Since I ranked my favorite television sitcoms of all time last month, it is now time to look at the other side of the coin and rank my favorite drama shows. This was a particularly tough one as there are so many good series that I have watched, but after a lot of hard work I managed to narrow it down to 10 favorites and put them in order. Here are my honorable mentions:
Barry (2018-Present), Breaking Bad (2008-2013), Homeland (2011-2020), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), The Walking Dead (2010-Present)
10. The Sopranos (1999-2007)
This mega-appreciated mafia drama is truly the Godfather of television shows. Along with HBO's The Wire, The Sopranos ushered in the golden era of drama television as the medium started to work towards longer storylines instead of individual episodic stories, ambitious production values instead of saving-based budgets and an overall cinematic feel instead of being a lower form of art than movies.
The Sopranos has world-class acting by everyone in the main cast, as well as impeccable writing and sharp dialogue. The main character, antihero Tony Soprano, is a fleshed-out and realistic character brought to life by the late great James Gandolfini, and his journey is one very much worth watching. If you have the stomach for all the gruesome and dark realities of organized crime that the series doesn't shy away from, you'll be rewarded by a surprising amount of humor and entertainment to balance out the more horrifying aspects of the story. And the final season (especially the final episode (and especially the final scene)) is one for the ages.
The Sopranos has world-class acting by everyone in the main cast, as well as impeccable writing and sharp dialogue. The main character, antihero Tony Soprano, is a fleshed-out and realistic character brought to life by the late great James Gandolfini, and his journey is one very much worth watching. If you have the stomach for all the gruesome and dark realities of organized crime that the series doesn't shy away from, you'll be rewarded by a surprising amount of humor and entertainment to balance out the more horrifying aspects of the story. And the final season (especially the final episode (and especially the final scene)) is one for the ages.
9. Dexter (2006-2013)
An other antihero-based crime drama, Dexter just works on so many levels. The main character is a serial killer, but that's just the tip of the iceberg - his origin story is one of a man grown up as a sociopath, whose adoptive father tried to channel his violent instincts towards a good cause, and implanted him with a moral code of only killing other serial killers who have escaped the justice system. This makes for some truly fantastic philosophy, as every season features multiple interesting ethical dilemmas that really make one think. Dexter is also amazing on a psychological level, as we follow a (relatively) realistic portrayal of a sociopath who is trying to be a better person despite his inability to experience conventional compassion, and the main character's constant voiceover narration makes for some truly deep pondering.
Themes aside, Dexter is also the top of its class as a mere crime series. The main character may be a killer vigilante at night, but by day he is a forensic analyst for the police, and this double life leads to an endless supply of cover-ups, close calls, identity revelations and panic situations that have the viewer on the edge of their seat. Each season also has a unique main villain, and they're all very memorable and well-written, from John Lithgow's creepy Trinity Killer to Colin Hanks's ominous Doomsday Killer. AMC's Breaking Bad may have barely missed the cut for this list of mine, but I'll use this opportunity to recommend Dexter for fans of Breaking Bad: the two shows share the aspects of brilliantly built tension, escalating chaos and explosive resolutions to plotlines.
8. Sherlock (2010-2017)
Adapting Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books into a modern high-budget television series has all the makings of a TV gem by itself. But when you add world-class actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to play Holmes and Watson, you have a pretty much guaranteed hit on your hands. Then add one of my favorite fictional writers, Steven Moffat, to be the showrunner, and the premise starts to become immune to ever failing. And to top all of that, have the seasons be three 90-minute episodes long yet spend two or more years making each season, just to make sure that each episode is a cinematic piece of art worth watching multiple times. Now that's the recipe for a great series.
BBC's Sherlock has all of that going for it, and more. I'm a big fan of its stylistic balance as well, as it walks the tightrope between cute entertainment (the chemistry between Cumberbatch and Freeman makes for hours worth of fun banter throughout the series) and dark psychological drama (the series doesn't shy away from the original idea of Holmes as a high-functioning sociopath). Then there's the fact that the show's version of James Moriarty, played by Andrew Scott, might just be my favorite television villain of all time, with his genius plots and unsettling yet charismatic antics making for the perfect counterpart to Cumberbatch's Sherlock.
