Is it just me, or are we living in a golden age of tv drama? The airwaves are just saturated with very watchable shows, whether it be on the pay cable channels, USA and other networks, or the traditional big 3. Think about it. Some of the shows are obviously campy, and my nerdy tastes may make them seem specifically tailored to me, but there are just so many shows on right now that I think are fun.
Here’s a partial list of shows that I’ve seen and enjoyed (and some I have only seen a couple times, others I watch every episode):
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Hung
Boss
Homeland
Camelot (campy as hell, but fun)
Dexter
Grimm
Hell on Wheels
Chuck
Psych
Suits
The Good Wife
White Collar
Unforgettable
Person of Interest
Sons of Anarchy
Rescue Me
Walking Dead
The Killing
Obviously some are better than others, and I am sure there are tons I am forgetting, on top of shows that are watchable, but not that great, like Covert Affairs and Burn Notice and Strikeback and the Law and Orders and CSI’s and NCIS. And then there are shows which are smash hits that I just don’t care for (like Mad Men), and shows I liked that got nuked (Rubicon).
Of the new shows, I have to single out Hell on Wheels and Boss- both are outstanding.
It really does feel like we are in a golden age of tv drama. Maybe it is just me, but I don’t remember a time when there were this many shows that were that good.
And I forgot Leverage and Justified, and of course, one of my favorites, Damages.
TooManyJens
Do you not watch Leverage? I would think you’d like that.
DFS
Kurt Sutter, the Sons of Anarchy dude, had a blog post a while back talking about how he thinks a lot of the talent that might otherwise be making sorta “medium-sized” movie projects is doing cable TV instead now. Lemme see if I can find it…yeah, here we go:
http://sutterink.blogspot.com/2010/04/star-bucks-and-death-of-creative-middle.html
The notion is that it’s hard as hell to make a movie now that isn’t either a zillion-dollar blockbuster or an indie made on a shoestring. So everything in between is now on the tube.
Also, Jesus, SOA is fixing to do some apocalyptic shit next week.
blahblah
Fuck Chuck, Chuck sucks.
Trentrunner
You forgot Battlestar Galactica.
tarylcabot
Probably because of greater competition/selection and also non-network stations can show a great deal more.
If you’ve ever played ‘fantasy football’ then i’d highly recommend “the League” – usually at least one laugh out loud scene each episode.
fbihop
Yes, we are.
The current era seems to have started with The Sopranos and HBO’s run of critically-acclaimed series (The Wire the best among these). But then other cable channels started getting into the act.
Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Rescue Me. Obviously the first two are a notch or two (or more) above the last two, but ten years earlier? Sons of Anarchy and Rescue Me would have been heads and shoulders above, say, NYPD Blue or ER.
USA is almost a separate discussion. They do the light-drama with comedy thing better than anyone. Starting with Monk, then onto Psych — and then they have the more serious (though not on the level with AMC or HBO) dramas like Burn Notice and White Collar.
Network TV dramas just can’t survive; they need massive numbers to survive and these kind of shows just don’t get massive numbers. The last great network drama, as flawed as it ultimately was, was probably Lost.
Comedy is more of a mixed bag, but how many comedies in the past two decades have been as good as Parks and Recreation (or, in my opinion, Community)? Arrested Development and…?
EDIT:
Have to add, RIP Terriers and RIP Rubicon.
Jess
What about The Closer? I also confess to enjoying True Blood quite a lot. But the show I just fell madly in love with is Justified with Timothy Olyphant. Awesome dark, funny, coolness based on Elmore Leonard stories (Leonard is Executive Producer as well). Check it out!
Crusty Dem
And NBC just cancelled Prime Suspect, which was very good, though I wasn’t sure how it would hold up (but Maria Bello=awesome).
Still, talking about how good TV is right after Community gets hiatus feels wrong..
fbihop
@Jess: Oh yeah, Justified!
Most underrated show on TV now. Probably slots into right behind Breaking Bad and Mad Men in terms of quality. Better than Sons of Anarchy and that bunch of shows in my opinion.
Brian S
@Trentrunner: I’d like to forget the last season and a half of it. But the first 2.5 were awesome.
Gozer
@fbihop: Forgot Deadwood and OZ.
Trentrunner
@Brian S: Many agree with you, but I don’t. I see the flaws, yet my love is undimmed.
And I’m about to finally start Deadwood. Can’t f$@kin wait.
Brian S
Are we including British tv in this? Because I get all fanboy over th Doctor Who reboot, MI-5 and Sherlock.
Trentrunner
Oh and Friday Night Lights (sans season 2). I hate Texas, football, and high school, and I thought it was moving and beautiful.
Brian S
@Trentrunner: I won’t give you any shit about it, because I’ve certainly done it myself. I really wanted to like it,and there are individual episodes in the final 1.5 that I enjoyed, but overall, I was really disappointed, especially in the final couple of episodes.
MikeJ
@Brian S: Sherlock is great but three 90 minute shows hardly count as a series, no matter what the BBC call it. Disappointed that the next set were pushed back to spring.
JenJen
What Trentrunner said about Friday Night Lights. I miss it.
As far as Cole’s list, I’m surprised “Hung” made the list; I’ve tried and tried but I just think it’s awful. “How To Make It In America” is the HBO show I’m most digging at the moment.
RASTA MONSTA
Gentle reader
Homeland so far is the best of the new shows this season but I’m really worried it will be unable to sustain the awesomeness of the first episodes. They just might screw it up a la Killing.
Genine
I’m really loving Once Upon A Time. That show really blows me away.
I’m not sure what else I am missing. I’m told Community is good and since it’s been cancelled, I’m inclined to agree sight unseen.
Shows I like tend to be cancelled.
