The Best TV Shows

Index

• The Best TV Shows
• Sci-Fi
• Historical – Rome, Vikings, British
• Fantasy
• Horror
• Drugs
• Crime
• General
• Adult Cartoons
• American Comedy
• British Comedy
• Kids
• Nature
• Potential – Not Vetted Yet
• When You Can’t Tell The Difference Between Your Favorite Dystopian Sci-Fi and The 2020s

The Best TV Shows

We are in the Golden Age of Television.

While being a high performing man means that you often won’t have a lot of time for entertainment such as TV or video games which will eat youe time, there is still a time and place for it.

Sometimes you’re burnt out or ill and need to lie down with some entertainment to unwind.

Sometimes you want to watch box sets with your girlfriend as a bonding experience and for shared cultural reference points. See also The Golden Relationship Rules.

So here are some TV shows you should consider watching, split by genre for your preferences.

Sci-Fi

• Babylon 5 – cult sci-fi epic among those who know. The first 5 year story arc on TV that created the golden age of television, brilliant character development, massive space battles and serious consequences of choices leading to the rise and fall of empires. Each season maps to one of story time. Slow to start but well worth the wait, brilliant by Seasons 3 and 4, which are easily amongst the greatest seasons of any show ever. The weird new trailer on IMDB doesn’t do it justice. The intro for Season 3 is my favorite of any show ever. Multi Emmy award winning, this show was even referenced by characters in Breaking Bad. There were at least 5 spin-off movies (Thirdspace and In the Beginning being the best ones) and a spin-off TV show called Crusade (you can skip that, only 1 season and it didn’t conclude)
• Stargate SG-1 – all around family friendly action-adventure, heroes, baddies, science and tragedy, and long-running story arc that builds up over time – it’s all there. Based off the movie and with another two movies of its own Continuum and The Ark of Truth
  • Stargate Atlantis – an expedition to a new galaxy, cut off from home awakens an ancient enemy. This is the show that made Jason Momoa famous. Your girlfriend will probably enjoy watching it for that reason alone
• Black Mirror – sci-fi anthology series – at times brilliant and revolutionary. Must see. If you’re familiar with Black Mirror, then you may appreciate this meme When You Can’t Tell The Difference Between Your Favorite Dystopian Sci-Fi and The 2020s.
  • Black Mirror: Bandersnatch – spin-off movie
• Star Trek:
  • Deep Space Nine (DS9) – slow to start, but with a massive crescendo in a huge war and the most realistic of jostling empires politics and betrayal
  • Voyager – belay your disbelief at the first female captain – their voyage to find a way home against all odds through hostile space and dwindling resources becomes an epic. Captain Janeway goes from green to easily one of the top 3 star ship captains of all time in her fight against the Borg
  • The Next Generation (TNG) – Captain Picard leads a new crew on adventures. A lot of filler episodes can be skipped, this was before Babylon 5 set the new standard for TV story arcs. The later Picard series reunites the crew and follows the contemporary story arc against grave odds pattern
  • Picard – Captain Picard reunites the crew 20 years after TNG to face off graver dangers than they have ever faced before
  • The Original Series (TOS) – classic/old but it has its moments that stand up even today on character – you’ll need to skip at least 1/2 if not 2/3 of the bullshit irrelevant episodes though
  • Strange New Worlds – prequel to the original series with Captain Pike
  • Discovery – prequel to TOS, good production quality, quite good story at times, but far too woke
• The Expanse – a unique feel and universe of inequality between Earth, Mars and the outer colonies, and a strange new alien discovery called the proto-molecule
• Westworld – a theme park of AI robots used for gratuitous violence and sex goes terribly wrong. High production quality remake based the classic movie with Yul Brynner
• Battlestar Galactica:
  • 2003 – mini-series reboot of the 1978 that broke all the rules and was shockingly different
  • 2004 – follow series from 2003, high production quality, edge of your seat moments and tragedies as the crew of the last battlestar flee across the galaxy chased by the evil cylons while trying to keep as many of their civilian survivor ships alive as possible. So popular there were several spin-off movies to supplement the story line, Blood & Chrome, Razor, The Plan – and a spin-off prequel called Caprica about the development of the AI that led to the catastrophe that started Battlestar Galactica
  • 1978 – the classic story of the last battlestar fleeing with rag-tag fleet of survivors chased by the evil robot cylons, in search of the lost 13th colony of humanity, Earth, with a one season follow up series 1980
• Terminator: The Sarah Conor Chronicles – Sarah Connor tries to keep her teenage son John safe after Terminator 2: Judgment Day as they are hunted by more terminators. The series that made Lena Heady famous before she became key character Queen Cersei in the epic Game of Thrones
• Altered Carbon – dystopian sci-fi where consciousness is saved and transferred to new bodies, where the mega rich live forever
• Firefly – the wild west confederacy meets sci-fi as a renegade crew of the losing side live as outlaws – only 1 season, but it’s cult because there is nothing else like it. If you had the Feds, you will appreciate this Americana dream of independence mixed with risk. When it was cancelled, the outrage resulted in a follow up movie Serenity to give the hero’s journey story some closure
• The 4400 – 4400 people taken from history reappear with powers to try to save the human race
• X-Files – 2 FBI agents investigate aliens and mysterious occurances
• Lost in Space – After crash-landing on an alien planet, the Robinson family fight against all odds to survive and escape, but they’re surrounded by hidden dangers. High production quality, 3 seasons
• Futurama – so good you won’t get all the jokes the first time around, much deeper than the Simpsons and with more cutting social commentary. A real treat for people who can actually catch the references from sci-fi and technology. Brought back by cult demand, but the original first 5 seasons were the best. Futurama has a reference for nearly every commentary on society
• Star Wars – superficial sci-fi for those without the depth of Babylon 5 or even Star Trek
  • The Mandalorian – The travels of a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has to save young Leia after she is kidnapped, all the while being pursued by Imperial Inquisitors and his former Padawan, now known as Darth Vader
  • Book of Boba Fett – Bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigate the underworld when they return to Tatooine to claim Jabba the Hutt’s old turf
  • Ahsoka – After the fall of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Ahsoka Tano investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy
  • Andor – prequel tv show to the Rogue One movie