7. 24 (2001-2010; 2014)
With 24, it's all about the premise, which just may the best of its kind in the world of television. The series takes place in real time, with each season being 24 episodes long and therefore following an intense 24-hour period. The actual plot of the series follows a counter-terrorist agent who is constantly rushing to save Los Angeles (or sometimes New York / Washington D.C.) from various terrorist threats - a setting that provides the perfect amount of intensity to the compact and eventful idea of following events in real time. Apart from the genius concept and the dark yet intriguing setting of the counter-terrorism world, the series also has some great action, a signature style with its shared-screen effect and ample use of the phrase "Dammit", and one hell of a cast of characters.
Kiefer Sutherland is pitch perfect as Jack Bauer, one of TV's most compelling main characters (and certainly the most badass character in the entire medium). While the rich and colorful supporting cast shifts around throughout the years, an important constant from season 3 onward is analyst Chloe O'Brian, played in one of television's most unique performances by Mary Lynn Rajskub. Her friendship with Jack is a powerful and heartfelt one, creating a nice backdrop to the show's grim terrorism plotlines, tough ethical dilemmas and nefarious villains. I've planned to watch one of 24's seasons in real time for an epic 24-hour marathon this summer with a friend of mine - perhaps a chronicle of that experience could make for an interesting blog post.
6. Doctor Who (1963-1989; 2005-Whenever the world ends)
At this point, it's more of a generation-transcending cultural phenomenon than a mere television series. Doctor Who has more or less gained immortality after being brought back from the dead after cancellation, surviving thirteen different actors taking their turn in the main role, and proving time and again that there's always time (and space) for more Doctor Who. When your premise is that of a charismatic alien who can travel anywhere in space and time, as well as being able to avoid death by regenerating into a new body, you simply never run out of new story ideas. And that is how Doctor Who has managed to keep going for decades, and likely will do so till the end of time. (Additional note: The End Of Time (2009) is a damn good Doctor Who episode).
The series, as well at its ever-changing main character, strikes a hilarious balance of being extremely alien yet extremely British at the same time. Sure, the Doctor comes from the mysterious planet Gallifrey and has two hearts and whatnot, but he was also once woken up from a coma by the smell of tea. There's something to love about every incarnation of the Doctor, from William Hartnell's original cranky-old-man and Tom Baker's iconic goofball to David Tennant's quirky and amiable hero and Jodie Whittaker being splendid as the first female incarnation of the character. The same can be said for the large supply of companion characters, fascinating alien races, and legendary villains. The series has had an astonishing amount of amazing episodes in its run, with my absolute favorites being the 50th anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor (2013), where many incarnations of the main hero team up together to resolve a decades-old storyline in an epic fashion, and Blink (2007), which I can honestly call the most ingeniously written piece of fiction I have ever come across.
5. Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
I haven't even seen the fourth and final season of USA Network's Mr. Robot yet - a season that I've heard fans call the greatest season of TV they've ever seen, but that I'm still waiting to appear on HBO Nordic so I can watch it with good quality (Yes, I could simply buy the season somewhere, but sometimes my student budget exceeds my need to immediately devour all of the interesting media that comes my way). But even now, based on the three first seasons, Mr. Robot makes it to my all-time top five. I can sum up the reasons for it being ranked so high by referencing the shows I've talked about so far on my list: Mr. Robot is what you get when you combine the cinema-quality writing and directing efforts of The Sopranos, the complex psychology of Dexter, the clever genius of Sherlock, the intensity of 24 and the creative strangeness of Doctor Who. Basically, it pushes all the buttons of my taste in television.
Following the psychedelic journey of hacker activist Elliot Alderson, played in a larger-than-life pitch-perfect performance by Oscar winner Rami Malek, Mr. Robot is somewhat of an "unreliable narrator" -story where what is seen on screen never quite matches what is really going on. Everything has to be interpreted by the viewer as the mysteries slow unfold, leading to many of TV's most shocking plot twists. In addition to the unconventional narrative, the series sets itself apart with things like some mind-boggling high-concept episodes, powerful societal criticism as a constant theme, and a very rare and intimate level of emotional investment in the characters and plot. Mr. Robot is a series that will make you want to change the world, as you follow its revolutionary storyline play out through depressing lows and uplifting highs - just don't watch too many episodes in a row late at night, or it may make you question your own reality and sanity with its paranoia-filled setting.
