Best Television Drama of All Time?

[finn]

That'd be "Best "American" Television Drama of all Time" then?

[I'm Murrin]

Are you trying to imply that other countries have their own television? Silly finn.

Anyhoo... I didn't participate because I don't think it's possible to pick a best of all time in pretty much any category, because it's possible to succeed in so many different ways that there can be many that are equally good for different reasons.

[Fist and Faith]

You're right, Murrin. I always try to narrow Top 5 lists down to 10 or 15.

The exception being this one. NX is the best television show of all time. Everybody - yes, even Star Trek and Kung Fu - is just fighting for second place.

[Cagliostro]

No "The Prisoner"?

[Kil Tyme]

Hey, 24 got a second, but not on the poll....

(well, I think Z seconded it)

[[Syl]]

Z seconded Lost.

And guys, it's not like this poll went up after a single day or anything.

[finn]

Are you trying to imply that other countries have their own television? Silly finn.

Anyhoo... I didn't participate because I don't think it's possible to pick a best of all time in pretty much any category, because it's possible to succeed in so many different ways that there can be many that are equally good for different reasons.

You'd hate to have Spooks or Cracker or Between the Lines up there wouldn't you. By the way how is Northern Exposure "drama"? If that can be there then how about Boston Legal, Doc Martin or Fawlty Towers even? No West Wing, no ER maybe the Poll should be re-named to "Best contemporary sort-of-light middle-of-the-road comedic-type American Drama"

[Cameraman Jenn]

Wow, such bitterness. I voted BSG. Some of the series on the poll I have not seen but I thought BSG out of the ones I have seen.

[Fist and Faith]

[[Syl]]

Sorry, "I'd rather whinge than meaningfully participate in the selection of poll options and, later, the voting process" won't fit on a poll line.

Are you suggesting any of those actually be put in the poll? I'm kind of partial to Luther, myself, though as good as Elba was in that, he was still better as Stringer Bell in The Wire.

[Fist and Faith]

[dlbpharmd]

I voted for The Sopranos. My wife and I just finished re-watching all 6 seasons, and it's consistently great throughout. I struggled though between Sopranos and BSG, which I would have to say is my favorite, but I believe Sopranos the better drama.

[finn]

Sorry, "I'd rather whinge than meaningfully participate in the selection of poll options and, later, the voting process" won't fit on a poll line.

Are you suggesting any of those actually be put in the poll? I'm kind of partial to Luther, myself, though as good as Elba was in that, he was still better as Stringer Bell in The Wire.

Well I have voted for what I think the best of the avaiable choices (Sopranos) the Wire too was good. However I think that NE is not exactly what I'd term drama and that if it is included then why not other comedy based dramas. As for British and European series, that might still be a step too far from the couch for most US audiences............

[[Syl]]

Isn't a comedy-based drama, by definition, a drama? Everything on the list has some funny moments in it (well, I'm only assuming for Sopranos. I've never seen it, myself). I mean, if that's the criteria for what makes good drama, I'd think that BSG, probably the unfunniest of the series, would have to win.

OTOH, if somebody had nominated other comedy-based dramas, it would be equally valid to vote for them. It's not exactly a scientific process here.

[Zarathustra]

I started watching Breaking Bad based on this thread. Cool show! We just started season 2.

[Shaun das Schaf]

Hey Zed, I 'had' to do the promo launch for BB when it started in Oz and I remember thinking, 15 mins into the first ep, "You know what, sometimes my job is OKAY."

It lost me a bit in S3, but friends say I should try again. Interested to hear your thoughts if/when you get that far.

[Fist and Faith]

Best drama of all time?
finn bitching about the choices of a poll that he had no interest in helping make in the first place, and which even the people who did participate don't take even slightly seriously

A bit long-winded, as tv show titles go, but when else have we seen such drama?

[finn]

Just wait for Season 2!

[Shaun das Schaf]

I dunno, as a non-American, I liked finn's show!

But anyway, as Shirley Bennett said to Jeff Winger in one of the Best Television Comedies of All Time....

"Jeff you don't need to worry about what foreigners think about you, that's your birthright as an American."

[Zarathustra]

It lost me a bit in S3, but friends say I should try again. Interested to hear your thoughts if/when you get that far.

Just finished S3, and now I'm jonesing for S4 (sorry, drug references are simply unavoidable ... I find myself suddenly saying "bitch" and "yo" a lot more, too). Looks like I can stream S4 on computer from various sources, but I don't way to pay $31 for something I can watch for free in a few months.

S3 was simply amazing. Best season so far. The ending was intense. They keep finding ways to squeeze every ounce of tension out of a plot that is entirely character driven. Each episode ended with all of us wanting more. We watched it compulsively, for hours on end, feeling like some of meth heads and addicts depicted in the show, stuck to the couch for want of our next "fix." Some of the most anxious moments came from The Fly episode, which involved no crime, no drugs, no violence ... just a fly in the lab and a big fat juicy secret between Walt and Jessie, on the verge of spilling out from a sleeping pill laced coffee (okay, so there was a small amount of drugs ).