TooManyJens
@MikeJ: Also, the second one sucked. I loved the first and third episodes, though.
Have they announced a US air date? I think it’s starting back up in January in the UK.
Trentrunner
Grrrr still angry about The Killing: A for atmosphere, C- for maintaining dramatic tension.
Steeplejack
@Cole:
There is better “content” because there’s more content. It used to be all you had was the three networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) and a few odds and ends on PBS like Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery!. Now you’ve got HBO as an almost full-time competitor and a whole slew of secondary sources—which put out some surprisingly good stuff amid all the inevitable crap. And cable TV has been the great equalizer. The traditional networks don’t have the same cachet they used to have. Now, if a show is good, people don’t have a problem if it’s on, say, USA rather than NBC.
Plus film/TV/video technology has advanced tremendously, which means that production values have improved dramatically across the board. Even crappy shows nowadays look good. The crap factor usually comes through in the acting or (most often) the writing.
Finally, since every show doesn’t have to try to hit a big-three-network home run, there is a lot of room for quirky, non-mainstream shows to find an audience. And that makes room for some surprising breakouts, e.g., Firefly or, going back a little, something like Buffy or Xena: Warrior Princess.
Hell, you see it even with things like cooking shows. My new fave is Bitchin’ Kitchen on the Cooking Channel. That never would have had a chance even 10 years ago.
On a side note, I have to add that I really enjoy the unprecedented access to classic and foreign movies on channels like TCM, Sundance, IFC, etc. I can remember the days before DVDs and–horrors!–even before videocassettes, when the only way to see some movies was to hunt them down in funky little cinemas, and you had to wait for them to come around. The media environment today is like the promised land compared to the old days. (Geezer rant off.)
Steeplejack
@Jess:
Agreed. Justified is excellent. Real Southern accents! Not all the same, and not all Kentucky, but definitely better than what we usually get from Hollywood speech coaches.
When does it start up again? January?
patrick II
I like dramadies but psych and chuck are overdone for me. CSI has more corpse porn than I can stand. I do like the network shows Castle and The Mentalist. I will grant you the Patrick Jane character is overdone, but I like the complexity of the lying, manipulative, cowardly guy now driven by revenge and remorse. And I like the cast too. Cho — the dry, asian version of Sgt. Joe Friday cracks me up, and I like the ladies too.
Villago Delenda Est
It’s just you.
The Golden Age was in the 80’s…Hill Street Blues ruled.
fbihop
@Gozer: I just mentioned The Sopranos and The Wire because they were the beginning and the peak (so far) of the Golden Age of TV (Oz preceded The Sopranos, I think, but that doesn’t matter).
@Genine: Community isn’t canceled; it is going on hiatus and there is a small chance that Sony (who co-produces the show) will let NBC have it for a final season at a severely reduced rate so it will get to syndication. But three seasons worth of the show will air no matter what. Which is a pretty good run of TV to watch.
MacKenna
Once Upon A Time is a great little show. Strong female leads, suspenseful, whimsical, FX. It’s got everything.
MikeJ
@TooManyJens:
In my house house it will air in the US as soon as it hits the torrents after airing on BBC. Say 15 minutes or so after.
Steeplejack
@Villago Delenda Est:
I think if you go back and look at Hill Street Blues now you will find it to be incredibly dated. That was my experience when I saw a couple of episodes a while back. But, admittedly, I didn’t think it was the greatest show ever back in the day.
TooManyJens
@MikeJ: Gotta love the Global TiVo.
fbihop
@Steeplejack: The first season of ER still stands up, remarkably.
Mnemosyne
There are also great half-hour comedies on right now: “Modern Family,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Community,” and “30 Rock,” to name just a few. Network TV has pretty much given up on doing great one-hour dramas, but they’re making up for it with comedies.
Villago Delenda Est
@Steeplejack:
Well, of course it’s dated. It was 30 years ago!
But back then, it was groundbreaking. Ensemble cast, story arcs, actual character development, people talking over each other…things that were simply NOT DONE in prime time drama.
It pioneered the ground that the best of the dramas now routinely walk.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@fbihop: How many comedies have been as good as Parks and Rec? Big Bang Theory. Best comedy on TV. But maybe you had to live the nerd life to appreciate it.
I like Amy Pohler, but Parks and Rec was just another Office. For some reason, having the characters talk directly at me kills the whole show for me.
Mnemosyne
G is hooked on Antenna TV and some of those shows still hold up, especially “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” As an adult who now gets the jokes, I can only marvel at how Rob Petrie is the most Jewish goy in the history of the world.
moe99
@Trentrunner: My choice as well!! Good catch!
Oh, and Doc Martin.
Mnemosyne
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
It started out like that, but they re-tooled it halfway through the first season and it’s so much better.
Once they figured out that it was funnier for Leslie to be a brilliant politician stuck in an office full of people who couldn’t care less than it was for her to be an incompetent Michael Scott clone, the show really took off.
ETA: They still talk to the camera, but it doesn’t bother me because Parks & Rec uses it as an improv moment, like when Leslie tries to cheer up her friend by listing all of the worst ways she’s been dumped.
slag
So THIS is what you’ve been doing instead of entertaining us.
David Koch
“Burn Notice”: great drama or greatest drama?
MikeJ
@Mnemosyne:
He wrote a song called Bupkis!
George and Gracie are on right now. I really wish they had Ernie Kovacs, but I don’t think there are enough in existence to make it worth anyone’s while to show them.
Steeplejack
@patrick II:
Agree about The Mentalist. There is some depth there under the surface bling, and the cast is good. Cho is great as the deadpan interrogator. I wish they would give Rigsby and Van Pelt a little more to do. They sort of derailed them with that forbidden office romance thing.
