Criteria:
Personal opinion
No television movies or miniseries (that means no Band of Brothers, Generation Kill, The Pacific, Mildred Pierce, IT, or Parade's End, so sorry. But I might make a list of those, too.)
I can have two series in a slot as a tie
Can be an ongoing series (FYI: has not ended yet)
All networks are fair game, including premium (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Encore, Starz)
No web series or specials (with the exception of Netflix's streaming service, which is basically a premium movie channel at this point)
Here is my original list in two parts:
http://mattcottermovies.blogspot.com/2013/12/top-20-television-shows-part-one-my.html
http://mattcottermovies.blogspot.com/2013/12/top-20-television-shows-part-two-top.html
The new list:
50. The Big Bang Theory: Despite this show being extremely overrated, I still find it enjoyable and a fun watch from time to time. The cast particularly Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco, are great and funny and charismatic...in an awkward, geeky way. Even though the humor is repetitive and formulaic (jokes about how nerdy/geeky/awkward/smart the characters are, juxtaposed with sex talk or relationship issues), it's still a good show, with an awesome, but short, opening sequence and theme song.
49. Penn & Teller: Bullshit!: Despite much of the humor in this show being too immature, ham-fisted, and over-the-top for my tastes, it is actually a great documentary series. Following ex-magicians and professional skeptics Penn and Teller, the series dissects urban myths and idiotic beliefs (the "bullshit" of the title) that many people in the world take as fact. These topics range from "organic food is healthier", "exercise trumps genetics", and "all fast food is unhealthy even in moderation" to "vaccines cause autism and other disorders", "sensitivity training is great and productive", and "violent video games breed serial killers and school shooters". The duo dissect these topics not just using the....interesting (yeah, we'll go with that)...humor but also actual facts and figures and quotes from specialists, as well as poking fun at the idiots and con men who spread these ridiculous beliefs and stories. The reasons I watch the show is for the latter, as it's fascinating to see how many things you've been told all your life are true, turn out to be just...well, bullshit.
48. Summer Heights High: This short-lived series from Australia is hilarious, and, towards the end, kind of heartwarming and uplifting. Although it only lasted one season, it spawned two spin-offs on HBO after it was more successful there. Chris Lilley, the comedian who created, wrote, directed, and starred in this series, is a fucking genius. He plays the three main characters: Jonah, a Tongan punk kid who is failing in school and enjoys break dancing; Mr. G, the, for lack of a better word, dramatic drama teacher who thinks his department is more important than any other; and Ja'mie, a self-centered exchange student from a private school who is going to the titular school for a semester. He deserves the critical praise, as he is so good in each of these unique roles that you forget it's the same guy, and you also forget that Ja'mie is not an actual bitchy teenage girl, and that Jonah is not really a troubled teenage boy. I would recommend this series to any fan of British or Australian comedy, because it's great.
47. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Joss Whedon's cult classic horror-comedy-action series has some clever (sometimes a little too clever) writing and fan favorite actors like Sarah Michelle Gellar, James Marsters, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, and Anthony Stewart Head. With a charismatic lead cast and some good moments of both comedy and horror (see the episode "Hush" for a great example of the latter), Buffy is definitely worth a watch. (Not to mention the cool opening theme.)
46. Criminal Minds: This dark and violent crime drama is like Law & Order and CSI on speed. Although it has great guest stars and an exceptional cast, this show shines with the writing for the villains, who all are great examples of creepy TV characters but also all have real psychological disorders. The stand-outs of the main cast are Mandy Pantikin (always a great actor), Matthew Gray Gubler, Kristen Vangness, Shemar Moore, and Joe Mantegna. Despite the writing being typical for TV (and some bad guest actors/child actors), it's exceptional when you look at the current line-up of police procedural shows. It also has some pretty great guest stars such as Tim Curry, Aaron Paul, Brad Dourif, Jane Lynch, Tony Todd, Amber Heard, Jamie Kennedy, Will Wheaton, Mark Hamill, James Remar, Jason Alexander, James Van Der Beek, C. Thomas Howell, Michael Rooker, John Billingsley, D.B. Sweeney, and Anton Yelchin, to name a few.
45. The Leftovers: This show hasn't even wrapped up it's first season and I know it's something special. Despite being too grim and depressing for most people, I found this new HBO series to be a unique TV experience, and a great addition to the already great HBO family of shows like Game of Thrones, The Wire, The Sopranos, and Oz. Based on Tom Perrotta's relatively unknown horror/satire novel of the same name, this series takes an even more bleak and dark approach to the material than the original novel, which has an aura of black humor/scathing satire to it. Here, it's just straightforward and blunt, which may alienate some viewers. Even with dark shows like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, I can at least look forward to the possibility of something good happening. Here, I sometimes had to force myself to sit through the hour-long episode. While this may sound negative, I'm actually complimenting the series on achieving it's goal: to make the viewer feel as empty and unpleasant as possible. While it's definitely not for everyone, and some people may outright avoid the show because of it's co-creator Damon Lindelof's infamous avoidance of answering his viewers' questions, I personally am really enjoying the show, and appreciate it's nihilistic tone and world view.
