# What is the 4th-best TV series ever?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 2, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779 "2016-09-02T14:13:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/1 "2016-09-02T14:13:02Z")
[This Salon article](http://www.salon.com/2016/08/28/ranking-the-best-tv-shows-i-certainly-could-have-been-talked-into-the-wire-or-the-sopranos) ranks the top five TV series of all-time as _Breaking Bad_, _The Sopranos_, _The Wire_, _The Simpsons_ and _Cheers_. Setting aside the comedies which I didn’t watch this leaves three dramas — _Breaking Bad, Sopranos_, and _The Wire_ — which happen to be my Top Three also.
So what show should I add to round out the list to a Top Four? Let’s stipulate that at least three full seasons are needed; otherwise _Fargo_ would be an option, along with miniseries like _Smiley’s People_. The article places five more shows into a 2nd tier: _Mad Men_, _Deadwood_, and three more comedies. I enjoyed Mad Men, but gave up on Deadwood after several episodes. A main problem with each of these was that I didn’t find the characters to be interesting or particularly likable. (My favorites are almost always crime drama — crime sets a good background for suspense, plot, interesting dialog, and moral dilemma.)
What show would Dopers put in the #4 slot? Feel free to disagree with slots #1-#3 as well, of course. 🙂
**I pick _Orange is the New Black_ to round out my Top Four!** I feel almost embarrassed by this choice: _Orange_ often seems like slapstick, or melodrama, or lazy sitcom. But the fact that it skates around those three different forms, while rising above them, makes it great IMO. Many of the characters are very interesting; many are very likable. The show has sentimentality and romance, for which I’m a sucker. The acting seems good. The fast-moving plots are good. Yet I haven’t quite put my finger on why this peculiar show belongs in the Top Four; maybe another Doper can explain it to _me_.
I’ve been binge-watching TV series for the past several years. In some cases, after investing many hours I felt cheated and wanted my hours back! Some shows —_Americans, Justified, West Wing,_ maybe _Mad Men_ or _ER_ — are good candidates if I wanted to make a Top Ten list.
But _Orange is the New Black_ is my undisputed winner, the Fourth Best TV series ever!
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### Author:  [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/2 "2016-09-02T14:16:36Z")
1. Star Trek TOS
2. Dark Shadows
3. Babylon 5
4. Star Trek Deep Space Nine
5. One Piece
6. ?
7. Profit!
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/3 "2016-09-02T14:18:28Z")
Law and Order:Criminal Intent
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### Author:  [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/4 "2016-09-02T14:23:58Z")
_Friday Night Lights_. As a whole I rank that show above _The Sopranos_, although that’s probably an unpopular opinion.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/5 "2016-09-02T14:24:46Z")
**Buffy the Vampire Slayer**
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/6 "2016-09-02T14:26:03Z")
_USA Night Flight_.
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/7 "2016-09-02T14:40:04Z")
I know it’s not the point of this thread, but I’ve just got to reject that top 5 out of principle.
I read the article, and while the author pays lip-service to being aware of and compensating for “recency bias,” he obviously is deeply committed to the idea that modern sensibilities about what make good TV are the only sensibilities worth considering. Those are all good shows (well, I haven’t seen Breaking Bad, but I trust consensus), but the fact that nothing made before 1980 and three 21st-century dramas complete the top five make this list look like a genre fan-boy echo-chamber piece more than any kind of critical analysis of a 70+ year-old media/art form.
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/8 "2016-09-02T14:50:59Z")
I like many films from the mid 20th-century.
**But** there are very few of the old series that measure up to present-day best like Breaking Bad, Orange, etc., IMO. From time to time I watch an old TV episode from a series that I remember enjoying long ago. It never measures up. Even highly rated series like M_A_S\*H are totally outclassed by present-day TV.
Since I _do_ like many old films, I’m not sure why old TV series don’t measure up … but they don’t.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/9 "2016-09-02T14:55:08Z")
Leaving out comedies:
#4
Game of Thrones
House of Cards
The Walking Dead
you pick
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/10 "2016-09-02T15:21:08Z")
> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> I know it’s not the point of this thread, but I’ve just got to reject that top 5 out of principle.
>
> I read the article, and while the author pays lip-service to being aware of and compensating for “recency bias,” he obviously is deeply committed to the idea that modern sensibilities about what make good TV are the only sensibilities worth considering. Those are all good shows (well, I haven’t seen Breaking Bad, but I trust consensus), but the fact that nothing made before 1980 and three 21st-century dramas complete the top five make this list look like a genre fan-boy echo-chamber piece more than any kind of critical analysis of a 70+ year-old media/art form.
