Guaporense certified great TV series

MoFo Whisperer

04-27-13

From choices 5-7 this list was superb... Then it went to ****.

I've only seen the first season of Breaking Bad, which was very good, but I could see things which may well've annoy me when I get around to continuing with it. BSG was ok, but I felt it was horrendously heavy handed with its symbolism and metaphors. Of course, I also prefer the original.

A shame it was cancelled before it started to do something similar with its story.

Bring on the next choice.

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HitchFan97

You get to me

04-27-13

The Sopranos is deadlocked in a tie with Twin Peaks as my favorite TV show ever. I don't think it glorifies the violence of the gangster lifestyle at all; rather, it portrays the Mafia honestly and is unflinching in its portrayal of criminal brutality. More so than any other work of the gangster genre, The Sopranos goes very far to examine the morality of the lifestyle it depicts. Loyalty, sacrifices, Catholic guilt, the divide between the family and the crime family, etc. ... these are all themes that the show handles brilliantly, and that's without even going into the grander statements about life's fragility that the brilliant final season in particular spends a great deal of time examining. I don't think a single episode is wasted.

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Gabrielle947

Msg

Registered User

04-28-13

I like Breaking Bad and it is very good although I wouldn't call it the best show ever made.Maybe the best modern one.

Recently finished Band Of Brothers.I enjoyed it,beautifully shot and overall entertaining series but I would argue that it is very realistic.Also,I found it very similar to Saving Private Ryan,maybe the plot is different but the whole style of the film is alike.

The Sopranos was very entertaining and Lost is probably the most captivating thing I've seen.I like only the first 4 seasons,though.

Ok,if I see Futurama here,then you definitely have a good taste in TV shows.

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christine

Dreams is freedom

04-28-13

Originally Posted by Guaporense

7) The Sopranos (1999-2007)

Called by some the greatest TV series of all time, though I might disagree, it is excellent overall. One thing that bugs me about the gangster genre is the idea that beating innocent people up and exploiting the flaws of the legal system is "cool". So these genre elements prevent me from saying that The Sopranos is a masterpiece, though others like these genre elements and find the series cool.

Another flaw (also shared with multi season series such as Battlestar Galactica) is that there are many filler episodes that don't serve to develop the plot. But still despite those flaws the Sopranos I still think that the Sopranos can be considered a great TV series.

It is consistently entertaining, with very well developed characters which are more human and less like the caricatures of the mafia as portrayed in most Hollywood films. Fundamentally, the Sopranos is a drama series about family, just like the movie The Godfather.

I'd rate Sopranos as an outstanding. It's definitely a 5 star from me. I don't think a single episode is a filler really, and I've watched the whole lot more than three times. Eps where there's no action or don't further the actual storyline just go to enrich the characters and the family interplay.

Other 5 stars are Madmen (always sad to think it's drawing to an end) and The Wire. Boys from the Blackstuff is the 5 star series closest to my heart tho - hugely reflective of the time it was made, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-28-13

11) Game of Thrones (2011 - )

Like Breaking Bad this TV series is still running and I think that only a small fraction of what it will become has been produced as of today, still what has been show already promoted it to an already a great TV series in my book. So HBO has already several TV series on this list.

I think this is their first take on the epic fantasy genre. So it represents the first large scale US TV series to take fantasy to the mainstream, doing what Lord of the Rings did for fantasy films.

Like another HBO series, Rome, this series also shows nudity very often which I think is a bit of a manipulative effort to attract viewers. Still that doesn't detract from the quality of the show.

Daniel M

...

04-28-13

The Sopranos is by far the best show that I have seen.

Lost I would rank alongside it in terms of enjoyment, the first great show that I watched, it gets a lot of criticism but I really think it's brilliant.

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Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-28-13

12) The World at War (1973-1974)

I though about including documentaries on a list of TV series but I though: well, I enjoyed watching The World at War more than 99% of anything else I ever watched on TV.

The show is so compelling that they may even convince you that Stalin's regime was good (in the 1970's Britain socialism was very popular so they had a pro-Soviet bent on the documentary). Still this is by far my favorite documentary TV series and is an awesome portrayal of the events of the most devastating war in recorded history.

It is a masterpiece.

