What is the greatest TV show of all time?
As the title asks, what is the greatest TV show of all time and why is it HBO's "The Sopranos" (1999-2007)
Jan 28, 2023Jan 28, 2023
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Comments (103)
hard to find a definitive answer - it all depends on taste but sopranos is for sure up there
for me - i might get shit on for this but Friends is one of the all time greats.
I'm throwing monkey shit at you
Alright Chinandler Bong...
lol saw it comming when i wrote it
I love the Wire, but man that show is hard to watch. Very deep subject. Hard to believe those people are actors
All based on real life. Stringer is an amalgam of two real people and that's where his name comes from. Bubbles did such a convincing job that at one point someone on the street actually gave him heroin (also based on a real informant, down to the hat trick btw). The series creator used all his experience of riding with Baltimore PD to create the storylines off of real events. It was so harshly true that the mayor had Baltimore PD basically harrass the actors and crew for stuff as simple as jay walking to slow or shut then down because they felt it made Baltimore look so bad (spoiler: despite their shame and embarassment and fits against it and the show putting it on display, it really is a third world shithole IRL). Plus a lot more tidbits. They basically wanted it to be a docudrama and nailed it.
To me the Sopranos is better because a lot of the courtroom/police/political jargon in The Wire is difficult to understand for a regular person, and a lot of it went over my head.
Overall, both shows are great and it's hard to choose between the two.
based
Black Mirror
+1
it's like they created at least 10 movies that are Oscar worthy and tens more which are also high up there (very deep messages about life, well filmed, very unique), and just combined them all into a series and thrown them on Netflix.
Absolutely. One thing I enjoy about the show is that it's built to make people uncomfortable or uneasy, I think it's a metaphor for a reflection of the darker side of humanity,through the lens of technology.
White Christmas was one of my favorite ones. Also had a lot of fun with the interactive bundersnatch or banderstach episode too, I dont recall the name.
Shark Tank
Lost - I've seen it maybe 8+ times
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
I miss this show so much... the last great TV show before streaming took over...
Brotha! We have to go back!!
Favorite character? No picking jack or sawyer.
Desmond and Kate
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Yeah Breaking Bad is good. I've seen it 3-4 times.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Jesse's scenes are heartwrenching. Like when his girlfriend overdoses and dies and Walter later tries to get him out of the crack house, and Jesse is holding onto him weeping. Or when he was confessing that he came to the group to sell people meth. Outstanding acting. The scene when Walt saves Jesse from getting shot by the two gangbangers..
Counter-point: Jesse takes the opposite character development path and you wind up rooting for him just about the most at the end.
I met an undercover drug task force agent who was going for a PHD at the same university I was studying at when this series came out. He said it was well done. Fun fact, most big dealers don't use. They treat the drug game as a business with the product as any other commodity.
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Bingo. I know it was mostly lip service, but I am so glad I watched El Camino. If anyone deserved a happy ending in that show, it was Cap'n Cook himself.
I progressively hated Jesse more and more through each season. All he ever did was fuck things up out of stupidity and gullibility.
top 5
Rick and Morty
Which is now dead since one of the two creators is literally dead for a while now and the other just got whacked by cancel culture. It had a good run between all the stunts like the Bone Train, Pickle Rick, Show Me What You Got, etc.
Is the new season any good? I felt it went downhill once they made Beth and summer 'different'. Hard to explain but feel they just made them have super cheesy one liners in the later seasons bs the first few ones.
first few seasons were gold tho, such a funny show
Curb Your Enthusiasm. Funny af. Especially Leon.
It's a very impressive 20+ year run at this point. Granted he only does a season every 2-3 years. But that kind of continued relevance is wild . . plus he was behind all of Seinfeld's better episodes so he's really got 30+ years of killing it.
The Sopranos, The Wire, and Breaking Bad are all great.
The Last Kingdom is an amazing show.
The Walking Dead, while it had its flaws, is one of the best.
The Queen's Gambit is one of the best mini-series I've ever seen.
The Pacific and Band of Brothers are amazing.
Fauda is amazing and one of the best action series I've ever seen.
Narcos and Narcos Mexico are both great (former better than latter).
Moaning of Life and An Idiot Abroad are two of my favorite British shows. The Inbetweeners deserves love too.
The Americans is a great series.
Lots of good shows that got cancelled too early, and thusly i can't put in my greatest ever list. Occupied was a great show. Mad Dogs was great.
The Unit is good. The DC multiverse is great but has some horrible shows, and it's ran its course as of 2021. Supergirl is such a bad show, but Arrow, Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow are great.
Same with Marvel. Daredevil and Punisher are great. Same with Jessica Jones. Black Lightning is good too
The Sopranos? I fuckin hate em. Fat fuck says I look like the Shah of Iran
Tony Soprano heavy breathing What'd you just fuckin' shay?
I guess you just never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
I vote for Mad Men. One of the deepest and realest shows about the human psyche and the rat race.
