Official RedCafe Top 50 Television Shows of All Time - The Countdown

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  • Total voters
    73
adexkola said:
Seconded on season 4 of The Wire. That was alchemic.

I can live with Breaking Bad on top, it's an excellent show in it's own right.

Is anyone here a fan of Justified?
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I am. It is a good show but could not find a place for it
 
Scrumpet said:
I think the list would look pretty different in just a few years. I expect Spartacus would struggle to stay top 50.
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Just look at how much the Top 50 Albums changed from 2008 to last month.
 
R.N7 said:
The Wire has about 50 great actors.
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Yes. It has more depth and it also has a far better writing, that is for sure.

Breaking Bad is more concentrated on a single character and no-one in the history of the TV Shows has been a better actor/character than Cranston/White.
 
Revan said:
Yes. It has more depth and it also has a far better writing, that is for sure.

Breaking Bad is more concentrated on a single character and no-one in the history of the TV Shows has been a better actor/character than Cranston/White.
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Well, how interesting are they really? Is the series more than a thriller?
 
Eboue said:
Walter White is not even close to the best character. It was pretty straight forward. He broke bad.
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Nah. It was not straight forward at all. The depth of transformation is definitely one the best done things ever in TV history.
 
Sopranos is better than Breaking Bad for other reasons than Tony/Walt. Character wise I would agree that Walter White was more well done than Tony.
 
Revan said:
Elaborate on what you disagree. I can understand someone saying that The Wire is a better TV show (though for me they are almost equal) and I like Idris Elba, but no chance in hell that he is the half of actor that Bryan Cranston is.

For the sake of curiosity, I had Breaking Bad in the third position and The Wire on the fourth position.
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I didn't vote The Wire as first, I put The West Wing, cos I wanted to give more points to TWW and I thought The Wire had #1 nailed anyway. And I think The Wire is the best 'body of work' done on TV, I just enjoyed The West Wing, I guess.

Anyway, why I think The Wire is so exceptional has nothing to do with one actor being better or not than Cranston. It's one of the most ambitious things I've ever seen, so coherent, and carried by a superb cast. It tackles so many issues it's unreal, deals with absolutely every layer of a city's illness and manages to remain clever, moving and relevant all through the show. Even season 5, considered as a dip in quality by most, is above almost any other TV show (and the dip is blown out of proportion imo because of the standards of the show). The characters also make it brilliant, there's no standout for me, I just have too many favourites. Maybe to single one out, you could point to Bubbles, whose story is depicted all through the show, who has ups and downs and who ultimately embodies so many things the show talks about throughout its duration. I could point out so many storylines, characters, memorable moments or quotes.

But I don't even think it's necessary. The ultimate testament is that I'm pretty sure The Wire will remain for decades as one of the most renowned and appreciated TV shows, seen by generation after generation, whereas Breaking Bad, despite all the love I have for it, will be remembered as 'just' a great drama/thriller series, amongst quite a few others.

In my eyes, The Wire is simply untouchable for what it tried (and managed) to depict.
 
Scrumpet said:
My top15 video games list will be carefully engineered to upset Revan as much as possible.
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Okay:
No Kotor, Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 7, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Chrono Trigger, BioShock, Half Life, Half Life 2, Dragon Age: Origin, System Shock 2, Desu Ex etc.

What the hell are you going to vote if you exclude these games?

I love The Wire. Had it on my fourth position (my top 2 are Battlestar Galactica and Game Of Thrones which were more personal choices rather than the two best ever TV shows). If I had voted as a critique I would had BB on the first place and TW on the second.
 
Revan said:
Meh. I rest my case:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/anthony-hopkins-breaking-bad-letter_n_4098441.html

It is also the only great TV show that I have ever seen that every season is better than the previous one. 5b > 5a > 4 > 3 > 2 > 1

The Wire's final season is shit.
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Shit, sorry, I forgot Anthony Hopkins opinion was the be all and end all.

I think, Tony Soprano was a better character than Walter White, while I'd find it hard to separate Cranston and Gandolfini as actors in their respective roles.
 
Revan said:
Okay:
No Kotor, Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 7, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Chrono Trigger, BioShock, Half Life, Half Life 2, Dragon Age: Origin, System Shock 2, Desu Ex etc.

What the hell are you going to vote if you exclude these games?

I love The Wire. Had it on my fourth position (my top 2 are Battlestar Galactica and Game Of Thrones which were more personal choices rather than the two best ever TV shows). If I had voted as a critique I would had BB on the first place and TW on the second.
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Nintendo games?
 
You're all argueing about Characters, you can have your say in a few weeks, Top 50 Characters of All Time (All Mediums) follows the Top 50 games.
 
Revan said:
Okay:
No Kotor, Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 7, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Chrono Trigger, BioShock, Half Life, Half Life 2, Dragon Age: Origin, System Shock 2, Desu Ex etc.