4. Lost (2004-2010)
The way I see it, Lost was poorly marketed. People were expecting a conventional island-survival series, Robinson Crusoe on the silver screen if you will, and then got disappointed when it took a turn to the supernatural and experimental. I believe that is why so many people have the opinion that Lost jumped the shark - an opinion that I couldn't figure out for the life of me when I first watched through this magnificent series. Maybe if it had been properly marketed as the infusion of survival drama and supernatural fantasy elements that creators Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and J.J. Abrams always intended it to be, people would've gotten more on board with the series as it showed its true colors. Thankfully, I got a pretty good idea of where the series was headed when I was in the middle of the first season and googled "What is the black smoke in Lost" after thinking I might have missed something, only to find out that "Who is the black smoke in Lost" was a more popular search.
All six seasons of Lost are fantastic television. It has perhaps the best-written cast of characters of any television show, with its many fleshed-out individuals with mysterious pasts and powerful character archs. Everything about the characters, from the impressive acting performances bringing them to life to the well-written drama and relationships between them, is compelling. Then there's the mystery: no other series compares to Lost when it comes to creating intriguing mysteries, answering questions by creating more interesting questions, and ending on cliffhangers so amazing that you'll feel absolute frustration when the notorious "LOST" logo appears with its signature sound effect to signify the episode's ending - and you'll most likely have to watch the next one right away. Lost is a series where the viewer gets thoroughly invested in the well-developed characters, making for some tear-jerking moments as the later seasons especially feature some heartbreaking death scenes as well as heartwarming payoffs.
3. Person Of Interest (2011-2016)
The catastrophically underrated Person Of Interest is created by Jonathan Nolan - not only the brother of acclaimed movie director Christopher Nolan, but very much the Christopher Nolan of the television medium. Person Of Interest is a crime drama with just the right amount of science fiction to make it stick out amidst the genre. Every single episode features very clever writing, unpredictable moments, and just a lot of Nolan-esque genius going on. The plot of the series escalates with perfection, as the earlier seasons focus more on individual episode stories while the larger storylines are slowly built in the background, and in later seasons, those larger storylines take gradually over, leading to payoffs and climaxes of humongous and epic proportions in the final season. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, the final season of Person Of Interest is my favorite season of any TV series I've seen, and the series finale is my favorite television episode of all time.
Despite its more serious side, POI always remembers to pour the right amount of entertainment and humor into each episode - while definitely not a comedy, the well-timed moments of humor in this series have probably made me laugh more than the other nine shows on this list combined. And while the series is written by the same guy who created HBO's cold and distant Westworld, the show's exploration of computers and artificial intelligence certainly doesn't mean that POI wouldn't have heart - it has that more than hardly any other drama series I've seen. The character archs are incredibly touching and beautiful, as ex-CIA operative Reese (Jim Caviezel) finds new purpose in life, detective Fusco (Kevin Chapman) tries to leave his corrupt past behind him and start fresh, and the show's beating heart Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) - well, his character arch is too majestic to discuss here without spoilers, but just thinking of it makes me emotional. Watch for yourself, and you'll see what I mean.
2. Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)
First of all, the order of my top 2 was nearly impossible to decide, as they are virtually tied for the place of my all-time favorite. If you asked me tomorrow, Game Of Thrones might be at first place - but as of now, according to a gut feeling, it is barely edged out by the other series in my top two.
The Wire and The Sopranos may have started the ascent of television towards being a form of art akin to cinema, but Game Of Thrones is the culmination of this movement. Every bit as epic as The Lord Of The Rings, as well-produced as The Godfather and as artistic and game-changing for its own medium as Citizen Kane, this series is one for the history books. With magnificent visuals, top notch cinematography and massive meticulous set design, the show's high-budget production values are grand and flawless. Miguel Sapochnik's visionary battle sequences in episodes like Battle Of The Bastards (2016) and The Long Night (2020) are honestly more impressively directed than any movie battle scene I have seen. Yet it's not all about how it looks: the substance of the series is arguably even better.