Historical – Rome, Vikings, British

• Spartacus – muscled up bloody adventure with tonnes of gratuitous sex. If this doesn’t make your girlfriend horny nothing will. Strictly 18+
  • Blood and Sand – the main show
  • Gods of the Arena – prequel you must watch in between Blood & Sand season 1 & 2 in order to understand the backstory of the newly introduced champion Gannicus, as well as the rise of Crixus and how Batiatus and Solonius went from friends to enemies
• Marco Polo – excellent, brutal, lavish high-budget story of the famed explorer’s adventures in Kublai Khan‘s court in 13th century Mongolia, with a legit kung fu expert. Strictly 18+
  • Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes – spin-off showing how “hundred eyes” lost his sight and ended up in the service of Kublai Khan
• Vikings – the legendary story of Ragnar Lothbrok who led the Vikings to raid England
  • Vikings: Valhalla – follow up series to Vikings set 100 years later and focusing on the adventures of Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Hardrada, and the Norman King William the Conqueror
• Roman Empire: Reign of Blood – the stories of 3 infamous Roman Emperors Commodus, Caesar and Caligula, one season for each
• Rome – tracks the life of a Roman legionary in the last days of the Roman Republic
• The Last Czars – the tragic downfall of Romanov dynasty in Russia and what happens to their family
• Ottoman Rising – Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II wages an epic campaign to take the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and shapes the course of history for centuries
• Barbarians – Torn between the mighty empire that raised him and his own tribal people, a Roman officer’s conflicted allegiances lead to an epic historical clash
• The Tudors – Henry VIII’s reign and marriages to 6 queens
• The White Queen – the rise of Queen Elizabeth (Lady Elizabeth Grey) as queen consort to King Edward IV in the War of the Roses where she is of House York, represented by the white rose
• The White Princess – follow on of The White Queen’s daughter who married Lancaster victor, Henry VII
• The Spanish Princess – Catherine of Aragon’s rise to become Queen of England as Henry VIII first wife
• The Last Kingdom – a Viking, raised as a Saxon, pursues a quest to reclaim his ancestral birthright in the era of Alfred the Great defending his kingdom from Norse invaders. Spawned the movie The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die
• Downton Abbey – chick-magnet historical drama of British aristocracy trying to surviving economically around the turn of the 19th to 20th century. Surprisingly well made, and makes you wish to return to a time of better people, before mass immigration and the Idiocracy decline

