Fav US tv dramas of recent years

[luvyesmusic]

I like/liked a few shows on F/X

The Shield
Justified
Sons of Anarchy
Nip/Tuck ( for the first few seasons)

and with all the realistic violence, brutality and effects ( and good acting), these dramas could be considered comedies with some jaded individuals like myself. ;-)

Breaking Bad was also very good. For some reason I thought the show was over two seasons ago and was surprised when it went for another year. There's a p.e. teacher at my daughter's school who looks just like ( more than anyone else I've ever seen) Jesse Pinkman/Aaron Paul. Cracks me up every time I see him. LOL

[SteveSly]

I honestly think we are living in the golden age of TV drama right now. The last decade has produced some truly outstanding television with HBO and AMC leading the way. Some of my faves in no particular order:

The Wire – It took me a couple of episodes to get into it, but this is absolutely brilliant television, and maybe the best drama of all time. I was a late comer to the show and watched the whole thing on DVD after it’s run was over. The way each season captures a different aspect of the city of Baltimore (Inner city drugs, the harbor, the school system, politics, etc) was brilliant.

The Sopranos: Outstanding acting and writing for the entire run. Great stuff.

Breaking Bad: One of the best of all time in my opinion. Again, outstanding acting and writing.

Lost: Ok the last season was a bit of a letdown and the ending left many people unsatisfied, but this show was groundbreaking in many ways and changed the way a lot of us watched tv. The first 5 seasons were riveting for the most part (season 3 got a little bogged down), and even the final season though not great was still very good. Every once in a while I will catch a re-run on some network and am reminded of just how great this show was at its prime.

Boardwalk Empire: Outstanding cast and more excellent writing. I like the way they weave in fictional characters with actual historical figures.

Mad Men: I kind of thought the last season was a bit of a slide, but overall it has been an outstanding series. The final season starts this spring.

American Horror Story: Now in it’s 3rd season the quality of stars and acting for this show is incredible tv. This season featured Jessica Lang, Kathy Bates, and Angela Basset. Talk about a three headed monster, these are 3 of the best female actresses of our time. I thought the storyline this year slipped a bit, but overall this is still a fantastic series.

Game Of Thrones: The fantasy genre just does not get any better. Everything about this show is top notch. It my not be everyone’s cup of tea, but outstanding for what it is.

Deadwood: Another HBO series that mixed in fictional characters with historical figures. The only problem was that it was cancelled after 3 seasons with no ending or resolution. Worth watching for Ian McShane’s portal of Al Sweringen alone.

Homeland: I have only seen seasons 1 and 2 so far (we do not get Showtime), but I thought they were both great.

True Detective: This one is brand new and I have read is going to have a revolving cast / story each year similar to American Horror Story, but so far this one is a big winner. Woody Harlison and especially Matthew Mccnaughey are acting at their best.

Honorable Mention – In the good, but not great category I would put:

The Walking Dead, Dexter, True Blood, The Shield

[Jerjo]

Oh crap, I forgot about Orphan Black. Everyone must watch Orphan Black. Seriously.

[SteveSly]

Oh crap, I forgot about Orphan Black. Everyone must watch Orphan Black. Seriously.

I have been curious about this one, but know nothing about it. Care to give some details? What network is it on?

[SteveSly]

One I forgot:

Six Feet Under: Another HBO series that featured outstanding acting and writing. It was strong throughout, but the final season was totally killer. The final 5 minutes of the final episode was in my opinion the best ending to a TV drama ever. They knocked it out of the park with the ending which both summed up all of the storylines and literally summed up the rest of every characters life.

[Gerardo]

I have been curious about this one, but know nothing about it. Care to give some details? What network is it on?

This show is an original series of BBC America where it's on.

[emperorken]

I'm also a fan of all 3 seasons of American Horror Story, but my favorite still remains 24.

[PeterG]

A few AMERICAN tv shows I forgot to mention that I also like:

Elementary (English actor Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson)
Boardwalk Empire
Journeyman (Scottish actor Kevin McKidd who travels back in time to help people)
Rome (also with Kevin McKidd, in the main role as Lucius Vorenus)

[Dana5140]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is best but it has been off the air for more than 10 years. No other show has generated as much academic discourse. See: slayageonline.com/

I think these are great:

Lost Girl
Continuum
Orphan Black
In Treatment (especially its first season, which was amazing- see: Mia Wasikowska)
Firefly
Defiance
Game of Thrones
Suits

Note: both Continuum and Lost Girl are Canadian, while Orphan Black is out of England.

[Jerjo]

Oh don't recommend Firefly. The OP will just get to "Objects in Space", realize there aren't any more, and then spend the rest of their life venting about it on the Internet.

[Dana5140]

Damn it, man, you had to bring up Objects in Space! Jubal Early is still out there somewhere, you know? He's waiting for the show to be back on. :-)

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

I guess Babylon 5 isn't "recent" anymore...

Grimm - started slow, has built a major plot arc that fascinates me.

Once Upon a Time - more of a guilty pleasure.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - gathering steam.

[FrippWire]

Sons Of Anarchy - That show is so emotionally and physically draining I feel as though I've actually lived each episode after watching. Love it!!!

[PeterG]

Sons Of Anarchy - That show is so emotionally and physically draining I feel as though I've actually lived each episode after watching. Love it!!!

