# "Perfect" television shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 22, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366 "2025-04-22T15:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/161 "2025-04-24T02:46:34Z")
Mindhunter. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/162 "2025-04-24T03:00:36Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Even tried Hill Street Blues recently - hard to get over how dated it was. Not limited to the attitude towards women. But didn’t make it past the pilot. **Fun Fact:** Andy Renko, the Good Old Boy in the Shitkicker boots, was DOA in the original version of the pilot. Test audiences didn’t like it, so he was resurrected and made a permanent member of the cast. _ **Hill Street Blues** _ had a female public defender and a police force full of women cops. In what way was it sexist? ---
**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:** [April 24, 2025, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/163 "2025-04-24T03:05:08Z")
_На вкус и цвет, товарищей нет._😁 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/164 "2025-04-24T03:10:08Z")
Off the top of my head currently is **Andor** and **Better Call Saul**. Probably **Breaking Bad** too, though the borderline episodes for me were the ones related to the airplane crash, not Fly. They…probably are still good episodes though, just the low point of a great series. I’ll take the third path on **The Good Life**. I loved it, but felt it was a bit of a slog to get to the end. And what are we saying about the short-run shows? Pretty easy to have all good eps when you’re just doing a handful of them. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/165 "2025-04-24T03:11:47Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’ll nominate Blackadder. Even the first season, when Blackadder is basically playing the Baldrick role? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/166 "2025-04-24T05:33:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Barry” was tremendous from the first frame to the last. Good call. Agreed. The last season was definitely weird, but still good. > [@epbrown](#): > > “The Newsroom,” which deserves a mention if only for the “Why is America the greatest country in the world” scene. For me, the high watermark of that show had to be when Toby ruins it for everyone: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Uc1vrO6iL0U/hqdefault.jpg "Toby ruins it for everyone") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc1vrO6iL0U) ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/167 "2025-04-24T05:50:51Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > I thought of another show to nominate, realizing that it only appeals to people who like the kind of show it is: _[Carnivàle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C3%A0le)_. The big knock against it being included is that it was cancelled after two seasons (of a planned six), so it didn’t have a chance for the kind of resolution the story needed. _Carnivàle_ was a terrific show. And it brought to mind another show that I thought was fantastic, called _The Riches_, starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. I was distraught when it was cancelled. Also, honorable mention to _Picket Fences_ which was quirky in sort of a _Northern Exposure_ way, and had wonderful acting, but a lousy time slot (Friday nights) and never really caught on. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/168 "2025-04-24T06:04:54Z")
I have a couple of thoughts if we include mini-series or limited runs, such as the Moffat effort [Jekyll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jekyll_(TV_series)) (6 episode mini-series). But those are almost cheating, as others have mentioned. So, probably surprising NO ONE who has seen my avatar, I’ll nominate Samurai Jack. Story was actually completed with the 5th season, even if it was 12 _years_ later. It had the advantage of being a thing of many parts, so it wasn’t limited to serious, comedic, or action based episodes, so it had a bit of everything for everyone, including some real pathos. And overall, the animation was gorgeous even when stylized and simplified. Even the worst episodes were good fun, just not _great_. Yeah, I’d say The Good Place was _more_ perfect, but it also had episodes I liked better than others, and some characters I loved, and others I couldn’t wait to get off the damn screen. So when I think about perfect, I’m using the metaphor of USA school grading. An A+ for example, normally runs between a 97-100% score. Samurai jack is probably at the lower end, say 97, The Good Place probably 98-99, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 100% where every single beat lands (and the OP acknowledges it). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/169 "2025-04-24T06:13:54Z")
I will nominate _ **Coupling** _, which had a fourth season that seemed kind of pasted on, but it held up well, IMO. I wanted to nominate _Monk_, which is strong for its full run and has a lot of inventiveness, but honestly, the whole solving a murder in every episode just starts to become tedious. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/170 "2025-04-24T06:32:56Z")
