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What Are Your Top 15 Of The Last 15? (1 Viewer)

Frank Soyke

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As primarily a fan of the vintage stuff, I'm the first to bemoan all the crap that permiates TV today, but I also acknowledge there has been some great stuff put in in the past 15 years. Although I'm not a huge fan of some of the more popular choices (Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc), quite a few shows have popped up in this era that I would label all time faves. This list is not that, but rather a list of what I would consider my top 15 from the last 15. In no particular order, except number 1:


1) Lost - I simply loved this show. One of the few modern shows I had trouble waiting for the next week to see the next ep.


2) Prison Break - Incredible character development and a premise was new and freash amidst all the Law and Order and CSI clones of the time.


3) 24 - What can I say. Jack Bauer. One of the most compelling TV characters ever. The epitome of the faulty hero.


4) Cold Case - The music made this sure the best of this very well trodden upon genre. Too bad we will never see a legit DVD release because of it.


5) Criminal Minds - Love the stories. Seem more true to life than some of the others of this genre.


6) Alcatraz - Sadly this one didn't make it. Great show. Compelling premise and well acted.


7) Journeyman - See above. Nice that this one got a DVD release (albeit in Europe)


8) Revolution - Would have loved to see what season 3 brought on this one.


9) Entourage - The Ari Gold character alone makes this show hilarious


10) Arrested Development - Don't laugh out loud at too many current sitcoms. I did on this one.


11) Once Upon A Time - All Magic comes with a price. Great cast. Writing is incredible.


12) Empire - Hate to be one of the masses, but this show is tremendous.


13) Family Plots - The only reality show I ever really liked.


14) The Office - At least the eps till Carell left. Extrememly funny.


15) Community - Their parodies of other shows/movies are extremely well written and funny.


Honorable Mentions - Without A Trace, CSI (The Original), Parks and Recreation, The Event, How I Met Your Mother, George Lopez, Law and Order SVU, Everybody Hates Chris, DIrty Sexy Money (Yes, I enjoyed this show), Life, Heroes, Desperate Housewives, Bones
 

smithbrad

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The following are a few I enjoyed:

- Star Trek Enterprise

- Firefly

- Doctor Who (BBC)

- Merlin (BBC)

- 24


A few I've picked up based on recommendations that I haven't watched yet but could break into that list:

- Smallville

- NCIS

- Numb3rs

- Fringe
 

benbess

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Some favorite shows of the 21st century, in no particular order


Orange is the New Black

Six Feet Under

Downton Abbey

Murdoch's Mysteries

Rome

Mozart in the Jungle

Park and Recreation

Battlestar Galactica

Enterprise

Avatar Last Airbender

Band of Brothers

Game of Thrones

Deadwood

Mad Men

Colbert Report

Sherlock BBC

Once Upon a Time

Foyle's War
 

Carabimero

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I don't have 15 but can tell you ones I have rewatched the most over the last 15 years. Rewatchability is the objective sole criteria for me. Good or bad is subjective. Sure The Sopranos is great. Deadwood is great. A lot of shows not on my list are GREAT. But I haven't rewatched them once in 15 years. Here are the ones I have, and the number of times I have rewatched them.


The Wire (3)

The Shield (3)

24 (3) [minus seasons 2 and 3 and 8]

Rome (2)

Battlestar Galactica (3)

Firefly (4)

The Good Wife [still on the air and still getting better]

Breaking Bad (1)

Enterprise (2) [surprisingly, didn't like it when it aired but like it more now on BD--maybe because I'm older, too]
 

Wezzo

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Friday Night Lights

Breaking Bad

Futurama

Community

Lost

Malcolm in the Middle

Monk

How I Met Your Mother

Scrubs

House

Arrested Development

This American Life

24

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Louie

The Shield


bonus:

King of the Hill (only seasons 4 onwards are from the last 15 years)

South Park (only seasons 4 onwards are from the last 15 years)


I also love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Middle, 30 Rock, Gilmore Girls, Men of a Certain Age, The Office, Everwood, Boston Legal..
 

Walter Kittel

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I'm not going to attempt to list a single show from each of the years (2000 to 2014) but will list 15 shows that I really, really like (mostly in order of enjoyment):


Perhaps my all time favorite show premiered in 2000...


