Best Tv Shows To Buy
Long before streaming allowed audiences to binge-watch whole series in a single weekend, there was primetime TV-watching bliss. Fan favorites such as "The West Wing" and "The Sopranos" kept fans glued to their sofas week after week and year after year to find out what would happen next. Some fans loved shows so much they would purchase box sets on VHS or DVD to watch them again and again, to relive the drama or bask in the laughs.
best tv shows to buy
To celebrate the history of great television, Stacker compiled this data-driven list of the 100 best TV shows of all time, using IMDb. Shows were ranked by IMDb user ratings, with ties broken by the number of votes. For this list, a series had to have at least 50,000 votes and be available to watch in the US at some point.
Bill Lawrence's medical drama/sitcom "Scrubs" ran for nine seasons over a decade. It follows, and is narrated by, J.D. (Zach Braff), as he navigates his hospital career and romantic life alongside best friend Turk (Donald Faison), on-again-off-again partner/friend Elliot (Sarah Chalke), and the intimidating, patronizing Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley). Largely praised by critics and fans in its earlier seasons, the often comedic and sometimes deeply emotional "Scrubs" was one of the more well-liked major network products of the 2000s. Additionally, "Scrubs" received 17 Emmy nominations.
This goofy cop show stars former "SNL" cast member Andy Samberg as a juvenile and irreverent detective forced to shape up when a strict new commanding officer (Andre Braugher) takes over his precinct. Critics praised the show's easygoing humor along with Samberg's charming performance, and following its debut season "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" clinched Golden Globes for best series and best actor in the Musical/Comedy category. Additionally, the show received 11 Emmy nominations, bringing home two. Fox eventually canceled it, but NBC picked it up for several more seasons.
A samurai from the past gets trapped in a dystopian future by a demonic overlord who he must defeat in this unique and stylish animated action-adventure series from Genndy Tartakovsky, the visionary behind shows like "Dexter's Laboratory." The series ran for four seasons in the early 2000s before being revived for a fifth and final season in 2017.
Based on the 2006 novel of the same name by author Vikram Chandra, "Sacred Games" was the first Netflix original series out of India. The neo-noir series ran for two seasons and follows a cop and a gang boss uniting to save Mumbai. The New York Times listed "Sacred Games" as one of the 30 best international TV shows of the 2010s, the only Indian series to make the list.
Like several shows on this list, the first season of "Person of Interest" received a mixed response from critics for its shallow character development, while later seasons seemed to remedy the issue. The story sees an ex-CIA operative and a scientist teaming up to try to prevent crimes before they occur. The show's creator, Jonathan Nolan, is the brother of director Christopher Nolan. In 2012, the show received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour).
This HBO drama, based on the best-selling novel by Liane Moriarty of the same name, features an A-list cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern. The show is set in a wealthy coastal town in California where deception and murder lurk beneath the picture-perfect surface. Despite initially being billed as a miniseries HBO brought it back for a second season, adding Meryl Streep to the stacked cast. The series received 21 Emmy Awards nominations, winning eight.
Fox's animated show from "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening follows the adventures of an interplanetary delivery outfit, parodying movies and TV shows from all corners of science fiction along the way. Although it never rose to the level of popularity of "The Simpsons," the show received almost universal critical acclaim, with 14 Emmy nominations and six wins over the course of its run. Among them included the award for Outstanding Animated Program, which the show took the Emmy for several times.
This Cartoon Network show follows the adventures of a boy and his best friend, a talking dog who can change his size and shape at will, in a mystical and magical realm. While the premise may sound familiar, the show's sweet but strange tone sets it apart. Creator Pendleton Ward has acknowledged influences as far-ranging as "Dungeons and Dragons," "Beavis and Butthead," and "Ren and Stimpy." Another unusual aspect of the show is its approach to voice casting. While many animated shows employ adult actors for their child characters, "Adventure Time" cast an actual child actor (Jeremy Shada) to voice the character of Finn. As such, Finn's voice deepened through the show's run, as Shada progressed through puberty. The beloved animated series received 15 Emmy Awards nominations, winning eight trophies in total.