Another show I really liked, but which got canceled, was The Good Guys. Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks as a mismatched pair of Dallas cops. Whitford was great as a sort of seedy ’80s Miami Vice throwback. Hanks was his young, straight-arrow minder. And there were some good little details. There was one scene where they were returning to the station and found that someone had put up a pool on the whiteboard on how Stark (the ’80s throwback) would die. You saw it only in passing, but if you froze it you could read that one of the choices was “Trampled to death at a Foghat concert.”
Genine
@fbihop:
That’s good to know. I will have to check out the previous seasons. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about it. I hope that complete whatever story lines are in play.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Mnemosyne: OK, maybe I’ll try it again.
fbihop
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Couldn’t disagree more on both points.
The six-episode first season of Parks and Rec was like The Office with Poehler in the Carell role, but they moved from that quickly and developed the characters in completely different directions from characters in The Office.
The mockumentary format is the same, but the show is different. As is Modern Family, which uses the same format.
And I just can’t get into the Big Bang Theory. Especially since it is now on at the same time as Community. Big Bang Theory is like a show that COULD be great, but the writers always go for the obvious jokes. It is better than the other two Chuck Lorre sitcoms on TV now, but that isn’t saying much.
But there is nothing more subjective than comedy.
scott (the other one)
Ta-Nehisi has had some typically fascinating things to say about Hell on Wheels.
Caravelle
Everybody seems to think so including all TV critics I’ve seen opine on the issue, so it must be true.
From looking at a bunch of “nostalgic” TV reviews on sites like the AV club I’m wondering how much serialization has to do with it. There really seems to have been a progression in the last three decades from very little of it, to having narrative arcs and a few multi-episode stories, to TV series becoming proper long-form narratives, to the point some reviewers throw their arms up at evaluating things like Boardwalk Empire episode-by-episode.
And from those same sources it would seem that was a change pushed by the medium – from an environment where you wanted episodes to be able to run in any order once in syndication, to the advent of DVDs and the ability to re-watch episodes and better assimilate dense plotting.
Either way, I think it’s pretty nifty to be living in the golden age of something. (I mean, I guess we’re living in the golden ages of various online media if you look at it that way, but those are so recent and ephemeral it’s hard to follow, while TV has been around long enough that we can actually tell it’s a golden age, so that’s cool)
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@David Koch: Hmmm. How shall I say this?
Hey, anything with Bruce Campbell is great! Every time he was in Xena Warrior Princess he really picked up the show.
Duane
I agree with Steeplejack….the Good Guys was a sneaky good show….. count me as one who says its not TV its HBO….man Deadwood, the Wire, Rome, OZ, the Sopranos……just awesome…. get a few good ones from Shotime…. then there are a few good cable shows….Justified is good enough to be an HBO show…. and hey i m still a fan of the NBC thursday block, the office, parks and rec and community and of course 30 Rock….. but not whitney, oh my god not whitney…. another show from last year that got axed that i really dug was Detroit 1-8-6. and then there is Chuck….always a fan…but damn Morgan as the intersect is about too much to deal with…
David Koch
“Homeland” is piece of crap. The premise is a Marine becomes a covert Muslim terrorist.
Seriously, we don’t have enough fear mongering of muslims?
Steeplejack
@Villago Delenda Est:
I don’t mean just chronologically. It seems clunky now in a way that some other 30-year-old shows don’t. The Rockford Files is not a perfect example, but it’s the only one I can think of right now. Which reminds me that I would love to get a chance to see Harry O with David Janssen again.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@fbihop: Well, if you didn’t spend your freshman year rooming with someone like Sheldon Cooper, I can see how Big Bang Theory wouldn’t be your all time favorite comedy.
Like I said upthread, I reckon I’ll check out Parks’n’Rec on OnDemand and see how it goes.
Joel
Boss episode one and four were pretty good. Episodes two and three were horrendous. Too much Skinemax crap, plus the bizarre, nonsensical neurologist storyline. I think Time magazine sucks on a lot of levels, but their TV review is spot on: http://entertainment.time.com/2011/10/21/starzs-politics-drama-boss-powerful-but-messy-just-like-its-subject/
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Steeplejack: Yeah, I saw an episode of Rockford awhile back and it wasn’t what it used to be. The fight scenes, especially, came off as really cheesy.
fbihop
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Oh god, I had a roommate like that in college. Worst semester of my life.
I don’t have a problem with the characters, but with the writing of the situations and that they use the obvious jokes. It never gives me a surprise guffaw like the best comedies do.
Steeplejack
@Duane:
Yeah, that was really getting to me, too, but I just watched the most recent episode off the DVR yesterday, and that gave me a little hope.
Calouste
@MikeJ:
On the BBC, six 30 minute shows constitute a series. Except for Eastenders, then it’s four shows per week.
patrick II
@David Koch:
Burn Notice worked for the first couple of years for me, but then went bad. I think it was when Michael Westen started including his mom in all of his capers.
Chris
@David Koch:
Semi-related: are there any good spy shows on the air that anyone recommends right now? I was a “24” fan (though I got into it pretty late), was sorry to see it go off the air and haven’t seen anything to replace it yet.
Steeplejack
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Yeah, and the film (picture) is really washed out. But there is something about the acting and the characters that holds up pretty well, even amid the cheesiness, in contrast to a lot of Hill Street Blues, which seems sort of crazily overheated now. Except for the scenes between Veronica Hamel and Daniel J. Travanti; those are little islands of serenity. The rest veers toward cartoony in a way that The Rockford Files doesn’t even at its worst.