I’ll submit [Terriers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1493239/) for consideration. From the wiki article: _" Ex-cop and recovering alcoholic Hank Dolworth partners with his best friend, former criminal Britt Pollack, in an unlicensed Private Investigator business."_ Sort of a low-life Rockford Files set in San Diego. Sadly it only lasted one season, but maybe that was for the best…it didn’t have a chance to go downhill in season two. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/171 "2025-04-24T07:41:25Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Death is not funny; it is tragic, but the show has many lighter moments. It has to, when dealing with such a subject, and the crazy ways the Reapers’ clients die helps with those. I’d recommend the show. Inspired by this thread, I took my DVDs of _Dead Like Me_ off the shelf, and am watching them tonight. Probably later than I should be, but it’s been a few years, and I am enjoying them. The falling piano was in S01E01, in 2003. There has also been a woman on a fence trying to get a cat out of a tree and slipping on a weak picket fence, and a shaggy dog story about a botched bank robbery where an honest depositor slips on a banana peel and gets his head crushed in a revolving door. Like I said, these are Looney Tunes kinds of things, and tragedies all, and it sounds morbid, but it’s they way they’re set up like in cartoons, that adds the lighter touch. Plus (for me, anyway), the series is set in Seattle, but filmed in Vancouver BC. I spent a lot of time in Vancouver some years ago, and it’s nice to see some familiar places again. ---
**Author:** ![Mish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Mish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mish)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/172 "2025-04-24T07:55:09Z")
My suggestion here is **Ghosts** , great episodes and fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/173 "2025-04-24T08:33:25Z")
No love for Big Bang Theory? I never watched it when it was live, but caught up on pretty much every episode when TNT (or TBS?) started it in reruns. I don’t recall any episodes I didn’t enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/174 "2025-04-24T10:45:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > На вкус и цвет, товарищей нет Конечно, для некоторых — ни одного. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/175 "2025-04-24T10:52:54Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > No love for Big Bang Theory? > > I never watched it when it was live, but caught up on pretty much every episode when TNT (or TBS?) started it in reruns. I don’t recall any episodes I didn’t enjoy. I have huge love for TBBT, and when it was good it was great-- I think it has my very favorite series finale ever-- but it did have a few clunkers. The one where they go to sing karaoke to celebrate the first Rostenkowski-Wolowitz pregnancy, is gawd-awful. They also have a few guest stars who fall flat-- mostly now, considering how many they have, but it kept the series from being perfect by the OP’s standards. Now, IMHO, is doesn’t get to be perfect, because it took a lot more chances than other shows, but it is what it is. Didn’t nominate another beloved show of mine, _Xena, Warrior Princess_ for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/176 "2025-04-24T11:01:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They also have a few guest stars who fall flat-- mostly now, considering how many they have, but it kept the series from being perfect by the OP’s standards. My god, they marched Bill Gates in there like a massive advert for Microsoft, which if any sort of geek credentials, would be Linus Torvalds. It was shameful. I missed that Musk was in there as well. I probably didn’t know who he was. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/177 "2025-04-24T11:49:41Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Wtf? The OP wrote: > > > What shows do you consider **to have been** perfect? > > (Bolding mine) I admit that I missed that past tense in the initial line - likely because so much of the rest of the OP was written in the present tense. Such as: > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > My nomination is _The Good Place_. No notes. Hooks you from the first scene and keeps you there until the end. A show you wish you could scrub from your mind and watch fresh. Under your criteria, I’m not sure how well I could participate in this thread. I think I’d still stand by Firefly, but not sure I could stick with Freaks and Geeks because I did not see it when it came out. I watched it some time after, so I could not comment on how it was when released. I do recall looking forward to Buffy and Angel each week. I imagine at least once or twice I may have felt, “Well, THAT wasn’t their best ep!” But other than that, I imagine I thought most of my favorite shows were pretty much perfect when I was watching them. Looking back - I watched - and enjoyed - a lot of crap. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/178 "2025-04-24T12:20:48Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > Wtf? The OP wrote: > > > > > What shows do you consider **to have been** perfect? > > > (Bolding mine) > > I admit that I missed that past tense in the initial line - likely because so much of the rest of the OP was written in the present tense. I assumed the tense was because we were only considering shows that were “over” (no longer making new episodes), because we can’t tell if a show is “perfect” unless we’ve seen every episode. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/179 "2025-04-24T12:33:45Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I assumed the tense was because we were only considering shows that were “over” (no longer making new episodes), because we can’t tell if a show is “perfect” unless we’ve seen every episode. I’m not sure of that. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > There are lots of excellent shows that aren’t perfect. Ted Lasso season 1 is perfect TV, I think, but it went longer than it needed to. So it doesn’t count for these purposes. IIRC, TL has been renewed for another season. Either way, I think the OP/thread ambiguous enough that my post might not have entirely merited a “Wtf”. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/180 "2025-04-24T12:41:31Z")
Moderating: > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > На вкус и цвет, товарищей нет > > Конечно, для некоторых — ни одного. 😉 Just a reminder that this is an English language board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366.md?page=10)