44. The Walking Dead: Now, while this show has faded into mediocrity over the years (especially after those shits at AMC fired Frank Darabont, the shows' creator and creative force), I just have to put it on, at least because that first season, while it had faults, was exceptional. Second season...not so much. Third and fourth have devolved into fan-pandering and plots that are either overly complicated or too simple, which people confuse for complex and surprising. I will give it this: some of the main actors are good (Andrew Lincoln, for example, or David Morrisey), the make-up effects are great, and some of the action scenes are exciting. However, that does not make up for the obvious pandering (like the fact that Daryl has way too much screen time in newer seasons, and the fact that he's never going to die), bad acting, forced character plots, and the obvious cash-grabbing. What do I mean? The fact that AMC stretches each season to 16 episodes, and fills it with, well, filler, and then claim that it's "slow and suspenseful" when it's really just boring and repetitive. And I know the point of the show is to focus on the human journey during an apocalypse, and I liked that aspect of the first season, but lately they haven't even done that well. The "characters" such as Carl and Beth are poorly written and are only there to fill up screen time, and the actors portraying them have the personalities of bricks. Another thing is people always say "They're so edgy, they kill off all these characters", well I looked back, and there's only been a handful of main character deaths, the rest of been characters that were obvious zombie fodder. People also think it's edgy because kids die. So? Game of Thrones kills children constantly, and has killed dozens of fan favorite characters. Do you know why? Because that show is actually edgy and unpredictable, and it has a staff of writers who give a shit. You can tell I've been growing tired of this show because originally this was in my top ten shows, now it's in the 40's. Also: if you bring any of these valid points up to fans, they gang up on you and claim "You just don't get it", or "But Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad get boring, too" (they also seem to confusing shows that are well-paced and build real tension with boring). I know I sound like this is all negative, but this is just me venting my complaints. The first season is quality TV, the second season's shit (with the exception of one or two scenes), and the third and fourth seasons are okay. Just try to think critically. The only reason it makes the list is because of that first seasons, and the few times it gets something right in the later seasons.
43. Law & Order- Special Victims Unit and CSI: Despite being just as formulaic and plot-hole ridden has any other police procedural on prime-time TV, these two are actually pretty well done for what they are. The former is the longest-running and best-written series in the Law & Order franchise, even outliving the original series by a few years. It features some underrated actors such as Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay (who won the first Emmy for any L&O regular in 2006), Tamara Tunie, B.D. Wong, and Richard Belzer (whose character Munch has made appearances and many police procedural series, indicating that all of Dick Wolf's crime shows exist in the same universe). While the acting may be bad from some guest stars and some of the writing is very ham-fisted, overall it's pretty great considering all the shitty police procedural dramas out there.
The latter is the first series in the long-running CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise. It was sort of the "Law & Order on crack" of it's time, having darker stories and more blood and gore than it's predecessors. It has a great lead cast, including veteran actors Lauren Fishburne and William Petersen, as well as a bad-ass theme song in the form of classic rock song "Who Are You" by The Who. The Who's music has become a staple of the franchise's opening title sequences. With some memorable villains, most notably The Miniature Killer and The Blue Paint Killer, and cool crime-scene reconstructions (complete with "flash-backs" to the crime, which is supposed to illustrate how the detectives think it played out), CSI will continue to be one of the better-reviewed crime procedurals.
42. House, M.D.: Despite being medically inaccurate in many cases, this show still manages to be thoroughly entertaining, mainly due to Hugh Laurie's deadpan performance as sarcastic and narcissistic but ultimately brilliant Dr. Gregory House. Laurie pulls off the character extremely well, managing to be funny and investing. The supporting cast, featuring Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, Olivia Wilde, Kal Penn, Robert Sean Leonard, Peter Jacobsen, Jesse Spencer, and Amber Tamblyn, is also excellent and have great chemistry, and all their characters share both a respect and disdain for their boss, House. With some interesting (but medically questionable) stories and a cool yet eerie opening title sequence and theme music (which they changed for whatever reason in later seasons), and (again) a charismatic lead character, House, for me, is a great watch, despite the inaccuracies.
41. True Blood: Despite me being skeptical of this series, thinking it was made for Twilight fans, I was eventually convinced to give it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised. Despite being primarily targeted to a female audience, and seemingly like a weird vampire softcore porno, the show had well-executed dark humor, as well as moments of drama and some small scenes of real horror. Despite the CG being slightly sub-par for HBO, and some of the actors being a little over-the-top, I couldn't help but like this series. I'm still in the early parts of it, and so far the stand-outs have been Stephen Moyer, Alexandar Skaarsgard, Sam Tramell, Rutina Wesley, and Nelsan Ellis. Moyer plays the conflicted and actually kind of intimidating antihero vampire Bill Compton. Ellis plays the series' most entertaining and well-written character: Lafayette Reynolds, a chef at the restaurant where the main characters works called Merlotte's, who is funny, witty, and bold, and who isn't ashamed of his sexual orientation, despite living in a bigoted redneck town in Louisiana. I'm glad to see Ellis get more work in films due to his success on the series. Despite having some faults, particularly with some supporting actors and some bad CG in certain scenes, True Blood is actually not that bad of a show, and manages to appeal to horror fans and Twihards alike (despite Twilight being nothing like this show, which is a compliment for this series).
(Images: Wikipedia)Runner-ups: Lost in Space, The Outer Limits, Family Guy, American Dad!, Merlin, Northern Exposure, Bored to Death, Masters of Horror.
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