Duane
@Steeplejack:
yeah this last episode gives some hope…. I was hoping i wasnt the only one who was annoyed with that storyline….
as for arc series…. the one that i remember really using this format was Wiseguy one of my all time favorite shows.. and then I think Crime Story used the story arcs as well….
oh and i m a big fan of Boardwalk Empire….it follows in the tradition of HBO greatness… looking forward to new series…what is it Lucky?
oh and how can i forget Louie of current fun comedies……
David Koch
I know the Kewl Kids won’t admit this, but the edgiest drama has to be “Gossip Girl”.
Ailuridae
If you aren’t watching Luther via whatever means necessary you are missing out. Also Misfits is excellent
CaseyL
It’s not your imagination: TV is amazing these days. I’m watching more TV than I have ever before, at least in terms of how many shows I follow.
I agree with DFS and tarylcabot. There are so many TV channels that need content, and movies have gotten to be mostly simple-minded violent CGI-fests. If you’re an artist (working in front of or behind the camera) and you want to create something intelligent, witty, and *meaty*, TV’s the medium to work in. I think it’s especially good for actors, who get to have character development and arcs and interesting intricate stories. Gotta be better than making faces at a greenscreen!
Still won’t watch TV comedies, though. Still hate laugh tracks with a fiery passion.
David Koch
Obama is on MSNBC right now declaring war on Australia.
Steeplejack
@Chris:
A suggestion from left field, but you might try White Collar. It’s not a spy show per se, but it has a lot of the trappings: technological gadgets, exotic setups, double-dealing, multiple allegiances, secret goings-on, etc. The show looks great visually, and everybody is easy on the eyes, although Tiffani Thiessen is a little, uh, matronly if you remember her from Saved by the Bell.
patrick II
@Steeplejack:
I think Van Pelt is about the pretties lady on tv.
Speaking of shows that got cancelled after a short run — I really liked Terriers which just ran one year on FX. Donal Logue (Tao of Steve) played a alcoholic ex-cop working at being a p.i. without a license. Fine writing, great characters, nobody watched it but me. I think its last week it had 35,000 viewers. People were too busy watching the Walking Dead the other new show at that time last year.
moe99
then there is this:
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/37663/youtube-hall-of-fame-tv-shows-cancelled-too-soon
Steeplejack
@patrick II:
Forgot about Terriers. I liked it too, was sorry to see it disappear without a trace.
patrick II
@Steeplejack:
I can’t get into White Collar. Somehow having the hero of the show being a guy who now rats out all of the guys he used to work with doesn’t work for me. Especially since he hasn’t gone totally straight himself. Agent Burke character is too flat with little backstory and gives no sign of being smart enough to keep up with the genius Caffrey is supposed to be — yet he does.
Anyhow, White Collar doesn’t work for me.
sven
@Ailuridae: I’m glad the U.S. is starting to finally catch on about Misfits.
There are some great shows being created today, there is also an awful lot of absolute garbage. Rather than the ‘golden age’ I think it might better be called ‘an age of extremes’. There are shows like Breaking Bad which could not have aired a few years ago. Networks like HBO put real money behind into shows like Rome and GoThrones. I can even choose the best of British tv if that is what I want. On the other hand we have endless hours of celebutainment put out every single day. Undercover Boss, while painful to watch, has a much bigger audience than any show John mentioned. The perfect example is USA Network. It has an impressive list of light dramas, comedies, and professional wrestling.
patrick II
@moe99: Thanks for linking to the nice writeup of Terriers. I don’t understand how a show that good gets canceled. Maybe the the target audience for overweight guys who wear their shirts out and don’t shave every day isn’t big enough. However, I could empathize.
Mister Papercut
@Brian S:
My sister has been all up in the DW reboot and finally wore me down and got me to watch. Almost done with Nine’s run now (though I’ve hopped around with a bunch of Ten and Eleven episodes: seriously, fuck the Weeping Angels…), and I will definitely co-sign.
Yes to Sherlock as well — Series 2 immediately, please and thank you. (Silly Brits and your truncated teevee seasons, don’t you know it’s all about meeeeeee?)
@sven:
This, too. I hope that chatter I heard about making a U.S. version peters out. It wouldn’t work, just leave it.
sven
@patrick II: After friends recommending all year I finally broke down and watched Terriers in October. It was awesome. Now I am the one pushing it on my friends and see the reluctance. Somehow I think the name gives the wrong idea about the show. It is just below Firefly on my ‘they should have stuck with it’ list.
sven
@Mister Papercut: I have heard that since FX is going to be coming out with Powers, another gritty superhero show, that interest in a U.S. version of Misfits has disappeared. I don’t really follow these things so, who knows.
I am actually kind of interested in Powers. FX is building a great track record and what I have seen is intriguing.
EconWatcher
Did anyone other than me and Mrs. EconWatcher like The Unusuals? A network dramedy, it was cancelled about halfway into its first season. Seemed fun and funny to us.
patrick II
@sven: Thinking of Firefly and Terriers at the same time hurts. Firefly is at least streaming on Netflix. Two great and underappreciated shows.
Nathan Fillion sometimes sneaks references to Firefly in dialogue in Castle
Sal
Psych………. Really?
PSYCH is a quick-witted comedy/drama starring James Roday as young police consultant Shawn Spencer who solves crimes with powers of observation so acute that Santa Barbara PD detectives think he’s psychic.
This show is crap, USA anything you are going to see on USA will either be overly misogynistic, or aimed at the mentally challenged which is the same thing really…
Ailuridae
@EconWatcher:
Like it? I loved it! Its a shame that they didn’t have a better actress for the intended lead (it was the young woman from Joan of Arcadia) or that they didn’t make it a true ensemble piece out of the gate. Some of the interaction between Perrineau and Goldberg is really unlike anything that has been on TV before.
Martin
@David Koch:
Can’t wait for Bachmann to complain that Obama is now dragging the US into a conflict in Europe.
