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Author Topic: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List  (Read 4167 times)

Totoro

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The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« on: April 09, 2014, 07:25:45 PM »
By Totoro & Future Contributors.

This list really has nothing to do with stats or compiling of TV shows critics lists or emmys or anything like that. This list is based primarily on my own perception of what TV shows are the most popular, most loved, most talked about, and most game-changing, mostly from hear-say or reviews. By no means is this list complete - that's where you come in. Tell me what needs to be rearranged, tell me what I am missing, tell me anything. How do we define the 2nd Golden Age of Television? It's a term that's been thrown at this era of quality TV constantly. Where does it begin? Are we in its beginning, its middle, or its end? I would say that it started somewhere in 2000. Aside from mainstays like THE SIMPSONS or SNL, I tried to include shows that started in 2000 or at least have the majority of the episodes in 2000.

1st Tier: The Game Changers
30 ROCK
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
BOARDWALK EMPIRE
BREAKING BAD
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART
GAME OF THRONES
GIRLS
HOMELAND
HOUSE OF CARDS
MAD MEN
SEX AND THE CITY
THE SOPRANOS
SOUTH PARK
THE WIRE

The 2nd Tier: The Essentials
24
ADVENTURE TIME
ALIAS
AMERICAN HORROR STORY
ANGEL
ARCHER
THE BIG BANG THEORY
BOB’S BURGERS
THE COLBERT REPORT
COMMUNITY
DEADWOOD
DEXTER
DOWNTON ABBEY
ENLIGHTENED
ENTOURAGE
FUTURAMA
FIREFLY
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
FREAKS & GEEKS
GLEE
THE GOOD WIFE
HOUSE
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
IN TREATMENT
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA
JUSTIFIED
LOST
LOUIE
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
MODERN FAMILY
NEW GIRL
THE OFFICE (U.K.)
THE OFFICE (U.S.)
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
OZ
PARKS & RECREATION
PARTY DOWN
PHINEAS & FERB
PUSHING DAISIES
SCRUBS
THE SHIELD
SIX FEET UNDER
SONS OF ANARCHY
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS
SUPERNATURAL
TRUE DETECTIVE
THE WALKING DEAD
THE WEST WING

3rd Tier: The Outliers
AMERICAN DAD!
BATES MOTEL
BURN NOTICE
CRIMINAL MINDS
CSI
CSI: MIAMI
CSI: NY
BIG LOVE
BONES
BROOKLYN 99
CALIFORNICATION
CASTLE
DA ALI G SHOW
DAMAGES
DOCTOR WHO
EASTBOUND & DOWN
EPISODES
EXTRAS
FAMILY GUY
FRINGE
GILMORE GIRLS
GREY’S ANATOMY
HANNIBAL
THE KILLING
LAW & ORDER: SVU
THE L WORD
THE LEAGUE
LUCK
MASTERS OF SEX
THE MENTALIST
THE MINDY PROJECT
MIKE & MOLLY
NCIS
THE NEWSROOM
NURSE JACKIE
ONCE UPON A TIME
PARENTHOOD
PRISON BREAK
REVOLUTION
THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW
ROBOT CHICKEN
ROME
SCANDAL
SHAMELESS
THE SIMPSONS (the last ten years or so)
SNL
THAT 70S SHOW
TREME
TRUE BLOOD
THE TUDORS
TWO AND A HALF MEN
VEEP
VERONICA MARS
WEEDS

4th Tier: The Standards
2 BROKE GIRLS
AGENTS OF SHIELD
THE AMERICANS
THE BIG C
BORED TO DEATH
THE BORGIAS
THE BLACKLIST
THE BRIDGE
BROTHERHOOD
CARNIVALE
DARK ANGEL
DOLLHOUSE
EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS
FAMILY TREE
GETTING ON
THE GOLDBERGS
HAWAII FIVE-0
HELL ON WHEELS
HOUSE OF LIES
HUNG
JAG
THE KING OF QUEENS
LIGHTS OUT
LOOKING
LUCKY LOUIE
THE MIDDLE
NIP TUCK
NUMB3RS
THE NUMBER ONE LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY
PERSON OF INTEREST
RAY DONOVAN
RECTIFY
RESCUE ME
REVENGE
THE RICHES
ROOKIE BLUE
RUBICON
SILICON VALLEY
SLEEPER CELL
SOUTHLAND
SPARTACUS
STARGATE S-1
SUBURGATORY
TERRIERS
TURN
TROPHY WIFE
THE UNITED STATES OF TARA
UNDECLARED
WEB THERAPY
WHO’S LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
WILFRED
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 04:29:57 PM by Totoro »

The Deer Hunter

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2014, 07:54:27 PM »
For me i would move Scrubs to the 1st tier. No one mixed comedy and drama better than they did.

mañana

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2014, 07:57:46 PM »
You're missing Deadwood.
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jswysin

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2014, 10:00:22 PM »
Also missing The Americans, a show I'd easily put in the 2nd tier.  And though it's not necessarily a game-changer, I prefer it over a few shows listed near the top. 

MartinTeller

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2014, 10:17:35 PM »
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and arguably Angel) should be on there somewhere.

