# Favorite Miniseries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2026, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915 "2026-07-25T08:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/41 "2026-07-25T17:59:57Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > The Winds of War Dang, you have reminded me I should have remembered… **War and Remembrance**. > [@blondebear](#): > > If you can consider each season of True Detective a separate miniseries, the first one with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson was outstanding. The third and fourth weren’t so bad either. Honestly, the second was only bad, IMHO, because it had too many characters and too many subplots. Individual scenes, taken in isolation, were uniformly good (again, taken in isolation, as if without memory of whatever came before and no expectation for what might come next). But strung together in series, it was plodding and incoherent. Its script needed one more re-write. Perhaps also is could have been salvaged in editing, but alas… Anyway, if anthologies are up for grabs, I’d add in the first (and to my mind only real) installment of **The Terror**. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/42 "2026-07-25T18:14:43Z")
I’m gonna go with the recent version of _ **Shogun** _. Among other things, it gave me a chance to practice listening to Japanese while watching a compelling story. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/43 "2026-07-25T18:40:01Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > [Lace](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087583/). If the title doesn’t ring a bell, maybe you’ll recall the ads for it which had Phoebe Cates saying “which one of you bitches is my mother?”. Shocking! Saucy! Or _ **Fresno** _ (an '80s spoof of prime-time soap operas like _ **Dallas** _ and _ **Dynasty** _), where Canadian actress Valerie Mahaffee confronted a lineup of men in clown suits and said “All right, which one of you bozos is my father?” 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/44 "2026-07-25T18:46:34Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Whether they were definitively intended to stop after a certain number of episodes isn’t a reliable indicator, either, because quite a few miniseries (_Evil_ would be an example) were extended based on the outcome of negotiations. I disagree, and I think the best indicator of the distinction is exactly that: the intention of the producers. I think a miniseries is one and done, and the number of episodes doesn’t have much to do with it. If it goes on to another set of episodes, whether by intention or unexpectedly, it’s a series. The producers of _Chernobyl_ weren’t thinking about _Chernobyl II, Nuclear Boogaloo_ when they finished the show. In the case of _Evil_ (about which I know nothing), it might have started as a miniseries, but once they did anther set, it became a series. > [@wolfpup](#): > > The most useful definition of “miniseries” I can come up with is that it’s a series with a specific story to tell, and tells that story in a limited number of episodes. How limited? Why aren’t _Fawlty Towers_ or _Foyle’s War_ just series, as opposed to miniseries? Where do you draw the line? OTOH, shows that were intended to be full-blown series, but were canceled or not renewed, are still series, not miniseries (regardless of the actual number of eps), because the producers wanted them to continue as a series. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/45 "2026-07-25T18:57:01Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Why aren’t _Fawlty Towers_ or _Foyle’s War_ just series, as opposed to miniseries? I suppose the latter _could_ be considered a “series with a sequel” because of the change in period and Foyle’s position, rather than one long miniseries. But the former was just a “series” given a second season with no changes in cast, setting, or basic premise. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/46 "2026-07-25T18:59:44Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Leaving **Band if Brothers** on the table because, like so many older (yep) mini-series, it really slumps in the middle. One of my faves, along with Rome and Deadwood. But are these mini-series or just TV series? At least Band of brothers had a planned ending. > [@colinfred](#): > > And Foyle’s War extended past the war itself. The “mini” is the important part of the word miniseries yep- Foyles war was not a "mini-series at all. > [@terentii](#): > > I really like _ **All Creatures** _. PBS airs every season it buys as soon as they’re available, so there are months between them. IMHO- not a “mini-series”. > [@Gordon\_G](#): > > With _True Detective_, each Season is its own miniseries. There should be no quarrel there. Well, I really hated that show, but yeah a sort of mini-series. But then _Fargo_ (the TV show) is the all time winner. > [@ricepad](#): > > I’m gonna go with the recent version of _ **Shogun** _. I slightly preferred the original, but I agree. > [@colinfred](#): > > 4 long running regular shows. Yes. > [@terentii](#): > > Focused on a particular topic, with a definite beginning and end, and a finite number of episodes. Foyles war had no specific ending, and no finite number of episodes. IIRC nor did the Tudors- it had to be renewed- in fact- [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Tudors#Episodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tudors#Episodes) > In April 2007, the show was renewed for a second season and > **[Boardwalk Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk_Empire)** > > Boardwalk Empire is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson. Winter, a Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer, created the show, inspired by Nelson Johnson's 2002 non-fiction book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, about the hist... > On September 1, 2009, HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 [episodes] Shogun- [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōgun\_(2024\_TV\_series)#Development](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun_(2024_TV_series)#Development) > Initially conceived as a miniseries, its success led FX to announce in May 2024 that a second and third season were officially announced to be in development, with the writer’s room assembling in mid-2024.