Raven
Bob the Diving Dog.
TBogg
Episodes on Showtime because Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan snap off dialogue like returning gunfire and John Pankow is brilliant.
Also Californication because Natascha McElhone’s eyes alone make me melt.
wetcasements
Walking Dead season 1 was cool.
Episode 1 of season 2 killed it for me.
Raven
Try “Any Human Heart” a Masterpiece Theater gem.
Kane
I’m so out of the loop. I’ve never seen any of the shows mentioned.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I haven’t watched a single show and don’t recognize a single name in that list.
Cool!
Raven
@Odie Hugh Manatee: How about “Bleak House”?
Martin
I would like to extend a huge kudos to TPM for their willingness to use the word ‘Fucking’ in a headline.
JPL
“In Plain Sight” is pretty good. It is available for streaming on Netflix. The lead character is feisty and her family adds a bit of comedy to the series. Although I watch “The Good Wife”, it doesn’t have the same grittiness this season. Maybe I’m just losing interest.
Anne Laurie
@EconWatcher:
Count me in that number as well. I grew up in the Bronx, albeit 40 years ago, but The Unusuals was one of the very few “New York” shows that actually bore any resemblance to the actual NYC I knew. Which is probably a factor in its demise — the Spousal Unit, product of a very small Midwestern town, watched the first couple of episodes with me and could not keep up with the dialog. I’d recommend it to anyone who liked Vonnegut… and not just for the Bokonin episode, either!
And since the BBC has been allowed, I recommend New Tricks. Smart, tough policewoman accidentally embarrasses The Department, so gets ‘sidetracked’ to working cold cases with the assistance of three retired old cranks, one of them the man who mentored her. All four of the main actors handle both the procedurals and the comedy brilliantly. First four seasons (only 6 to 8 episodes per season, alas, but every one a gem) now available on Netflix.
Also, anybody who likes Castle should check out Body of Proof in the same timeslot on Tuesdays. Very similar vibe — much ensemble comedy to sweeten the morgue-porn — and, hey, both Dana Delany and Seven of Nine, guys!
WereBear
I suspect a lot of DVR’ing in this thread, because I don’t have one and it’s more than I can stand keeping track of anything I do take an interest in.
It’s on Fridays at nine, until it’s not, and while I don’t mind watching reruns, they don’t seem to put them on at all, they put on something else, then they move it, then they move it back.
Sure, I can try finding it with the On Demand, but Time Warner moves that around all the time too… and give me no way to track it down. I suppose I can track down something to help me track it down… but I don’t have the time.
Just keeping up with Monk exhausted me.
Cuppa Cabana
What strikes me about that list is, that’s a lot of television. Do you have any time leftover to read (or sleep)? I think it means you’ll always be nerdy but never say, wonky.
I know that sounds like a snobbish anti-teevee criticism, but it’s really empathy from a recovering tube zombie. I had to force myself — first by dumping cable, then television altogether — to cut myself off. In truth, it was cutting back, as the household still has netflix-hulu options (so I have access to much of Cole’s list, if I fall off the wagon).
It’s a different world when you’re not chained to the box.
/dry drunk sermon
Lurking Canadian
I have been very surprised to find that I like Once upon a time more than Grimm. That’s not how I expected the two fairy tale shows to go.
Also, I seem to be alone in my love of Revenge. The main character of that show is like a cute, blonde Batman.
Samara Morgan
American Horror Story.
boss bitch
American Horror Story – EXCELLENT – this show is scarier than most of the horror movies that have been on the big screen over the past decade.
Homeland – EXCELLENT show also. Really.
Chief
I have watched a few on your list:
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Hell on Wheels
Person of Interest
The Killing
I feel that Hell on Wheels has far to much gratuitous violence.
I did not see Treme on the list which I feel ranked right up there with Breaking Bad.
billgerat
Yes, lots of good TV shows to watch….then NBC orders a remake of The Munsters. What’s next, Gilligan’s Island and My Mother The Car? This is why I don’t watch TV.
boss bitch
@Cuppa Cabana:
its 2011. most people, like myself, don’t watch these shows on their scheduled nights.
boss bitch
@Lurking Canadian:
Not alone on Revenge. I love it and thought I would hate it. Kept seeing recs from online folks and decided to watch.
YellowJournalism
Canadian, I said the same thing in another thread a few days ago. Once Upon a Time just seems to have better acting and what is turning out to be a great story arc. Grimm seems to be in the monster-of-the-week format right now. It needs to increase the mythology a little more. It’s sad that I would rather see a show about the wolfman guy’s everyday life rather than the cop’s story. This last episode was an improvement,though.
Montysano
Anyone else watching “Enlightened”? I tuned in because of Laura Dern (alas, no safari shorts), but it’s a terribly uncomfortable show to watch. The characters are all deeply troubled, in ways that hit too close to home.
The Ancient Randonneur
Shorter Cole: I have no life.
ned
If you’ve never seen Party Down, do yourself a favor and watch it. Hilarious stuff.
Kinda surprised nobody has mentioned Six Feet Under or House.
El Cid
@Ailuridae: Misfits is incredible.
Woodrowfan
I wish somebody would bring back “Brimstone” and give it the cable drama treatment.
Other than the Dr Who reboot and L&O reruns I’ve not watched anything else since Torchwood and BSG finished.
LarryB
You forgot the Brits: My wife is totally addicted to Chapel Hill, even if she needs to turn on close-captioning to understand the dialogue.
Viva BrisVegas
@Martin:
You just want us for our strudel.
Gromitt Gunn
Two recent wonderful BBC/PBS period dramas:
Downton Abbey
Lark Rise to Candleford
The latter stars an all-grown-up Saffy (from Ab Fab).
