# The 5 best current TV dramas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888 "2013-11-01T23:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/21 "2013-11-06T06:03:05Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > I’m enjoying _ **The Blacklist** _ quite a bit, but honestly, I’m just enjoying James Spader. Sign me up for anything that man does. \ Agreed. James Spader owns that show, and the rest of the cast needs to step it the fuck up. I don’t watch any of the shows on the list. I’d probably like all of them, but I don’t get the right kind of cable, in spite of the large fees I pay every month. Yeah, I’m working on it. :mad: My favourite dramas - The Mentalist Person of Interest Lost Girl Game of Thrones House of Cards (thanks to Netflix) ETA: Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman - best show EVER! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/22 "2013-11-06T08:22:43Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > _Elementary_ is really enjoyable. It’s much more than just a standard detective procedural. There’s fantastic character development and a very interesting multi-episode plot arc at the end of the first season. I’ve said this before, I like _Sherlock,_ I think it is stylistically stronger than _Elementary,_ but _Elementary_ is much more tightly plotted than _Sherlock._ The mysteries always start out strong on _Sherlock_ but then they go off on pointless convoluted tangents that fail to wrap up in a satisfying manner. Plotting is Steven Moffat’s Achilles heel. It’s more evident in _Doctor Who_ - where it’s threatening to bring down the show - but you can see it in \*Sherlock \*as well. He’s great at writing bravura scenes and character moments, but not very good at linking them together into a coherent story. ---
**Author:** ![Breen11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Breen11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breen11)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/23 "2013-11-06T08:48:31Z")
Sons of Anarchy. Iv liked this show from the start. Boardwalk Empire. @ 1st this was a really slow boring show for me. Then it grew on me & I liked it. So far iv liked this season. Also this somes it up. > [@](#): > > “_Boardwalk Empire is so close to being a great show. They’ve got all of the ingredients for greatness: great acting, great sets, great costumes, interesting characters, an interesting setting and premise. But somehow they just can’t bring all that together for a polished finished product. Plot points often seem cartoonishly over the top or lazily thrown together. Most television dramas suffer from a lack of tension_ due to an unwillingness to kill off main characters. Boardwalk Empire is probably the only drama in television history that would benefit from less people being killed.\*” The Americans. This somes it up for me as well. > [@](#): > > “_Which is the exact problem I have with The Americans. It’s a good show but it’s getting a little dull and straining credulity because the two leads can’t get caught, because then there’d be no show. The concept probably would have worked better as a movie or a miniseries._” The Walking Dead. I liked this show during season 1. After season 1 it just more of a miss then a hit. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/24 "2013-11-06T09:31:29Z")
Disagree wrt The Americans. Many real life undercover types did not get caught for years. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/25 "2013-11-06T16:38:35Z")
For me The Good Wife is the first on the list. Justified Elementary Sadly I cannot put Braking Bad on there. ☹ Since I’m a cable cutter I haven’t recently seen Game of Thrones or Boardwalk Empire. However they would definitely have made the list when I was watching them. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/26 "2013-11-06T17:19:35Z")
**The Bridge** has all the right ingredients but was severely hurt by the David Tate revenge plot. The elements are all there, so I have high hopes for the second season. **Justified** and **Game of Thrones** get my vote. To make five, I’d add **Downton Abbey** and **Call the Midwife**. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/27 "2013-11-06T20:51:49Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **The Bridge** has all the right ingredients but was severely hurt by the David Tate revenge plot. > The elements are all there, so I have high hopes for the second season… I agree with this (I’d forgotten about _The Bridge_, which does qualify as it’s still in production). I’m enjoying _Ray Donovan_, too, though it owes so much to _The Sopranos_. Some great performances, even if the story is derivative. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/28 "2013-11-06T20:58:23Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **The Bridge** has all the right ingredients but was severely hurt by the David Tate revenge plot. > > The elements are all there, so I have high hopes for the second season. > > **Justified** and **Game of Thrones** get my vote. > > To make five, I’d add **Downton Abbey** and **Call the Midwife**. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > I agree with this (I’d forgotten about _The Bridge_, which does qualify as it’s still in production). > > I’m enjoying _Ray Donovan_, too, though it owes so much to _The Sopranos_. Some great performances, even if the story is derivative. Thanks for mentioning two shows I should have mentioned in the OP that I am fond of, but which are in hiatus at the moment and therefore “out of mind.” 🙂 I should also have mentioned _The Americans_ which shares that status. There’s not enough room on Sunday for all these shows! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888/29 "2013-11-06T21:15:36Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > There’s not enough room on Sunday for all these shows! Yeah, I really hate that feature of the US programmers’ credo. Six nights a week it’s “meh,” but then Sunday, it’s Hard Choices time. (I don’t do the Tivo.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-best-current-tv-dramas/672888.md?page=1)