Which I don’t mean to say it’s the “best” television. Wasn’t it Plato who said that the True and the Beautiful were one, in that if something was True, it was Beautiful, and if it was Beautiful, it was True? Maybe I am trying to claim “best,” I don’t know. To me, all these are all Beautiful and True. As for my . . . ‘delimiter,’ is that the way to case it? It’s that they stayed good the whole way through the series—they didn’t go too long, didn’t pad the seasons with fluff to milk a few more dollars out. Which is of course a subjective call, probably all tangled up with love for the show: you’ll tolerate some shenanigans if it means more of this familiar thing you’re addicted to, yes?
Anyway, maybe I’ll make another of these lists, on “TV That’s Forever in my DNA” or something. That being just stuff from the era I grew up in (from The Rockford Files and Columbo to Magnum pi and Simon & Simon—with, yes, Three’s Company in that mix).
What I’m going for here, though, is stuff that’s just solid, and dependable, and always delivered. And, yeah, no Breaking Bad, Sopranos, The Wire, I know. I know. I really dug some seasons of each of them. But, alas, not all the seasons. And, yes, The Expanse: so, so amazing. Except for the very end—felt like there was a lot being set up instead of tied together (I only read the first novel, still need to burn through the rest). And, I so, so want to include The X-Files here, as it’s both good AND in my DNA. But I really only like the goofy episodes. And the Lone Gunmen eps. And the monster-of-the-week ones. Can forever do without all the drama about alien conspiracies—and this coming from someone for whom Chariots of the Gods and anything Charles Berlitz was a bible, growing up. I wanted to Edgar Cayce that whole section of the used bookstore. And I guess I sort of did. Still sad Weekly World News went over, I mean.
Anyway. Just meaning to stack a few shows here that, to me, are bulletproof. And, the most perfect and bulletproof of them all?
Easy:
When you get that series finale, you realize, man, this was all always going here and only here. Every time “Harlan County” shuffles up for me, man: I’m right back there.
Then there’s the rollercoaster that was:
From the first season to that wild, wild last one, and especially the John Lithgow one: this was what television can be when it really, really tries. And I dug The New Blood and Resurrection, too.
And, in case you’re trusting me on/with these, this might be the show where you get off this ride. But, I stand by Supernatural.
Sam and Dean, Cass and Crowley—their loyalty and backstabbing and all of it, it kept things going forward so well. And, for my money, no show does goofy-fun eps better than Supernatural. And the way each episode would start with “The Road So Far,” and usually, before it was all done, play some Dean-songs that were my songs (Seger, Kansas). And, can’t forget Baby. I need to watch all sixteen of these seasons again. Yeah, sometimes Sam doesn’t have a soul, sometimes Dean’s got the Mark of Cain, dead people are usually only temporarily that way, but that’s the cost of fighting the world’s monsters, yes?
But not everything I go for is aimed at that hour-slot:
Wish it had never had to go over. And, so cracks me up that the voice-over, without which this isn’t the magic, amazing show it is, wasn’t even meant to be part of the proceedings. I think the humor and hijinx in this one will be good forever. Still want to figure out who “Hermano” is. As big a mystery as who shot JR, or Mr. Burns.
And, talking half-hour AND something that went away and came back, went away and came back . . .
From Fry to Scruffy and everyone between, this show—as in, Every Single Episode—was and is amazing, and somehow always so on-point for wherever the world was at the time (also, dial up the Nerdist ep).
And, yes, I’m not including The Expanse, as it didn’t feel like it got to end where and how it wanted to. Yet?
No, it didn’t get to close however it might have, but, still, that way it does end that third season? It’s enough. Al Swearengen (“swear engine,” get it?) of course carries it all. And, weird: my second selection with Timothy Olyphant? Wild. Guess I fell for him when he was Mickey in Scream II, I don’t know. But, the dialogue here, it’s sculpted, so stagey, but the characters somehow deliver it as if anyone could and would ever speak like this. I aspire.
Then of course there’s:
Of all these shows, this is the one, were I ranking them, I’d probably put first. We fall in love with Aang—the burden he carries, but he’s just a little kid who wants to have fun! We hurt with Katara, who sees more than any of them, we laugh at Sokka, who’s more of a fighter than he thinks he is, and Zuko’s arc . . . wow.
And, would any list of great television be complete without:
One of the best moments from all of television for me is when Will draws that clock. Man. This one, like Deadwood, always feels to me like it might have to wrap up fast. But, when you’ve got a showrunner like Bryan Fuller, that’s completely doable.
And . . . well, not in or from the same vein, but, cops and crooks anyway—THE detective, I should say:
Such an intense, flawed, driven version, yes? But with great humor, too, and—importantly—cases we, the audience for these short seasons, couldn’t solve ahead of Sherlock. What more can you ask for?
And, talking cases, with this one, each season is a case:
I originally dialed this one up since it was about submarines, and, who knows why—I mean, I grew up West Texas, couldn’t even swim until I was twelve (no bodies of water to learn in . . . )—but, “submarine” was incidental. What wasn’t incidental was how well this is written, and delivered. The second season: just the same. Can’t find anywhere to dial the third season up. But soon, soon. Fingers crossed.
And, this is probably the hardest decision I’m facing, here: which Star Trek? Can’t include all of them. The first season of Starfleet Academy that just wrapped, man: I probably cried each episode? I was and am so, so invested. Meaning: so sad it’s only going to go two seasons. And, Discovery‘s amazing . . . they all are, come on, from 1966 until Picard—has there ever been a better series finale than the two-parter that ended STNG?—but, of all of them, I guess the one that landed Every Single Episode is, for me:
Especially that crossover episode. And—and all the callbacks, all the nods, all the fun. But with heart, too. That’s the magic mixture, I’m pretty sure.
Last, probably even more of an outlier than Vigil, is this one:
This one is so, so absurd. It feels like reading Tom Robbins and Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett and Christopher Moore all at the same time, somehow. Each escalation and reveal and development is wilder than the last one. And I loved every one of them. This one on DVD? If so, I need to get it, so I can always have this on-hand.
Oh, and, WOW: just counted, and this somehow came to a natural “12.” Didn’t even mean that.
Maybe next, somewhere in here, I’ll do a Best Eps type list. Can’t wait.