Lee
My wife and I have felt this way for a very long time.
There are so many good shows on that we honestly cannot keep up. We just put them on the “We’ll watch them when the kids are gone” list.
donnah
I’m a big fan of Suits and I also think The Wire was the best series ever. I love Burn Notice (we named our cat Fiona) and I also like Psyche, just for Dule Hill. (You’re out of your damned mind, Shaun). And Dexter, too.
I really like Grimm and Person Of Interest on network TV and I agree that the quality of most shows has gotten better, both in production values and writing. I think the networks are slowing down on the reality shows, which makes me happy. And yayNetflix for offering full seasons of shows.
lol
I put a lot of shows on my iPhone to watch on the bus ride to/from work. That’s how I watched most of the Wire and Burn Notice.
kimp
American Horror Story for new, Breaking Bad for old.(er). Hill Street Blues, Northern Exposure, and Boston Legal were all good.
flukebucket
I’ll chime in for Breaking Bad. Another show that I love is Once Upon A Time but it is best when watched after taking a long, slow toke.
YellowDog
You’re too young to remember the late 50’s/early 60’s and the gritty dramas that were on network television–Gunsmoke (yes, in the early years when Miss Kitty was more than just a saloon owner), Route 66, The Fugitive, The Defenders, The Naked City, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock, and more. There are a lot of quality shows now, because there are more outlets, but the quality was high in those years. Everything went to crap in the mid-late 60’s and the television drama didn’t recover until Hill Street Blues.
_PK_
In Treatment hasn’t been mentioned yet — it’s pretty good.
Bored To Death can make me laugh.
Cromagnon
The only thing on TV worth a damn is South Park and Family Guy. Everything else blows
Librarian
Like many of the people here, I haven’t seen any of the shows mentioned either. You must have a lot of time on your hands, John. Give the TV a rest sometime. Secondly, today might be a golden age for TV, but it’s a shitty age for just about everything else.
Mr Furious
We were excited for “Once Upon a Time,” but after a few episodes, I’m ready to give up. The idea is had promise, but the acting is horrendous, and the scripts are overwrought. Shrek does a better job weaving in fairy tale characters cleverly.
If you want good supernatural / fantasy in a small town, get the DVDs of “American Gothic.” Phenomenal cast/acting including Gary Cole, Lucas Black, Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard and more. Produced by Sam Raimi.
John Weiss
@YellowDog: High Adventures with Lowell Thomas! Ernie Kovacks! Jack Parr! You Bet Your Life! There was lots of good stuff “way back when”, when TV was live! Ed Sullivan! The Honeymooners!
Mr Furious
I’m loving “Prime Suspect.” Maria Bello is outstanding, and the supporting cast is very good as well; a couple of Homicide / Oz / Wire vets sprinkled in there (Kirk Acevedo, Peter Gerety). Plus Aidan Quinn..
“Person of Interest” left me cold in the premiere episode, and I never went back. Maybe a second look is warranted.
boss bitch
@Mr Furious:
I watched the first episode of both and never went back. Aren’t they cancelling Prime Suspect or stopping production?
qkslvrwolf
Dude…Burn Notice “Watchable, but not great”??? What are you smoking???
Speaking of geek/nerd, what attracts me to burn notice is that they do a much better than average job of keeping the narrative semi-realistice, but the whole show fantastical. That’s what makes the show so brilliant. I’ve never seen a show that does such a good job walking the line between fantasy and reality. It has the reality to keep me mentally bought in, the fantasy to satisfy my craving for the larger than life.
ira-NY
In Treatment, particularly the first season, was excellent.
Yuppers
What? No “Fringe”?
Mr Stagger Lee
One series I miss was The Shield. After The Wire.t was the 2nd best cop show IMHO.
rikryah
Some good stuff on tv these days. if you’re a tv addict like me, especially with cable off seasons, and summer tv, you watch new tv all year long..LOL
wasabi gasp
I don’t know Butchie instead.
Steeplejack
@Mr Furious:
Person of Interest has been steadily getting better. The jury’s still out, but I find myself looking forward to it each week.
AliceBlue
We’ve been watching Bedlam and Whitechapel, both good shows on BBC. Bedlam is much better than American Horror Story; we watched a few episodes of AHS and it was the most unscary “scary” show I’ve ever seen. We ended up laughing at it.
Anyone who liked My Name is Earl needs to check out Raising Hope.
Bill in Section 147
@patrick II: Exactly with you on the Mentalist. The show has its charms and the interaction of the characters is better than the plot but I find myself really hanging around for Cho’s bit. He’s like a cool Joe Friday living inside a modern crime drama.
Deb T
I’ve been into 50s & early 60s TV. One thing I really like are the 30 minute dramas. It’s like short stories versus a novelette. M-Squad, starring Lee Marvin, is my current favorite and made me search out other Marvin vehicles — some I had never seen before (Point Blank based on the great Richard Stark crime story titled The Hunter. ) I like being able to watch several episodes back to back. I don’t have cable and don’t care for much that’s on the networks now.
I have been able to watch Justified, Dexter, and Breaking Bad via Facebook or the web. It’s not just a golden age for TV, but also for all the access to these shows.
Steeplejack
@Deb T:
You should check out Peter Gunn. Sort of old-school TV noir with small, pulpy stories and good jazz music.
CaseyL
@Lurking Canadian: @boss bitch:
Revenge: My Secret Shame.
After successfully and effortlessly avoiding the whole “nighttime soap” thing for decades – never had any interest in watching Dallas, Dynasty, or their spin-offs – the premise of this one (and two actors I love, Madeleine Stowe and Henry Czerny, in the cast), lured me into tuning in. I’m hooked, even as the plot developments get loonier and loonier every week, and even though I don’t much like “Emanda.” My favorite character is Nolan, and I just hope nothing bad happens to him.
