FTA-TV Rank your long running TV drama

1. The Wire
2. The Sopranos
3. Sons of Anarchy
4. Life on Mars (UK)
5. Dexter

Not seen yet but on the list

Game of Thrones
Boardwalk Empire

Pretty Good
Spartacus Blood and Sand
Breaking Bad

Over rated (but good)
Deadwood


No comedies, Seinfield, Cartoons. Just drama.

1. The Sopranos
2. The Wire (2nd by a whisker)

3. Breaking Bad
4. Dexter
5. Boston Legal
6. Deadwood
7. Boardwalk Empire

Great Potential
Game of Thrones, Boss

Overrated
Mad Men, Weeds

Havent seen
Sons of Anarchy, Oz, The Shield, Six Feet Under, 24, Lost

Mad Men - do not get.

Watched it when it was first available. The chauvenism was funny for the first few episodes and then it got boring. Nothing else it that show appealed to me except that ginger's massive boobs.

For some reason I just can't get into period stuff unless it's the 70s. I'm worried I won't like Boardwalk Empire.

Macca19 said:

Havent seen
Sons of Anarchy, Oz, The Shield, Six Feet Under, 24, Lost

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Oz - i thought it was ok but didn't captivate me enough to watch any more after the first series

The Shield - I went to a BBQ a few years back and was talking to some guy who was raving about how good it was. I had just finished watching The Wire.

Downloaded it. Watched the whole first series. It was okay but it has a formula:

1. Main Cop star does bent stuff to line his own pocket
2. Main Cop star does bent stuff to catch criminal
3. Main Cop star's boss tries (once again) to catch him
4. It looks like he's going to get busted and then right at the end of the show he get's out of it and catches the bad guy


This show just isn't on the same planet as The Wire. Too forumlated, and this "It's okay to do bad stuff as long as you hunt down criminals" sort of topical issue is annoying. If there's one negative I have about Dexter is that it does that - it sort of poses right on the average person's moral boundary of "is this okay". For me it's not even close to my moral boundary. Killing people and being corrupt is not okay.


Go watch Sons of Anarchy. It's pretty good.

bunsen burner said:

Oz - i thought it was ok but didn't captivate me enough to watch any more after the first series

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some seasons struggle because some storylines are slow/boring, but the first half of season 4 ( ) was as thrilling as the wire imo.

The wire.
breaking bad.
The sheild.
oz.

have not seen but meaning to.
The Sopranos.

show that have watched but not up to date with.rescue me,broadwalk

good= prison break (maybe very good been a while now since l seen it) luther (uk)

great Potential= the killing

funny stuff seinfeld,inbetweeners,peep show

mini series blue murder.

The Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Deadwood
Breaking Bad

Next tier:
Carnivale
Twin Peaks

Haven't seen:
The Wire
The Shield
Boardwalk Empire

Overrated:
Dexter absolutely owns this little segment.
Throw in Weeds and maybe Mad Men (though I probably haven't quite seen enough of MM to have full judgement).

l forgot SOA.

1; Breaking Bad
2; the rest

tonk said:

1; Breaking Bad
2; the rest

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Interesting. Can I ask. Have you seen:

The Wire, The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy?

Just want to gauge what you're comparing it to. For all we know you might be comparing it to CSI, Bones, and Criminal Minds.

1 Law & Order
2 The Shield
3 NCIS
4 Law & Order SVU
5 Criminal Minds
6 Rescue Me
7 Silent Witness
8 Boston Legal



Never seen The Wire,SoA,Sopranos [well I've seen bits of that],Breaking Bad

bunsen burner said:

Mad Men - do not get.

Watched it when it was first available. The chauvenism was funny for the first few episodes and then it got boring. Nothing else it that show appealed to me except that ginger's massive boobs.

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I watched the first 2 1/2 seasons and yeah, just got bored with it. It always looks like something will happen but then it doesnt. Apart from feeling like I should be chain smoking I have no other feeling towards the show. Well acted, but far too much dialogue that goes nowhere.

