Welcome back, kids! You've clicked the correct buttons on your mobile device so I would be safe in assuming that you didn't lose any digits in any firework incidents this past holiday. Which is fantastic, because now you can view this week's Top Tensday!
This turn of the wheel, the reader gets to peruse a listing of my favorite TV dramas! I promise you there will be no spoilers, so feel free to read without fear. I chose to limit this list to only hour long dramas because my love of cartoons, comedies and anime would be A) exhausting to attempt to whittle the list to ten and B) would not leave enough room to truly do these amazing shows justice. So without hesitation, I bring you this week's list!
Honorable Mention
Carnivale
This was a great series that never got to truly spread it's wings being canceled abruptly after it's second season. The age old tale of good vs. evil is spread across the setting of the rural midwest Dust Bowl. Our protagonist is in the form of a convict on the run hiding withing a traveling carnival full of mystics, shapeshifters, psychics and other supernatural kin with the ability to heal but at the cost of taking the "life force" from his surroundings. He is unknowingly pitted against the dangerous Brother Justin, a traveling preacher with the power to reveal the hidden sins of man to themselves, resulting in being overpowered by guilt and remorse. They were set on a collision course of subliminally designed biblical proportions that we were never lucky enough to witness.
Spartacus
An
amazingly fun romp through the sands of Ancient Rome, this short series
retold the story of Spartacus in hour long epics of gladiator battle,
wanton nudity and colorful language.
With the sudden sickness and subsequent death of titular star Andy
Whitfield, producer Sam Raimi intelligently went back and produced a
prequel season before finding a proper replacement to finish out the
series. It started slowly, but culminated in season1 finale, "Kill Them
All," which is still one of my favorite hours in TV viewing history.
True Detective
It's not often in TV do soft spoken gems emerge like diamonds in the rough sea of syndicated sitcoms and celebrity infused reality shows (there's nothing real about Kardashian, let's be honest}, but every once in awhile TV throws you a curveball and you are treated to magic unfolding in a weekly hourly format. Such was the case with season 1 of True Detective. Showcasing the dramatic subtlety of veterans Matthew Mcconaughey and Woody Harrelson, this show fascinated viewers with a veil of mystique and terror that would captivate us for its duration. A benchmark in storytelling, this a high recommendation for any fans of murder, mystery and eerily magical dialogue.
10. Merlin
Possibly the most family friendly show on the list, this BBC series ran for 5 seasons,and told the origin story of the world's most famous wizard. No, not the Boy Who Lived, but the OG man in the pointed hat, Merlin. Taking cues from ensemble fantasy shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we were treated to weekly adventures of a young Merlin and now Prince Arthur as they attempted to rid the land of Camelot of evil spirits and apparitions. The glue that held it together was the ongoing arc of Merlin hiding his magic from all besides his trusty mentor, Gauis, and the further foregoing tales of Arthur's relationship with pre-royalty Guinevere, the gathering of the knights of the round table, Excalibur, and prophecies of the future evils of then allies Morgana and Mordrid.
9. Peaky Blinders
Of all of the shows on the list, this is my most recent obsession. It's so damn good, that when formulating this list there was no doubt in my mind that it would make it. The show tells the story of the Shelby brothers and friends from Birmingham, England that have returned from WW1 and have become a notorious gang of racketeers. Cillian Murphy has seemed to grown a hard nosed edge not necessarily perceived in previous roles that makes him a perfect fit as the stalwart leader of the gang, second oldest of the brothers Tommy Shelby.
(Cillian smoked an estimated 3,000 tea leaf cigarettes during the filming of the most recent season)
With a supporting cast of top notch stars (Sam Neill, Tom Hardy and Ioan Gruffold), Peaky is an under the radar home run that any fan of time pieces, British mobsters or those who likes to see hooligans slash out eyes with razor blades tucked in their peaked hats (hence the title), should check out this awesome series.
