Best Ever Shows

"Before the maze led nowhere, HBO's robot Western asked the right questions about consciousness, free will, and what we owe the beings we create—Season One remains a masterwork of puzzle-box television."

"Thirty-five million people wanted an answer. Lynch gave them a door."

"The Duffer Brothers built a nostalgia machine and accidentally made the best horror show of its decade."

"Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's post-Thunderbirds live-action opus stranded 311 people on a runaway Moon—and in doing so, created television's most philosophically serious science fiction before Battlestar Galactica."

"FX's adaptation of James Clavell's novel immerses viewers in 1600 Japan with unprecedented authenticity—ten episodes of political intrigue, cultural collision, and performances that transcend prestige-TV conventions."

"Dan Erickson made a show about work-life balance and turned it into existential horror."

"Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld made a show about nothing and accidentally invented modern comedy."

"Bob Newhart played the straight man to an entire Vermont town for eight seasons, then delivered television's greatest finale—a punchline that retroactively improved everything that came before."

"David Milch made a Western about how civilization is born from mud and blood and profanity."

"Before antihero dramas, before prestige TV, there was J.R. Ewing teaching America to love a villain."