"The Shield" surpassed most prime-time cop shows by favoring shades of gray over clear-cut moralism. In a career-defining role, Michael Chiklis played the volatile, corrupt, and yet somehow principled leader of an elite Los Angeles detective squad. He won a Primetime Emmy for his performance after the first season. The show received six Emmy nominations, winning one for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series in 2002.
This HBO drama about a family-run funeral home featured a unique gimmick: each episode began with the arrival of a new corpse. The show's final episode, which stared down the mortality of its characters as it fast-forwarded the full remainder of their lives, has been hailed as one of the best series finales of all time. At the Emmy Awards, the show claimed nine of the 53 trophies for which it had been nominated.
This Syfy Channel remake vastly improved upon the cheesy 1970s original with excellent special effects, politically astute plotlines, and a first-rate cast. Bucking the trend of youthful casting, series creator Ronald D. Moore opted for seasoned actors for his leads: Edward James Olmos as the captain of the titular starship and Mary McDonnell as the secretary of education who's thrust into the role of president by succession laws after most of humanity is wiped out by robot-esque Cylons. With its tense plotlines, first-rate performances, and surprisingly deep themes, "Battlestar Galactica" was one of the best science fiction shows ever to hit the small screen. In its run, the show gathered 25 Emmy nominations, winning five.
Possibly the most famous anime series of all time is "Dragon Ball Z," with its equally famous protagonist Goku. A sequel to the original "Dragon Ball" anime and a continuing adaptation of the manga of the same name, "Z" portrayed Goku's adult life as he and his companions defended the world from a host of villains and enemies. The show had two other sequel shows, as well as a remastering called "Dragon Ball Kai."
One of the most popular original shows on Netflix, "Narcos" was a gripping drama that followed the real-life stories of the Colombian drug trade of the late 1980s. While seasons one and two focused on the infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, season three picked up after his fall and the rise of Cali Cartel. The series has been nominated for a number of awards, including three nominations at the Emmys. Additionally, the show spawned a spinoff, titled "Narcos: Mexico."
Regularly referred to as one of the best TV shows of all time by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and TV Guide, "Seinfeld's" iconic characters, storylines, and catchphrases have become an indelible part of popular culture. Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld in 1989, the show launched the careers of Seinfeld and co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander, while Michael Richards' Kramer character became unforgettable. It won an Emmy in 1993 for "Outstanding Comedy Series," and has been nominated for 68 awards overall.
In this critically acclaimed anthology crime drama series, new cast ensembles take on challenging crime investigations each season. The first season, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, was called one of the best drama series of the year, while other critics said it was one of the strongest in recent memory. Season two stars Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, and Taylor Kitsch; Mahershala Ali served as lead in the third season, with Carmen Ejogo, Stephen Dorff, Scoot McNairy, and Ray Fisher co-starring. The show has taken home five Emmy Awards.
Based on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's hit BBC show, the American version starred Steve Carell as the well-meaning but painfully awkward boss of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. The show turned Carell, who up until then was best known as a "Daily Show" correspondent, into a household name and led to a film career. The laugh-out-loud series received five of the 42 Emmy Award nominations it received following its eight-year run.
Still cited as one of the greatest TV shows ever made, "The Wire" went off the air more than 10 years ago. The acclaimed HBO drama featured a black ensemble cast, helping to launch the careers of Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, and Michael K. Williams, and took a realistic look at Baltimore and its drug scene, police department, schools, and media. Following its run, the show was twice nominated at the Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
The critically acclaimed AMC series "Breaking Bad" turned Walter White into an icon. The show also catapulted Bryan Cranston into cult status for portraying the high-school-teacher-turned-meth-kingpin. Cranston won four Primetime Emmy Awards for the role. It's considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time, having become the most-watched cable TV show on American television, and most critically acclaimed of all time.
This isn't to suggest, of course, that people haven't been bingeing television for decades. As long as there have been nerds and a means of recording, people have been mass consuming their favorite TV shows, whether on DVD or self-recorded VHS. But more recently, binge-watching has become not only something people do, but a driving factor that shapes the way some entertainment is formed on a core level. Netflix, in particular, is known for crafting binge-worthy shows in a way that compels viewers to digest the whole narrative in one or two sittings and, as a result, often blurs the lines between film and television story formats. 041b061a72