Gilmore Girls - Loved the fast paced intelligent dialog, the relationships, the snark, the music, the cast. Everything about this show worked for me. Really admired the writing and the pace of the dialog (think 1940's screwball comedy.)


On to the rest...


Battlestar Galactica - I was somewhat of a fan of the original series, but the remake really captured me with its storytelling and characters. One of the great television scores courtesy of Bear McCreary. The series has held up on multiple revisits for me.


Fringe - Watched the original broadcasts and a complete revisit on Blu-Ray and the overall 'tightness' of the series continues to impress. Perhaps a few weaker episodes in the bunch, but remarkably consistent and great acting by the three principal leads. John Noble created one of the great television characters in the personage of Walter Bishop.


Breaking Bad - Missed the original broadcast and watched on Blu-Ray. Deserving of all the accolades the series has received over the years. Arguably more consistent than the shows ahead of it on this list, but its position as number four on my list is more about the enjoyment of those other series and not due to any flaws in Breaking Bad.


Game of Thrones - What can you say? The scope of the production puts the show in a category all by itself. Sometimes I admire the series more than i enjoy it though so number five on the list.


Californication - One of my favorite comedies. Absolutely loved the irreverent tone of the series and the friendship between Hank & Charlie (best thing about the series for me.)


The Mentalist - The series probably overstayed its welcome and toyed with viewers too long, but this show is on the list due to the chemistry of the cast and the charisma of the lead character played by Simon Baker. Patrick Jane would be a pretty interesting character to have as a friend.


Boston Legal - Great, great showcase for James Spader. Favorite moments from the series involved Spader and William Shatner - esp. on the rooftop smoking and drinking as the show wrapped up for the week.


Supernatural - Season seven (with Dick Roman) was pretty bad, but the chemistry between the leads cements the series on my list. Has solid supporting work as well - particularly Mark Sheppard as Crowley (a.k.a. the King of Hell). I don't think there is a show out there that handles metafiction better than Supernatural. (Well, of the ones I have viewed.)


Prison Break - Yeah season four was not all that, but the first season ran with clockwork precision and hooked me immediately. Loved the conspiracies, the larger than life villains and the MacGyver-like aspects of the show.


Dexter (first five seasons only). After season five the series took a complete nose-dive that should preclude it from this list, but the concept of the show and execution of the early seasons puts it on the list. The early seasons were subversive enough to suggest that Dexter's actions might be justified but eventually the series wussed-out and tried to make the character more approachable. Still holds the record for the most Gawd-awful series finale I've ever seen which should make me strike it from this list. :)


30 Rock - Writing, writing, writing is why this on my list.


Swingtown - Only lasted one summer on CBS in 2008 but the series did a great job of taking the viewer back to the '70s. Solid casting and a great time capsule show. Loved the soundtrack, the fashion, the sensibilities of the characters. Really wish this had ran longer than one summer.


Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Gratuitous as all get out, but very gripping and involving. Absolutely loved John Hannah as the perpetually put-upon Batiatus.


House - Probably too formulaic for its own good, but worthy of being on the list for Hugh Laurie's performance and his unwavering cynicism and pragmatism.


Honorable Mentions:


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Scrubs

Firefly

Legend of the Seeker


There are others but that'll do.


- Walter.
 

davidmatychuk

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Rather than think about it, I'll just list what's on my shelves. Why wouldn't these be the ones I like best?

Boardwalk Empire
Deadwood
Dexter
Homeland
Justified
Louie
Mad Men
The Sopranos
The Newsroom
Ray Donovan
Downton Abbey
Firefly
Call The Midwife
Futurama
Fargo
Californication

I also liked True Detective and Penny Dreadful apparently, but of the recent one-season-wonders I think Fargo holds the most promise for a second season. Also, I know this is a list of 16, but Futurama started in 1999, so it's my "Top 15 from the last 15" AND my "Top 16 from the last 16" list.
 

