andre Braugher? For his work alone, Homicide should've been on here. That feels like a serious omission.
I get most of the shows on the list, but the omission of Homicide befuddles me beyond belief. I could swap it for any one of half the list. But hey, I guess that's why the Pajiba staff makes the big bucks?
Posted by: Cindy at August 26, 2008 9:28 PM
Damn you, where's Ballykissangel, Series Three?
Bitch, bitch, bitch!
Posted by: Jorge at August 26, 2008 9:38 PM
Wait, no, I meant Father Ted, Series Two. Feck!
Posted by: Jorge at August 26, 2008 9:40 PM
For clarity's sake: I don't believe the 20 has a ranking order, and on this page they're just listed alphabetically, as the intro says.
Posted by: Jay at August 26, 2008 9:59 PM
so it looks like it's about unanimous, the SATC selection should have been vetoed by the rest of the pajiba staff, as it clearly does not meet the three criteria outlined in the intro, and should have been replaced by the sopranos (no standout season? come on!), lost, 30 rock (my picks), homicide, seinfeld, the shield, take your pick.
overall, not a horrendous list, disagree w/ several/many shows and/or individual seasons chosen, but satc appears to be the only egregious selection of the lot. agree w/ handel above, think my number one problem w/ the list was the inclusion of the brilliant season 2 of the wire, which seems like a contrarian pick, although i personally prefer season 3 to season 4, guess you can't really fault someone for their own personal favorite 'wire' season.
Posted by: johnny anonymous at August 26, 2008 10:26 PM
Yo, Malik Carr
For you to put Buffy the fucking vampire slayer 17 spots about the wire is out of this world, shit-filled colostomy-bag crazy.
Go back and read the sentence above "1" on the list. Wait. I'll save you the time:
Here it is, alphabetically...
ALPHABETICALLY. HENCE, THE ABOVE LIST IS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. NOT IN ANY RANKING OF GOOD TO WORST.
I give you high marks for your mis-guided rant, especially with the whole "shit-filled colostomy-bag crazy" line. Good dirty talk. I also appreciate your love for The Wire. It, indeed, is awesome.
But your "incredibly flawed" reading comprehension hurts.
Overall, the list is solid. The Wire is the bomb. It's freaking amazing. I'm currently only about half way through the second season and have loved every minute of it. Easily some of the best TV I've ever had the pleasure of watching.
That said, I loved me some Buffy Season 2. It's one of the finest seasons of television ever and belongs on that list. It's hard to say how it measures up to The Wire since they're so different. I think each excels at exactly what they set out to do.
I really expected a due who "I expected a site oozing with intelligence" to be able read and comprehend what alphabetically means. Still, you've got some skillz. Stick it with, kiddo.
Cheers.
Posted by: ajax19 at August 26, 2008 10:38 PM
I would have liked to see Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Gilmore Girls or Alf.
Posted by: TWoP Fan at August 26, 2008 10:38 PM
Season 1 of Lost belongs in the top 5, no matter how you may feel about the subsequent seasons...
Posted by: John K. at August 26, 2008 11:13 PM
The final season of MacGyver, simply because that's when we learn his real first name is.....Angus.
For serious.
Posted by: branded at August 26, 2008 11:31 PM
ajax19:Thanks for saying exactly what was on my mind re: alphabetical order.
Reading comprehension is usually key before ranting. Idiots usually end up making the opposite point of their rant...not saying that Malik is an idiot...maybe he's just a little slow kid that got into his parent's boxed wine.
Posted by: popejenn at August 26, 2008 11:35 PM
No Babylon 5? No American Gothic? What!
Posted by: Nick at August 26, 2008 11:49 PM
My contribution...
Season 1 of Dexter.
I thought it was unique, witty, suspenseful and interesting. Season 2 as well.
Posted by: K at August 26, 2008 11:50 PM
So I know you said if you haven't gotten into Friday Night Lights by now, then you weren't going to try to convice anyone, but the rooting for it on this site made me (a non-football lover) give it a chance. Thanks for that. It ranks (with Mad Men) as one of the best shows I have seen in years. I grew up in a small Southern (though not Texan, which does make a HUGE difference, truly) town where football and church were it. Our team won more state titles than we could count. FNL is such an honest reflection of what it all felt like. (though we did not have anyone at my school that looked like Riggins, sadly). There is just not enough that can be said about how great this show is. Good pick Pajiba.