8. Vikings
History Channel found a winner with this LOOSELY based true story retelling of the rise of Viking society. Our hero, visionary, mohawked badass Ragnar Lothbrok, his equally kick ass shield maiden wife Lagertha, two handed axe wielding brother Rollo, and battle tested son Bjorn Ironside set out to pillage and plunder the Western world with a cast of shield mates and future conspirators and mutineers. Drama is never in short supply when slavery, prophecies and infidelity are at play, and this show does not lack in any of these departments. The characters, and Ragnar especially, have a cool factor that makes this show a must watch for fans of blood and battle, if it pleases the gods that is.
7. The Walking Dead
(Don't dead, open inside?}
Everyone's favorite post zombie apocalypse drama has most definitely earned it's spot on the list. Will I say choices the show runners have made that have strayed them off of the amazing path already laid out by the comic book's source material have caused this show to backslide down the list? Damn straight. I promised that this list would be spoiler free, and I intend to stick to that, but for a show that has grown notoriety for not being afraid to kill it's main characters, it has dropped the ball... which is sad because said ball shouldn't have dropped; it was set up on a tee, and the barbed wire baseball bat was right there ready to knock it out of the park.
(Swing away, Negan)
Even still, with favorite characters like queen of the wasteland, Carol, crazy Rick (cause I only like Rick when he's at his most unhinged), zombie apocalypse Whoopi Goldberg, and the hillbilly Boondock Saint just to name a few, this show has held my attention now going into it's 7th season, and I don't show any signs of stopping tuning in.
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6. Doctor Who
Now what type of list would this be if I forgot everyone's favorite madman with a box? Beginning in 1963, Doctor Who has been captivating fans worldwide with tales of aliens and monsters spanning across multiple timelines and dimensions. With a protagonist that (stole) owns a telephone box that is "bigger on the inside" than can travel anywhere in space and time and that can regenerate after dying, this show created the perfect formula for longevity. A family show crafted by the minds of the BBC, this heartfelt, fun and fancy free series will rip your heart from your chest, put a cigarette out on it, and leave it in a bin labeled "fuck your feelings." A show truly not afraid to kill main characters, since, ya know, killing the main character is it's main plot device, this show has been giving nerds and tumblr SuperWhoLock fan fiction authors a traumatic case of the feels since it's triumphant return to regular programming in 2005.
Complex and well engineered, this cavalcade of paradoxes
will keep you guessing and wanting more, as long as there's no more
Clara, we're really sick of her.
5. Deadwood
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I blame the tunnel vision like focus of HBO executives on drawing out 8 years of waiting to NOT show Tony Soprano getting his just desserts for the premature cancellation of wonderful programming like Rome, Carnivale and the literal cream of HBO's crop, Deadwood. I know there are diehard Wire fans that will disagree with me, and honestly, it would be a hard if not impossible argument for me to win. But where I saw a cop drama unfold with amazing acting and writing, I also saw the obvious; a cop show. It will always be confined by the box of it's own design. Now you can counter that this was simply a western, but I would argue that Deadwood was much more than your Roy Rogers romp and even more so than a gritty spaghetti western. All the complexity of crooked cops and straight shooters and conversely the ins and outs of murderers, mobsters and addicts you would see in your average cop drama got the wild, wild West treatment before layered with on point scripts and memorable characters.
(Mr. Wu and ain't nothing to fuck with.)
From the accurate depictions of the death of outlaw Wild Bill Hickock, de facto lawman Seth Bullock, and the wiley and hilarious ways of Calamity Jane, Deadwood delivered week in and week out and yet only survived 3 years in the shadow of north Jersey's favorite wise guy.
4. Sherlock
From the pages of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Doctor Who show runners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss brings us a modern day adaptation of the world's most famous detective, sorry Bats. The picture above shows the classic look of our beloved hetero but not so hetero team of Watson and Holmes, and I used this photo to aid in my point in why I believe Sherlock is the best written show airing on TV as we speak. The fast talking, always thinking deduction mastermind Holmes was most recently seen in last years Christmas special, The Abominable Bride. An episode that took us back to Victorian London that so beautifully bridged the old and new setting as if it had been planned since day one of principal filming. For any fan of witty, asshole-ish sociopaths, I HIGHLY recommend this show. With 3 seasons under it's belt, it only has a total of 9 actual episodes. The great part that each is an hour and a half long, as a miniseries if you will, each story gives you a full arc, and time for it's characters and stories to stretch out it's legs and breathe. I cannot sing the praises of stars Benedict Cumberland Farms (something like that) and Bilbo Baggins enough. A fantastic score, superbly directed and superimposed text showcase an attention to detail and production that I just adore.