RMajidi

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Foyle's War
Life on Mars (original UK edition)
EDIT: Frasier (how on earth did I forget to include this?)
Black Books
Hornblower
Sir Gadabout
IT Crowd
Flight of the Conchords
Arrested Development
Malcolm in the Middle
Miranda
The Middle
Seriously Weird
Community
Doctor Who (Matt Smith)
 

Richard V

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Battlestar Galactica

Dexter

Deadwood

Breaking Bad

Justified

Invasion

Alcatraz

The Walking Dead

Carnivale

Jericho

Firefly

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

24

The Sopranos

Fringe
 

GMBurns

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I have almost nothing in my collection from the last 15 years, but the one show I have loved is New Tricks from the BBC. The characterization of the four leads is excellent. It is so much fun to watch them interact together. And since they are working on cold cases from the past I don't have to see any of the grisly carnage of most modern shows. My wife and I watch an episode every week and have viewed the first five series so far. We may not continue beyond series 10, when three of the four original leads have left the show, but until then New Tricks is a blast.
 

AndrewCrossett

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Alias

Agents of SHIELD

Angel

Arrested Development

Castle

Downton Abbey

Firefly

Game of Thrones

Grimm

How I Met Your Mother [except for that last season]

Lost

Pushing Daisies

Supernatural

Venture Bros.

Veronica Mars


Not a lot of the "prestige" cable shows on the list, but I'm sure some of those would probably move on to the list if I ever get around to watching them.
 

TravisR

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There's been a lot of really great shows in the last 15 years but for me, the top 5 shows were (alphabetically):

Breaking Bad

Lost

Parks And Recreation

The Sopranos

The Wire


The other 10 (alphabetically):

Battlestar Galactica

Boardwalk Empire

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Deadwood

Mad Men

The Shield

South Park

Treme

24


Honorable mention (alphabetically):

Arrested Development

Futurama

The Office

Sons Of Anarchy

30 Rock


Shows where there's only been one season but they're off to a great start: Better Call Saul, The Leftovers and True Detective.


I'd have definitely included The X-Files but probably 3/4 of the episodes are more than 15 years old now so I excluded it.
 

Gary OS

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Not much from me. But I have watched and enjoyed at least portions, if not all, of the following series:


Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye

Smallville

ST:Enterprise

King of the Hill

Doctor Who



Gary "really impressed with how Sue Thomas, for a newer series, was so completely family friendly" O.
 

Walter Kittel

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There is one other show that should have made my honorable mentions, at least...


Better Off Ted - Absolutely, positively nailed some of the more ridiculous aspects of working for a major corporation. Anytime a show successfully parodies actions at your own workplace as accurately and succinctly as Better Off Ted managed - well, you know it hit the bullseye. Another series that should have ran much, much longer.


- Walter.
 

ScottRichard

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I've always considered myself more of a classic TV/movie fan, but I also like to try out new series too and have found a lot of shows I love over the past 15 years. In no particular order:


Farscape

Firefly

Star Trek: Enterprise

Smallville

Gilmore Girls

Friday Night Lights

Parks and Recreation

Raising Hope

Shameless

The Mentalist

Person of Interest

Sherlock

Merlin

Supernatural

Grimm
 

HenryDuBrow

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My collection or viewing in general is mainly classic TV but I did/do enjoy these 15. No particular order, except the first three.


The Walking Dead

The Blacklist

Futurama

Dead Like Me

Tru Calling

Resurrection

Ghost Whisperer

Glory Days

My Own Worst Enemy

Dollhouse

Frank Riva

Lie To Me

Cold Case

CSI Miami

Boston Legal


 

Peter M Fitzgerald

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Alphabetically:


The Americans

Boardwalk Empire

Breaking Bad

Dead Like Me

Deadwood

Dexter

Fargo

Game of Thrones

Justified

Lost

Mad Men

Pushing Daisies

Rome

Terriers

The Wire


Runners-up:


Better Call Saul

Outlander

Band of Brothers

True Detective

The Sopranos

Sons of Anarchy

The Shield

Ray Donovan

Doctor Who

Black Books

Longmire

Halt and Catch Fire

The Hour

The Bridge

The Tudors

Downton Abbey

Burn Notice

Firefly

Lilyhammer

The Amazing Race

Survivorman


Unseen, all high on my 'to watch' list:


Sherlock

House of Cards

Boss

The Borgias

Magic City

Peaky Blinders

Spartacus

American Horror Story

The Strain
 

Carabimero

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What I am really surprised at seeing, and delighted, is all the posts that include STAR TREK ENTERPRISE in their top 15. I never would have thought it--and it wouldn't have been on my list if not for the BDs, I'm embarrassed to say.
 

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