Posted by: ami at August 27, 2008 12:16 AM
Anytime there is love for both Veronica Mars AND Friday Night Lights I just get giddy. That alone makes this list freaky-deaky awesome. Add in South Park, Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, and The Office...it makes me want to squee in happiness.
But Sex and the City?? I rented every season being too cheap to shell out for HBO, but there is no way it comes close to the excellence of any of the 10 shows on this list that I've already seen. I'm sure the other 9 are better too.
I'm also curious as to how many of the Pajiba staff voted for season one of Lost. It's definitely on my list because much like seasons one of VM and FNL, it can get anyone hooked. I love lending out the first disc of the dvd set to only have the skeptics begging for more.
Posted by: Sophie at August 27, 2008 12:22 AM
I'm totally with you guys on 7 of the 20. West Wing, Simpsons and The Office are three of my favorite shows of all time, so I couldn't have been happier that they were up there.
And while I really can't understand this site's Whedon obsession (franky speaking, I loathe the guy and wish to slap him upside the head, and hard), I love that all of these are shows that may not have had mainstream success, but are shows that only a certain type of people completely fall in love with. And these people are my people. You're my people, people.
People.
I love this place. Where had it been all my life?
Posted by: figgylicious at August 27, 2008 2:41 AM
I want to add:
DAMNIT I miss West Wing so much.
I also really really really want to watch Deadwood. I need to move to the States ASAP and get me some Netflix and watch the damned thing.
Stupid third-world cable provider with no real HBO. Bastards.
Posted by: figgylicious at August 27, 2008 2:47 AM
""The Sopranos," an amazing show with no stand-out seasons"
So, the show didn't make the cut because it was consistently excellent? C'mon. That's a bit much. "The Sopranos" is one of the most critically-acclaimed shows of all time and it essentially put HBO series on the map. And if you have fully two shows on your list that take place on a spaceship, you need to revisit your criteria.
Posted by: samantha t at August 27, 2008 6:36 AM
What's the setting matter?
Posted by: Jay at August 27, 2008 7:41 AM
I'll just say: Where's Mad Men? Talk about smart, complex, and well-written.
Was the Peggy pregnancy twist that off-putting? Even though all signs pointed to Peggy being pregnant, what with the focus on her sexual naivety and clear confusion over the pill very early in the series?
Posted by: Robert at August 27, 2008 8:10 AM
One word: DEXTER
Posted by: Yummy at August 27, 2008 8:22 AM
What led to Peggy becoming pregnant is what put me off of her personally (not the what, the who and when). Dammit, I wanted to root for someone on that show! Why do you have to be so pretty, you mean little ball of bile??
Posted by: Jay at August 27, 2008 9:13 AM
At least we agree on The Shield, though if I had to choose, it would be Season 2 or Season 5.
Boogs, I'm just about to start Season 5 on DVD, in a last ditch (and admittedly already unsuccessful) bid to catch up so I can maybe watch the last episode when aired. Nevertheless, I'm glad we can agree on the merits of the Shield, and from what I remember, season 2 was pretty damn good as well. In fact, unlike 24, I never saw a season of the Shield I could peg as the "weakest of the series". They just stand out so damn much in 24, particularly any season that's a multiple of 3.
Though I'd like to think that somewhere out there, Vic Mackey and Jack Bauer are swapping stories, drinking beers, and single handedly eradicating Columbian drug cartels, Armenian mobsters, and any shape or form of domestic terror.
Posted by: Mike R. at August 27, 2008 10:38 AM
At least we agree on The Shield, though if I had to choose, it would be Season 2 or Season 5.
Boogs, I'm just about to start Season 5 on DVD, in a last ditch (and admittedly already unsuccessful) bid to catch up so I can maybe watch the last episode when aired. Nevertheless, I'm glad we can agree on the merits of the Shield, and from what I remember, season 2 was pretty damn good as well. In fact, unlike 24, I never saw a season of the Shield I could peg as the "weakest of the series". They just stand out so damn much in 24, particularly any season that's a multiple of 3.
Though I'd like to think that somewhere out there, Vic Mackey and Jack Bauer are swapping stories, drinking beers, and single handedly eradicating Columbian drug cartels, Armenian mobsters, and any shape or form of domestic terror.