Fantasy

• Game of Thrones – high budget, great characters, it’s famous for a reason. Easily one of the greatest TV shows ever made. Strictly 18+
  • House of the Dragon – prequel to Game of Thrones
• The Witcher – Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts

Horror

• The Walking Dead – struggle to survive in the zombie apocalypse. It’s about the people, not the zombies. Some great characters and story arcs, be prepared for tragedies, eventually you won’t be scared of zombies any more, you’ll be scared of people. Nobody is safe in this show, they can die any time, just like in real life
  • Fear The Walking Dead – spin-off set in Los Angeles tracking a different group of survivors
• Stranger Things – blockbuster supernatural horror set in a small town in the 1980s. Great retro electronica soundtrack and 80s nostalgia

Drugs

• Breaking Bad – a high-school chemistry teacher finds out he’s dying of cancer and will leave his family destitute, takes drastic action to become a drug dealer to leave them enough money before he dies. His descent into the world of drugs and organized crime is both hilarious and deadly serious. Easily one of the best shows of the 2000s-2010s
  • Better Call Saul – prequel and sequel to Breaking Bad focusing on the backstory and wheelings and dealings of the charismatic crooked lawyer and his run ins with the Mexican drug cartel. Much better than expected for a spin-off, it actually had 6 seasons compared to Breaking Bad’s 5 seasons
• Narcos – brilliant dramatization of the true story of Pablo Escobar, the columbian drug lord who became one of the richest men in the world
• Narcos: Mexico – follow on from Narcos about the rise of the Mexican drug cartels. Equally amazing
• The Wire – the intertwined story of cops hunting drug dealers in Baltimore, Maryland. Brilliant. This is the show that made Idris Elba famous

Crime

• Sons of Anarchy – a biker gang’s dealings from gun running to drugs, brutal, sexual, death, prison and quite often crosses the line of what you’d expect to see on TV. Strictly 18+
• Dexter – a mild-mannered nice-guy-lookalike serial killer works for the police department as a forensic specialist and moonlights killing those that beat the system. Better than it sounds, one of the best shows of the 2000s
• The Sopranos – the journey of an Italian mob boss and his family, classic from the late 90s to 2000s
• Peaky Blinders – A gangster family epic set in 1900s England, centering on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby. This show made the career of Cillian Murphy
• MI-5 / Spooks – very british spy action drama of the people working for the MI-5, the UK’s domestic secret service intelligence organization, equivalent to the NSA in the US. Good British acting puts a real face on the people doing this secret service job, problems with Russians. If you like James Bond, you’ll probably like this
• Ozark – an accountant for the Mexican drug cartel struggles to keep his family alive after getting in too deep laundering money for them

General

• Squid Game – unique international Korean blockbuster of a deadly criminal series of life-and-death games to win a huge secret lottery, full of desperate misfits that will do anything to survive and win the prize to turn their life fortunes around
• Chernobyl – epic modern rendition of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Only 5 episodes, but 5 of the best episodes you’ll ever watch
• Cobra Kai – reboot of the Karate Kid when the two now middle-aged men find themselves martial arts rivals again and raising the next generation of teenagers fighters. 80s nostalgia abounds. Surprisingly good
• The Handmaid’s Tale – a feminist story about the US turning into a patriarchal authoritarian dictatorship that uses women as concubines for breeding to try to solve the infertility crisis. Unrealistic, but somewhat entertaining. It doesn’t address that most women have fathers, brothers, uncles etc that would fight to protect them from breeding slavery
• House of Cards – a US congressman’s rise to power with his equally conniving wife. Don’t bother with season 6 though, Kevin Spacey got MeToo’d and wasn’t in it, which killed the show
• Lost – survivors of a plane crash on a tropical island work together to survive while gradually filling in their backstories and piecing together something strange about the island

Adult Cartoons

• Futurama – so good you won’t get all the jokes the first time around, much deeper than the Simpsons and with more cutting social commentary. A real treat for people who can actually catch the references from sci-fi and technology. Brought back by cult demand, but the original first 5 seasons were the best. Futurama has a reference for nearly every commentary on society
• Family Guy – adult comedy of a dysfunctional family with an evil genius baby
• The Simpsons – the classic kids satire cartoon, got stale after a dozen or so seasons, but those first dozen seasons were great
• American Dad – The escapades of Stan Smith, a conservative C.I.A. Agent dealing with family life, and keeping America safe