I think the big difference now is the popularity of serialization. Complex plots and story lines can be explored over the course of a season or beyond. For me, it’s like having a good movie that stretches on and on. Very pleasing. Episodic or procedural shows pale in scope and seem dull and predictable in comparison.
What older dramas would you say compete well against _The Sopranos_ or _Breaking Bad_?
My vote for show number four goes to _Six Feet Under._
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/11 "2016-09-02T15:21:24Z")
Hill Street Blues
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### Author:  [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/12 "2016-09-02T15:30:47Z")
Alf
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/13 "2016-09-02T15:54:42Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> What older dramas would you say compete well against _The Sopranos_ or _Breaking Bad_?
Oh, anyone where the main characters aren’t unrepentant scumbags and murders.
I never got why modern drama is required to have the protagonists be bad people doing bad things to bad (or good) people.
I’d vote Hill Street Blues, but even that degraded into making everyone a jerk by the end of the show, even Furillo.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/14 "2016-09-02T15:54:49Z")
_The West Wing_
And I would rank _Arrested Development_ as the best sitcom.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/15 "2016-09-02T16:01:15Z")
Leaving out comedies means my list would be a slim one, since I think the over-whelming majority of TV drama is totally uninteresting.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/16 "2016-09-02T16:03:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> \*_Arrested Development_ as the best sitcom.
I would agree. But you have to consider it as a whole body of work, not just individual episodes.
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### Author:  [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/17 "2016-09-02T16:29:54Z")
This poll is way too skewed towards modern shows. For example how can _I Love Lucy_ not be in the discussion?
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### Author:  [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/18 "2016-09-02T16:43:46Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> What older dramas would you say compete well against _The Sopranos_ or _Breaking Bad_?
Okay, I’m 55 years old and have, obviously, been watching TV just about all my life.
Now I haven’t read the Salon article yet, so I don’t know all the shows they’ve listed (or not included).
Now I’ve watched and am a fan of _The Sopranos_, _Breaking Bad_ and _The Wire_, they’re excellent shows. But they have the **“advantage”** of:
• not being on an over the air network, where restrictions are much, much, tighter
• two of them never had to worry about commercial breaks
• they had EASY seasons. Didn’t have to start every year in September and produce a LOT of episodes each year.
Often, when talking with my friends we’ll list list what we believe are the best shows of all time.Since I’ve watched many American shows \*(as well as BBC programs) I have a lot to choose from, but each time I always come back to the same choice.
The Best TV series ever is…
_The Twilight Zone_ (orginal)
I never saw it when it first aired, only saw it later in life. Nothing can beat the writing, the music, the acting! And while many of the endings have a twist, the episodes are so damn good, even if you know how it ends you STILL watch it again and again.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/19 "2016-09-02T16:51:56Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> I think the big difference now is the popularity of serialization. Complex plots and story lines can be explored over the course of a season or beyond. For me, it’s like having a good movie that stretches on and on. Very pleasing. Episodic or procedural shows pale in scope and seem dull and predictable in comparison.
While every thing you say incorrect, that’s ALSO what’s wrong with modern dramas.
I know many friends who wanted to give _Breaking Bad_ a chance, but couldn’t. They’d missed the first few seasons and couldn’t just “pick it up” in the third season. It’s those complex plots and story lines that keep new viewers away.
If, during it’s run, you wanted to give _Law & Order_ or _CSI_ a shot, you could tune in any time, even during the season, and enjoy it.
Yeah I know, people can binge watch shows to catch up (and full disclosure, I did that with _Mad Men_) but not everyone has the time and it can be a pain in the ass. And really, the episodes all start to blend into one.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-4th-best-tv-series-ever/764779/20 "2016-09-02T16:58:58Z")
> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> I know it’s not the point of this thread, but I’ve just got to reject that top 5 out of principle.
>
> I read the article, and while the author pays lip-service to being aware of and compensating for “recency bias,” he obviously is deeply committed to the idea that modern sensibilities about what make good TV are the only sensibilities worth considering. Those are all good shows (well, I haven’t seen Breaking Bad, but I trust consensus), but the fact that nothing made before 1980 and three 21st-century dramas complete the top five make this list look like a genre fan-boy echo-chamber piece more than any kind of critical analysis of a 70+ year-old media/art form.
Yes. No MASH? No _Barney Miller_? No _I Love Lucy_? West Wing? Twilight Zone? bogus.
So West Wing & Twilight Zone would fit what the OP is asking for.
NCIS is good. Star Trek, TOS is up there.
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