Posted by: Mike R. at August 27, 2008 10:39 AM
Here's wishing it could've been the Top 24 seasons so every excellent season of The Wire could have been included. (Doesn't have the same ring to it, I know.) There was a statement made in one of the featurette interviews on the last disc of Season 5 (can't remember who said it) that The Wire would stand the test of time 50-some-odd years from now because of the seemingly unsolvable issues in our country that Simon & Co. tackle head-on.
I think The Wire's potential for sustained longevity pushes it to the level of the best show we have seen or might ever see for years to come.
Posted by: Weck at August 27, 2008 10:44 AM
I would have liked to see Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Gilmore Girls or Alf.
Posted by: TWoP Fan at August 26, 2008 10:38 PM
Gilmore Girls! Look no further for intelligent, witty, and female centered entertainment that everyone could enjoy! I've yet to see a whole season, but there's just something about Lauren Graham that makes me want to just either A.) Do horrible, unspeakable (yet hot) things to her and B.) cuddle under a blanket in the town square of Stars Hollow with a thermos of coffee and just watch the stars.
Ah, 'tis the dichotomy of the human heart. Classic example if I do say so myself.
Posted by: Mike R. at August 27, 2008 10:48 AM
But Jay, the who and when of Peggy's pregnancy turned her into the gloriously bitchy character she is in Season 2. I probably spent 15 minutes watching her shut down the new secretary in the season 2 openner. Plus, it gives them good reason to bring in her sister pretty much calling her a whore every episode, when in reality the sister probably just resents the success Peggy's had. Peggy gets to have a kid AND a job, while the sister winds up having to show up to confession dressed like a tomato.
What pisses me off about Peggy's character is that she's seemingly ok being told her job is to pick a china pattern rather than do actual ad work in the agency.
Posted by: Robert at August 27, 2008 11:00 AM
oh, i am so happy you at least gave a shout out to "homicide". i have a very unhealthy obession with that show- maybe because i watched it with my dad when i was in middle school? i dunno. point being, i own all of the seasons and it's my go-to background noise when i'm working on a project, feel like knitting/sewing, or am sick/hungover and don't feel like reading. frank pembleton is hands down one of the best characters to ever show up on television, and i wish i could marry him. that is all.
Posted by: bree at August 27, 2008 11:16 AM
Stop with the Mad Men spoilers!
Posted by: samantha t at August 27, 2008 11:21 AM
I probably spent 15 minutes watching her shut down the new secretary in the season 2 openner.
So the very first episode ended with me shouting, "Idiot! What did you and I learn in the first five minutes of this show???" and now you're saying she's turned into another Joan?
Yikes.
It makes me a bit sad that I can't enjoy the show. But the characters are such expertly written, dressed and acted complete assholes that I just feel bad watching it. Maybe someday Christina Hendricks will play someone halfway likable. Dommage, eh?
Posted by: Jay at August 27, 2008 11:27 AM
i own all of the seasons and it's my go-to background noise when i'm working on a project
I imagine it's the music rights that made them so expensive (they do have all the music, right?). But several years later and with used copies now going around I may finally be able to pony up without too much guilt.
Posted by: Jay at August 27, 2008 11:33 AM
I'm not an asshole, BUT I have to say you did forget about The Shield.
Posted by: OrRoy at August 27, 2008 12:05 PM
Oh, and when Sex and the City was first included, I didn't argue because I thought it was justified because of how much it actually influenced people and how widely adored it is by women. But we've talked ad nauseam about how this list is not about that, how it is by Pajiba for Pajiba - smart, bitchy, geeky, and all that. So I think that justification doesn't work anymore.
Posted by: tt_marie at August 26, 2008 4:27 PM
what she said
Posted by: EricD at August 27, 2008 12:30 PM
this is really more of a top 20 of the last 15 years.
Posted by: lizzie at August 27, 2008 2:01 PM
Le Sigh
Posted by: Sirkickyass at August 27, 2008 2:39 PM
I would have added season 2 of "The Tick." This show was way ahead of the Adult Swim concept and consistenly hysterical. It was too smart for saturday morning cartoons and the only reason to wake up on Saturdays in college. Little Wooden Boy! Spoon! Pig Leg!
Posted by: Jeremiah at August 27, 2008 2:49 PM
Mike R.- I totally feel the Lauren Graham love. If my gate were to swing both ways, it would swing on open for her. I want to hang with her and eat ice cream and watch bad tv and shop then big Luke. (Also, Jess sucked.)
