Dang, you have reminded me I should have remembered… War and Remembrance.
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.
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.
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?”
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.
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.
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.
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.[
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.
They are just a series. Perhaps, like the newer Shogun, they might have originally been intended as a miniseries.
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
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
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.
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.
