On the TV...
This really has been a golden age of television, with TV in some ways surpassing movies.
This article provides a reference guide for TV series. It contains a table with two sections. The first section, "Completed," lists series viewed in their entirety, including the occasional TV movie or special, complete with a rating out of 10.
The second section, "Fails," lists shows that were trying past the point of endurance (and I made an effort to persevere). No rating, but the season and episode I gave up is listed in the table.
A rating score of seven and above is a good score. Six is watchable. At a rating of five, a show starts to become mildly annoying.
| On the TV… Summary Reviews | ||||||||||
| Completed | ||||||||||
| Title & Date | R | Notes | ||||||||
| 1883 (2021) | 7 | mini-series, prequel to Yellowstone | ||||||||
| 1923 (2022) | 8 | mini-series, also prequel to Yellowstone | ||||||||
| A Touch of Cloth (2012) | 7 | |||||||||
| Agent Carter (2015) | 8 | |||||||||
| Almost Human (2013) | 6 | |||||||||
| American Restoration (2010) | 9 | reworked final season a letdown | ||||||||
| Americans, The (2013) | 9 | |||||||||
| Archer (2010) | 9 | |||||||||
| Avengers, The (1961) | 7 | |||||||||
| Avengers, The (2010) | 8 | animated | ||||||||
| Avenue 5 (2020) | 7 | |||||||||
| Banshee (2013) | 9 | over the top nuts, but fun | ||||||||
| Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008) | 9 | animated; fulfills unrealized potential of the old '60s DC comics | ||||||||
| Better Call Saul (2015) | 9 | |||||||||
| Black Dynamite (2012) | 6 | |||||||||
| Black Mirror (2011) | 10 | |||||||||
| Blackout (2021) | 4 | European 6-episode mini-series | ||||||||
| Boardwalk Empire (2010) | 8 | |||||||||
| Breaking Bad (2008) | 10 | masterpiece and reference work | ||||||||
| Cannon (1971) | 6 | |||||||||
| Chucky (2021) | 8 | they killed this one prematurely | ||||||||
| Continuum (2012) | 5 | ultimately a waste of time with no payoff | ||||||||
| Counting Cars (2012) | 8 | 10 seasons | ||||||||
| Crashing (2017) | 7 | |||||||||
| Creature Commandos (2024) | 6 | |||||||||
| Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) | 9 | |||||||||
| Daredevil (2015) | 8 | |||||||||
| Deadwood (2009) | 9 | |||||||||
| Defenders, The (2017) | 7 | |||||||||
| Devs (2020) | 6 | |||||||||
| Dexter’s Laboratory (1996) | 8 | animated; had an unfortunate downturn in final season | ||||||||
| Doom Patrol (2019) | 6 | |||||||||
| Downton Abbey (2010) | 9 | |||||||||
| Dr. Death (2021) | 8 | |||||||||
| Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story (2021) | 7 | documentary of Christopher Duntsch; not quite as harrowing as the series | ||||||||
| Entourage (2004) | 8 | |||||||||
| Fargo (2014) | 8 | |||||||||
| Full Circle (2023) | 3 | lackluster, irrational and uninvolving | ||||||||
| Ghosts (2020) | 6 | |||||||||
| Grand Tour, The (2016) | 9 | series ended, may resume with new cast | ||||||||
| Guardians of Justice, The (2022) | 6 | |||||||||
| Hardcastle & McCormick (1983) | 6 | |||||||||
| Hustle (2004) | 7 | |||||||||
| Invaders, The (1967) | 10 | one of the few 10s, an anomaly for the ‘60s, too intense for some? | ||||||||
| Justice League Action (2016) | 8 | animated | ||||||||
| Last One Laughing UK (2025) | 5 | |||||||||
| Legion of Super Heroes (2006) | 7 | animated | ||||||||
| Lost in Space (1965) | 6 | they couldn’t keep up the quality of the 1st episodes | ||||||||
| Lost in Space (2018) | 6 | high production values but a chore to get through this low-stakes children’s show | ||||||||
| Luke Cage (2016) | 6 | |||||||||
| Mad Men (2007) | 8 | |||||||||
| Mannix (1967) | 7 | |||||||||