Big Love was the one I couldn't think of yesterday. Damn good show, and not just because I'm from Utah and it's about damn time people remembered it is a state. A freaky, needy, whiny, irritating, poorly lead, reliougous monstrosity of a state, but still, a state.
Dexter rocks, too.
Posted by: TWoP Fan at August 27, 2008 3:59 PM
Hey BarbadoSlim....Brisco County Jr. was horrible. I watched the first 5 episodes and just could not watch any more. It was like watching the special education class put on "Stage Coach." A few laughs here and there but you just didn't feel like you should be watching....
Posted by: Chi Dingo at August 27, 2008 5:38 PM
Damn bruh. No love for Angel! Seasons 2 - 5 was pure art. The last ep. Not Fade Away still gets this mutha fucka misty. Buffy was the shit too, but Angel was more consistently on point. Btw, agree with you on The Wire. Season 4 was the best though.
Posted by: Glodene at August 27, 2008 9:34 PM
How about the third season of....SUCK IT!!!
Posted by: Wes Weston at August 27, 2008 11:14 PM
It's a pretty good list, with some inclusions and omissions I was surprised about (but, then, why would I be reading the list in the first place?). The only omission that really stands out to me is Season 3 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Now that's quality comedy.
Posted by: Al at August 27, 2008 11:44 PM
the top five seasons of any show in tv history are the wire, the wire, the wire, the wire, and the wire.
thank you.
Posted by: matt at August 28, 2008 12:24 AM
I'll reiterate what everyone has already said and say WTF with SATC. It doesn't fit the criteria and should have personally been replaced with Lost S1.
But there really can't be much complaining when 7 of my top 10 shows are on the list(1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 17, 20, the others are another little Whedon show and two others I feature prominently in my post for those who may wonder). And seasons I'd agree with to boot. I'd probably choose S2 of BSG and choosing a best season of The X-Files is hard. I could give it to 3, 4, or 5 any day. Also, compliments on picking S2 of Buffy over the more widely accepted "best" season 3. Personally, I think S2 was the best. It was the mixture of entertainment and drama that made it work so well. And who can say no to the twist in the middle? Brilliant.
I could question Futurama not being on here but I think it falls into the category of having a show similar to it (Simpsons) already on the list. Plus, it was so consistently good that no one season stands out.
Also, S10 of South Park? I don't think SP has been consistently good since the first half of S8. They maybe have one or two really good episodes per season now.
I need to watch more of The Wire (only seen S1 but it's amazing beyond belief) and watch all of Twin Peaks. Farscape too. I hear only good things about it (besides the muppets >_>). And Freaks and Geeks I need to watch. I love the cult TV stuff.
I do have to commend on not including many popular shows ala the "shouldn't be on any list besides "Most Overrated Piece of Garbage"" Seinfeld.
And that's just my two worthless cents. So in closing, it needed more Lost.
P.S. Just saw an ad for a marathon of S2 of Mad Man on Sunday which is great because I've missed it so far this season. I love that show. One of the best new shows of the past few years. Some people were talking about so I thought I'd give it props.
Posted by: TheXanMan at August 28, 2008 3:17 AM
Angel Season 3. From start to finish, amazing.
Posted by: Sags at August 28, 2008 10:07 AM
Minor gripes and comments.
Ok, there are some shows I don't know, some I just couldn't be there to watch and some I don't like because maybe I'm not the target, or the subject is not appealing to me. Those are never justifications for bashing -- the Stones or Dylan are probably great, but I have never liked them anyway.
That being said, I reinforce a previous comment on SatC: it was probably socially relevant in a way, but never, in a million years, drama- or script-wise relevant. Think Queer Eye for the Straight Guy; should it be on the list too? Yup, I thought no.
Congratulations to the whole of Paja-bings! for putting this up. I can't thank you enough for the Arrested and West Wing seasons ("only" my two favorites of all time in comedy and drama), and the somewhat bold inclusions of The Office, The Wire and South Park.
Some Seinfeld (incredibly geeky and smart-assed, of course), Lost and even Damages could be present, amongst others, but if we only have 20 spots, I guess only SatC should be summarily removed for not belonging anywhere there. Choose whatever other popularly demanded show to fit and we're good to go.
