Which great TV shows started great, were great and ended great!

mooperman

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basically, a TV show which you consider has never dropped the ball...

i'll kick off with 2...

The Shield - easily the most complete TV series ive ever watched and i thought it was fantastic how the events of
the pilot came to be a huge part of their undoing
in the last few episodes - stunning TV!! :smashin:

Phoenix Nights - 2 series of classic comedy and left at that, i dont consider max and paddy to be the same show.;)

whats in your list.....
 
Come here to state The Shield and you have beaten me too it in the first post!

A worthy mention should go to Six Feet Under too in my opinion, a few filler episodes but the journey is great
 
the killing (not the american version)

the killing II

the millennium trilogy (extended TV versions)

Oz

survivors

midnight caller


two honorable mentions, that nearly make your criteria are;

lost and twin peaks

both sublimely great, but are both a game of two halves, both go off slightly for me in the latter parts of each
 
Great idea for a thread!

That's a real tough one to answer as a lot of my favourite shows such as The X Files, Buffy etc all dropped off a bit.

Perhaps ST:TNG for me anyway, was consistently good all the way through.

I'd certainly not put Lost in this thread, but we all have our own opinions!
 
I'd certainly not put Lost in this thread, but we all have our own opinions!

sorry, i thought i had pre-qualified my inclusion of that

"two honorable mentions, that nearly make your criteria are;

lost and twin peaks"

ie, it aint in this list, :D
 
The rebooted Battlestar Galactica only got better. FRACK !

Carnaval !

Deadwood !

Farscape ! Though Scorpius got a bit tedious !

Currently Boardwalk Empire HBO Again ! However no doubt now that I have mentioned it sure to be cancled !

Guilty one that don't make the grade but pers fav Babylon 5 !
 
The Wire

Battlestar Gallactica (Reboot)

Oz
 
To save this becoming a drama overload, I'll chuck a couple of TV comedies into the mix, if I may. Both notable for having short runs. Maybe the theory of "always leave them wanting more" has something to it. Alternatively, maybe keeping things short removes the risk of them getting stale?

The Office: Really, really well written, and really well acted by everyone in it. Almost faultless, and the ending was perfect. There's a lot of Gervais/Merchant stuff I don't like, but this was good.

Fawlty Towers: Twelve great episodes, and no more. Not a duff moment in any of them, let alone a duff episode. Probably the best sitcom ever made, as far as I'm concerned.
 

Im not sure i'd agree with that, the last season was comparably much worse than the others imo, it was still better than most stuff on tv but it definitely went downhill. :)

Im coming up to end of the sopranos and thats been great.

Breaking bad looks like it'll be amazing all the way through.
 
Im Alan Partridge
As a fan im gutted they only made 2 series, but i think they ended it at the right time, before people got sick of the character.

The Young Ones
I loved how they ended the second series, definitely went out on a high.

The Mighty Boosh
The 3rd series wasnt as good as the first 2 but it still had its moments. If they would have carried it on i dont think it would have been very good. Just look at the abomination that is 'noel fieldings luxury comedy'

15 Storeys High
I dont know if anyone remembers this, but it was a brilliant sitcom written by Sean Lock back in 2002. Only ran for 2 series and they were genius.
 
Breaking bad looks like it'll be amazing all the way through.

ive only just discovered this and although i'm told it gets better i'm really struggling through the first series....
 
OZ
The Wire
Lost
Only Fools and Horses
The Shield
 
Last edited:
ive only just discovered this and although i'm told it gets better i'm really struggling through the first series....

Keep going though Mooperman, I felt the same and it clicked in Season 2 and pretty much every season has improved on the last, it just gets better.

Great idea for a thread, will need to have a think.
 
The Wire
Band of Brothers
The Sopranos
Mad Men
 
ER - From Start To Finish It Was Excellent. 15 Seasons and I don't think it ever dropped the ball. Managed to keep the humour and emotion going all the way through with some great guest actors and characters.

The Shield - This was adrenaline fuelled action from start to finish, on the edge of your seat stuff. And it kept that pace for all seasons.

