In the last twenty years (at least since "The Sopranos" ended), which TV show has given you the most pleasure?

"Six Feet Under."

The Good Wife

Justified

Agree with OP about Mad Men and R1 about Six Feet Under. I'd add Breaking Bad to the list.

What do you mean by pleasure OP. Just a good ass show? The Americans for me. It’s so freaking good. I wonder if it ever won the best drama Emmy. It perfectly balances a spy drama, which I had never seen in a tv series, and a family drama and crime action. I guess Sranger Things would be a close 2nd but they’re kids but I just love it because it’s so fkin nostalgic for me. Ha, Sopranos is my favorite show of all time and the two after both takes place in the 80s.

Arrested Development

Veep

Superstore

Hacks

Better Call Saul.

Mad Men.

I'm thrilled to see Hacks getting even better with Season 3.

"Veep" and "Hacks" are both great. Comedy does tend to get lost in these threads/polls. I'd also add "Strangers With Candy"

House of Cards was really good until Kevin Spacey's career collapsed in a, well, house of cards.

Boston Legal

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Americans

I don't need a lot of plot or big twists, just moods and looks. So, Mad Men and The Crown for me.

House of Cards was good the first two seasons but then it just kinda became a farce. Acting still stayed strong throughout the series however.

Curb Your Enthusiasm. When it premiered, I was reluctant to watch it based on what I saw here and there because it captured my worst fears of finding myself ostracized from the society based on some cringy social gaffe. Once I got over it and embraced that cringe, it became one of my favorite things on TV in many years.

While there are a number of things I absolutely love - namely La Otra Mirada on PBS and VEEP and especially Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO - the Italian series My Brilliant Friend on HBO has a special place in my heart.

The 4th and final season just started last Monday, and while it's jarring that the younger cast has been replaced by older actors this season - I'm hoping I will get used to the new Lenù and Lila - those 1st three seasons were a knockout.

Didn’t Six Feet Under end before the Sopranos did. I know it came out not long after the Sopranos came out.

The Simpsons, Law and Order SUV, Twilight Zone and Arrested Development, King of the Hill.

Okay, I agree with a lot of the series’ already listed here.

But you guys have to try “My Brilliant Friend” on Max, and you don ‘t have to have read any of the Elena Ferrante books the series is based on to appreciate what a marvel it is. Simply one of the best, most unique things I’ve ever seen on TV, somehow gets the texture of life as its being lived by a group ofcharacters over a period of 30-40 years. Incredible writing and acting, full of texture, depth, drama. it consistently blows me away as I watch it.

The fourth and last season has begun to drop on Max, so now’s a good time to binge.

It's been on my "to watch" list for a while, R17. I've kept vacillating between whether I should read the actual books first and diving into the TV series.

Another vote for "The Americans."

I agree with My Brilliant Friend. It’s been a very rewarding watch.

Breaking Bad

Better Call Saul

Mad Men

Supernatural (don't hate me)

Breaking Bad.

Mad Men

Orphan Black

What We Do In The Shadows

Reservation Dogs

Better Things

Stranger things

I’m rewatching VEEP right now and laughing out loud at least a few times every episode. It is so funny and so mean. The whole cast is fantastic but Julia Louis-Dreyfus is genius. Completely deserved all those Emmys. Highly recommended especially in this fucked your election season.

^ fucked up not fucked your

Adventure Time. There have been many shows that I've enjoyed immensely or have found meaningful (Skins, Utopia, Hannibal) but no show has inspired such feelings of intense pleasure. I can still remember what it felt like to start the episode and then immediately take a long bong rip. I'd never rewatch the show because I know it wouldn't seem the same a decade later. I highly recommend the show the anyone who wants to check out for society for a few days.

Agree with Mad Men (all) and the Crown (moreso early on).

Hacks, Julia (HBO Max), Transparent (well, the first few seasons).

Downton (again more the early seasons) and The Durrells were guilty pleasures.

R27 the original one or the new one?

Empty Nest

Seconding Better Call Saul and Veep. I'll throw in How to With John Wilson, Homeland, and Nathan for You.

The 2003-2009 version of Battlestar Galáctica. Also, Mr. Robot.

Twin Peaks: The Return.

Bojack Horseman

These are also the only TV shows in the last 24 years I have watched more than one episode of.

TV format doesn't appeal to me. Prefer movies (over in one go) or books (I choose the pace).

Mad Men

The Affair (it fell off big time season 3, but I thought it ended pretty well)

Orphan Black

Mr. Robot

The Shield

R34 The Affair is one of those shows I got into and then just got busy. I have only watched the first season. How many seasons total are there?