From those listed so far the ones right up there for me are:
The Shield
Breaking Bad
Sons of Anarchy
Deadwood
Sopranos
Oz

Game of Thrones and Spartacus will get there too but they are hardly "long running" at this point. I'll throw in a few that haven't been mentioned yet (from browsing my collection):
24
Battlestar Galactica
Nip Tuck
Skins
Southland

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't find much appeal in Mad Men past Season 1ish.
I thought there was something wrong with me.

1. Six Feet Under (This is light years ahead)
2. Friday Night Lights
3. The West Wing
4. Dexter
5. Southland
6. The Sopranos
7. Boston Legal

Still got to see Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy. The Shield I have seen Season 1 and it's very good but go to watch the rest. Breaking Bad I have only seen the first few eps, not as impressive as everybody says but still want to get around to that one. Same thing with the Wire

Honorable mentions go to Homeland (has potential to be a great series after the first season), Lost (it was an addictive viewing), Alias (my first favourite drama when I was younger)

24 - Hands down my favorite show, yes i can point out many negatives for it (especially after watching each season 23904732907 times!), but i was truly on the edge of my seat enjoying the ride (other than season 6, that season was RUBBISH).

The Wire
The Shield
The Sopranos
Breaking Bad

Law & Order (while i was on the SVU bandwagon for awhile, the original became my favorite again after a few seasons... it sucks that it's no longer on)
Deadwood

Not interested in:
Dexter - i just don't get it
Mad Men

matt_897 said:

1. Six Feet Under (This is light years ahead)
2. Friday Night Lights
3. The West Wing
4. Dexter
5. Southland
6. The Sopranos
7. Boston Legal

Still got to see Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy. The Shield I have seen Season 1 and it's very good but go to watch the rest. Breaking Bad I have only seen the first few eps, not as impressive as everybody says but still want to get around to that one. Same thing with the Wire

Honorable mentions go to Homeland (has potential to be a great series after the first season), Lost (it was an addictive viewing), Alias (my first favourite drama when I was younger)

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The wire is well l reckon it is, one of those shows you need to invest in a few eps in.its not a show you watch one ep bang your hooked. it was'nt till ep 5 or 6 and l was yeah l'm hooked.

The shows not for everyone,And some people wont want to invest in watching a show they might not like or cont to watch.

The Wire is the best series I've watched. It's the 'crime and punishment' of TV series. Absolute classic.

My favourites include; Madmen, 6 feet under, Twin Peaks and Gossip Girl (bit embarassing to admit that on an afl forum but it's addictive crap that I love )

Not seen yet but on the list

Game of Thrones
Boardwalk Empire
Sopranos
Sons of Anarchy
Oz

I've seen Dexter and Deadwood and enjoyed them but they aren't grouped with my favourites.

From what I've seen of Breaking bad (1st season and a few of the second) i cannot stand. I just don't understand the hype around this show.

bunsen burner said:

Mad Men - do not get.

Watched it when it was first available. The chauvenism was funny for the first few episodes and then it got boring. Nothing else it that show appealed to me except that ginger's massive boobs.

For some reason I just can't get into period stuff unless it's the 70s. I'm worried I won't like Boardwalk Empire.

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Couldn't agree more. Watched most of the first season and just could't do anymore, just didn't care at all for any of the characters. Same applies for Boardwalk Empire, but it at least a lot more was happening than in Mad Men. I really wanted to like both shows but just couldn't get into them. I reckon I might give Boardwalk Empire another crack at some stage though.

Mine would be

1. Sons of Anarchy
2. The Sopranos
3. Boston Legal
4. Breaking Bad
5. Dexter

Have just started on The Shield and The Wire about to start that as well.

