I started paying more attention to TV dramas during my teens. I seemed to have developed the necessary emotional maturity to fully comprehend and appreciate these shows. When I was little, I would watch TV dramas like Miami Vice, Matlock, China Beach, Columbo and Perry Mason, not because I liked them or understood them. I just watched them because that's what my father watched. He was hooked to these shows and no matter what went on in the household, he would never miss a single episode. As a young child, I could not comprehend why he loved these unfunny, dramatic shows so much. I did not understand it until I was a bit older and the switch seemed to have happened almost overnight, with ER. I don't think I took a single breath while I watched the pilot. Shows like ER made it worthwhile to break curfew. From then on, I too, was hooked, and was constantly on the lookout for new gems.
While sitcom succeed at cheering us up, dramas serve another purpose. They bring up within us strong emotions like anger, sadness, disgust, terror, apprehension and admiration, and remind us that the world is an ambivalent, frustrating, cruel and unforgiving place. They make us face our realities or help us discover someone else's, and for that very reason, we can get very easily get caught up in a drama. We love one character while hating another, we cry, laugh, get angry, worry, and become deeply invested in the storylines. There is no greater form of catharsis than watching a good dramatic show! We get to purge all our repressed emotions!
Making a top-five favorite TV drama of all-time was far more difficult a task than making one for the sitcoms. I have seen my share of dramatic shows over the years and have fallen in love with many of them, but for my top five, I chose the ones that had the longest lasting impressions on me.
1- The West Wing
The West Wing has often been accused of being idealistic, elitist and pretentious, and truth be told, it absolutely is. But what it does do is make people become interested in politics and most importantly, it holds actual real-life politicians to a higher standard. President Jed Bartlet is the American president and world leader that the people need, crave and deserve. No ulterior motives, no hidden agenda. He and his senior staff strive to make the world a better place and are willing to sacrifice their health and personal life to achieve that goal. Why? Because they are public servants and that is their job. That may be unrealistic but that is where all our leaders must set their bar. Now more than ever, everyone must be reminded of that.
2- Law & Order
For 20 seasons, Law & Order followed the exact same formula week after week and it never failed to entertain. In the intro, there's a murder. During the first half-hour of the show, the 2 lead detectives investigate and, at exactly the halfway mark, they make an arrest. The final half portion of the show takes place in court and the lawyers take over. Every single week for 20 years and we never got bored. There was a great sense of morality in Law&Order. Every week, Jack McCoy would get mad and yell almost directly at the TV. Every week, he reminded us all about right and wrong, justice and the law, accountability and responsibility. Every week, his passionate no-nonsense closing arguments would resonate through the TV and into our consciousness. Jack McCoy kept the world in place!
3- Breaking Bad
Breaking bad is probably one of the most perfect show there is. The story arc, the characters, the actors, the photography, the music, everything about the show is just unbelievable and well thought out. The show's sequel, Better Call Saul, which I thought would be an absolute disaster, turned out to be, just like Breaking Bad, an unequivocal masterpiece, thus proving that the show runner, Vince Gilligan, is an incredible genius. Vince Gilligan thought of everything, every detail. He knew from the start how his show was going to end and how his characters were going to evolve. That much is evident from the tight writing, the intricacies of the storyline and the complexity of the characters' psyche. Never have I been so sucked into a TV show, and never has a TV show made me go through such an emotional roller coaster. I started the series pitying Walter White and hoping all works out for him, and by the end, I wanted him to suffer and die! That is how you recognize a show's greatness: by its ability to play with your emotions!
4- The Sopranos
Not a typical show about the mob. Yes, they did beat people up and killed a few. They are involved in a lot of illegal activities, had affairs, took and sold drugs. But the show was not about that. It was about how Tony Soprano, the mob boss, juggled with his personal and professional problems while dealing with massive bouts of anxiety attacks and depression, which he copes with by regularly going to therapy. He is, by all definition, the "bad guy" but we sympathize with him. We watch him do and say all these horrible things and yet, we are on his side. It's both perplexing and exciting at the same time. Tony Soprano is not the stereotypical mob boss who is decisive and in control. Quite the opposite. He is strong and commands a lot of authority and yet, there's a lot of self doubt, self hatred, guilt about him. He is vulnerable and that's why we feel for him. The Sopranos is dramatic, emotional, funny, smart, and so, so violent.
5- Mad Men
Mad Men takes place in the advertising world of the 1960s, back when racism was not considered racism, people smoked profusely everywhere and men treating women like objects or possessions was an accepted facet of life. The main protagonist, Don Draper, is like Tony Soprano in that we are ambivalent about him. He is a paradox, a contradiction. He is impulsive, selfish, unfaithful, inconsiderate of other people's emotions, but he is also noble, chivalrous, loyal to a fault at times and often selfless. He can be extremely conservative (coldly rejecting a friend for being gay, mocking the hippy way of life) but at the same time, he can also be very progressive (he is anti war, he is not bothered by the color of a person's skin, and has given Peggy professional opportunities that were unthought of at the time). Through Mad Men, we got a glimpse of American history, of the best and worst of America's 1960s and 1970s.
Honorable mentions
- The Americans
- Oz
- Homicide: Life on the streets
- Battlestar Galactica (2003 remake)
- The Wonder Years
Stay tuned for my next posts where I'll be discussing show individually.