Ranking My Favorite TV Shows

These are the television shows that I have seen, so spare me your inquiries on where The Sopranos and The Wire are on the list. I have not finished them yet.

15) Stranger Things (Netflix)

What is it about the 80's that makes us nostalgic for a decade I never lived through? Whatever it is, Stranger Things captured that magic and combined it with modern filmmaking capabilities to give us a crowd-pleasing and well-told story. If there's one common plot aspect that I'm a sucker for, is a slowly unraveling mystery (a common theme on this list). Learning more about Eleven's powers, the creepy government facility, and the Demogorgon made for a fun and very active viewing experience. The best part of the show has to be its characters, though. These child actors blew everyone away and for good reason. Also, I'll just say that Steve's character arc is one of the best I've seen in a long time. Not since Zuko and Jamie Lannister had I gone from hating a character to establishing them as my favorite like I did with Steve.

14) Big Little Lies (HBO)

Again, it's the slowly unraveling mysteries that get me every time. Oh there's a murder in a small town and it might be one of these women and you won't tell me yet? You better believe I'll stay until I find out. Little did I know how dark and, above all else, extremely well-paced this show was. The way it told the story in real time, and also in the future through the townspeople talking to the detectives post-murder was extremely clever. You never knew who to trust, because everyone knows everyone. I love murder mysteries and this show is an extremely entertaining who-done-it with a twist that I definitely didn't see coming.

13) The West Wing (HBO Max)

Did you ever wonder what it's like to work in the White House, but in a Hollywood glamorization version where everyone is likeable and gets along with each other? Watch this iconic show that your older sibling who majored in political-science probably hasn't shut up about since 2001. Aaron Sorkin created this show and if you know his past work (The Social Network, Moneyball, Molly's Game, Trial of the Chicago 7), then you know this show is non-stop, fast-paced dialogue that flows like water. It's so damn good, the dialogue between characters goes back and forth and feels like music. The main characters are our fearless leader, President Martin Sheen, and his merry band of white house staffers who all have their flaws but are all-around likable enough that you genuinely care that things go well for them. It's very interesting too, because you get a dramatized version of what actually happens in the white house staffers lives when things are going on in our country. How they react to a terrorist threat, how they deal with foreign relations, how they work with the other side of the aisle, and how they work with each other. It's all fascinating and makes for top tier television.

12) Peaky Blinders (Netflix)

This may have been the first Netflix original series that I ever binged, and if you're someone who loves crime dramas and also loves British people being super British, then you've watched this show all the way through. Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby is one of the most iconic tv characters in the past 20 years, hands down. FINALLY, Cillian Murphy gets the credit he deserves because up until this point he has been criminally underrated and underused as an actor. If you haven't watched the show, you've probably heard some dude say, "We're the Peaky Fucking Blinders," in a thick Cockney accent before.

11) Daredevil (Netflix)

The best superhero show EVER. I'll never forgive Kevin Feige for scrapping this show because it didn't fit into his 4-part plan to take over pop culture. If you didn't know who Daredevil is, he's a street-level hero in the Marvel Universe who had worked closely with Spider-Man in the comic books, since he works in New York City. By day, he's a blind lawyer, but by night, he's a blind, ass-kicking badass. Matt Murdock is such a compelling hero and operates very similarly to Batman. His superpower is just that his blindness enhances his other senses to almost superhero-levels. The fight scenes are so well choreographed. Season 1 is pretty good, but it's seasons 2 and 3 that are god-tier superhero story arcs. Especially season 2, which pits Daredevil against The Punisher, where they have the greatest superhero philosophical debate ever put to screen - is it better to kill evil criminals, or just put them in jail? Both make oddly compelling arguments and make you question your own morality, then you're like, "wait, I'm watching a Marvel superhero show right now."

10) Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I watched this sporadically as a kid, but when it was released on Netflix last summer, I binged it all in one go and realized that this was one of the most well-made shows ever made, and I never appreciated it. This show perfectly balances the episodic stories with the overarching conflict so well. Aang is a very compelling protagonist, Katara is a great voice of caution, Toph is straight out of a Tarantino film, and Sokka is just the GOAT, I can't explain further. However, it's the side characters and antagonists that make this show god-tier. Zuko and Uncle Iroh literally carry the emotionally weight of the entire show on their backs. Zuko's story arcs should be taught in film school as a masterclass in character development. Its story is original and I am a massive sucker for original plots told in a fantasy setting. This is the perfect mix of Asian and Western aesthetics and it's a show I'll be showing my kids someday for sure.

