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Greatest TV show other than the Big 3?

TexArcher

By TexArcher
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TexArcher

TexArcher 37508

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I'll go way outside the box on this one and say The Americans.  Great writing, great acting, constant slow burn tension punctuated by crazy shit, and they stuck the landing as well as any show in history with a fantastic finale.  I'll watch this series all the way through at least two more times.

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orangecat92

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11 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

MASH

The thing I liked so much about MASH was that it didn’t matter which actor they lost, they just got better.  After Larry linville, I thought the show would go down quite a bit, but Ogden stiers did such a good job with the Major Winchester role.  The writing was the real star of course.  I really enjoyed the crazy visiting generals, and. Colonel Flagg. The only time the writing needed a boost I think was at the end.  That show needed the return of Flagg and some funny lines.  The show was taking itself way too seriously by then.  MASH is only the 3rd finale I remember, and the most watched prime time finale ever.  MASH lasted almost 4 times as long as the war it depicted.

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Prepuce of Doom

Prepuce of Doom 20984

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I don't know exactly where I would put the line, but I think there needs to be a distinction between "all time TV shows" like MASH and Have Gun Will Tuttle or whatever, and more modern, "prestige TV" serials. 

I totally agree with The Big Three as listed above (BB and The Wire switch places as 1A and 1B for me, Sopranos is 3, though I wouldn't argue with anyone about the order of these three). 

I can't really think of anything else that even belongs in the conversation. I haven't seen Mad Men, but it seems to be the next best thing according to most people. GoT and Deadwood were great until they weren't (and for dramatically different reasons, obviously), but they don't measure up. 

I have really enjoyed Fargo, True Detective, and Legion (I think it's brilliant, but it's not for everyone) yet I certainly wouldn't argue that they belong in the conversation. Maybe Fargo ultimately will deserve to be in the "next 4-10 range" but the other two don't.

What's left? Justified? Charming characters, some good writing and intrigue, but nope. Better Call Saul? Jury is still out, but I don't see it reaching the same level of acclaim as BB. Maybe The X-Files, but the "conspiracy" storyline was too dense and annoying. 

I don't think there is anything yet that clearly deserves the #4 spot.

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C-Man

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The thing I liked so much about MASH was that it didn’t matter which actor they lost, they just got better.  After Larry linville, I thought the show would go down quite a bit, but Ogden stiers did such a good job with the Major Winchester role.  The writing was the real star of course.  I really enjoyed the crazy visiting generals, and. Colonel Flagg. The only time the writing needed a boost I think was at the end.  That show needed the return of Flagg and some funny lines.  The show was taking itself way too seriously by then.  MASH is only the 3rd finale I remember, and the most watched prime time finale ever.  MASH lasted almost 4 times as long as the war it depicted.


I’m not sure it got better because I’ve always thought Trapper/Burns/Col Blake MASH was substantially better than Winchester/Col Potter MASH.
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orangecat92

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59 minutes ago, C-Man said:

 


I’m not sure it got better because I’ve always thought Trapper/Burns/Col Blake MASH was substantially better than Winchester/Col Potter MASH.

 

Imo, it got better because the writers were able to adapt the script to fit the actors.  Example, the basic theme being cheating people is bad:  Burns cheated soldiers out of money by listening to a baseball game, betting the results with enlisted men and making $ when the game was replayed.  Winchester's character attempted to cheat the locals of their money during the script change episode.   The Winchester episode was a better example I believe, because of the way the writers showed Winchester's emotions when he realized he had been had by Hawkeye and BJ, who used Winchester's words against him in the end, offering 10 cents on the dollar, the exact rate Winchester had offered to the locals.  

I think better writing, because we got to see the gamut of emotions from Winchester.  

 

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henrygandorf

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2 hours ago, usmc0331horn said:

Mad Men was terrific for four seasons and then was not near as good for the last three.

i didn't love the last couple seasons on first watch, but really like them a lot more now.  signal 30 is in season 5 and might be the best episode of the series, so maybe you're thinking it was great for 5/7?  i don't know.

there were definitely a couple of seasons of sopranos that were garbage.  and don't even get me started on the 5th season of the wire.  which isn't even a conversation.  because that season doesn't exist.

if we're strictly talking dramas, seasons 1-4 of west wing (89 eps), 1-4 of the wire (50), 1-5 of mad men (65), pretty much all of breaking bad (62), 1-4 of sopranos (52), 1-3 of lost (70) - are all top fucking notch.

again, i'm talking dramas over the past 25 years.  tv has changed so much, it's impossible to compare eras.

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C-Man

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1 hour ago, orangecat92 said:

Imo, it got better because the writers were able to adapt the script to fit the actors.  Example, the basic theme being cheating people is bad:  Burns cheated soldiers out of money by listening to a baseball game, betting the results with enlisted men and making $ when the game was replayed.  Winchester's character attempted to cheat the locals of their money during the script change episode.   The Winchester episode was a better example I believe, because of the way the writers showed Winchester's emotions when he realized he had been had by Hawkeye and BJ, who used Winchester's words against him in the end, offering 10 cents on the dollar, the exact rate Winchester had offered to the locals.  

I think better writing, because we got to see the gamut of emotions from Winchester.  

 

Perhaps -- I just thought it worked better as a comedy with Trapper and Burns. I'm also a MASH movie >>>> M*A*S*H tv show guy.

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Prepuce of Doom

Prepuce of Doom 20984

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5 hours ago, usmc0331horn said:

Six Feet Under is really underrated on these lists. Totally unique and terrific drama. 

We missed it the first time around, and we tried watching it a couple of years ago. The premise was entertaining, but some of the characters were just such a fucking beating. Jeremy Sisto's angsty tormented stalker guy, Dexter the closeted weirdo, etc. The only people that didn't suck to some degree were the high school daughter and the periodically appearing Ghost Dad (not Bill Cosby). The drama about Dexter's gayness really didn't age well, and while I understand that it was probably fairly groundbreaking at the time, it was a chore to endure nowadays. 

It does not hold up well, and we bailed somewhere between 30-50% of the way through. It was a real relief to be done with what eventually began to feel like an obligation. 

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pyrohornIII

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2 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

We missed it the first time around, and we tried watching it a couple of years ago. The premise was entertaining, but some of the characters were just such a fucking beating. Jeremy Sisto's angsty tormented stalker guy, Dexter the closeted weirdo, etc. The only people that didn't suck to some degree were the high school daughter and the periodically appearing Ghost Dad (not Bill Cosby). The drama about Dexter's gayness really didn't age well, and while I understand that it was probably fairly groundbreaking at the time, it was a chore to endure nowadays. 

It does not hold up well, and we bailed somewhere between 30-50% of the way through. It was a real relief to be done with what eventually began to feel like an obligation. 

The first season was greatness.  Then they started concentrating more of the alive characters than the recently deceased.  That was the best part, how the stories of the dead influenced the lives of the family.  But when they got away from that, it turned more into a soap opera and lost it. 

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