Game Of Thrones has some of television's best-written characters (although obviously much of the credits goes to George R. R. Martin, who wrote the books that the series is based on), from the unlikely tragic hero Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to the incredibly complex and fleshed-out antihero Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen). The pacing of the series is wonderful, as the earlier seasons set everything up with an intriguing slow pace, which gradually escalates into the fast-paced series of payoffs and resolutions in the latter seasons. The series can be dark, shocking and brutal at times, yet there are also absolutely beautiful moments of friendship and heroism to balance it out. The Shakespearean power dynamics of the titular game of thrones are fascinating to behold, as various players navigate their way through gripping wars and complicated politics in attempts to rule. All in all, this series is quite the masterpiece.
The Wire and The Sopranos may have started the ascent of television towards being a form of art akin to cinema, but Game Of Thrones is the culmination of this movement. Every bit as epic as The Lord Of The Rings, as well-produced as The Godfather and as artistic and game-changing for its own medium as Citizen Kane, this series is one for the history books. With magnificent visuals, top notch cinematography and massive meticulous set design, the show's high-budget production values are grand and flawless. Miguel Sapochnik's visionary battle sequences in episodes like Battle Of The Bastards (2016) and The Long Night (2020) are honestly more impressively directed than any movie battle scene I have seen. Yet it's not all about how it looks: the substance of the series is arguably even better.
Game Of Thrones has some of television's best-written characters (although obviously much of the credits goes to George R. R. Martin, who wrote the books that the series is based on), from the unlikely tragic hero Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to the incredibly complex and fleshed-out antihero Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen). The pacing of the series is wonderful, as the earlier seasons set everything up with an intriguing slow pace, which gradually escalates into the fast-paced series of payoffs and resolutions in the latter seasons. The series can be dark, shocking and brutal at times, yet there are also absolutely beautiful moments of friendship and heroism to balance it out. The Shakespearean power dynamics of the titular game of thrones are fascinating to behold, as various players navigate their way through gripping wars and complicated politics in attempts to rule. All in all, this series is quite the masterpiece.
1. Twin Peaks (1990-1991; 2017)
Game Of Thrones may be the perfect conventional series with its culmination of just how good TV characters, storylines, production values and payoffs can be - but David Lynch's cult hit Twin Peaks is the perfect unconventional series. One part soap opera, one part philosophical rumination of "what even is a soap opera?", one part murder mystery, one part avant-garde painting come to life, one part exploration of small town America, one part supernatural fantasy series and about eight parts psychedelic fever dream, Twin Peaks is a truly unique watching experience. Bizarre in the most wonderful way, it is the ethos of all things David Lynch: deep messages about other worlds existing within or beyond our own, a meta-commentary look at a popular genre, a very unconventional narrative and an artistic style of writing and directing are all present.
While very different from my other favorite show, Peaks has one important factor in common with Thrones: the balance of brutal darkness and powerful hope stemming from within. While Twin Peaks features violence, unsettling imagery and some horrible and shocking moments, it is still the most beautiful and hope-inducing series I've seen. There is an underlying beauty always present that makes watching the series an ultimately uplifting experience, as the good within humans is explored just as thoroughly as the evil. This beauty is especially present in Angelo Badalamenti's magnificent soundtrack, the lore surrounding Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and what she stood for in the show's mythology, and of course the character of Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). Cooper may be just a fictional character, but he's the best damn fictional character of all time in my opinion, to the point that his worldview has affected my own one in a very positive manner. Cooper's magical enthusiasm, optimistic attitude and overall presence overcome all of the evil spirits of and dark themes of the series, making for some of the most heartfelt and smile-worthy moments in television history.
But while there are other things to love about the series than its trademark strangeness, well, I also love the strangeness. A big part of it being my all-time favorite is the same reason why 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is one of my all-time favorite movies: it breaks all barriers and limitations of the medium, doing something no one has done before, with unmatched creativity and groundbreaking imagination. Lynch manages to make the series so experimental that pretty much every viewer, depending on taste, finds it either extremely off-putting or absolutely fascinating - and I'm definitely in the latter half. I don't think a TV series can have a more powerful impact than making the world a more magical place, or a better legacy than fans still debating what it all means 30 years later - and Twin Peaks has accomplished both of those things with perfection.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next Thursday for my ranking of all Star Wars movies!
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