What the hell are you going to vote if you exclude these games?

I love The Wire. Had it on my fourth position (my top 2 are Battlestar Galactica and Game Of Thrones which were more personal choices rather than the two best ever TV shows). If I had voted as a critique I would had BB on the first place and TW on the second.
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Final Fantasy 3 was the best of them all. BioShock has always been overrated. I've naved played No Kotor but my friend who has tells me it sucks.
 
R.N7 said:
Don Draper is a better character than Tony Soprano.
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Don Draper is a more interesting character than Walter White, also. Incredible depth to him.

Cranston does a fantastic job of White's part, no doubt, but the character himself isn't THAT incredible, I agree with Eboobies.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
I didn't vote The Wire as first, I put The West Wing, cos I wanted to give more points to TWW and I thought The Wire had #1 nailed anyway. And I think The Wire is the best 'body of work' done on TV, I just enjoyed The West Wing, I guess.

Anyway, why I think The Wire is so exceptional has nothing to do with one actor being better or not than Cranston. It's one of the most ambitious things I've ever seen, so coherent, and carried by a superb cast. It tackles so many issues it's unreal, deals with absolutely every layer of a city's illness and manages to remain clever, moving and relevant all through the show. Even season 5, considered as a dip in quality by most, is above almost any other TV show (and the dip is blown out of proportion imo because of the standards of the show). The characters also make it brilliant, there's no standout for me, I just have too many favourites. Maybe to single one out, you could point to Bubbles, whose story is depicted all through the show, who has ups and downs and who ultimately embodies so many things the show talks about throughout its duration. I could point out so many storylines, characters, memorable moments or quotes.

But I don't even think it's necessary. The ultimate testament is that I'm pretty sure The Wire will remain for decades as one of the most renowned and appreciated TV shows, seen by generation after generation, whereas Breaking Bad, despite all the love I have for it, will be remembered as 'just' a great drama/thriller series, amongst quite a few others.

In my eyes, The Wire is simply untouchable for what it tried (and managed) to depict.
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Fair points. What you disagree about Cranston/White though? I said many times that the Wire has better depth and better writing, I doubt tat anyone can disagree there. Like no-one can disagree that Bryan Cranston/Walter White is much better than anyone on The Wire.

Breaking Bad will go in history as one of the best Tv shows of all time, there is no doubt about it. The fact that it is comfortably on the first place in imdb talks for itslef that it is really a great TV show. On the same category as The Wire/Sopranos, one of the best drama TV shows of all time.
 
I'm voting for Eboue as my favourite character.

Also, I'll be voting exclusively for Wii games in the next poll. Big feck on your face!
 
R.N7 said:
Nintendo games?
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Without Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger? Good luck on it.

I would find it hilarious if someone doesn't vote their favourite games that are also in my list, just because I gave one point more to Breaking Bad than The Wire.
 
Big-Red said:
Like?
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Father Ted in top 10 is too high. It should not be higher than 30. I have not seen Fools and Horses so won't comment.

Peep show is too high as well.

Worst show on it is Prison break though. Bar S1 it was garbage
 
Winning by ONLY 4 points when your at your absolute peak of hyperbole is the proof that the Wire is superior. The Wire and The Sopranos will be the Godfather and Citizen Kane of TV drama forever, Breaking Bad is merely The Dark Knight.
 
Revan said:
Without Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger? Good luck on it.

I would find it hilarious if someone doesn't vote their favourite games that are also in my list, just because I gave one point more to Breaking Bad than The Wire.
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I've never played Final Fantasy. My list will be filled with Zelda games.
 
Eboue said:
Final Fantasy 3 was the best of them all. BioShock has always been overrated. I've naved played No Kotor but my friend who has tells me it sucks.
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You should do a march madness style brackets for TV show or movies
 
Revan said:
Fair points. What you disagree about Cranston/White though? I said many times that the Wire has better depth and better writing, I doubt tat anyone can disagree there. Like no-one can disagree that Bryan Cranston/Walter White is much better than anyone on The Wire.

Breaking Bad will go in history as one of the best Tv shows of all time, there is no doubt about it. The fact that it is comfortably on the first place in imdb talks for itslef that it is really a great TV show. On the same category as The Wire/Sopranos, one of the best drama TV shows of all time.
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Please don't use IMDB has a reference, that's just stupid. Shawshank Redemption is (or was for a long time) #1 film. It just means it appeals more to the masses. You don't have to use IMDB or an Anthony Hopkins letter to make your opinion more valid, I'll respect your opinion for what it is: your opinion.

I said above what I thought about Walter White's character, which is different from Cranston's acting. He's fantastic in it, no problem, but that doesn't make it the best show just for that reason.
 
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