ZerozZeroZero, but that was a limited series with only eight episodes.

Beautifully done.

The soundtrack by Mogwai is a masterpiece.

It's not well known - but the Australian series 'Satisfaction' was really enthralling for the first 3 seasons.

ZeroZeroZero

Oh, dear!

Lots of good mentions already. I'll add Fringe to the list, which I was obsessed with while it was airing. On an entirely different note, The Great British Bake Off is one of the most reliable feel-good shows to come along in a while.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

Rock Of Love

Fringe

Reservation Dogs

Stranger Things

The Expanse

Ozark Better Things Mad Men Breaking Bad

Normal People, Sense 8, Game of Thrones

So much. I never really watched TV until 2008.

But since then, I've became a TV junkie:

My A list: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Affair (first two seasons), Homeland (first season), Game of Thrones

My B List: Ozark, Rectify, Mr. Robot (first season), The Americans

And a ton others I'm forgetting.

Hollyoaks

Cuffs

100 Dias Para Enamorarnos

Oh man, Rectify! Forgot about that one! That was a great show.

The original, r29. I stopped watching in 2015. I fondly remember the land of Ooo and wouldn't want to mess with that by watching any newer episodes as an older person.

Kimmy Schmidt.

Derry Girls, Girls5eva, Crazy ex Girlfriend, Don't Trust the Bitch, Episodes, The Other Two, I love that For You, Difficult People

Most pleasure would indicate multiple watches for me not a one off. Breaking bad yes better call Saul as good as it was the first time gets a no. The Wire gets a yes as the most “important” series ever no matter the time frame.

Recent series that claim the I can watch and enjoy way more than once include

The Diplomat and the new Shogun.

As good as The Americans was the Diplomat maybe better. She is actually better in the diplomat imo. And as much as I loved them as a couple in the Americans I love the new couple in the Diplomat even more..

The Comeback (both seasons) - brief but brilliant.

I’m rewatching The Good Wife and it’s even better the second time around. Great characters and character actors.

Orphan Black. Loved it but the writing could’ve been tightened up a lot.

Currently: Slow Horses. Really, really good.

The Affair in its first two seasons was one of the best dramas about domestic life on television. The move to LA was a disaster and things went downhill quickly. Homeland suffered a similar fate.

"Line of Duty", when it comes to British shows.

Succession and Homeland (not all season were good.)

My entire oeuvre is available on video. I try to give much pleasure.

I loved Six Feet Under, Mad Men, The Americans, and Mom (comedy w/ Allison Janney), but the show that has given me the most pleasure is Severance. I have watched it four times (so far) and will probably watch it again right before the new season comes out. It earned 14 Emmy nominations for its initial nine-episode run and Season 2 will premiere on January 17, 2025.

I can't wait.

If you haven't seen it, do yourself a huge favor and watch it. It will intrigue you and make you think about it long after you've watched it.

In no particular order:

Billions

Succession

Game of Thrones

Veep

Mad Men

Band of Brothers (I got hooked on this show over Memorial Day weeekend a year or so ago. I watch it every time it's on, even with commercials)

Damages is lowkey underrated. Highly underrated.

Wentworth. And don't say it's the same premise as Orange Is The New Black. It's more like Game of Thrones set in an Aussie women's prison.

I'd add Ted Lasso, though I think I'd stick to the first two seasons.

Fleabag

OOh, R60! I forgot about Damages. That was great!

Dawson’s 50 load weekend has given me plenty of pleasure.

Does limited series count? If so, Fellow Travelers.

Although they were largely contemporaries, The Wire ended after The Sopranos, and I still think it's a better show, so that.

For sheer pleasure, Ted Lasso and Australian/British series The Artful Dodger.

R66 on this thread every series made can be included on the All Time Best List

Mad Men (US)

The Wire (US)

La Casa de Papel (Spain)

Gomorra (Italy)

Vis a Vis (Spain)

El Marginal (Argentina)

30 Monedas (Spain)

Patria (Spain)

R63 damn it, I'd forgotten about Fleabag. Especially season 2.

Forgot about The Comeback. Amazingly good.

Six Feet Under Arrested Development The Other Two (an underrated gem!)

Galavant. I don't think a show could have been more tailored to my specific taste.

Breaking bad?? You almost have to be as shitty as the shows characters themselves to enjoy it consistently.

We know r65 thats why you reference it constantly on the DL. Seek help.

Is raw pounding porn a TV show?