Also, right, 24 shouldn't be on the list, even though I loved the first four seasons. It simply doesn't qualify in the group. And The Simpsons... OK, I can go along with the "best show in TV history" thing for the first five or six seasons, maybe, hence the inclusion. But it soon came to be one of the worst of all time. I mean, just watch a recent episode one of these days. It's just a painful waste of paper, pixels and patience.
Posted by: gargumma at August 28, 2008 12:32 PM
Where was all this criticism before, when the list was still being composed and might've still been salvaged? SaTC was as obvious a mistake when it was first reviewed, as it is today. Farscape's inclusion is just as inexcuseable.
Can't wait until the 20 Best Movies of the Last 20 Years includes "Serenity," "Sin City," and "the South Park Movie," to the exclusion of "Pulp Fiction," which will be described as "solid but unspectacular," dismissed for its "unlikeable characters" and ultimately deemed "overrated" and "not bitchy enough."
Posted by: Gootch at August 28, 2008 3:22 PM
I totally agree with at least 5 of your selections, which already makes this list the Best Ever. (Not that I've seen too many "best seasons of TV" lists, but still...). Just recently started watching Veronica Mars on DVD and was amazed at season 1 (the other seasons are OK, but have a lot less of an emotional arc).
My other recent viewing includes The Wire, season 4, and I have to quibble with your choice of Season 2 as the best. In my opinion, that was the season in which the show came close to losing its way in a transparent attempt to find more (white) viewers. It was OK, but it doesn't measure up to any of the other seasons I've seen (which doesn't include #5 yet). What's your rationale for choosing it above the others?
Posted by: Therem at August 28, 2008 3:53 PM
Never mind -- just found the full post on The Wire Season 2 from earlier. I still think any other season would be a better choice, but the fact that people will have to start with Season 1 before getting to 2 makes me feel better about it.
Posted by: Therem at August 28, 2008 4:59 PM
First season of The OC, anyone? It nailed the perfect twist of drama/ Seth Cohen comedy that the other seasons lacked.
Posted by: Mark at August 29, 2008 9:02 AM
Friends! You forgot Friends! Only the funniest show in the last 20 years..nothing has come close to being as good since the show ended. Season 4 is the best...the season where Monica and Rachael have to give up thier apartment to Joey and Chandler. It's a classic.
Posted by: jen at August 29, 2008 9:28 AM
I also forgot...
Gilmore Girls...all the seasons. Great Great show. Favorite quote...LG to RG...come here I think you have some dirt on your forehead...nope just the mark of the devil.
Alias. The first 2 seasons were the best. I was so mad when they added Sydney's sister to the mix. Like she needed any help kicking ass!
MacGyver...I mean what the hell. This guy could do it all. Make a flare from a paper towel roll and a tube sock, no problem. Blow open a door with a shoelace and a can of Coke...easy. And he always got all the hot 80's chicks.
Posted by: jen at August 29, 2008 9:36 AM
Wire season 2 is a bit of a surprise. My favorite season, however, 3 and 4 might have been a bit better, and much more moving. How about Northern Exposure, season 3. Fantastic!
Posted by: plawcas at August 29, 2008 9:44 AM
What about Gilmore Girls - Season 1. Sweet, funny, touching and the most rapid fire dialogue ever! Go Lorelai and Rory!!!
Posted by: vicki Pasadena, CA at August 29, 2008 10:19 AM
Your post is missing just three words... LOST SEASON ONE.
I completely agree, however, on many of your choices, including Simpsons season 4, Twin Peaks season 1, South Park season 10, Six feet season 1, Office season 2, Arrested season 2... AND NO SOPRANOS. Thank you.
Posted by: Eric at August 29, 2008 11:11 AM
Wow, what a bunch of wet blankets and naysayers; it is a list of these guys top 20 and if your show didn't make the cut then assume that your's is #21 and move on with your lives.
Posted by: john at August 29, 2008 11:55 AM
No Babylon 5? Season 4 was some of the best TV ever.
Posted by: Leroy at August 29, 2008 3:58 PM
Totally missing The OC season 1. It redefined the teen angsty drama and created all new archetypes. Sure it fizzled fast, but at the time, simply wow.
Posted by: josh at August 29, 2008 4:45 PM
I've never had anyone agree with me on "The Wire" Season 2. Most, if not everyone, I've talked to considers that the one "off" season for the show. And that floors me. I'm always having to defend and explain my love for the sophomore season. As soon as the traditional "season-ending-montage" ended for the season, I thought to myself, if not said aloud, "wow, that may have been the single best season of a show I have ever seen."