9) Chernobyl (HBO)

This is a mini-series on HBO that took me by surprise. Everything about this show is masterful. What this show does is incredible because it acts like a drama, but also a thriller/horror as well. It's very historically accurate and tells the story about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the brave women and men who had to suffer through containing the disaster. It is jaw-dropping and bone-chilling. I fully believe this should be shown in schools because it really makes you realize how close this incident got to becoming a global-nuclear disaster that could have affected all of Europe and Asia if it weren't for some brave people who sacrificed their lives to minimize the damage. The acting is incredible, the music is amazing and unnerving, and the script is perfect so that you fully understand what is going on. By the end, you may even know enough about nuclear reactors to write a full paper on it.

8) Mad Men (Amazon Prime w/ Ads)

If there's one way to describe this show, it's a slooowww burn. At times, you may feel like nothing really happened in an episode, but that's okay because the writing is so damn good you'll forget that the plot had not really advanced that much. Similar to how Forrest Gump showed the passage of decades through the eyes of one man, we get to experience the drastic cultural changes of the 50s, 60s, and 70s through the eyes of an entire advertisement agency. Specifically, through the coolest guy to ever grace the silver screen, Don Draper. Is Don a model citizen? Not at all, he lies, cheats, and manipulates the people around him. BUT DAMN IF HE DOESN'T LOOK GOOD SMOKING A CIGARETTE IN THAT SUIT. The way this show shows how times change through how an ad agency is genius, since advertising is one of the things you can look at and clearly see how the public's perspective of the world is changing.

7) Mindhunter (Netflix)

This show will make you question your very sanity and have you asking questions like, "I would never kill anyone...would I?" It's not so much the mystery as much as its the psychological dive into the mind of a serial killer. Following the true story of the two detectives who essentially created criminal psychology was a thrill-ride, but an unsettling one at that. The conversations are what carry this show. The script is based on the real recorded conversations with the actual serial killers and man does it make you squirm in an unnerving kind of way. Some of the serial killers appear to be genuinely nice people who get along with all the prison guards, but yet have no remorse for their actions and are well aware of their sickness. Hearing a maniac so calming talk about themselves with such self-awareness just keeps me up at night sometimes. It's a brilliant show that I think is super underrated. If you love crime dramas or crime documentaries, you owe it to yourself to watch this because this is as close as you'll come to understanding what goes on inside a serial killer's head.

6) Band of Brothers (HBO)

My favorite war movie of all time is Saving Private Ryan, and this HBO mini-series is pretty much Saving Private Ryan if it was stretched out into a 10 episode saga of Easy Company. Man was this series brilliant. You can't claim to like war movies and not watch this classic. Based on the true memoirs of 101st Airborne Division's Easy Company during WWII, this saga follows a group of soldiers as they navigate major WWII events like Operation Overlord and the Battle of the Bulge. I am a huge WWII buff, mostly because my grandfather fought in it and he was my hero. Watching this really makes me appreciate those who fought even more then I already did. It's depressing, it's heroic, it's heart-wrenching, and above all it's important. It's important because it helps us remember.

5) The Mandalorian (Disney+)

Uh oh, my bias is showing. Yes, I know that this is mostly because I am a huge Star Wars fan. If you didn't already like Star Wars then this show probably would not crack your top 10. HOWEVER, due to me be a long suffering Star Wars fan who has had to sit through the absolute mess of a trilogy Disney crapped out, I was skeptical about this. Thank god my expectations were low because when this ended up being amazing, I was blown away. The characters were amazing, the sets were perfect, the dialogue was snappy and not all fluff, and the action was exactly my cup of tea. No wacky wavy force battles or over-the-top space battles. Just papa Mando and his son wandering the galaxy getting into some well-choreographed scuffs here and there. Inject this series directly into my veins because watching it every Friday morning was my favorite weekly ritual. This is how you do fan service well without selling yourself out. Well done Disney, now do it again...forever...or you'll face the wrath of Star Wars fans. If there's one thing that's certain in this world, it's that nobody hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans, so when a Star Wars show makes everyone happy, then you know it did its job right.