#1 The Wire - easily the best show I have seen (drama). Can see why people don't get into it because the first few eps are a bit slow but it's worth it. The growth of the characters and the way it made me feel about them was just brilliant story telling. And it only cost me $10 a season at jb
#2 24 - Probably not the most perfectly written or 'best' show but easily one of my favourites. Had me hooked pretty much all the way through and i still think it's the best show for a marathon viewing.
#3 X-Files - My favourite show growing up and I only used to be able to watch TV after 8.30 one night a week back in the day and it was always a wednesday for the x-files. Dropped off a lot towards the end but early on i loved it.
#4 Breaking Bad - Watched the whole series in a couple of weeks last year and it seemed like every ep was better than the last. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.
#5 Sons of Anarchy - Just a good entertaining show, not going to win any awards for brilliance but it's a fun ride.

Others I liked:
Dexter - At it's best it's brilliant but it's too hot and cold, season to season.
Friday Night Lights - Love a show based on sport and combine it with good characters and some nice looking cheerleaders and it's bound to be a winner.
Lost - Started brilliantly but lost me a little along the way. They were never going to be able to finish it as well as it started unfortunately.
In Treatment - Just watched this because the premise of the show sounded interesting and i wanted to see how they did it, but ended up enjoying it.
Damages - I really enjoy this despite the fact it sometimes gets a little soapish. Rose Byrne is an added bonus to this one.

Great Potential - Homeland and Game of Thrones, both had fantastic first seasons so hopefully they keep it up and don't end up like:

Great first season but went to shit- Prison Break and Heroes - The year these shows came out i used to go to my mates and we'd watch that weeks ep of each. First seasons were awesome but it didn't last.

Mad Men - watched the first few eps and found it really boring, can actually remember looking at my watch constantly thinking how long are these episodes. Dindn't like the characters, didn't like the story, didn't like the time.

Haven't watched but will - The Sopranos, Six Feet Under (have just started on this), Boardwalk Empire (actually started this but then watched a BB and ended up watching that instead, will try again soon).

Haven't watched and probably won't - The Shield

A good show that wasn't long running was Men of a Certain Age. Ray Romano playing serious and the relationship between the characters worked really well.

nicky said:

From what I've seen of Breaking bad (1st season and a few of the second) i cannot stand. I just don't understand the hype around this show.

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Keep watching, gets much much better

It's funny how everyone who doesn't list The Wire as one of their favourite dramas goes on to say that "i haven't seen it (but I will)". We know you haven't seen it, otherwise you wouldn't be listing shit like NCIS.

1. Would have to be The West Wing. Every 6-12 months I go through seasons 1 -7. In the middle of Season 4 again at the moment.

2. Homicide (THE Australian version). Grew up watching this show that sporned Crawford spin offs like Matlock Police & Division 4. The sets may have been a bit wonky when they slammed the doors but still a wonderful piece of television every week.

3. Between the Lines - British TV series that ran for 3 seasons 1992-1994. First 2 seasons brilliant. The last season total rubbish. (does 3 seasons qualify as long running?). The political machinations around police investigating police.

4. The Bill. The early years up to about the time they decided to become a soap opera series. The Galloway/Burnside with Sgt Ted Roach. Compulsive Saturday night viewing at one stage (sad isnt it).

5. The Wire . Reinvented itself each season. Some scenes that stay with you. Quality TV.

6. The Wonder Years. Kevin & Winnie...would they, wouldnt they?

7. Phoenix - Australian police tv series -- only 2 seasons though. Brilliant local production of the highest order. Another on my rewind once a year to look at again list.

8. Jonathan Creek. UK crime mystery series - 4 seasons.

9. Hamish McBeth - UK series. I always remember the 1st episode of the first season. Out there, different type of show. Anyone for soup?

bunsen burner said:

Interesting. Can I ask. Have you seen:

The Wire, The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy?

Just want to gauge what you're comparing it to. For all we know you might be comparing it to CSI, Bones, and Criminal Minds.

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Seen a lot of SOA and some 'The Wire' and very little of the Soprano's, all good. I guess I am comparing it to everything I have ever seen. I find those other three you mentioned almost unwatchable.

tonk said:

Seen a lot of SOA and some 'The Wire' and very little of the Soprano's, all good. I guess I am comparing it to everything I have ever seen. I find those other three you mentioned almost unwatchable.

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Just checking we on the same page.