Empire Magazine's "The 50 Best TV Shows Ever" (2016)
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- CreatorDavid SimonStarsDominic WestLance ReddickSonja SohnThe Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.
- CreatorVince GilliganStarsBryan CranstonAaron PaulAnna GunnA chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with a former student in order to secure his family's future.“It doesn’t get really good until Season 2,” people said. “Stick with it.” The first season was not without its moments, and it laid key groundwork for Bryan Cranston’s Walter White to later descend from family man to soul-shucked demon, but season two was when Vince Gilligan’s astonishing, gripping, often plain harrowing show really took off. There followed murders, plane crashes, betrayals, ferocious set pieces, indelible dialogue (“I am the one who knocks!”) and meth – enormous quantities of meth. At the beginning of the bingeing era, here was some Class A, serious addictive television.
Best Episode: One Minute (Season 3, episode 7) - CreatorAaron SorkinStarsMartin SheenRob LoweAllison JanneyInside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
- CreatorJames L. BrooksMatt GroeningSam SimonStarsDan CastellanetaNancy CartwrightHarry ShearerThe satiric half-hour adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.Any show that runs for 27 seasons (and counting – 28 will be with us later this year) is bound to come in for some stick about not living up to former glory. But be honest: what could compete with The Simpsons at its height (around season 4-6, according to most people)? Still, the continuing misadventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and the multitudes surrounding them still find plenty of scope for laughs, commentary and pop culture nonsense. It’s already in the telly hall of fame, and continues to bring out great episodes at a higher ratio than some of its long-running brethren (looking at you, Family Guy).
Best Episode: Marge Vs. The Monorail (Season 4, episode 12) - CreatorDavid CraneMarta KauffmanStarsJennifer AnistonCourteney CoxLisa KudrowFollows the personal and professional lives of six twenty to thirty year-old friends living in the Manhattan borough of New York City.How is it that a certain digital TV channel can show this quintessential '90s sitcom on a virtual loop and it doesn't get old? It's because Friends, at its best, is as perfect a sitcom as you will find. In its earliest days, the adventures of six beautiful pals who apparently earned money by drinking coffee featured writing much sharper than the cuddly exterior suggested. Even when the quality dipped a little mid-run, the ensemble remained perfectly matched and the best comedy collective on TV.
Best Episode: The One With The Prom Video (Season 2, episode 14) - CreatorGlen A. LarsonRonald D. MooreStarsEdward James OlmosMary McDonnellJamie BamberWhen an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.As Hollywood continues to indulge in self-consumption through a never-ending supply of reimaginings and reboots, there is one example that demonstrates what happens when it’s done right: Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. Created in the shadow of 9/11, this new take on the 1978-79 series (great concept, poor follow-through) brought relevancy, riveting character arcs and a newfound grit to television science fiction as what’s left of humanity fights for survival against the cybernetic Cylons as they seek the supposed lost colony, Earth.
Best Episode: 33 (Season 1, episode 1) - CreatorDavid BenioffD.B. WeissStarsEmilia ClarkePeter DinklageKit HaringtonNine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
- CreatorTom FontanaStarsErnie HudsonJ.K. SimmonsLee TergesenA series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.
- CreatorRichard CurtisStarsRowan AtkinsonBrian BlessedElspet GrayIn the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother.
- CreatorSøren SveistrupStarsSofie GråbølMorten SuurballeLars MikkelsenPolice detective Sarah Lund investigates difficult cases with personal and political consequences.
- CreatorJimmy McGovernStarsRobbie ColtraneGeraldine SomervilleKieran O'BrienDr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald is a criminal psychologist. He is rather anti-social and obnoxious but he has a gift for solving crimes. Thus he is employed as a consultant by the Manchester Police.
- CreatorRod SerlingStarsRod SerlingRobert McCordJay OverholtsOrdinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner.Such is the impact of Rod Serling’s series, which gathered some of the best speculative writers and stories of the time, that it keeps coming back in different forms, and its impact is felt through popular culture to this day. Aiming to explore universal concepts while creeping us out or making us think (or both), The Zone merged big ideas with popular ideals and proved that smart storytelling could work on television. Once seen, rarely forgotten; especially with that unnerving theme and Serling’s iconic introductions.
Best Episode: To Serve Man. (Season 3, episode 24). - CreatorDavid MilchStarsTimothy OlyphantIan McShaneMolly ParkerA show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.
- CreatorDavid ChaseStarsJames GandolfiniLorraine BraccoEdie FalcoNew Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.Those who tuned into the first episode of The Sopranos in 1999 found not a documentary about opera singers but a dark, offbeat drama about a New Jersey gangster with a fixation on the ducks who visit his swimming pool. As the first season wore on, viewers became hooked on creator David Chase's uncompromising vision of an old-school criminal organisation beset by all the stresses and tensions of the modern day. A fusion of sharp, unpredictable writing and powerhouse acting ensured this show classic status, spawning spoofs by The Simpsons and the Clintons (!) as well as an Artie Bucco recipe book, so you can make like Tony and feast on 'gabagool' yourself.