| Mission: Impossible (1966) | 5 | good childrens’ show, disappointing for adults | ||||||||
| New Batman Adventures, The (1997) | 7 | |||||||||
| Office, The (2001) | 7 | original British mini-series | ||||||||
| Office, The (2005) | 9 | American version of the Ricky Gervais BBC program | ||||||||
| Our Flag Means Death (2022) | 7 | |||||||||
| Pan Am (2014) | 6 | woman’s fantasy, thought it would be prestige, but it’s kibble | ||||||||
| Parks and Recreation (2009) | 8 | |||||||||
| Peacemaker (2022) | 7 | |||||||||
| Penny Dreadful (2014) | 8 | |||||||||
| Pentaverate, The (2022) | 6 | |||||||||
| Persuaders!, The (1971) | 6 | |||||||||
| Police Squad (1982) | 7 | |||||||||
| Preacher (2016) | 7 | |||||||||
| Prisoner, The (1967) | 9 | |||||||||
| Punisher, The (2017) | 8 | |||||||||
| Queen's Gambit, The (2020) | 6 | |||||||||
| Rehearsal, The (2022) | 8 | strikingly original and challenging concept | ||||||||
| Return of Frank Cannon, The (1980) | 5 | TV Movie | ||||||||
| Rome (2005) | 8 | |||||||||
| Shield, The (2002) | 9 | |||||||||
| Silicon Valley (2014) | 10 | |||||||||
| South Park: 25th Anniversary Concert (2022) | 8 | musical special | ||||||||
| South Park: Joining the Panderverse (2023) | 8 | special | ||||||||
| South Park: Not Suitable for Children (2023) | 8 | special | ||||||||
| South Park: The End of Obesity (2024) | 9 | special | ||||||||
| Space Force (2020) | 6 | |||||||||
| Spartacus (2010) | 9 | |||||||||
| Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) | 9 | |||||||||
| Star Trek (1966) | 8 | unusually good series for the ‘60s despite several dud episodes, still re-watchable | ||||||||
| Stargirl (2020) | 8 | |||||||||
| Succession (2018) | 7 | |||||||||
| Superman & Lois (2021) | 4 | potentially good series ruined with intolerable shrews, forced drama and wokeness | ||||||||
| Telemarketers (2023) | 7 | |||||||||
| True Detective (2014) | 6 | like Continuum, time waste, red herring, no payoff | ||||||||
| Twin Peaks (1990) | 7 | |||||||||
| UFO (1970) | 7 | unique and quirky | ||||||||
| Utopia (2013) | 6 | |||||||||
| WandaVision (2021) | 7 | |||||||||
| Watchmen (2019) | 4 | woke race-bait | ||||||||
| What If? (2021) | 7 | animated; mixed bag, but some excellent episodes | ||||||||
| What We Do in the Shadows (2019) | 10 | |||||||||
| Yellowstone (2018) | 7 | final episodes were the big let-down | ||||||||
| Yellowstone: One-Fifty (2022) | 7 | four episode documentary | ||||||||
| Fails | ||||||||||
| Title & Date | S | E | Notes | |||||||
| 12 Monkeys (2015) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Abbott Elementary (2021) | 1 | 3 | bland, dour, drab Parks & Recreation ripoff | |||||||
| Amerika (1987) | 1 | 4 | mini-series with a few good messages so poorly presented no one will care | |||||||
| Black Lightning (2018) | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons (1967) | 1 | 5 | good childrens’ show, but it’s no Thunderbirds Are Go! | |||||||
| Castle Rock (2018) | 1 | 8 | ||||||||
| Enlightened (2011) | 1 | 5 | managed to get this far via fast-fwd. | |||||||
| Expanse, The (2015) | 1 | 2 | crap | |||||||
| Flight Attendant, The (2020) | 2 | 5 | managed to get this far thru 2nd season via fast-fwd. | |||||||
| Freak Brothers, The (2021) | 1 | 5 | not the Freaks; unfunny, unfaithful, misguided, brain-dead plop | |||||||
| Game of Thrones (2011) | 1 | 4 | guess it’s just not for me | |||||||
| Good Place, The (2016) | 4 | 14 | would have been a good show if they didn’t have to insert their usual poison | |||||||
| Guardians of Justice, The (2022) | 1 | 2 | poorly implemented and uninspired | |||||||
| His Dark Materials (2019) | 1 | 5 | meaningless, annoying childrens’ show, nice graphics though | |||||||