[[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun_(2024_TV_series)#cite_note-Future-21) vs > **[Shōgun (1980 miniseries)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun_(1980_miniseries))** > > Shōgun is a 1980 American historical drama miniseries based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name. The series was produced by Paramount Television and first broadcast in the United States on NBC over five nights between September 15 and 19, 1980. It was written by Eric Bercovici and directed by Jerry London, and stars Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and Yoko Shimada, with a large supporting cast. Clavell served as executive producer. The miniseries is loosely based on the adventu... > _ **Shōgun** _ is a 1980 American [historical drama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_drama "Historical drama") [miniseries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniseries "Miniseries") based on [James Clavell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clavell "James Clavell")’s [1975 novel of the same name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun_(novel) "Shōgun (novel)"). The series was produced by [Paramount Television](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Television "Paramount Television") and first broadcast in the United States on [NBC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC "NBC") over five nights between September 15 and 19, 1980. IMHO a “miniseries” is one that where the whole thing is shot, and only has a handful of episodes- if it is " renewed for a second series" it no longer qualifies. Band of Brothers, Roots, Shogun (the OG). I Claudius, ect are miniseries. Sadly, Rome and Deadwood are not. > [@commasense](#): > > Why aren’t _Fawlty Towers_ or _Foyle’s War_ just series, They are just a series. Perhaps, like the newer Shogun, they might have originally been _intended_ as a miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/47 "2026-07-25T19:03:25Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > … because the producers wanted them to continue as a series. While the producers of a miniseries do not, at least initially. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/48 "2026-07-25T19:04:39Z")
Do not, period. If they continue, they’ve just created a series. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/49 "2026-07-25T19:09:51Z")
At that point, yes. Or, a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/50 "2026-07-25T19:16:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > At least Band of brothers had a planned ending. It had to. The war was over. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/51 "2026-07-25T19:49:26Z")
I’d say _House of Cards_ UK was a miniseries. It was filmed as a one and done, and there were no hooks or expectations of a sequel. This doesn’t change when, due to its extreme popularity, they got Michael Dobbs to pen an extension. _To Play The King_ is not a miniseries as they knew by this point they would do _The Final Cut_ if it was successful. _House of Cards_ US was not a miniseries and would still not have been one if it had been cancelled after season 1, even though it follows a lot of the same plot points as UK HoC ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Gordon\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_G)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/52 "2026-07-25T23:02:16Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Honestly, the second [season of _True Detective_] was only bad, IMHO, **because it had too many characters and too many subplots** … [my emphasis] Exactly. This is why I boycotted Season 3 (though I eventually clicked onto Season 4). Quality (of characterizations, subplots and plot twists) is more important than quantity ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/53 "2026-07-25T23:07:57Z")
Well then you need have no fear of season 3. Give it a watch if you haven’t already. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/54 "2026-07-25T23:10:44Z")
Hard to pick a favorite, but it’s gonna be a **Ken Burns** gig. The Civil War, or maybe the one he did on the National Parks. (or was that his brother?) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/55 "2026-07-25T23:57:57Z")
Galavant Schmigadoon Two seasons of each ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/56 "2026-07-26T00:00:50Z")
More recent mini series that I have enjoyed according to my IMDB ratings include: _This is Going to Hurt_ starring Ben Wishaw in director Adam Kay’s experiences as a doctor. _The Narrow Road to the Deep North_ starring Jacob Elordi as a prisioner in WWII. _Adolescence_ starring Stephen Graham about a 13YO charged with murder. _Mare of Easttown_ starring Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart in a murder mystery. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/57 "2026-07-26T00:07:13Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > I’d say _House of Cards_ UK was a miniseries. It was filmed as a one and done, and there were no hooks or expectations of a sequel. This doesn’t change when, due to its extreme popularity, they got Michael Dobbs to pen an extension. > > _To Play The King_ is not a miniseries as they knew by this point they would do _The Final Cut_ if it was successful. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. but damn, the UK version of _House of Cards_ was a great miniseries, though I don’t remember enough of the sequels to comment. Just saying that the UK version of the original definitely deserves to be mentioned as one of the best miniseries ever made. The US remake totally sucked, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/58 "2026-07-26T00:28:44Z")
Theres so many to pick from. Various ones by Isabelle Clarke like Apocalypse WW1 Pam & Tommy Various Ken Burns documentaries John Adams Cosmos (both the original and the remake) Haunting of hill House Rome ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/59 "2026-07-26T00:29:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It had to. The war was over. Could have gone to the Pacific front. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915/60 "2026-07-26T01:04:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Could have gone to the Pacific front. That’s a completely different miniseries. 🤨 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-miniseries/1031915.md?page=4)