Best Episode: Long Term Parking (Season 5, episode 12) - CreatorSteven BochcoMichael KozollStarsDaniel J. TravantiMichael WarrenBruce WeitzThe lives and work of the staff of an inner city police precinct.
- CreatorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA 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.For the unconverted, Matthew Weiner’s show was just a lot of people in suits aggressively smoking at each other. But for fans of the multi-Emmy and Golden Globe-winning AMC drama, there’s magic in even the slower moments as Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his advertising kin negotiate first the perils and pitfalls of Madison Avenue, then a fast-changing America, often while sloshed on whisky. A show of great moments (the lawnmower, the death of Lane, Betty’s shotgun, the LSD), it made an early bid for greatness and maintained it across seven seasons. There aren’t many shows you can say that about.
Best Episode Far Away Places (Season 5, episode 6) - StarsSimon PeggJessica HynesJulia DeakinFriends Tim and Daisy, 20-something North Londoners with uncertain futures, must pretend to be a couple to live in the only apartment they can afford.
- CreatorPaul AttanasioStarsRichard BelzerClark JohnsonYaphet KottoAn American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.
- CreatorDavid AngellPeter CaseyDavid LeeStarsKelsey GrammerJane LeevesDavid Hyde PierceDr. Frasier Crane moves back to his hometown of Seattle, where he lives with his father and works as a radio psychiatrist.
- CreatorShawn RyanStarsMichael ChiklisCatherine DentWalton GogginsDrama series following the lives and cases of dirty cop Vic Mackey and the corrupt LAPD unit under his command.
- CreatorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonMitch PileggiTwo F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.Yes, we know the series came back this year with that truncated tenth season. We're... just choosing to ignore that (except for possibly episode three). In its '90s heyday, Chris Carter's series was the perfect stew of conspiracy theories, romantic drama, monster-of-the-week shocker and just the right leavening of humour when called for. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson's Mulder and Scully deserve a place in the pantheon of TV partnerships, evidenced by the fact that the show suffered when Duchovny stepped away. Still, when it worked, it really worked.
Best Episode: Squeeze (Season 1, episode 3) - CreatorJoss WhedonStarsSarah Michelle GellarNicholas BrendonAlyson HanniganA young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
- CreatorRobert CochranJoel SurnowStarsKiefer SutherlandMary Lynn RajskubCarlos BernardCounter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.Okay, so the recent miniseries wasn’t great, but 24 has bounced back before and we're hoping the forthcoming 24: Legacy will see the Jack Bauer Power Hour back on form (albeit without Jack Bauer). At its best, there was just nothing like it – insane levels of adrenaline, finely calibrated political intrigue and twists that hit you in the face like a two-fisted punch from Tony Almeida. 24 was some of the most cinematic TV we’ve ever seen, with no expense spared to depict CTU's intense battles against cunning terrorists and the odd occasional rogue President. Even when 24 was rubbish, it was still loveable – admit it, you still have a soft spot for the cougar that menaced Kim Bauer in the show's worst ever plot device, back in Season 2.
Best Episode: 6:00 AM - 7:00 AM (Season 3, Episode 18) – the death of Ryan Chapelle - StarsJohn CleesePrunella ScalesAndrew SachsHotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.One of British TV’s greatest ever sitcoms, the central question of Fawlty Towers – why the world’s least hospitable man would go into hospitality in the first place – remains tantalisingly unanswered across 12 kipper-serving, Siberian hamster-hunting, German-baiting episodes. A straight zero on TripAdvisor, the very layout of Fawlty Towers itself offers comedy gold as Basil (John Cleese), his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), waitress Polly (Connie Booth) and poor, benighted Manuel (Andrew Sachs) manoeuvre themselves (and the odd corpse) around its dowdy interior without ruining anyone’s stay. Basil, needless to say, fails. Often and hilariously.
Best Episode: The Germans (Series 1, episode 6) - CreatorLarry DavidJerry SeinfeldStarsJerry SeinfeldJulia Louis-DreyfusMichael RichardsThe continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends.
- CreatorJ.J. AbramsJeffrey LieberDamon LindelofStarsJorge GarciaJosh HollowayYunjin KimThe survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.Few TV shows gripped viewers' imaginations quite like this hybrid of Swiss Family Robinson and Twin Peaks. A byzantine central mystery intertwined with character-centric subplots (expertly embellished through the use of flashbacks, flashforwards and eventually flash sideways) kept audiences captivated and spread the focus across the entire ensemble cast. But aside from the host of colourful characters – from earnest Jack to cocky Sawyer, noble Jin to bug-eyed Ben – it was the ever-deepening mysteries that kept us coming back: what did the number mean? What was the black smoke? Who were The Others? How come Hurley never lost weight despite being marooned on an island?