White Collar was good its first two seasons. After that, it got way too self-satisfied. Also I hated the way they retconned Neal. I liked him much better as the badass brilliant conman who led international law enforcement a merry chase for years and years. When they turned him into a sentimental mush who yearns for domestic bliss, he became uninteresting. To me, anyway.
Sloegin
Golden age if you’re paying for a full cable package.
If you’re paying basic cable on down, it’s the golden age of crap.
Aet
The greatest thing about on-demand TV services and DVRs is that you don’t spend time now watching crap. I find it amazing that despite the fact that I watch less than two hours of TV a day, I’ve seen at least half the shows on that list.
While we’re seeing such great drama, it seems like TV comedy shows went downhill. Even the great animated ones are slipping. The only good ones I know about that are still making new episodes are Community, Futurama, and Psych. It’s like Comedy Central got Stewart and Colbert, then just decided to give up.
Brachiator
It’s just you. And, no.
Apart from Boardwalk Empire, not much on the list is better than serviceable. However, most of the dramas listed are much, much better than tv comedies, which are uniformly stale, predictable, and uniformly lacking in creativity.
As an aside, a recent UK Daily Mail article has links to the trailers for two upcoming, competing takes on Snow White.
Mirror Mirror, with Julia Roberts exhudes major suckitude.
Snow White and the Huntsman, by contrast, looks like it might actually be watchable. And it features Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen. Yummm.
Bill in Section 147
@AliceBlue: Also a fan of Whitechapel.
opie jeanne
@Steeplejack: We are watching it but the jury is still out. The one episode that I really liked was the one with the female ‘fixer”. She was smart and gave “John” fits. I’m still not sure if Caviezel can act or not.
There was a nice little cop show last year, The Chicago Code; it was set in Chicago and cancelled after one year but we thought it showed a lot of promise.
opie jeanne
@AliceBlue: Raising Hope kind of sneaked up on us. We didn’t watch it at first and then there was this one episode where they lost the baby in the greenhouse and they made Cloris Leachman play a life-sized version of Jenga so they could get her out safely. The bit with the vacuum hose on the kid’s diaper was clever.
satby
The SO is a big network fan, I haven’t watched a big 3 network show in 10 years. The original Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren was better IMO than the American remake, but that was true for Cracker as well. I never miss Leverage, and always DVR Burn Notice and In Plain Sight. And one we like when it’s on is the Showtime series Shameless; surprised no one else mentioned it.
KXB
Well, for me, basic cable seems to have the drama market cornered (I don’t have premium channels like HBO or Showtime). Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Justified, Damages, Battlerstar Galactica, Lights Out (cancelled after one season), and even lighter fare like Men of a Certain Age (cancelled after 2 seasons) shows what stories TV can tell if given enough time. I have recently started renting The Shield, and am kicking myself for waiting so long to get to it.
In other sci-fi shows, I am finally getting around to Deep Space Nine, which my buddy at NASA’s JPL has been on my case for years to get to. When I streamed it on Netflix, I was a bit stunned to see that there were 176 episodes of that show, and it was not even on a network! It was syndicated. The spread of basic cable channels has replaced syndication for original programming, but, unfortunately, cable channels usually order only 13 or 15 episodes per season.
As far as dramas on broadcast networks – The Good Wife is OK. It would be more plausible if the lawyers lost a couple of cases. Body of Proof tries to strike a balance between pure geek-babble of CSI, and some of the soapier fare like Grey’s Anatomy. That 50-something Dana Delaney still makes me think naughty thoughts is the primary reason to watch that show.
Skipjack
I think so too, and for all the reasons already said and I’ll just add that I think it’s because writers have been given the power to shape their productions. The advent of “the showrunner” who is now frequently the head writer for the show has led to a deeper understanding of where the show needs to go rather than just what people want. And the lack of advertising in many dramas on cable keeps productions from having to placate viewers who just tuned in for the first time and repeat themselves to make sure they get it.
I’m rewatching Game of Thrones right now and it’s a lot better than even the first time around. It’s so dense and full of backstory that you think they are throwing too much info at you but it turns out the pacing is actually quite smooth as long as you have your feet wet. A couple more episodes in the season might have let a little more air into the horse heart souffle that is the show though.
KXB
@opie jeanne:
Agree about The Chicago Code – the stories that focused on the police/ crime of the week were passable. But Delroy Lindo, as the alderman with questionable ethics, was very entertaining. The Irish Mob nonsense was a bit much. In Chicago, it was said if there was an Irish Mob, it was in the mayor’s office. There was a neat twist, where the main cop learned unflattering facts about his dead brother, but the show was cancelled before there was a chance to explore that.
seehear
Game of Thrones is a pale imitation of the books. It’s nothing more than a regurgitation of plot without deeper thematic context.
Ripley
@wasabi gasp: On the wall, the man at the wall makes a man from the circle and line.
Delia
Here’s one I haven’t seen mentioned that I like: the BBC’s Being Human. SyFy has their own version which pretty much follows the same plotlines, but I prefer the British one.
mrmike
Haven’t seen a mention of it, but another supe-dramedy that I’m digging is Lost Girl. Succubus PI and her wisecracking Gypsy petty thief sidekick with a werewolf/siren cop duo and all the Fae you can handle. Mystery of the week format with some arc thrown in.
It’s bubble-gum, but it’s entertaining and at least a little fresh for cable fare. Still wish Moonlight had kept its legs.
HyperIon
Well, Cole, I have tried out several TV series you have recommended and I haven’t got “golden age” off any of them.
To mention two: Chuck, Psych. Granted, they are much less painful without the commercials. But classic TV? Um, no.