American Comedy

• Friends – a group of white roommates work and date through life in New York in surprisingly large apartments and a weird lack of black people for New York. May as well call this show Dear White People
• Frasier – pompous intellectual Frasier Crane works as a radio host (similar to but not as good as Tom Leykis) and has a dweeby brother Niles who stops by his apartment regularly. They get into a series of calamities caused by their own arrogance. This show made Kelsey Grammer famous from which he then starred in hollywood movies like X-Men. It was also parodied in the Simpsons
• The Office (US) – A mockumentary on a group of typical office workers putting up with an idiot boss played by Steve Carell (this is the show that made him and John Krasinski famous), where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium
• The Good Place – four people and their otherworldly frienemy struggle in the afterlife in a series of weird events. Surprisingly good
• Seinfeld – the misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends
• Cheers – the regulars of the Boston bar “Cheers” share their experiences and lives with each other while drinking or working at the bar where everybody knows your name
• How I Met Your Mother – A father recounts to his children – through a series of flashbacks – the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother. His friend Barny is the typical suited womanizing jerk who was a gilted nice guy before he reinvented himself
• The Big Bang Theory – Sheldon and a bunch of his fellow science dweebs make their way through life and try to get girlfriends. Painful to watch at times
• Young Sheldon – prequel to The Big Bang Theory following Sheldon as a child. Funnier than the original Big Bang Theory because kids are cute and there are more genuine jokes that are true to life

British Comedy

A selection of famous shows, mostly from the British golden age of comedy in the 1980s and 1990s.

• Only Fools and Horses – follows two brothers wheelings and dealings on a 1980s London council estate (social housing) in the rough area of Peckham as they wheel and deal through a number of dodgy deals while trying to get rich
• The Inbetweeners – four teenage boys in British 6th Form (High School) navigate the difficulty of school and girls while having no social status. Very accurate to a lot of British culture and common problems. It’s funny because it’s true
• Gavin and Stacey – an Essex boy and a welsh girl hit it off in a sweet romance, but each has a fat best friend that is a hilarious calamity. This show made James Cordon a national celebrity. One of my exes is from Essex who introduced me to this show. Her best friend is similar to Ness. If you like a bit of British, this is one to catch
• Red Dwarf – wacky sci-fi comedy about a misfit who wakes up to be the last man left alive, accompanied by a robot, a hologram jerk and a cat that has evolved into human form. I didn’t understand why my friends from school used to rave about this because at first glance you’ll think it’s not your sort of thing due to weird looking characters. Watch a few episodes, the humor is real
• Blackadder – Rowan Atkinson’s finest work – each season has a different name and is set it a different period of history
  • The Black Adder – In the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother
  • Blackadder II – In the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty’s favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her
  • Blackadder the Third – In the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time
  • Blackadder Goes Forth – during World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war
  • Blackadder Back & Forth – At a New Millennium Eve party, Blackadder and his sidekick Baldrick test their new time machine by travelling through history encountering famous characters and changing events rather alarmingly
• Coupling – 6 friends on their quest to find love
• Harry Enfield and Chums – BBC 90s sketch show of some iconic English misfit stereotypes
• Little Britain – 2000s sketch show of some iconic English misfit stereotypes
• Goodness Gracious Me – BBC 90s sketch show of British Indian stereotypes. The more British Indians you know, the more you’ll laugh, because it’s true
• Smack The Pony – female comedy sketch show from the late 90s to early 2000s
• The Office (UK) – comedian Ricky Gervais creates the precursor to the US version of The Office
• Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minster – british political comedy about a cabinet minister
• Fawlty Towers – classic british comedy about an english git Basil Fawlty and his wife who own a hotel along with their Spanish sidekick Manuel. Basil’s arrogance ensures accidents and trouble abound. Number 7 best rated BBC show of all time
• Monty Python’s Flying Circus – The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe

Kids

Shows that even parents can enjoy. You don’t have to suffer boring shows to keep your kids entertained. This could be a huge list but keeping it short to the surest bets.

