Topic: The greatest single season in television history?

[stevieG786]

Lots of great seasons here, real tough to choose from.

I loved Breaking bad, Blacklist and The Wire but for me, undoubtedly the best, well written and most exciting season (with amazing cliff hangers after each episode) is Prison break season 1



What's your favourite, Which is the greatest single season in television history?

[dave 5516]

That's all you can come up with?

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Wire season 4 for me.

Probably need more choices though.

[El Lobo]

Sopranos Season 3 was pretty awesome

[Yiannis]

Wire season 4 for me.

Probably need more choices though.

Fuck that. The Wire season 4.

That's all you can come up with?

Hahaha. I share this reaction.

[stevieG786]

That's all you can come up with?

Which others? i did it in a rush, currently at work 

[ToneLa]

Seinfeld series 4 was pretty sweet

[dave 5516]

Which others? i did it in a rush, currently at work 

I'm on me bike in south west France...up a mountain that's trying  to kill me...and you ideas...

For a start it's all very Anglocentric....for sheer quality over a season that was twenty episodes long and is stunning, Forbrydelsen. The last season of Gomorrah...if only for the work of the dop...but the story line, directing and acting are also great.

English language series you've missed.....True Detective, Deadwood...pick any one of the three...Twin Peaks...all of Bilko...great tv isn't just drama.

Gotta get back on this bike I wanna get back before the game starts...

[Alan_X]

Which others? i did it in a rush, currently at work 

'Greatest single season of American TV since 2002' would be a better thread title. Television has been one of the main cultural mediums since the Second World War.

Just for a start:

Boys from the Black Stuff
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Thick of It
I'm Alan Partridge
Sherlock
The Office
Spaced
A Very British Coup
GBH
Our Friends in the North
Fawlty Towers

...and about a thousand others.

[Crosby Nick]

Coronation Street series (not season) 1. Think it's still going on!

Agree with a lot of Alan's list there.

[SandyShore]

Breaking Bad Season 4,  just perfection.
 

[FlashingBlade]

'Greatest single season of American TV since 2002'.

haha thinking same....
Suppsose being of a certain age i.e. an arl bastard we have a wider spectrum....so,If anyone wants to know the best TV was it was  a French TV version of Robinson Crusoe from the early sixites ,The Wire....and of course  'Watch with Mother'

[ToneLa]

Peep Show series 2 might be the best come to think of it

[Big Red Richie]

That's all you can come up with?

Ha Ha. As soon as I saw the list, the first thing I thought is that it's compiled by someone in their 20s



To answer the question of the opening post. -  There's far too many to mention,. and picking an outright winner is very subjective, depending on the person, and what mood they are in.

I myself would choose a different winner, on any given day, depending on mood.

I mean, going back a bit further, even series like the X Files were compulsive viewing in their day, amongst many others.


Edit:  Boys from the blackstuff. ..... amongst many.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Yeah Boys From The Blackstuff takes some beating...would definitely win my vote in a UK TV poll.

[BarryCrocker]

Boardwalk Empire season 2 was pretty special.

[El Lobo]

IT Crowd season 2 was very good

[SandyShore]

'Greatest single season of American TV since 2002' would be a better thread title. Television has been one of the main cultural mediums since the Second World War.

All well and good but TV has never been better,  most of the great shows have been this Millennium. TV was actually mocked in the past for being poor in comparison to Cinema.  This is the golden age of tv! Some of the grandad style tv shows you list are not a patch on this period.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

I watched Paedogeddon last night, have to say Brass Eye would be up there...the attention to detail in both the look of it and the script is phenomenal.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

The grandad tv shows you list are not a patch on this period.

Very wrong. BFTB and Tinker Tailor are both peerless. The Thick of It is superb.

I'd say you have the problem here, unable to appreciate things of a certain vintage.

Like saying 70s Ajax are shite or that Fender amps made in the 1960s aren't superior to their modern day counterparts. i.e utter bollocks.

[Kenny's Jacket]

How American is this thread.   No British shows and the OP has referred to it as a season

For me

The Shadow line
Missing Series 2
Only Fools and Horses Series 2
Line of Duty Series 3

[classycarra]

No True Detective or Deadwood? Both in different leagues to Prison Break and Blacklist, for me

[dave 5516]

All well and good but TV has never been better,  most of the great shows have been this Millennium. TV was actually mocked in the past for being poor in comparison to Cinema.  This is the golden age of tv! Some of the grandad style tv shows you list are not a patch on this period.