StudentOFilm

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2014, 01:08:28 AM »
Really cool Totoro, I'm digging this.

Being a fan of cable/premium programming, I'd consider...

From HBO
-Would Oz make the cut? It started in '97, 2 years before The Sopranos/The West Wing and 32/56 of its episodes did air in 00's.
-I second the including of Deadwood.
-Tell Me You Love Me- Sadly only ran for one season, but was very acclaimed and controversial in its startling realistic depiction of sex. Had a great cast too.
-John from Cincinatti- Also ran for only one season. Despite an incredible cast and created by David Milch (Deadwood, Luck), I wasn't all that crazy about it. I think a few fellow Filmspotters were fans.
-Hung- I was a fan. Pilot was directed by Alexander Payne, starred Thomas Jane, created by Dmitry Lipkin (wrote the FX series The Riches) and ran for three seasons. I think it goes alongside Bored to Death and Eastbound and Down. They all came out around the same time IIRC.
-Luck- Another Milch show that only ran for one season. Amazing cast and a pilot directed by Michael Mann.
-The Newsroom- A show from Aaron Sorkin and starring Jeff Daniels. Very topical and will be concluding this year with its third season.

Showtime
-Brotherhood- Ran for three seasons. Fantastic crime show about an Irish family with connections in crime and politics. Starred Jason Isaacs and Jason Clarke. I'm a little biased as I'm a huge fan of those two actors.
-Sleeper Cell- Only ran for two seasons. Had a great ensemble and I considered it to be of a much higher quality than say 24.
-Dead Like Me- Ran for two seasons and created by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Hannibal). Great cast and phenomenal writing. Has some Filmspotting fans I believe.
-Huff- I actually haven't seen this. Comedy that ran for two seasons starring Hank Azaria, Blythe Danner, and Oliver Platt. It was nominated for many awards I believe.
-United States of Tara- Ran for three seasons. Created by Diablo Cody and starred Toni Collette who gave such an incredible performance.

FX
-I also second the including of The Americans. Such a complex and layered show.
-Might as well include The Bridge. It's along the lines of The Killing and Hannibal (and was on Abed's DVR in that Community episode about the Ass-Crack Bandit this season).
-Over There- I didn't watch this and I've heard incredibly mixed things about it. It was a series about soldiers overseas in the Middle East and did receive some criticism for the show being heavily anti-war. It was executive produced by Steven Bochco.
-Thief- Great crime series starring Andre Braugher that FX called a miniseries at the last minute when they cancelled it and wanted to have it compete in awards season (Braugher did win an award for it, forget if it was the Emmy or Globe).
-Dirt- Like Over There, I've never seen this, but it ran for two seasons. Starred Courteney Cox as head of some of gossip magazine and was created by Matthew Carnahan (House of Lies).
-The Riches- I was a huge fan of this show about a family of grifters. Created by Dmitry Lipkin (Hung) and starred Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as the main characters.
-Terriers and Lights Out- Two shows that came out around the same time. I think both have some fans. I'd heavily campaign for the inclusion of these. Crime-related shows about a P.I. and a boxer respectively. Dark stories with great performances (Donal Logue and Holt McCallany respectively).
-Wilfred- Very funny show starring Elijah Wood as a man who can talk to his neighbor's dog that is played by Jason Gann as a guy in a giant fuzzy dog suit.

Starz
-Shows with high production values include Da Vinci's Demons, Black Sails, Camelot, Magic City (looks to have a great cast), and White Queen. Haven't seen all that much of any of those.
-Boss- Kelsey Grammer got some acclaim being cast against type as a corrupt mayor. It had a great ensemble despite sometimes just being too messed up for its own good.

AMC- I really liked Low Winter Sun. A crime show with Mark Strong and Lennie James. I might be the minority on that.

Netflix- Orange is the New Black. Also if we are including some other Gervais shows, I think Derek fits in nicely with respect to his past work.

Sundance has two shows called Rectify and Red Road. I loved Rectify. A show with plots that seem to boil but have an amazing amount of complex emotions involved.

A&E has Bates Motel which has a good following.

The West Wing, Alias, and Pushing Daisies are some network series that come to mind as well. Also, should you include  miniseries/TV movies because in that case Band of Brothers, Angels in America, and many others come to mind.
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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2014, 07:56:21 AM »
Luck is one of the greatest seasons of TV I have ever seen, I believe it belongs in the second tier for how incredibly and uncompromising it was in its construction and scope. Unfortunately it didn't hang around long enough, or I think it could have bumped up to the first tier.

Speaking of which, at this point shows like Girls and Louie have reverberated throughout the comedic landscape enough that they feel like they should be in the same conversation with those top tier shows. Though I prefer one show to the other by a large amount, both did shift the perception and ambition of television comedy in very direct ways.

May drop in later to offer further thoughts on omissions and what not, but I really like this idea.

JakeIsntFake

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2014, 09:40:29 AM »
uh, Spongebob is a gamechanger.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2014, 10:58:16 AM »
In before roujin recommends all the game-changing anime TV shows of the last decade.

mañana

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Re: The Second Golden Age of Television: A Comprehensive List
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2014, 01:17:47 PM »
What do your tier titles mean?
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