Heretic's Top TV Series

The 2010 production of Three Kingdoms is quite possibly the greatest dramatic television series ever made. Spanning an incredible 95 episodes, it is wonderfully written, beautifully acted and action packed. The set pieces and production values are amazing, and it covers 50+ years of the legendary Three Kingdoms period of ancient China. If you are a fan of action epics or costume dramas, this is a must watch. You can find an excellent fan sub of this series online, translated by the Jiang Hu group.

The series that revolutionized science fiction and dramatic television. My five stars apply to the amazing seasons 1-5. Season 6 was a mixed bag and is where X-Files started to falter, in my opinion. Season 7 was bad. Seasons 8 and 9 were unwatchable. Despite the fact that Fox ran this show into the ground, the first half of the series is a near flawless drama full of intrigue, mystery, horror and dark comedy. The sheer atmosphere that X-Files created has yet to be surpassed and probably never will be.

Star Trek was always a silly (if popular) television behemoth, but it never truly LOOKED silly until Babylon 5 came along in the mid 90s and became the true king of space opera. Babylon 5 was everything that Star Trek wasn't: gritty and dark (rather than idealistic), grounded in real science (instead of magical technology), and even more importantly, it had a story worth telling. It was a planned five year plot arc with lengthy setups and huge payoffs rather than the typical "moral of the day" bullshit that Star Trek had been doing forever. If you're a sci-fi fan and you haven't yet seen Babylon 5, you owe it to yourself to watch this magnificent series and to be patient while it crafts its ideas, builds its themes and carves its dramatic path to an epic climax and resolution.

A show about an asshole doing morally dubious things so he can sustain his pathetic ego. And yet, it's massively compelling. Producer Vince Gilligan earned his wings by working on The X-Files and it shows in this well written, intense drama about a narcissistic chemistry wizard who just can't help himself.

This series had just about everything going for it. Great dialogue, amazing performances, epic music, excellent sets, costumes and CG. It was an improvement over the original series in every way possible. Unfortunately, the one thing it lacked was the promise that was made about the Cylons in the intro of every episode: "And they have a plan..." But they didn't have a plan because the writers didn't have a plan, and when you don't plan your plot out in advance you eventually end up with plot holes and a total train wreck of a final season. The disappointing season 4 aside, BSG was an excellent show and the first good sci-fi television to come along in five years.

From the creators of The X-Files... a dark man with a mysterious gift. Killers, mad men, the occult, webs of conspiracy and the impending apocalypse. What's not to love?!? An impressive series that ended too soon and never got the respect it deserved.

The finest historical drama I've had the pleasure to watch, "Rome" covers the rise and fall of Julius Ceasar, the descent of the Roman republic into a totalitarian state, and the rise of Emperor Octavian. This series had an assortment of true historical characters and fictional ones, but they were all played to perfection. Sadly, this epic drama ended after only two seasons due to budget constraints, but what an excellent ride it was!

There are no heroes, only anti-heroes in this gritty, complex historical drama about crime and power in Atlantic City. Superb performances and production values.

Dexter draws you in with the foreign (but intriguing) concept of "the good serial killer" and keeps you watching with its excellent character drama. It's not a show that bears more than one viewing, and the ending was rather lackluster, but it's still impressive for keeping the concept fresh and the plot compelling through eight full seasons.

An epic fantasy series that just about everyone is watching. So far, it's been excellent in almost every regard. If I had to pick a flaw, it's that the sexual content feels a little forced and/or immature at times, giving the show a bit of a soap opera feel. Thankfully, that feeling doesn't last and the excellent writing and engaging plot trump the frivolous softcore scenes.

Just when you thought modern television couldn't get more dark, House of Cards comes along and ups the cynicism a thousand fold. Is this art imitating life? Is American politics so fucked that its only honest portrayal is through characters this duplicitous? So it seems... and the conciliation prize of our broken system is this gripping piece of television.

The zombie apocalypse done right? I was shocked at first and remain pleasantly surprised! Each season of this blood and filth smeared drama has its adrenaline soaked highs and yawn inducing lows, but perhaps that's an accurate depiction of post-apocalypse life. I continue to consume this show ravenously while wondering... is a satisfying ending even possible?