• Zonetrooper@lemmy.world
    61·
    7 days ago

    It is unacceptable that Babylon 5 is not on this list. It was rare, at the time, for shows to have a multi-season story arc with character development planned from the start. JMS got his seasons, though, and used them beautifully. Every single episode, even those that don’t contribute to the main storyline advancing, either show a character developing or build the foundations for that development.

  • niktemadur@lemmy.world
    3·
    7 days ago

    I’m gonna go old school on you, remembering some of the pioneers from an age long past.

    In 70s comedy, there was MASH (deftly balancing war and humor), Barney Miller (like a gritty urban Sydney Lumet movie, turned into a sitcom) and Taxi (Danny Devito, Christopher Lloyd and Andy Kauffman, WTF?!!).

    In early-80s drama, there was Hill Street Blues (once again, like a gritty urban Sydney Lumet movie, turned into a brilliant ensemble cop drama) and St. Elsewhere (another ensemble, a Boston hospital drama with a good splash of magic realism, this is where Denzel Washington got his start!).

    Later in the 80s and early 90s, there was yet another groundbreaking ensemble, Northern Exposure (a quirky and sophisticated half-serious drama, with LOTS of magic realism, about a small, remote Alaska town).

    Finally, I can’t go without mentioning my favorite #1 all-time GOAT series, Mad Men. I’ve watched the entire thing at least four times, it’s like reading and re-reading the proverbial “Great American Novel”.

  • fallaciousBasis@lemmy.world
    2·
    7 days ago

    Angelyne…

    It has Emmy Rossum playing a Hollywood billboard icon. A loosely ‘based on a true story’ miniseries. Highly recommended. It’s … Different.

    Mr Robot.

    Xena: Warrior Princess.

    Rifleman.

    House of Cards.

    Shameless (either one.)

    Black Sails.

    Into the Badlands.

    Halt and Catch Fire.

    Vikings.

    And heck, here’s a few cartoons:

    Steven Universe.

    Adventure Time.

    Infinity Train.

    Amphibia.

  • Griffus@lemmy.zip
    2·
    7 days ago

    Dag - a Norwegian show about a couples councilor that believes people should be alone.

  • leadore@lemmy.world
    2·
    7 days ago

    In reverse chronological order:

    • The Good Place.
    • The Sopranos
    • Seinfeld (maybe not the character depth, but the writing)
    • Shogun (6-episode miniseries, does that count?)
    • The original Bob Newhart show, the one with Suzanne Pleshette.
  • Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works
    35·
    7 days ago

    The Good Place. It starts off deceptively shallow but by the end it became one of my favorite shows of all time.

    Dark. The constant time travel makes it hard to keep track of what’s going on a lot of the time but if you can manage, it’s very rewarding. Great character development. Not the best ending, but good enough.

    Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad have some poorly written characters but the well-written ones are very well-written.

    I didn’t include any shows based on books because I felt that would go against the scope of your question.