TV: HF's Top 50 Television Shows: Redux

member 151739

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It's been four years. Netflix is bigger. Amazon and Hulu are making quality content. What has changed? Is Breaking Bad still in such high regard that it remains #1?

Wanna do this, people?
 

Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
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My top 5:

Games Of Thrones
The Sopranos
Breaking Bad
Seinfeld
The Simpsons
 
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Shareefruck

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Apr 2, 2005
28,875
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Vancouver, BC
1. The Dekalog
2. The Wire S1-S4
3. Monty Python's Flying Circus S1
4. Cowboy Bebop
5. The Simpsons S2-S4
6. The Office UK
7. Fanny and Alexander
8. The Twilight Zone
9. Tatami Galaxy
10. Freaks and Geeks
11. Deadwood
12. Louie
13. Arrested Development S1-S3
14. Twin Peaks S1
15. Atlanta

For me, television's still got a long way to go before it catches up to the peak quality of movies, IMO.
 
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Nalens Oga

Registered User
Jan 5, 2010
16,780
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1. Community
2. Parks & Rec
3. The Simpsons
4. Sherlock
5. Frasier
6. The Office US
7. The IT Crowd
8. Always Sunny
9. Mr. Bean
10. American Vandal

oof tough decision to leave Seinfeld and AD off.

1. The Dekalog
7. Fanny and Alexander

Cheater
 

Shareefruck

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Apr 2, 2005
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Why? They're structured like a mini-series, and were deliberately created for the medium. The versions I'm talking about are closer to series' than films. If anything, they're unfairly and criminally overlooked as series' because they're more famously associated with films.

If I'm not mistaken, they both got television runs as well, right?
 

member 151739

Guest
Just like the last time we did this, miniseries would be included.

I kinda jumped the gun here, because I don't really have the time right now, but I wanted to gauge interest.
 

Leafsdude7

Stand-Up Philosopher
Mar 26, 2011
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So I assume as long as it was made for TV, and it was more than a 1-shot, it's allowed? Anime, cartoons, miniseries, reality, etc all allowed?
 

Say Hey Kid

it's better to burn out than to fade awa
Dec 10, 2007
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If you want to, go for it. Personally, I've never really understood the value of board-wide consensus polls, and find them a little frustrating. I prefer when everyone just argues about their own opinions rather than determine the victor in a popularity contest.
Agreed
 

WarriorOfGandhi

Was saying Boo-urns
Jul 31, 2007
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this thread has made me realize how little television I've watched in the last four years. I think the only things I've watched start to finish in that time is Rick and Morty and the new Planet Earths/Blue Planets.
 

Shareefruck

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Apr 2, 2005
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Off topic pet peeve. Personally, I'll never understand why everyone prefers keeping apples and oranges separate. To me, as long as overall value is the thing being compared, nothing is lost the less in common two things being compared has. If anything, the comparison just becomes more interesting and worth discussing and considering.

I mean..... what's fun about going down a checklist and assessing the difference in quality of identical components.... and why would we only want to compare things when it's possible to do that? To me, that approach makes the whole process feel kind of soulless and passionless, and I prefer to avoid it even when things are similar.
 
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Nalens Oga

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Jan 5, 2010
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this thread has made me realize how little television I've watched in the last four years. I think the only things I've watched start to finish in that time is Rick and Morty and the new Planet Earths/Blue Planets.

It's mostly overhyped shit. And if it's good then it's just good for a few seasons at most minus outliers. Films are better. Even when they aren't great they're better.

You don't become a slave to them either.
 

Shareefruck

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Apr 2, 2005
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It's mostly overhyped ****. And if it's good then it's just good for a few seasons at most minus outliers. Films are better. Even when they aren't great they're better.

You don't become a slave to them either.
Agree with the bolded but not necessarily the other stuff.

Too many modern, critically acclaimed TV dramas just feel like soulless high-production-value vehicles to keep you hooked by cliffhangers, twists, and "pay-off". Television hasn't come anywhere close to catching up to movies yet, IMO.
 

Say Hey Kid

it's better to burn out than to fade awa
Dec 10, 2007
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Films have a huge advantage in that they get to tell the whole story from start to end in one sitting.

That being said, every article I've read disagrees with you guys. They all say from the Sopranos to now that TV has become almost or just as good as film. In this forum though only graphic violence shows such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones are great. Very sad.

You remember the bad TV, because you see it for free and commercials. You remember the good films, because of award nominations and shows.

Look how many comic book films, remakes, and sequels there are. There are hundreds (thousands?) of bad movies every year that you never hear of. Films that instantly die at the box office, films that never go to the box office, small budgets, indies, second and third rate horror films, etc., etc., etc.
 

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,875
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Vancouver, BC
Films have a huge advantage in that they get to tell the whole story from start to end in one sitting.

That being said, every article I've read disagrees with you guys. They all say from the Sopranos to now that TV has become almost or just as good as film. In this forum though only graphic violence shows such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones are great. Very sad.

You remember the bad TV, because you see it for free and commercials. You remember the good films, because of award nominations and shows.

Look how many comic book films, remakes, and sequels there are. There are hundreds (thousands?) of bad movies every year that you never hear of. Films that instantly die at the box office, films that never go to the box office, small budgets, indies, second and third rate horror films, etc., etc., etc.
Oh, I actually don't factor in the bad stuff-- it's not worth considering, IMO. I'm just referring to the stuff that deserves critical praise from both mediums.

While I love some television, I just don't think that the peaks have quite hit that transcendent masterpiece level that dozens and dozens of films have in the past. There's always some compromise, typical TV manipulativeness, commercial considerations, financial/scheduling constraints that hurt the product, focus on intrigue over art, excess bloat from the sheer hours it needs to fill, or dips in quality in early or later seasons, that typically need to be excused, I find. You can count the number of shows that are as masterfully/perfectly crafted as a Kubrick classic on one hand, if there are any at all. Also, good TV only comes from a few sources (independent television isn't much of a thing) so the opportunity and creative freedom is a lot more limited. You're not going to overtake decades of global, independent or massive-budget film culture with HBO alone.

The Sopranos and The Wire are only a small step into that conversation, and I don't put them in the same stratosphere as movies from my favorite film directors, personally, nor would I consider David Chase or Dave Simon actual artistic geniuses like I would certain filmmakers. Hell, these are arguably the two stronger examples of great television out there, and there are entire seasons of both where people agree that the quality noticeably dips. Beyond that, outside of that brief 2000s golden age, the quality of television has died down. And hell, it was only ever strong in countries like the US/UK to begin with. Searching for foreign television doesn't often have great results, I find. Many countries with great film culture have terrible television culture, because it generally isn't taken as seriously.

I don't think it's impossible for TV to become as good as film or anything, and I do think it's pushing towards that level of respectability, but we're not there yet, IMO. The medium is still in the process of maturing. I find the types of articles you're referring to be grossly premature. Critically acclaimed pop culture entertainment that the general public is receptive to at the moment has probably shifted from movies to television, but that's about it.

I would take current release films over current release television, although that's pretty debatable, but when historical peaks are factored in, it gets way more lopsided.
 
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RealGudbranson

Registered User
Jun 19, 2008
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While I love some television, I just don't think that the peaks have quite hit that transcendent masterpiece level that dozens and dozens of films have in the past.

As someone who has silently used you as a curator in the past, can you please name a few films, Kubrick aside?
 

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