| Humans (2015) | 2 | 1 | ridiculous | |||||||
| It Takes a Thief (1968) | 2 | 13 | this show became intolerable | |||||||
| Jack of All Trades (2000) | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Jessica Jones (2015) | 2 | 2 | 1st season not bad, but fizzled in 2nd | |||||||
| Killing Eve (2018) | 2 | 4 | obnoxious characters in a story that didn’t need to be told | |||||||
| Land of the Giants (1968) | 1 | 4 | was okay, but it’s always more of the same | |||||||
| Magicians, The (2015) | 2 | 1 | why are so many of these shows written with a weird agenda? | |||||||
| Man from U.N.C.L.E., The (1964) | 1 | 14 | tedious | |||||||
| Miracle Workers (2019) | 1 | 5 | tedious and desperately grasping | |||||||
| Money Heist (2017) | 1 | 2 | a bit of an embarrassment | |||||||
| New Avengers, The (1976) | 1 | 3 | big fail | |||||||
| One Foot in the Grave (1990) | 1 | 3 | humor by people with no sense of humor | |||||||
| Orphan Black (2013) | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Orville, The (2017) | 1 | 2 | wretched | |||||||
| Peaky Blinders (2013) | 2 | 2 | bloody boring, I don’t care about Tommy S. or his ugly clan of goofs | |||||||
| Professionals, The (1977) | 1 | 2 | about as throwaway a series as you’ll ever see | |||||||
| Riverdale (2017) | 1 | 2 | uses “Archie” comic’s familiar names to frame an unrelated teen drama | |||||||
| Secret Agent (1960) | 1 | 7 | was okay, but it’s always more of the same | |||||||
| Six Feet Under (2001) | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Spooksville (2013) | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) | 2 | 4 | never fails to disappoint | |||||||
| Stranger Things (2016) | 2 | 1 | this can’t sustain another season | |||||||
| Terra Nova (2011) | 1 | 3 | garbage | |||||||
| Titans (2018) | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Westworld (2016) | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| Wire, The (2002) | 1 | 4 | low energy | |||||||
| Witcher, The (2019) | 1 | 8 | guess it’s just not for me | |||||||
| Young Justice (2010) | 3 | 2 | animated | |||||||
For chuckles, you can see how I didn't even make it through the first or second episode of some. This is usually when they shamelessly push a transparent agenda.
In some cases, the series fell victim to the problems of episodic television (a particular problem in the '60s, '70s and '80s), being too repetitive and predictable. Or too bland and shallow. Or, wanting in continuity. Or, with too many bad filler episodes. It's an achievement worthy of celebration when you have a '60s series that doesn't suffer (as much) from those problems, like The Invaders.
Here's a weird connection, Invaders=>Married with Children. David Vincent drives by a sign advertising Bud's Diner. The name in a later shot has changed to Kelly's Diner! Al is partner to David. Didn't see a reference to Peg or Marcie, but, of course, Al Bundy is the dad in Married, Bud and Kelly, the two kids.
Old sitcoms are notably missing. In fact, most older shows are. You can't go back to most of them since they were topical, or, of mediocre (but rarely poor) quality. When I've gone back and watched old Get Smart episodes, I find that they aren't as funny as I used to think, but are tedious. However, some programs were of very high quality. Old Gilligan's Island episodes are excellent. Timeless. Beverly Hillbillies also is consistently good. I'd probably rate Gilligan and Hillbillies between eight to ten, though it's doubtful I'll go back and re-watch both series in their entirety to give a final conclusion!
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