• 0-5 year olds:
  • Sooty – cute classic puppets comedy – Sooty, Sweep & Sue – so good it’s lasted decades
    • The Sooty Show – with Matthew Corbett
    • Sooty & Co – newer show with Matthew Corbett running a shop, also has the rascal “little cousin scampi”
    • Sooty – the next generation of the show with Richard Cadell
  • Hey Duggee – a big brown dog Duggee leads a group of scouts of various smaller animals, a British voice narrator translates for Duggee. My 3rd/4th kids were crazy for Duggee. So popular there’s not only merchanise everywhere but also a live theatre show which books out well in advance
  • Ben & Hollys Little Kingdom – British cartoon about an elf Ben & princess Holly’s magical fairy tale adventures. The major is based on the real iconic Mayor of London at the time who later became Prime Minister Boris Johnson with his signature messy blonde hair
  • Paw Patrol – kids love it, even little girls, but you’ll never get the theme song out of your head, it’ll drive you nuts. So popular it has toys, my daughter even has a paw patrol chair
• 5- 12 year olds:
  • Wallace & Gromit – claymation of a Yorkshire Englishman, Wallace, and his smart dog Gromit, their crazy inventions and adventures
    • A Grand Day Out
    • A Close Shave
    • The Wrong Trousers
    • The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
  • The Simpsons – comedy about a working class American family in a small town Springfield full of misfit characters. Long running classic, parodies just about everything in culture over time
  • Horrible Histories – comedy sketch show based on many classic historical British periods of Kings, Queens and other famous/infamous people, mixed in with interesting facts & trivia
  • Shaun The Sheep – claymation by the creators of the famous Wallace & Gromit
  • Pokemon – Japanese cartoon following a boy who captures and trains magical fighting animals

Nature

Mostly David Attenborough’s work for the BBC.

• Life – David Attenborough’s legendary BBC crew explains and shows wildlife all over planet earth. From giving an overview of the challenges facing life to hunting the deep sea and various major evolutionary groups of creatures
• Life in Colour – Exploring the many ways animals use colour throughout their lives
• Our Planet – Explores and unravels the mystery of how and why animals migrate, showing some of the most dramatic and compelling stories in the natural world through spectacular and innovative cinematography
• Planet Earth – A documentary series on the wildlife found on Earth. Each episode covers a different habitat: deserts, mountains, deep oceans, shallow seas, forests, caves, polar regions, fresh water, plains and jungles. Narrated by David Attenborough
• Planet Earth II – David Attenborough returns with a new wildlife documentary that shows life in a variety of habitats
• Planet Earth III – Discover amazing landscapes, the most amazing fights of animals on our planet, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans, from the darkest caves to the hottest deserts with new technology
• Seven Worlds, One Planet – Millions of years ago incredible forces ripped apart the Earth’s crust creating our seven continents – each with its own distinct climate, its own distinct terrain and its own unique animal life. From the colourful paradise of South America to the scorching heat of Africa, Seven Worlds: One Planet showcases the true character of each continent in turn and reveals just how it has shaped all life there. Be surprised by unexpected stories. Marvel at iconic landscapes. And be awestruck by spectacular wildlife. Seven Worlds: One Planet is an eye-opening journey around a world you thought you knew
• The Blue Planet – Mammoth series, five years in the making, taking a look at the rich tapestry of life in the world’s oceans
• Blue Planet II – David Attenborough returns to the world’s oceans in this sequel to the acclaimed documentary filming rare and unusual creatures of the deep, as well as documenting the problems our oceans face
• The Green Planet – Dive into a world where a single life can last a thousand years, with David Attenborough. See things no eye has ever seen, and discover the dramatic, beautiful plant life of Earth
• Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet – David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström examine Earth’s biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted
• Africa – Africa, the world’s wildest continent. David Attenborough takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through one of the most diverse places in the world. We visit deserts, savannas, and jungles and meet up with some of Africa’s amazing wildlife
• Galapagos – Filmed in one of the most extreme and hard-to-reach locations in the world, ‘Galapagos’ explores the unique environments and species of the Galapagos. It will take viewers on a voyage to understand the stunning archipelago which changed the way we see the world and has long-remained a place of true interest with the nation’s favourite naturalist
• Madagascar – Over 80% of Madagascar’s animals and plants are found nowhere else on Earth. Discover what made Madagascar so different from the rest of the world, and how evolution ran wild there
• The Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough – David Attenborough revisits the Great Barrier Reef after nearly 60 years. His visit takes him from the most exposed part of the reef as well as down to 300m below the surface discovering corals never seen before
• The Mating Game – Filmed in 22 counties, it follows 80 unique species on how they pursue a mate, from the beginning of the courtship to how they overcome enormous obstacles in the race to win a partner
• A Perfect Planet – Perfect Planet analyzes, in five episodes, how the forces of nature, including the power of the Sun or even humans, drive and shape life on Earth
• Dynasties – A nature documentary series on five vulnerable or endangered species known to form enduring populations: chimpanzee, emperor penguin, lion, tiger and African wild dog
• Dynasties II – A sequel to the Attenborough’s great nature show following the lives of different dynasties from the animal kingdom
• Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates – David Attenborough embarks on a remarkable 500 million-year journey revealing the extraordinary group of animals that dominate our world, and how their evolution defines our human bodies
• David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies – Evolutionary story of flight from the very first insects to the incredible array of creatures which rule the skies today
• David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet – One man has seen more of the natural world than any other. This unique feature documentary is his witness statement
• The Life of Mammals – David Attenborough’s comprehensive study of how a remarkable group of animals evolved – a group that includes ourselves
• The Life of Birds – David Attenborough’s comprehensive and richly detailed study of birds, examining the variety of different species and their ways of life
• Life in Cold Blood – A nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, that looks at the evolution and habits of amphibians and reptiles
• Micro Monsters – David Attenborough uses the latest 3D technology to bring to life the extreme and deadly unseen world of bugs
• The Private Life of Plants – David Attenborough’s study of the world of plants, which demonstrates, with the aid of time-lapse photography, the rich and varied ways in which they flourish
• Frozen Planet – Focuses on life and the environment in both the Arctic and Antarctic
• Frozen Planet II – Following life in the frozen regions of the planet, including polar bears, Siberian tigers, snow monkeys, and penguins
• Prehistoric Planet – Travel back 66 million years to when majestic dinosaurs and extraordinary creatures roamed the lands, seas, and skies
• Life on Our Planet – The incredible story of life’s epic, four-billion-year journey on Earth comes alive in this series from Steven Spielberg and the team behind “Our Planet”
• Human Planet – A cinematic experience bringing you the most amazing human stories in the world. Humans and wildlife surviving in the most extreme environments on Earth
• Walking with Dinosaurs – Documentary-style series about the era of the dinosaurs, mixing real locations and CGI
• Walking with Beasts – Using the latest digital technology, the era between the dinosaurs and man is superbly recreated by the BBC and Discovery Channel in another winning production from the coalition
• My Octopus Teacher – A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world

