My Favorite Television Dramas of All Time (In Order!)

Breaking Bad. The gold standard of TV dramas. Nothing on TV had been as good or has been as good since. Yes Bryan Cranston was a huge part of the success but the brilliance of the cast ran deep and the writing was unparalleled. All hail Vince Gilligan. So many unforgettable moment and scenes.

Barry. Labeled a comedy but if you watched it, particularly the last few seasons, you know that’s a misnomer. It stablished that Bill Hader is a genius.

Mad Men. Novelistic in scope and how deeply it explores characters. Captured an era and our imaginations. I finally watched it this year and over the four months there was nary a yawn induced.

The Wire. So often I felt like I was watching a documentary. Each season was different, each was excellent.

Ozark. Like Breaking Bad it provided a lot of “wow!” Moments. Highlighted by brilliant performances from Jason Bateman and Laura Linney.

Succession. Best TV theme song ever. An absolutely delicious cast of really rotten people.

The Americans. For years I resisted the idea of show about Russian spies embedded in the US. Big mistake. Great stuff from first episode to last.

Northern Exposure. Would have been much higher were it not for the fact that CBS ruined the last season-and-a-half. The words quirky and off-beat were made for this show. Also charming.

The Sopranos. The trend setter for the modern TV dramas. Outside of The Godfather and Goodfellas, the best fictional look at mobsters.

The Pitt. Another show I resisted. Utterly compelling despite the fact that you don’t know half the medical jargon they’re using.

Better Call Saul. It was a long meandering trip to get where it was going but my goodness it was worth the ride.

The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling was a genius and while there were many imitators nothing like it that was any good has come along since. It was the only great non comedy on TV for decades.

Orange is the New Black. It started out as the true story of a privileged white girl going to the slammer and morphed into so much more with a fascinating array of characters.

Foyle’s War. Quite different than the rest on this list. An excellent “cop show” set in England during World War II. Engaging characters in engaging stories in an engaging setting.