Great show I was hooked once I started
100% I've watched mad men I think 7 times
Agreed, Mad Men is my top pick
This is the correct answer. The show is so well constructed characters often only need one word or action to show the depth of the emotion of the scene. I'm thinking about the last time Don talks to Betty and calls her Birdie or when Don kisses Peggy's hand when she quits. Absolutely masterclass in character development. Some of the greatest scenes in television history include the Carousel and Hershey pitches. And then there is the ending... that perfect cherry on top of the perfect sundae. Makes me want to grab a Canadian Club and take a nap.
Sopranos, Mad Men, Entourage,X-Files, South Park
Boardwalk Empire is great
Lost, the office, Gotham
Superhero - Spiderman 1, Spiderman 2, Spiderman 3, and The Dark Knight.
I would put tv shows but don't watch them often. I agree sopranos is great though made it to season 2 I believe
I think there should be different categories:
1) Serious: Black Mirror, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad
2) Funny: Friends, Scrubs, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Parks and Recreation
3) Cartoons: South Park, Family Guy
Honorable mentions: Squid Game, Chernobyl.
Game of Thrones & The Crown. The Americans is really good if you're into Cold War espionage.
True Detective Season One is the best single season of television ever created
This is objectively correct.
Tie between Sopranos and Mad Men.
When I'll buy my villa with an interior cinema, I'll definitely re-watch them on a big ass screen.
not sure why MS, that's a dream of mine too
Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
Underrated show me and my buddy loved was Patriot (on Amazon prime I think?). It's about a depressed intelligence agent for the US and starts off as a dry, dark comedy but gets real deep in the second and last season
Came here to say probably the Sopranos lol
But also sopranos, the office, friends, black mirror and I only just finished season 1 of the wire but it seems like that is up there.
That's my Rushmore
I agree with this wholeheartedly.
Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
Scrubs.
Otherwise Chicago Fire/PD/Med
My man! Scrubs was the right answer, absolutely legendary comedy. Had so many real moments too, I've pretty much never seen a show that was so solid for 8 seasons (we don't talk about S9)
Mad Men
Deadwood
True Detective Season 1 (best TV season ever)
Justified
The Good Wife
The Americans
Sopranos, Breaking Bad, & the Wire are equal GOATs
Leftovers
Fargo
Think I will add The Good Wife to the watchlist. Heard nothing but stellar things from all my friends who've seen it.
season 3 was nowhere near season 1, but I liked it for what it was.
Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
I agree. Season 2 was a huge backslide from the near perfection of Season 1. Season 3 at least brought it back somewhat, but it certainly doesn't measure up to the 1st Season.
South Park. It's ability to shed light on contemporary issues is unmatched.
The Rehearsal (2022)
I wouldn't call it the best, but it was great, although idk how much rewatch value it has. Have you seen How to with John Wilson?
Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
How To is one of the most bizarre shows I've ever seen and I absolutely love it.
Whats everyone's most under the radar favorite? Ricky Gervais did a great series called Extras. Only lasted 13 episodes . . not sure why it didn't have a longer run, it was hilarious.
Newsradio up until Phil Hartman died
Great call. That was such a loss.
ER was probably a bit before most kid's times in the 90's, but that was an excellent show. Also the original law & order in the 1990's was fantastic.
For comedy The Simpsons & Southpark are at the very top for me.
Bojack Horseman is really a great cartoon
ALF and Futurama. They always make me positive!
Futurama is a gem. I remember watching the premiere way back when they actually did it on New Year's 1999 (if you've seen the show, you know the signifigance). Then they went on to actually create a published mathematical PhD level theorem while writing one of their episodes and other cool easter eggs during it's run.
And god help you if you bring up Seymour...
1. Mad Men
2. Lost
3. Battlestar Galactica (2004)
It's The Sopranos because it's the best, that's why. All other choices accepted too though.
People saying Friends and not including Seinfeld, that's disrespectful.
I'm gonna throw in a wrench and say that Adventure Time is one of the best cartoons and shows too.
Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
Seinfeld >>> Friends
How I met your mother has to be up there..
Agreed. Everyone says Friends, but HIMYM is just the good version of Friends (meaning it's actually funny, heartfelt, and has great music).
Honorable mentions: Hells Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares. Absolute gold.
Peaky Blinders and nothing comes close
I don't want to comment the same tried and trued answers that everyone else here is mentioning, so I'll throw something else out there....The Newsroom. Fantastic writing that ties in real events into a fictional plot....it does lean quite a bit left, but if you can put that aside, fantastic show. Plus...Olivia Munn.
No question, it is One Piece (this weekend's episode was insane).
I thought Nikita was cool. I always like to see hot ninja women.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Scrubs -- all-time best comedy IMO
Community (S1-3 absolute gold)
Entourage (S1-5)
I'm having a tough time deciding between "The Wire", "Succession", and "Person of Interest".
The quality is just superb all around. I'd give a slight edge to POI for how imaginative the storytelling was.
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