You chat some shite, lad....you've outdone yourself here. Some of those shows are amongst the greatest ever made....and take it from someone who watches more tv than anyone else on here, there's loads of great tv that predates the "Golden Age."

[SandyShore]

You chat some shite, lad....you've outdone yourself here. Some of those shows are amongst the greatest ever made....and take it from someone who watches more tv than anyone else on here, there's loads of great tv that predates the "Golden Age."

How? Fargo,  Breaking Bad,  Game of Thrones,  Leftovers,  Sopranos,  Hannibal, The Walking Dead and Stranger Things etc I could go on 100's more.  Easily the greatest period in television history all with high Rotten Tomatoes rating and in the IMDB 250. British tv just does not have the same magic for me,  can't think of more then 1 or 2 shows that has captured my imagination. The low episode season format also does my head in.

[El Lobo]

I'd say you have the problem here.

Well that's clear enough

[Djozer]

Hollyoaks.

[stevieG786]

Tbf, i didn't include Only fools, Fawlty Towers, Friends, Bottom (my fav) black adder, The young ones, Simpsons, Southpark as i was trying not to include comedies/animation

i should have thought of a better topic title 

[AndyMuller]

Brookside season 8 was a scouse classic.

[Igor Tripod Biscan]

Series - Americans and hipsters say season

Say season instead as in 'Can I have a second series'

[ToneLa]

Fist of Fun series 1 was better than 2

[El Lobo]

Series - Americans and hipsters say season

Say season instead as in 'Can I have a second series you shit'

[Djozer]

Fist of Fun series 1 was better than 2

Yes, but which season do you prefer?

Also, would you like some weak lemon drink?

[ToneLa]

Yes, but which season do you prefer?

Also, would you like some weak lemon drink?

You want to know which I prefer as well as which is best? You want the moon on a stick!

And yes, I would

[Millie]

All well and good but TV has never been better,  most of the great shows have been this Millennium. TV was actually mocked in the past for being poor in comparison to Cinema.  This is the golden age of tv! Some of the grandad style tv shows you list are not a patch on this period.

Boys from the Blackstuff is up there with the very best - and do one with your granddad comment

[Zlen]

S4 of Wire, S5 of Mad Men and S3 of Sopranos.

[UntouchableLuis]

Series 3 Sopranos
Series 3 GOT
Series 4 Seinfeld
Series 1 Inbetweeners
Series 1 The Office UK
Line of Duty Series 3

[dave 5516]

How? Fargo,  Breaking Bad,  Game of Thrones,  Leftovers,  Sopranos,  Hannibal, The Walking Dead and Stranger Things etc I could go on 100's more.  Easily the greatest period in television history all with high Rotten Tomatoes rating and in the IMDB 250. British tv just does not have the same magic for me,  can't think of more then 1 or 2 shows that has captured my imagination. The low episode season format also does my head in.

First up...no one whose serious about tv and cinema take any notice of the ratings on those sites.

And you're correct that we're living halcyon times re television.....films not so much.

It's your disregard for Alan's list as "grandad tv" that is the problem. To take just two from that list. TTSS is as good as the book, it's actually the book writ large onscreen, you can't ask for better from an adaptation....and that's without the stellar cast all nailing the roles they play.

BFTB...this is the most important piece of tv this country has seen since Cathy Come Home. The stories told within are a reflection of how society was for millions throughout the UK.....there's nothing since that has resonated the way this did in the way that it showed the beginning of the decline of working class people in a society that was at war.

Other than the aforementioned Cathy and possibly The Naked Civil Servant there's not another drama series that is close to how good Boys is...and....only six episodes..... never  mind the width feel the quality.

[ToneLa]

Mr Robot series 1

[Lfsea]

Season 8 of the Simpsons
Season 3 of the Wire. Yeah. Three.
Season 3 of the Sopranos
Season 87/88 of Liverpool FC

[Millie]

Season 87/88 of Liverpool FC

Would have been up there, but the episode "the F A Cup Final" let it down for me.