Godoggo

Msg

Chappie doesn't like the real world

04-28-13

I've just started the second season of Game of Thrones because I wanted to read some of the books first. I don't think any other show grabbed me from the first episode the way GoT did. Usually, I kind of have to force myself into a show and it grows on me.

The second book was my least favorite, so I'm not expecting to like the second season as well as the first, but that still leaves a lot of room.

As far as the sex and nudity, every HBO show I've seen has tons of it, but to be fair the books contain a good amount of it. It doesn't bother me, I just hate when the scenes go on to long because it takes away screen time from the good stuff.

Cobpyth

As Time Goes By

04-28-13

My favorite TV show is Mad Men (I'm just in love with its style). Sopranos is a close second.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-28-13

13) Future Boy Conan (1978)

Miyazaki directed TV series before he became focused on film making. His greatest TV series is Future Boy Conan, which was voted the greatest animated TV series of all time in the Laputa Animation Festival.

Incredibly, despite being a hard core fan of Miyazaki's work, I didn't think this TV series was the best animated TV series I ever watched (the Madoka show numbered at 10 was significantly more powerful), though I can understand it as the best executed animated TV series I ever watched: Miyazaki's superior talents can be seem in this series, yet not applied to full effect.

Still it is a great TV series.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-28-13

Originally Posted by Cobpyth

My favorite TV show is Mad Men (I'm just in love with its style). Sopranos is a close second.

I watched some episodes of Mad Men but it didn't interest me enough to finish watching a full season so I cannot say how good it is. Usually the easiest way for a TV show to become interesting me is to use some genre elements (such as war, fantasy, history or science fiction elements) to grab my attention and the 1960's vibe of the series did not grab my attention.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-28-13

Originally Posted by christine

Well, in that case I could say that no episode in any series can be regarded as filler since we can always say it contributed something to the characters and stuff (which is always true).

Other 5 stars are Madmen (always sad to think it's drawing to an end) and The Wire. Boys from the Blackstuff is the 5 star series closest to my heart tho - hugely reflective of the time it was made, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

I have only watched a couple episodes of Madmen and The Wire. Don't know the third one.

CelluloidChild

Registered User

04-28-13

Originally Posted by Guaporense

I have only watched a couple episodes of Madmen and The Wire. Don't know the third one.

There goes my pick - The Wire. I highly recommend that, when you have a stretch of time, you watch it. All five seasons are excellent.

seanc

Lone Wolf

04-28-13

I really enjoyed The Wire but put it in the second tier of good television because I had a lot of issues with season 2 and 5. 1,3, and 4 I would put up against anything.

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CelluloidChild

Registered User

04-28-13

Originally Posted by seanc

I really enjoyed The Wire but put it in the second tier of good television because I had a lot of issues with season 2 and 5. 1,3, and 4 I would put up against anything.

I don't want to subvert this thread, but at some point I'd be interested in what those issues were.

Daniel M

...

04-28-13

Originally Posted by HitchFan97

HitchFan says it better than I ever could, and I have to agree with his love for Twin Peaks as well, one of my other favourites and one of the most unique and brilliant shows that I have seen.

I also love Dexter and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia which have a lot of seasons, Homeland is great so far and there's a couple of British shows I like such as The Inbetweeners and Misfits, not sure if people on here would like them as much as me though.

Brodinski

Msg

Registered User

04-29-13

When I think about great TV series, I always think about consistent quality. Not every season is going to be as strong, but overall, there has to be a very high level of quality. Now, that already eliminates about 95 % of all series out there. Besides that, I like to judge a series on it improving throughout its lifespan. In this sense, a great series is a like a great red wine. It gets better with age.

That taken into account, I think there's probably only 5 series I could rate as such (so far).

The rest goes from ***** to very good. But all time greatness is rare.

And above greatness, there's The Wire.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

05-13-13

Originally Posted by CelluloidChild

There goes my pick - The Wire. I highly recommend that, when you have a stretch of time, you watch it. All five seasons are excellent.

I am watching it. Crime is not my favorite genre but the first season has been quite entertaining.

CelluloidChild

Registered User

05-13-13

Cool. If you stick with it you'll see that all the seasons put together give a unique view on various urban issues, not just crime.

Guaporense