Best Episode: Exodus (Season 1, Episodes 23-24) - CreatorRicky GervaisStephen MerchantStarsRicky GervaisMartin FreemanMackenzie CrookThe story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follow staff and the manager David Brent as they continue their daily lives.
- CreatorMark FrostDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael OntkeanMädchen AmickAn idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
- CreatorMark GatissSteven MoffatStarsBenedict CumberbatchMartin FreemanUna StubbsThe 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.
- CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyIn the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.From tiny acorns, a gigantic franchise was born. And you don’t spin all those movies, follow-up series and reboots out of nothing. But for all its limited budget, Shacting and occasionally silly aliens, the Trek universe would be nothing without the parent show. Gene Roddenberry and his team cannily brought together big ideas and intergalactic vistas, then injected a healthy, adventurous spirit into the proceedings. It’s pulpy, it’s fascinating, and it’s probably partly responsible for the mobile phone you may be reading this on. That is impact.
Best Episode: The City On The Edge Of Forever (Season 1, episode 28) - CreatorLarry DavidStarsLarry DavidCheryl HinesJeff GarlinLarry David stars as an over-the-top version of himself in this comedy series that shows how seemingly trivial details of day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events.
- CreatorArmando IannucciStarsChris AddisonJames SmithPeter CapaldiThe Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.
- StarsSteve CooganSimon GreenallFelicity MontaguA failed television presenter, now presenting a programme on local desperately tries to revive his broadcasting career.
- CreatorJohn SullivanStarsDavid JasonNicholas LyndhurstRoger Lloyd PackComedy that follows two brothers from London's rough Peckham estate as they wheel and deal through a number of dodgy deals and search for the big score that'll make them millionaires.
- CreatorPeter BergStarsKyle ChandlerConnie BrittonZach GilfordA drama that follows the lives of the Dillon Panthers, one of the nation's best high school football teams, and their head coach Eric Taylor.
- CreatorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA chronicle of the lives of a dysfunctional family who run an independent funeral home in Los Angeles.
- CreatorSydney NewmanStarsJodie WhittakerPeter CapaldiPearl MackieThe further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer known as the Doctor and his companions from planet Earth.
- CreatorGraham ChapmanEric IdleTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseTerry GilliamThe original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe.
- CreatorFrank DarabontStarsAndrew LincolnNorman ReedusMelissa McBrideSheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.
- CreatorGreg DanielsMichael SchurStarsAmy PoehlerJim O'HeirNick OffermanThe absurd antics of an Indiana town's public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place.
- CreatorNoah HawleyStarsBilly Bob ThorntonMartin FreemanAllison TolmanVarious chronicles of deception, intrigue, and murder in and around frozen Minnesota. All of these tales mysteriously lead back one way or another to Fargo, North Dakota.
- CreatorMåns MårlindHans RosenfeldtBjörn SteinStarsSofia HelinRafael PetterssonSarah BobergWhen a body is found on the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, right on the border, Danish inspector Martin Rohde and Swedish Saga Norén have to share jurisdiction and work together to find the killer.
- CreatorMitchell HurwitzStarsJason BatemanMichael CeraPortia de RossiLevel-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned. But the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family are making his job unbearable.
- CreatorRick BermanMichael PillerStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisCirroc LoftonIn the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.
- CreatorMichael CrichtonStarsAnthony EdwardsGeorge ClooneyJulianna MarguliesThe doctors who work in the ER at the County General Hospital in Chicago grapple with ups and downs in their personal and professional lives while trying to give apt medical care to their patients.
- CreatorJoseph WeisbergStarsKeri RussellMatthew RhysKeidrich SellatiAt the height of the Cold War, two Russian agents pose as the average American couple, complete with family.
- CreatorLarry GelbartStarsAlan AldaWayne RogersLoretta SwitThe staff of an Army hospital in the Korean War find that laughter is the best way to deal with their situation.
- CreatorTina FeyStarsTina FeyAlec BaldwinTracy MorganLiz Lemon, head writer of the sketch-comedy show "TGS with Tracy Jordan", must deal with an arrogant new boss and a crazy new star while trying to run a successful television show without losing her mind.
- CreatorDarren StarStarsSarah Jessica ParkerKim CattrallKristin DavisFour female New Yorkers gossip about their sex lives (or lack thereof) and find new ways to deal with being a woman in the late 1990s.
- CreatorRichard LevinsonWilliam LinkStarsPeter FalkMike LallyJohn FinneganLos Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo uses his humble ways and ingenuous demeanor to winkle out even the most well-concealed of crimes.