The Bradys Reimagined - A Fucking Freakoff

Downton Abbey.

Another vote for The Comeback.

Transparent, because of what a truly excellent Jewish show it was.

Mad Men, Schitt’s Creek and Succession.

US - Family Guy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Curb Your Enthusiasm UK - Shameless, The Inbetweeners, Benidorm

R74 Yea I could never get into Breaking Bad. The first couple episodes moved at a snail’s pace to me but also the meth world is just so trashy even when they are middle class.

30 Rock

30 Rock is a fantastic show. The best sitcom of this century, bar none.

Since cunty miss prisspot R75 seems to have forgotten this site is about pointless bitchery, and clearly you can’t crack a staple DL joke without her clutching her pearls, then here’s my serious list: The Wire, Succession, The Revenants (French series), the Good Wife/Fight, Homeland (first season).

Superstore

Breaking Bad

Homicide: Life on the Street

Dateline

Hannibal

The Terror (season 1)

The Detectorists

Game of Thrones

Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Oz, and Tales of the Crypt. Sorry not a fan of Mad Men. A enough damaged white alcoholics in the family.

[quote] Sorry not a fan of Mad Men.

You need not be sorry. No one cares.

The Detectorists was a sweet show. I really enjoyed it.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the recent Fallout series.

Yup, Mad Men

Borgen

The British Queer as Folk

Severance

The Wire

Call My Agent

My Brilliant Friend

Benidorm and Mrs. Brown’s Boys

[quote] Superstore

This and The Good Place were two shows I enjoyed but never seemed to be able to catch them on the NBC app and just lost interest because I could never fucking watch them.

The Comeback

Veep

Difficult People

The Other Two

Crap, I forgot EVIL! One of my current faves. It’s supposedly over, but I can see it getting a reprieve.

Winning Times - The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

I'm bummed it only went 2 seasons. It was one of the funniest, most entertaining shows ever on TV. Bastards!

The Americans

Mike and Molly

The Crown, definitely.

Ted Lasso

I forgot to include Modern Family. As well as Succession, Veep, Hacks, Fleabag, The Comeback, and The Crown, which others have already duly mentioned.

While I haven't watched Stranger Things (not my jam), any show that inspires Kate Bush "Running Up That Hill" popularity among the Gen Z set has got to be doing something right. ❤️

Bates Motel

I don't think DL is the audience for this, but Farscape was easily one of my favorite turn of the century shows. In retrospect, it's uneven, but when it was firing on all cylinders, it was great.

The first two seasons of The Handmaid's Tale were brilliant.

"What We Do in the Shadows"

Bones

I can search online and do mini binges on all The Ryan O'Neal episodes, the Grave Digger episodes, the Epps' episodes, the Pelant episodes, episodes with certain Squints. Love the Gormagon episodes (Hi, Eric!) even if it removed Milligan's character. It did open up the space for all the Squints.

It was the most fantastic assembly of characters in a character driven procedural EVAH!

Each and every one of the hundreds of episodes are watchable individually, and I can simply pick a season and an episode number and be entertained.

Bones was killed by producer negotiations. Something that has to be said for Mariska and SVU.

Bones should be in its 20th+ Season and Christine should be out of undergrad (at Northwestern?)

It should be brought back with Hodgins in robotic prosthetic legs.

Homeland should have stopped after season 1 with of course a different ending.

The Wire should have stopped after season 4 or at least do a better job with nutty season 5.

Billions also looks like it’s stretched passed its use by date.

R109, I agree about Billions. Once there was no Bobby Axelrod, the series foundered. Although the last episode, with Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince's downfall, was pretty sweet. The best seasons were the early ones with Chuck Rhoads and Bobbly Axelrod going at each other.

The Leftovers. It wasn't exactly a "pleasurable" experience because of how depressing the show was. But it was a rewarding one.

[quote] Modern Family

The charms of this show have always eluded me. I couldn't stand Sofia V and the gay prisspots.

Peaky Blinders, CSI: Miami, Grimm.

Succession

Derry Girls

The Durrells in Corfu

Forgot Veep and Hacks.

Not the best but a really great series that was really smart well cast and funny and pleasurable and overlooked

Episode's

Will & Grace

MODERN FAMILY

Also, Everybody Hates Chris with DL fave Tyler James Williams. An older show, but I only stated watching it four years ago.

[quote]I couldn't stand Sofia V (Modern Family)

I liked her, but could stand her enormous breast implants always on display.

I liked when the neighbor complained about Jay's parrot, mistaking her for a constantly screeching bird.