Oz – Same as the Shield, loved this from start to finish. Was not sure what to expect but it was excellent and you grew to love some of the characters but they are all bad people some of them terrible people. Sign of great writing and a great show.

West Wing – I think people might say that it did dip but I have watched this twice now back to back with my missus and enjoyed it both times. Great writing and acting. Something I thought I would never enjoy but ended up just wanting to watch the next episode.

Battle Star (Reboot) – For me this is probably one of the greatest Sci Fi shows ever and tops even X- Files which I thought I would never say but for me X-Files did drop towards the end and lost the plot. No doubt people will say BSG did but for me it was excellent and I loved everything about it even all the religious rubbish :D

Mad Men – I still can't put my finger on why I like this show but I do and since the first episode to the last I have been hooked and I still can't think why :laugh: Hopefully the new seasons keep doing what it does best.

Breaking Bad – This has potential to top my list of shows, every season has excelled compared to the previous. A must watch and I hope it goes out on a high.

Deadwood – Excellent series with some outstanding acting from Ian McShane, was not sure on the ending but it kept me thinking about it for weeks and after talking with a few other people about it I realised it was a great ending because of how it made you want a certain type of ending from the start of the last episode to the very end.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia – It started great and has consistently been funny and had me giggling like a little girl in every episode. Am sure it will end on a high when it does.

A few mentions,

The Wire – Would have been on there If I had not taken so long to get into it, was not until middle of Season 2 that I really got into it. Similar to Breaking Bad but Season 1 of Breaking Bad was excellent but I was still unsure.

Entourage – Could have been on the list but the last few seasons were just a bit meh, still good but it kind of became a bit unbelievable and the last series just seemed rushed to me.
 
Xena: Warrior Princess

Regards

Mark
 
Im not sure i'd agree with that, the last season was comparably much worse than the others imo, it was still better than most stuff on tv but it definitely went downhill. :)

I view season 5 a bit like I did season 1.

Took till around episode 6 or 7 in both those two seasons for it to get going proper for me.

The last 3 episodes of season 5 were easily as good as any of the best of previous seasons though.
 
Im not sure i'd agree with that, the last season was comparably much worse than the others imo, it was still better than most stuff on tv but it definitely went downhill. :)

It's easy to dismiss season 5 because the subject matter isn't as instantly appealing as other seasons, but it does a brilliant job of tying up the strands of all the previous seasons into a believable and realistic conclusion. I remember being gutted that McNulty would do something as stupid as he did, but when you look at his character's motivations and disrespect for authority, it's not surprising he did what he did as in his view the end justifies the means. I've just finished watching the show for the second time and I enjoyed Season 5 far more than I did first time around - it's an incredible achievement and IMO it retains the same consistently high standard from the opening scene of the first episode through to the final closing credits.

Also, I would love to know which hack the writers based Templeton on - I bet his character closely mirrors a real person they know.
 
Im Alan Partridge
As a fan im gutted they only made 2 series, but i think they ended it at the right time, before people got sick of the character.
Series 2 of IAP came out about 5 or 6 years after Series 1, quite a gap and after two series of The Office had already aired (iirc it started the week after Series 2 ended on BBC2) ... I felt at the time it was a huge disappointment compared to series 1 (and after the high of The Office) and still do - apart from the Dan/Lexi episode I really can't recall many classic lines or scenes, whereas I know Series 1 virtually word for word
- I think the recent Mid Morning Matters was way better, I think BBC2 or Dave might be airing revised versions of the original Fosters YouTube episodes some time this year
 
ive only just discovered this and although i'm told it gets better i'm really struggling through the first series....

A lot of people say that, for some reason i never did struggle, cant say enough praise for it, definitely stick with it, its head and shoulders the best tv program ive ever seen, nothing even comes close :thumbsup:

Havent seen the shield yet but need to as it gets a lot of praise
 
My nominations would be:
- Band of Brothers
- Battlestar Galactica (Reboot)
- Colditz (70s version)
- I, Claudius
- Secret Army
- Survivors (70s version)

Not many shows that can claim to have held quality from start to finish - and almost impossible for series that ran over a long period.
 
Not Going Out (and still going)
Firefly
 

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