Season 3 was pretty close, and later season 4 may actually have surpassed it, but season 2 was just amazing.
My top, elite 6 seasons in no order:
1. "DeadWood" - Season 1
2. "DeadWood" - Season 3
3. "Wire" - season 2
4. "Wire" - season 4
5. "Lost" - season 4
6. "Sopranos" season 2
Posted by: Eric V at August 29, 2008 5:19 PM
Oh, I'd actually also add "Murder One" season 1 to that. That show was absolutely phenomonal. And Stanley Tucci was genius on it. I was very happy to find that hear on the list.
Posted by: Eric V at August 29, 2008 5:22 PM
Fantastic list! All of my fellow drama-loving BSG geeks keep recommending Farscape and Firefly. Time to hit iTunes. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Shana at August 29, 2008 9:14 PM
I agree with most, but have to admit, I never got into the West Wing. Just sounded too depressing to be inspired by our imaginary government week after week. We have a Top 7 list of TV series finales on TheScorecardReview.com -- definitely worth checking out.
Posted by: Jeff Bayer at August 30, 2008 2:03 AM
Aah, excellent list (except, perhaps for the mentioned SATC). Will have to check out Deadwood now. And thank you for the inclusion of Farscape, a grossly under-appreciated show. That third season was equal parts Greek tragedy (Deadalus Demands, Icarus Abides), stylistic genius (Revenging Angel, Scratch n Sniff), space opera at its finest (Into the Lion's Den), and deep character study (The Choice, Dog with Two Bones). Damn good television.
Posted by: Bird at August 30, 2008 2:12 PM
Buffy and Veronica definitley deserve their place.
I also recommend Dexter.
Posted by: Conor at August 30, 2008 6:28 PM
Dexter, baby
Posted by: Uncle Mikey at August 31, 2008 10:32 PM
For those who are looking for Farscape, Comcast is currently streaming them free (for those in the US). Start with Premiere.
http://www.fancast.com/tv/Farscape/2000/watch-it/on-fancast?sortby=descending
Farscape is very continuity-dependent (even Season One) so to be safe check out this link:
http://transcripts.terrafirmascapers.com/index.htm
for a reliable episode listing. Just don't click the episode names if you don't want to get spoiled!
Posted by: Carol Hill at September 1, 2008 11:46 AM
I'm going to have to agree with the other people who have already mentioned that The Wire Season 4 is far better than Season 2.
Posted by: Sean M. at September 7, 2008 12:19 AM
In what language does "Six" precede "Simpsons" alphabetically?
Posted by: Ned at September 10, 2008 1:40 PM
Upon review, this list is brilliant. Personally, the second season of Battlestar might have been my favorite, but whatever. Also, I would have loved to have seen the first or second seasons of Weeds on here. And I thought the last season of Angel was among the best of Joss Whedon's work (but thank you SO much for including Buffy and Firefly on here!). I think my favorite part of this list, though, is that it doesn't pander; you took the hard line on a lot of these. A lesser reviewer would have just said "All the seasons of The Simpsons" ignoring the fact that the last ten years have been abhorrantly unfunny. And best of all, you stuck to your guns; on no other site would it have been appropriate to put Farscape, Veronica Mars, Firefly, Sex and the City, and X-Files on a list of this sort without mention of Seinfeld (thank you for that, truly).
And, privately, thank you for not mentioning 30 Rock. I'm so sick to death of critics treating that show like it's God's gift to television.
Posted by: ChristianH at September 14, 2008 4:37 PM
Privately? I saw it.
You are entering a world of pain.
Posted by: Jay at September 14, 2008 5:00 PM
DEXTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! damn, not even an honorable mention? Michael C Hall is amazing.
Posted by: soda at September 22, 2008 9:23 AM
what the hell!! where is prison break,, ahh the seaons that are mentioned in top ten i havent herd their names even, where is dam prison break... fu** the list... i am pissed
Posted by: junky at October 17, 2008 8:10 AM
Based on the the love shown for some shows here I have checked out several series I skipped before.
Dexter: Wonderful show. Love it.
Mad Men: other then an unlikeable lead character, unlikeable supporting characters and boring stories, its pretty good.
The Office: couldn't make it through the pilot. aweful.
The Wire: next up. Will start watching season 1 this week.
Posted by: EricD at October 27, 2008 3:18 AM
