The ‘Mount Rushmore’ of TV Dramas

Narrowing the list down to four is not easy.

I was at a conference in Colorado a few years ago, and over lunch a conversation broke out on the best TV dramas ever. I was delighted by the turn of conversation, because I was bored of talking about politics and government; and because I’ve turned into almost as much of a Netflix fan as a movie buff.

I got back and forth on the question, but part of me thinks television has surpassed movies as the optimal medium for storytelling (apart from books). In either case, I can talk about movies and TV shows all day.  

There have been so many good television dramas over the last 25 years or so, and much of it has been done by HBO, which produced most of the shows on this list and several other great ones that didn’t make the cut. (HBO has already had two of the funniest TV shows in the last 20 years, but that discussion will have to wait for another column.) 

Narrowing the list down to a handful of the best shows was not easy, but if I was making a “Mount Rushmore” of TV dramas it would consist of these four (in no particular order). (And for fun, I’ve included the trailer for the first season of each show.)

(Confession: I only recently began watching The Sopranos, a show that very well may belong on this list. When I finish it sometime in 2025, I’ll offer a take on this show, which I’ve very much enjoyed so far.)

1. Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

I’m just going to call Breaking Bad the best ever. Unlike others on my list, I didn’t start watching this show until the series was almost complete. As many know, it stars Bryan Cranston (who I’ll still always remember as Tim Whatley) as chemistry teacher who discovers he has terminal lung cancer and decides to become a meth producer/deal to support family. 

What separates Breaking Bad from every other great drama—including the other three on this list—is that the show kept getting better and better every season. When the final episode ends and “Baby Blue” starts to play, you realize you just finished watching the best show of your life go out on crescendo.

2. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

I wasn’t sure if GoT would make my list. The last season, as many have observed, was a bit of disappointment. But overall, HBO did a great job of adapting George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy book series A Song of Fire and Ice, which is nothing short of a masterpiece. (Well, the first three books are anyway.) David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the show, outdid themselves for about six and half of these eight seasons, and continued to tell a great story long after they had material from Martin’s series (which remains stalled at five books). Game of Thrones is The Godfather of fantasy, and deserves to be on Mount Rushmore.

3. The Wire (2002–2008)

Before I watched Breaking Bad, I thought The Wire was the best TV drama ever created. The show explores the streets of Baltimore—the gangs, the drugs, the code, the violence—as well as the systems used to improve and combat them: police, schools, the press, and city hall. Say what you will about David Simon (the creator of the show); he understands the failings of American systems—which are always three steps behind the streets—on a level most people will never comprehend. I actually have no idea how I started watching The Wire. All I remember is my wife—who was my fiancé at the time—became as obsessed with the show as I was. For this reason, The Wire, which helped launch the careers of Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan, remains in my pantheon of great shows despite a forgettable fifth season. (Fun aside: I met Wendell Pierce, who plays “The Bunk,” at a bar with friends in New Orleans, where he was shooting Treme. He came over and had a drink with us. Super nice guy.) 

4. Deadwood (2004-2006)

The genesis of this article was Deadwood, which I recently started watching again after about 15 years. I forgot how good this show is. Created by David Milch, Deadwood, as its name implies, depicts life in Deadwood, South Dakota after gold was discovered in the late 1800s.

The show reveals a town bathed in violence, corruption, and crime, but one where honor, community, love, and friendship still thrive. It occurred to me this show really couldn’t be made today. It’s too raw and visceral, and I don’t mean the constant swearing (which is so colorful it’s almost poetic). Al Swearengen (played masterfully by Ian McShane) would be way too problematic for today’s critics.