The Comeback...loved the cringe making show. My bf cant watch it for this reason. But I love it, its really quite sad. The Crown was a real treat.

R105: Yes! I was obsessed with Farscape (and Ben Browder’s butt)

Fringe

Battlestar Galactica

Veep

Shameless

The Office

Parks and Rec

Arrested Development

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Crazy Ex Girlfriend

The Good Place

Bobs Burgers

Hacks

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Workaholics

Ab Fab

The Other Two

Please Like Me

Fisk

Wellmania

Frank of Ireland

Between Two Ferns

Mystery Science Theatre 3000

Auntie Donna’s Big Old House of Fun

Colin From Accounts

Why Are You Like This

Rick & Morty

Futurama

Community

Reno 911

Curb Your Enthusiasm

I Think You Should Leave

True Detective

Spaced

Stan Against Evil

Blue Mountain State

Claws

Beef

White Lotus

Teenage Bounty Hunters

The Decameron

The Servant

True Blood

Penny Dreadful

Interview With The Vampire

The Outsider

Fargo

Patriot

Dark Matter

Foundation

What We Do In The Shadows

Sense8

Altered Carbon

Fallout

Dark Matter

The Black Mirror

The Walking Dead

Stranger Things

Midnight Mass

The Fall of the House of Usher

Russian Doll

Poker Face

The Flight Attendant

The Mandalorian

The Last of Us

Legion

The Magicians

The 3 Body Problem

The Sandman

Sex Education

Young Royals

Heartstopper

Moone Boy

Derry Girls

Schidtt’s Creek

Fleabag

Shorsey

Doctor Who

Reservation Dogs

The Bear

Daredevil

Jessica Jones

Wandavision

Loki

Preacher

Extraordinary

House of Flowers

Game Boys

Red White and Royal Blue (technically a movie, but it’s getting a sequel, so I’m going to pretend it’s a series)

You watch a lot of television, R122, for someone from Ft. Lee, New Jersey.

Leave It To Beaver til I finally got tired of it. Now I’m really digging Father Knows Best. It was good. And anything with Jeff Lewis. Everything is usually just background noise.

The Good Place

The Americans (oddly enough)

The Man to Fell to Earth (available on Showtime, modern mini-series honorable mention)

Mad Men

Sucession

Desperate Housewives

Wheel of Fortune

The Middle

Drag Race

Game of Thrones

This barely makes the cutoff, but I was in college while Felicity was airing, and it resonated so strongly that I still associate it with that time in a very sentimental way. Keri Russell continues to be a paragon in everything she's done since.

And while it's much maligned these days, I have to say that Buffy The Vampire Slayer also started around that time and still deserves recognition for the innovation it brought to serialized TV.

The shortest book ever written:

The book listing the DL fans fav series that were not included in the DL All Time 20 Year Best Series List

The Wire Deadwood Battlestar Galactica Episodes Detectorists

[quote]The Wire should have stopped after season 4

And left all its current and future viewers contemplating suicide.

I loved Season 5. Simon rightly understood that there was no depth of tragedy left to plumb after Season 4, and moved into late-Dickensian heightened satire. It harks back somewhat to Season 3 to highlight the ridiculousness of the entire War on Drugs concept, and also the ridiculousness of the way politicians distribute funds to the cops and support services. There is a very strong influence of late Dickens right through the series (which doesn't exclude little children being served up for tragedy in the interests of their elders) and it is fitting that it ends the way it does. The true War on Drugs has been exemplified in McNulty against the Barksdales, and then against Marlo, throughout, and it is important to see who wins and who loses. Not that you couldn't predict it.

Survivor. Not as great as it once was, but still very entertaining.

Breaking Wind was incredible.

R131 Jimmy and especially Freeman coming up with a fake serial killer was one of the dumbest plots in tv history. It was weak it was stupid it was an insult to 1-4.

Simon had heavy hate in his heart and season 5 was unfortunately the result. Far to heavy handed.

Have you been able to catch The Corner? Simon Burns also at their best—-unlike season 5 :-)

And a lot of future wire actors at their very best as well.

Os Nossos dios, a Portugese soap opera

Yes, R134, I have seen The Corner. It's wonderful writing and acting but obviously The Wire is better, with all its levels of complexity.

We must agree to disagree about Season 5. (Freeman didn't "come up with" the killer: all McNulty's work. Freeman just enabled him, and he did it because he too had had it up to the back teeth with the hypocrisy of the system. They had both got to the point where, as long as they could bring Marlo to justice, they didn't care if it ended their careers. Their methodology, like the rising-star journalist, was satire.)