The Top Dramas on Television

For some reason (*cough*procrastination*cough*) I’ve decided to rank what I believe are the best drama shows currently on television. Note: I haven’t seen Mad Men yet. From everything I’ve heard, it would probably make this list.

Except for Breaking Bad, these four shows may not be on the same rarefied plane of television greatness as The Wire or The Sopranos. But they’re not far away, and they’re definitely on a whole different level from every other drama on TV. They’re also all deep enough to reward repeated viewings. Here we go:

1. Breaking Bad

High-school chemistry teacher Walt Whiteman starts cooking meth to pay the bills after he is diagnosed with lung cancer. Sounds like fun, huh? Believe it or not, this HBO show is the best program on television. There’s a surprising amount of dark comedy here. So many people knock their roles out of the park in this show: Walt’s younger, pregnant wife; his disabled son; his foul-mouthed DEA agent brother-in-law; and his drug-dealing sidekick Jesse (who Walt flunked out of chem class back in the day.) But at its heart, Breaking Bad is a character study of one person, Bryan Cranston’s Walt. Quiet, mild-mannered Walt appears at first to be a weak man. But every episode strips away another layer of his personality to reveal the steely core beneath.

Favorite Episode: Season 1, Episode 3. “… And the Bag’s in the River.” Walt bonds with Krazy 8, the meth dealer he and Jesse have bicycle-locked by the throat to the pillar in Jesse’s basement.

Here’s an amateur trailer for the first season I found:

2. Lost

Lost is a sprawling epic, flawed but wonderful. Among its many strengths: a non-linear plot, enduring mysteries, and more fascinating characters than you can shake a stick at—as well as an admirable willingness to kill them off. Of course, these strengths are also Lost’s weaknesses. If you like tidy resolutions at the end of each episode, stay far, far away. Lost often wastes episodes on story arcs that go nowhere and fail to expand our understanding of the key characters. Season 3, in particular, was such a wandering, pointless mess that I gave up on the show for a year. That being said, Lost offers great rewards to those with patience. Seasons 4 and 5 are serial drama at its best, so I recommend sucking it up and forging through the annoying tangents. In some ways, Lost reminds me of Deadwood, another great but flawed show that featured an abundance of characters and meandering plotlines. I’m just glad that Lost, unlike Deadwood, has survived long enough to work out the kinks.

Favorite episode: Season 1, Episode 4, “Walkabout.” John Locke’s origin story. Key quote from the wheelchair-bound Locke: “Don’t you tell me what I can’t do!”

Here’s the clip:

3. Friday Night Lights

I was having trouble putting into words just how good Friday Night Lights is, so just go read the impassioned plea Bill Simmons wrote back in 2007 to save FNL from cancellation:

On Aug. 28, NBC released the American DVDs with a "satisfaction guaranteed" gimmick. Now if you continue to ignore FNL, it's only because you're trying to hurt me. If you do give it a shot, let me recommend the impeccable acting, the lively football scenes (although they tend to go overboard on exciting finishes), the risky story lines and especially Coach Taylor's family, the most authentic household in recent TV history. Every nuance is nailed, every hug seems genuine, every fight makes sense, every sarcastic barb and flustered reaction ring true. If there are better TV actors than Kyle Chandler (Coach) and Connie Britton (Mrs. Coach), I haven't TiVoed them. Pay particular attention to the astonishing two-parter in which an older assistant sets off a racial powder keg before a big playoff game. If FNL were Michael Jordan, Lyla Garrity's slam-page episode would be the 63-point game in Boston (the coming-out party), and the two-parter would be the 1991 Finals (the moment considerable potential is realized).

What he said.

Favorite Episode: Season 3, Episode 13 (season finale), “Tomorrow Blues.” I can’t say too much without spoiling a key plot twist, but never have I wanted to scream louder at a television character than I did when Matt Saracen walks in the door to his grandmother’s house at the end of this episode. “Noooooo! You’re making a mistake!!!” Just devastating.

A nice little bonus when watching FNL is how much music it uses from one of my favorite bands, Explosions in the Sky. This promo offers a little taste:

4. Dexter

I wasn’t quite sure about including Dexter on this list. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Michael C. Hall turns in an A+ performance as Dexter Morgan. It’s not easy to play a sympathetic serial killer. And the show is tightly plotted, with strong supporting characters like David Zayas’s Angel and Julie Benz’s Rita. I just can’t shake the feeling that Dexter isn’t nearly as substantial as it seems at first glance. Will people really be rewatching Dexter twenty years from now? Maybe it’s just hard to care about a main character that rarely feels human emotion. Still, I decided that Dexter merits inclusion for its amazing consistency, if nothing else. I can’t think of a single bad episode.

Favorite episode: Season 1, Episode 10. “There’s Something About Harry.” Sgt. Doakes, who has always been creeped out by Dexter, finds himself imprisoned in a cabin in the woods after confronting Dexter with evidence of his killings.

Coming up in a week or so: the runner-up dramas and why they didn’t make the list. Also, top comedies.