The 5 best current TV dramas

[Cat_Whisperer]

@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. <snip>

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!

[Alessan]

@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.

[Breen11]

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.

[AK84]

Disagree wrt The Americans. Many real life undercover types did not get caught for years.

[Enright3]

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.

[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]

@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.

[Zeldar]

@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!

[Sherrerd]

@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.)