I haven’t been watching much in terms of actual shows for a good while, then while listening to a podcast a host casually mentioned they had rewatched Chernobyl, how it still holds up, that there’s a reason it got as much acclaim as it did, etc. So I thought I’d give it a go and wow, loved it (still one episode left to watch).
Had me thinking, what else have I missed out on? What are some “absolute cinema” TV shows that still hold up and and are considered must watch?
Over 600 comments, and among the many recurring mentions of the greatest shows in television history, I didn’t see The Venture Bros. mentioned at all. It is quite possibly the best-written show of all time.
Andor. Pluribus. 3 Body Problem. Queen’s Gambit. Babylon Berlin. Alice in Borderland. Shogun (the 2024 series). The Expanse. First two seasons of For All Mankind.
The Great (Hulu) is an all time favorite of mine and almost nobody talks about it.
Shogun and Andor
Person of Interest.
Keep in mind the Snowden revelations did not occur till near the final seasons of the show.
Curb Your Enthusiasm. Pretty pretty good
- Connections and The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke.
- The Prisoner by Patrick McGoohan
- Babylon 5 and Jeremiah by J. Michael Straczynski
Still Game. YT has every epi. Old Scottish guys dealing with how life has changed around them. Comedy, M rating, feels like a Blazing Saddles fan
Game of thrones was great for the first like 3 or 4 seasons
Hannibal
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Toast of London
Parade (the hbo one about aristocracy and stuff, very melancholy and beautiful)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexx
It’s old-ish and maybe not the greatest work of art on screen, but I love that it had a very unique world and characters and humour and it keeps on developing and changing throughout.
It’s been too long. I really kind of want to watch it again.
I just started watching Kevin can Fuck Himself. Im really enjoying it. I’m only 3 episodes in so no spoilers please.
It takes on the trope of the goofy sitcom husband with the exasperated hot wife.
Every scene Kevin is in is played as a sitcom, but when he’s not around it’s about his wife planning to kill him.
If you like the fantasy genre Shadow and Bone is great.
My wife and I have been binging a show called The Last Ship. Supposedly came out a number of years ago. It’s a Michael Bay production and kind of a post apocalyptic scenario but well worth a watch.
And of course there’s Always Sunny.
TV Shows
Must Watch
- Breaking Bad
- Better Call Saul
- Chernobyl
- Peaky Blinders
- Dinosaurs
Highly Rated (With Caveats)
- The Wire: A timeless masterpiece, but the extremely slow pace requires pushing through the first season.
- Band of Brothers: Excellent, but historically did Captain Sobel dirty—he wasn’t like that.
- Primal: Extremely good, but the story ends at Season 2. Season 3 is an unnecessary overextension.
Good Shows (Minor Caveats)
- Narcos: Enjoyable until Escobar (the star) is captured, then it loses its appeal.
- Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord (El Patrón del Mal): Less dramatic but more accurate and highly enjoyable than Narcos.
- Dune: Prophecy & House of the Dragon: Good overall, but heavily woke. They take too many liberties and squander their superior source materials.
Great for Uniqueness, Story, or Style (Major Caveats)
- Game of Thrones (Seasons 1-4): The absolute best TV ever made. It doesn’t top Breaking Bad only because the later seasons are absolute garbage.
- The Sopranos: Great episodic show, but slow. The overarching story wasn’t the main focus; six seasons could have been condensed into three.
Shows That Don’t Live Up to Their Name
- Dark: Starts great, but convoluted rules in Season 2 and Deus ex machina plot devices in Season 3 ruin it.
- Shōgun (2024): Unremarkable. Unfaithful to the source material due to wokeness, specifically erasing Blackthorne’s protagonism because he’s white.
- The Expanse: A convoluted, messy dumpster fire.
- Westworld: A convoluted, messy dumpster fire.
- Euphoria: Hot Gen Z garbage.
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Pure hype with no justification to exist. Spends 7 episodes on Dunk, an absolute loser and terrible fighter.
Anime
Must Watch
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sousou no Frieren): A beautiful, clean, family-safe show with no fan service. The appeal is the whole package.
Good Shows (Minor Caveats)
- Noragami: Beautiful, but not a masterpiece; sequels dip in quality.
- Psycho-Pass: Genuinely good Minority Report-style premise. Season 1 is amazing.
- Mob Psycho 100: Good comedy, but relies on repetitive tropes after Season 2.
- One Punch Man: Extremely funny great premise, but the quality drop after Season 1 shouldn’t have happened.
- Dragon Ball / Dragon Ball Z: Legendary but too long (Kai is the shorter alternative).
Great for Uniqueness, Story, or Style (Major Caveats)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Very unique. The writer projected his mental issues onto a weird cast, the protagonist is a loser, and it has no proper ending.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: Good, but overhyped. Suffers from forced humor, quality drops near the end, and a predictable “happily ever after.”
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): Much darker, serious, and extremely good, but the animation is garbage.
- Tokyo Ghoul: Only good until Season 2 before major quality dips.
Shows That Don’t Live Up to Their Name
- Death Note: The premise is so unbelievable it falls apart and becomes obnoxious in just a few episodes.
pbs on an antenna. rest is unwatchable crap usually.
