Television is more about the journey then the destination. It’s a commitment for fans to invest years of interest in characters and storylines. So whether they land the ending right like Better Call Saul or fuck it up like Killing Eve, we can still appreciate specific episodes that we got along the way.
Game of Thrones is a perfect example of this. While it’s pretty universally agreed upon that the final season of this fantasy series was terrible, does that mean we don’t appreciate episodes like “The Red Wedding” or “The Winds of Winter”? Of course not. GOT fans now have a new show, House of the Dragon, to project their excitement/rage onto anyway.
Gone are the days when you had three channels and if you missed a show, you had to wait until summer reruns to see it. When 121 million people, 60% of the population of the United States in 1983, tuned in to watch the M.A.S.H series finale. Nowadays streaming services offer endless options accessed at any time. There’s no way you’re going to be watching everything anymore, so where do you devote your precious time? In this episode we offer you several suggestions of what we think are the most important shows of all time.
For those interested in learning more about modern television:
- Sepinwall, Alan, (2012) The Revolution was Televised: How The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Lost and Other Groundbreaking Dramas Changed TV Forever, Gallery Books
https://www.amazon.ca/Revolution-Was-Televised-Slingers-Slayers/dp/1476739676
- Hughes, Sarah, (2019, December 30th) Game of Thrones: how it dominated the decade then lost its way, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/30/game-of-thrones-best-tv-2010s
- Strouse,Kirsty, (2018, October 8th) LOST: A Restropective Look on a TV Show Like No Other, filminquiry.com
https://www.filminquiry.com/lost-retrospective/
- For in-depth analysis of shows from Westworld to Games of Thrones, to the Dune and Expanse universe, I recommend checking out the YouTube Channel Alt-Shift X: https://www.youtube.com/c/AltShiftX/videos
- Miller, James Andrew, (2021) Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, Henry Holt and Co.
Credits:
This episode was hosted by Jerry Gabriel and Stephanie Laughlin
The guest was Jason C. McLean
The episode was edited by Jerry Gabriel
Blog posts and research done by Stephanie Laughlin