Spot on man...I feel exactly the same. I only got into it a month or so ago and watched seasons 1 thru 4 on Netflix in the space of 2 weeks, I watched nothing else at the time.

[Bake 1]

-Breaking Bad was kind of the TV equivalent of the blue meth Walter was making.
-Carnivale also had a powerful almost David Lynch narcotic feel.
-True Detective seems pretty well built...I'm itching to see the next one.
-Six Feet Under, used to like this one, but not sure it could intoxicate like Twin Peaks or the above shows.
-Deadwood was good but maybe not as much of an opiate as Carnivale.
I dig a few of the previously mentioned bloke shows, but I guess the thread asked for US dramas and no comedies, ('course all the good stuff ought to occasionally make you crack a grin).
Game of Thrones sure has its moments, but hasn't got into the bloodstream like some.

[roylayer]

Orphan Black
Continuum
Elementary

Orphan Black is cheating a little since it is an original series made for BBC America. The story line, characters, and acting are incredible. One actress plays about 8 different people (clones). She is so good that I wasn't even sure that it was really her playing all of them at first. A LOT happens in each episode. It is my favorite current series.

I guess Continuum is also cheating since it originally airs in Canada and is shown on the SyFy Channel in the US. A great take on time travel with compelling characters.

Elementary - The stories are always good, but it's the characters that really make this one of my favorite series.

[PeterG]

That several thumbs up for Orphan Black now. What's the plot?

[Jerjo]

That several thumbs up for Orphan Black now. What's the plot?

IMDB says: A streetwise hustler is pulled into a compelling conspiracy after witnessing the suicide of a girl who looks just like her.

That's the first ten minutes of episode one. Then everything spirals and spirals as more clones are revealed, the conspiracy is far deeper than they suspect, we wonder who is pulling whose strings, the bodies pile up, the stakes get higher and higher. Nudity and violence, not one to watch with the kids around to spoil your enjoyment of the aforementioned. Great acting, tight writing, actual credible science fiction with resounding human applications.

Edit: found a better description on Amazon. I need to order this DVD so I can watch with subtitles.

Sarah is a streetwise outsider, currently on the run from a bad relationship and painfully separated from her own daughter. When an eerily lookalike stranger commits a shocking suicide right in front of her, Sarah sees a potential solution to all her problems by assuming the dead woman’s identity and clearing out her bank account. But instead, she stumbles headlong into a kaleidoscopic thriller mystery, and soon uncovers an earth-shattering secret: she is a clone. As Sarah searches for answers, she soon learns there are more like her out there, genetically identical individuals, nurtured in wildly different circumstances. And someone is trying to kill them off, one by one.

[Dana5140]

Tatiana Maslaney is spectacularly good in Orphan Black.

[jkelman]

We just watched the first season of The Following and really enjoyed it. Hannibal is up next. Enjoyed Breaking Bad...but our favorite cable series (American), beyond the Law & Order franchise, is OZ. Heavy, violent and more male frontal nudity than I'd ever wanted to see (but hey, it's in a supermax prison), but truly the best drama to come out of the US: tremendous story arc across six seasons, a lot of terrific actors (including many known to L&O freaks like us). The only drag was the ending....but in a way, there was really no way to tie the series up, so they had to reach for something...and they failed. But other than that, an amazing series.

In the UK, two series that really hit us were Cracker, with Robbie Coltrane, and Prime Suspect, with Helen Mirren. Short series, as to be expected, but hard-hitting stories with great, flawed characters and plenty of surprises.

[Dana5140]

To me the best program of the last 5 years was In Treatment, and s I noted earlier, the part with Mia Wasikowska playing Sophie was simply astonishing and in the end incredibly moving. Here are two clips, where newcomer Mia holds her own with Gabriel Byrne (and she is Australian though you could never tell here):

[SteveSly]

We just watched the first season of The Following and really enjoyed it. Hannibal is up next. Enjoyed Breaking Bad...but our favorite cable series (American), beyond the Law & Order franchise, is OZ. Heavy, violent and more male frontal nudity than I'd ever wanted to see (but hey, it's in a supermax prison), but truly the best drama to come out of the US: tremendous story arc across six seasons, a lot of terrific actors (including many known to L&O freaks like us). The only drag was the ending....but in a way, there was really no way to tie the series up, so they had to reach for something...and they failed. But other than that, an amazing series.

.

My wife loves The Following, but I have not watched it. I probably will try to catch up from the beginning one of these days. Oz is another one I have wanted to check out. Wasn't that kind of the first big drama that HBO came up with?

[SteveSly]

To me the best program of the last 5 years was In Treatment, and s I noted earlier, the part with Mia Wasikowska playing Sophie was simply astonishing and in the end incredibly moving. Here are two clips, where newcomer Mia holds her own with Gabriel Byrne (and she is Australian though you could never tell here):
]

I tried with "In Treatment", but could not get into it.

[rich]

In no Particular order:
Dexter!
The Following
Homeland
Mad Men
Boardwalk Empire
The Sopranos
For History Rome and John Adams both from HBO were excellent
The Tudors
Am I alone in enjoying Dracula
Elementary
Southland
The West Wing
Loving True Detective

[BravadoNJ]

House
Dexter
Deadwood
Six Feet Under
Torchwood

Bedlam on BBCA was really good but in season 2 the entire cast was changed, and all was lost.