4) Attack on Titan (Available on Hulu)

You may not know this, but this show is currently the most popular show in America at the moment. This was my most recent binge and I don't think I've ever finished a show so fast. This show is a masterpiece that is only getting better as it's in its fourth and final season right now. This is simply the most original and tightly told story I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Not a single moment is wasted and the gradual unraveling of its plot makes it impossible to not binge it all in one go. Adapted from the famous manga of the same name, Attack on Titan appears to be a simple story of the last humans on Earth barricading themselves inside a walled-city as mindless, humanoid monsters seek to eat any and all humans they see. Simple could not be more wrong when describing this show. Each new episode answers one question and then asks five more. Each new season begins to unravel the mystery of what lies outside the walls of the city, and what secrets lie inside. The animation is gorgeous, but not as gorgeous as the soundtrack, which is currently in the running as one of my favorites ever. It is extremely hard to not get into spoilers when discussing this show, so all I'll say is that it has some of the greatest twists I have ever seen. You never know what to expect and only upon re-watching the earlier episodes did I realize they were waving the answers in my face the entire time. It's genius on every level and I don't think I've ever become a die-hard fan of anything as fast as I have for this show. Get over whatever negative bias you have for animated shows and watch this because when I say this show is TV-MA, I mean they take FULL advantage of that rating.

3) True Detective (HBO)

The first season of this show that stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson is the single greatest season of television I have ever seen. It is so deep and so tightly told that you have to take a break from how depressing it can be sometimes. One of the best McConaughey performances of all time combined with amazing chemistry with Woody Harrelson makes this a thrilling and entertaining detective story. Taking place in the backwoods of Louisiana, the first season's story follows these two detectives (who could not be more different) as they try and solve a series of murders that begins to unravel a state-wide conspiracy. It truly puts on display the decay of society in those places in America that the rest of society has forgotten about. Since this is an anthology series, each season follows a different story with different characters. Season 2 is not as good, but still very good television, and season 3 holds its own very well. It's season one, however, that keeps this show in the top 3 for me, because it blows my mind how well-told it is every single time.

2) Breaking Bad (Netflix)

Remember back in high school when every single guy you met probably asked you if you had seen Breaking Bad yet? Ahhhhh those were simple times. The widely debated "greatest show of all time" does not find its credits in bad faith, because holy shit is this show masterfully crafted. Walter White is THE television anti-hero that reinvented the character trope. It was not showered with awards for nothing, because it has some of the most intense and suspenseful scenes ever put to screen. This show IS the danger for other shows, because they will always be compared to it if they ever hope to be considered "the best of all-time."

1) Game of Thrones (HBO)

Okay before you say anything, I am referring to the series as a whole, and not whatever the hell season 8 was. Let's be honest though, everyone and their mothers were watching this show when it was at its peak a few years ago. Remember how much this show took over the media when a new episode aired? I had never witnessed something like that before. I am so used to binging shows that nobody else is watching and having nobody to discuss with, and all of a sudden here comes this show that I had entire DROVES of people to talk about it with. Not only did I have my first ever "viewing party" experiences with this show, but I would live-text like 10 different people as each episode aired. It was spectacular and for a fantasy nerd like myself, it was glorious watching non-nerds get tricked into watching fantasy. Hell, ESPN would tweet about some of the episodes after they happened, when else has that happened? All that and this show still baffles me how quickly it was left out of the public's mind. The showrunners may have ruined their careers by how rushed the final season was and I sincerely hope they do. For the sake of this list, I am mostly referring to seasons 1-7. Remember the first time you saw the Battle of the Blackwater? What about the first time the Red Wedding happened? How about the first time you saw a favorite character die? This show managed to take a guy who was committing incest and pushing children out of windows in the first episode, and make him into my favorite character. HOW DO YOU DO THAT? God, I will miss the highs that this show achieved in its prime, so let us all appreciate this show for what it was.