Potential – Not Vetted Yet

Highly rated but not vetted yet:

• For All Mankind – an alternate reality where the Soviets beat the Americans in the space race and continues on for decades with still grander challenges and goals
• Foundation – A complex saga of humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy all living under the rule of the Galactic Empire
• See – Far in a dystopian future, the human race has lost the sense of sight, and society has had to find new ways to interact, build, hunt, and to survive. All of that is challenged when a set of twins are born with sight
• Mad Men – A drama about one of New York’s most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm’s most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.
• Boardwalk Empire – An Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era
• Oz – prison drama. Grim
• Prison Break – A structural engineer installs himself in a prison he helped design, in order to save his falsely accused brother from a death sentence by breaking themselves out from the inside
• Sherlock – The quirky spin on Conan Doyle’s iconic sleuth pitches him as a “high-functioning sociopath” in modern-day London. Assisting him in his investigations: Afghanistan War vet John Watson, who’s introduced to Holmes by a mutual acquaintance
• Dark – A family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a German town where the disappearance of two young children exposes the relationships among four families
• Band of Brothers – The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day
• The Pacific – The Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines
• The Shield – Drama series following the lives and cases of dirty cop Vic Mackey and the corrupt LAPD unit under his command
• Six Feet Under – A chronicle of the lives of a dysfunctional family who run an independent funeral home in Los Angeles
• Silo – Men and women live in a giant silo underground with several regulations which they believe are in place to protect them from the toxic and ruined world on the surface
• Black Sails – Follows Captain Flint and his pirates twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel “Treasure Island”
• The Last of Us – After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity’s last hope

When You Can’t Tell The Difference Between Your Favorite Dystopian Sci-Fi and The 2020s

References

• https://www.ranker.com/list/best-bbc-television-tv-shows/voteable
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC%27s_100_Greatest_Television_Series_of_the_21st_Century