“Watchable” is about the most positive description I can come up with.
DailyAlice
One person mentioned Fringe. I LOVE Fringe. I call it Daughter of The X-Files.
Ben
[Ctrl+F] “Venture Bros”
nothing?! Really!? 145 comments and no Venture Bros. *sigh*
Smartest show on TV in my dumb opinion.
jake the snake
I really have trouble getting into serial dramas. Even with DVR it is hard for me to find time to watch all the episodes.
I do watch NCIS Los Angeles, mostly for Linda Hunt.
It is amazing how she can physically dominate a scene
with LLCoolJ and Chris O’Donnell. I realize they aren’t much as actors, but she makes you believe that they are afraid of her and for good reason.
Dagon
You’re missing out on Fringe Cole. And I thought you liked yourself some Science Fiction. (I will never use the term Sci-Fi.
tom
@Lurking Canadian: I’m with you in that Once Upon a Time is better than Grimm. Grimm has it some horrible writing that will hopefully get better (TV needs more fantasy like this). I like the premise, the actors and the “X Files meets Buffy” vibe, but the writing (everything from dialogue to plot points) is really weak imo.
Catsy
@CaseyL:
This. Oh my god, I can’t even begin to express how repulsed I am by laugh tracks. I can’t even be in the same room with a show that has one without wanting to hit mute or throw something at the TV. Usually it results in going to my computer and putting on headphones.
debit
@Catsy: I was so fucking angry when I bought the Sports Night DVD set and found they had put the laugh track BACK IN. It was pulled after the first couple of episodes and never brought back for broadcast, but some dick head decided it was a must for the DVDs. GAH.
Paul in KY
@Calouste: Found that out years ago when I watched ‘Fawlty Towers’. Couldn’t believe they only made 10 episodes. In US, it would have been on for 10 years.
Paul in KY
@seehear: At least they’re not fucking around with the plot too much.
John
Just chiming in to agree with the commentors who mentioned Community as one of the best comedies on the air right now. That NBC has decided to bench it, even if only temporarily, while keeping a hackish piece-of-shit sitcom like Whitney is a travesty. Especially as, in general, NBC is pretty good about protecting low-rated but cultishly popular and critically acclaimed shows. Not perfect, but better than any of the other Big 4 broadcasters.
opie jeanne
@CaseyL: Which sitcoms are using a laugh track? None of the ones I watch have them or I’d be repulsed too, but I’m only watching Modern Family, New Girl (jury is still out but SO really likes looking at Zooey) and Raising Hope.
BruceJ
A surprise of this season is “Whitney”. It’s actually a funny sitcom, with actual smart wrtiing and a cast that’s worked very hard to appear be working effortlessly. And I’ll post another vote for “Once Upon A Time” … it’s growing on me.
If we’re REALLY lucky, maybe USA will pick up “Prime Suspect” …when I heard about it I dreaded it …just another ‘murrican remake of a really good BBC series, a’ la’ “Viva Laughlin” but it was much better than I expected.
The Populist
I was thinking this the other day. I like the New Girl but overall find that the best shows are on premium cable and the non-network cable outlets like AMC, TNT and others.
Kerry Reid
Pretty much the subject of my Reviewing the Arts class this past week — showed them the pilot of “The Wire,” and then we talked about how technology itself is making more intricate plotlines, etc. doable. Cable, DVRs, boxed sets, streaming — it’s so much easier to commit to watching more sophisticated storylines. There are some good things on network, too. And seriously, there are better roles for women and minorities in television than in film, by far.
Kent
161 comments and no one has mentioned the Showtime historical dramas “The Tudors” and “The Borgias” Am I the only one who watched and enjoyed them (knowing full well the history wasn’t really historical). I also much enjoyed HBO’s Rome and was dismayed at its early cancellation.
And of course Battlestar Galactica and the three Stargate series. What I miss most in 2011 is the lack of any decent new scifi series on TV. Where did all the good scifi go?
MazeDancer
@debit:
Sports Night is one of the best TV shows ever aired. If you haven’t seen it – even if you have – you should be at Netflix right now.
The first couple eps have laugh track. Then then they came to their senses. The DVD just reflects the broadcast. Laugh track goes away. But even with it, Aaron Sorkin’s writing and that dazzling cast’s fabulous acting are still delicious.
Death Panel Truck
@ned: House jumped the shark when House and Cuddy got together. It was just too unbelievable.
I don’t watch much TV anymore. I grew up in the Seventies, and my wife and I have been buying DVDs of some of the old shows. We just finished watching the entire series of Kolshak: The Night Stalker, with Darrin McGavin. Now there was a show that deserved more than only 20 episodes. Chris Carter said that Kolshak was the inspiration for The X-Files.
debit
@MazeDancer: Erm. I bought the DVD set when it was first released. I checked a few first season episodes, found the laugh track in every one, put the DVDs away and never opened the set again.
And yes, I know how wonderful it was; I watched it when it first aired and couldn’t wait for DVDs when it was canceled. If there’s another release out there without a laugh track, I will gladly plunk down money a second time.
Cataphract
Jupiter’s C–k! You guys forgot Spartacus.
Distastefully violent and shockingly crude, but the storyline is genius.
Paul in KY
@Death Panel Truck: I loved the old Kolshak show. Will have to get the DVDs.
Jeff
One show missing: The Sing-Off. Great music and judges who know their stuff (esp since they replaced the Pussycat Dummy for Sarah Bereilles). And all the comments are kept positive. Very fun.
When it’s over, The Voice will be back. Yay!!!
I never watched Community (I loathe Chevy Chase)or 30 Rock (ditto Tracy Morgan), but I might have to revisit P&R (the first season sucked), just for Rashida Jones (yum!).