If you haven't, watch, if you have watched, then watch again.
3. Heroes
Not all the shows on this list have the cleanest of track records. I will get this out of the way early in this review; The looming writing strike that Hollywood was faved with a couple of years back affected many films and shows at the time. None of which faced the nasty backlash of this like Heroes. I stayed a faithful viewer through the trainwreck that was the shortened and obviously disjointed second season (the season in which the strike directly affected), the smart introduction of Villains of the first half of season 3 and subsequent ball dropping of the second half with the "Fugitives" arc, and the mess that was the final season which you could tell the ship was sinking and the band playing was starting to sound flat. None of this negativism could remove this show from the list, and I say that with much confidence because of the STELLAR premiering first season.
(Save the cheerleader, save the world.)
To me, the most fun and favorite opening season of any show I have ever watched, Heroes started with so much promise that it would develop into the live action X-Men TV series we all wanted. Sadly, we weren't so lucky and the show was cancelled before it's true potential could be realized. Unlike many fan favorite shows, Heroes actually made a return with the Heroes Reborn miniseries. Although I felt the the writers obviously had their heads in the right, it sadly all seemed too little, too late.
2. Game of Thrones
Is anyone surprised? Honestly, there's probably more surprise that this didn't top the list, but as great as this show is, it has flaws, but c'mon, you thought your book reading, liveblogging, door holding, many faced god praying, white walking, Maisie Williams adoring
resident GoT fanatic wasn't going to include the unanimously decided most popular show on TV? Get real.
It all started when I heard that journeyman actor and personal fave of mine, Sean Bean was set to star in a new season. I figured I would give it the once over, and 10 shocking, incestuous, molten gold pouring, head chopping episodes later, I found myself at the nearest Barnes & Noble's purchasing the entire series of novels. Everyone knows how much I adore this albeit loose, yet phenomenal adaptation of my favorite books, so I will save you a lengthy diatribe. What I will say is that it is a wonderful story of politics, betrayal and magic, ripe with murder, dragons and full frontal nudity, and if you decide not to watch it, at least you could learn a thing or two and pick up the books, they are fun and fast reads. Of course, you don't have to watch it if you don't choose to, just get comfortable under that rock of obscurity you like so much.
1. Breaking Bad
If I can, let me take a moment to say how much stress, anxiety and anticipation play a role in what excites me, or the average human being. We all love a sense of the unknown. As much as we say we hate it, it's what drives us to continue on living. Not knowing how successful the outcomes will be is as much a part of the experience as actually making it It's the adrenaline that pushes us to see things through.
There has never been nor am I sure ever will be a show that created such a palatable sense of tension as Vince Gilligan has served up to us in the form of a gifted chemistry teacher diagnosed with cancer that with what seemed no options left decided to get into the meth making business- excuse me, I meant the EMPIRE business. Each week, I would sit around the glow of the television set yelling into the void, "there's NO WAY Walt and Jesse are going to get out of this."
And every week I was wrong. An empire is exactly what happened. An empire of a show that was bestowed upon us. We were treated week in and out for 5 seasons of crazed turmoil, twisting allegiances, psychotic hitmen, roofed pizzas, and yes Flynn, even breakfast. Teamed with his junkie protege, wigger poster child Jesse Pinkman, Walter White maneuvered the criminal underbelly of New Mexico's crystal meth industry and garnered a following of immense proportions. Easily one of the most quotable series to date, shot, scored and acted at the highest of levels, this perennial award winning MASTERPIECE of a show is in my humble and irrelevant opinion, the best television show to have ever aired. So MASH and The Wire can put that in it's pipe and smoke it, but just don't add chili p, I fucking hate chili powder.
Let the argument commence! Make sure you share, comment and like! Tell me about my choices and why you're smarter and your choices are better. Hell, you can even write a blog about it! Until next week chaps!
Reese Dunlap
