This is a live list where I rank TV shows. If something isn’t on the list, it will be someday. Leave your comments and we’ll talk. I give a lot of weight to scope, scale, and depth. If a show is higher than you expect, it probably did one or all of those things very well. If it’s lower, well, it probably frustrated me.
Rankings: updated 1/25/23
Colossal
Amazing
Impressive
- Arrested Development
- Letterkenny (S1-S11)
Really Good
Positives
- Mad Men
- Boston Legal
- Stranger Things (S1-S4)
Neutral
- Yellowjackets (S1)
Negatives
Flawed
Bad
I Hate
Updates
LETTERKENNY (S1-S11)
I never thought I’d love Letterkenny. I remember when it first came out, I kind of assumed it would be like Trailer Park Boys. I know a lot of people love Trailer Park Boys but it’s not for me. So for years I held off on Letterkenny. Hulu kept telling me to watch it, though. And I had just finished a second watch through of Frasier. Unfortunately, I did not find Frasier as charming the second time around as the first. I was looking for something decidedly the opposite of Frasier, but still wanted a comedy. So I accepted Hulu’s preferring and put on Letterkenny. And boy am I glad that I did.
Letterkenny always keeps me on my toes. I never know where an episode will go. But I know the characters will keep me entertained. So I trust it. And more times than not, that trust pays off. Especially when it leans into some multi-episode storylines or season-long arcs. It’s creative, funny, and everyone kind of feels like your friend. The more episodes you watch, the more you feel in on the joke and part of the crew. Like you could just pop into a scene and fit into the flow of the conversation. It’s weirdly comforting.
I’m not going to rank Letterkenny higher than Breaking Bad or something. But Letterkenny means more to me than Breaking Bad. If there were a special category just for “shows that hold a special place in my heart” Letterkenny would definitely be in it.
Watch on:YELLOWJACKETS (S1)
I’m so torn on Yellowjackets. The first 4-5 episodes had a lot going on that I really enjoyed. There was a sense of world building that was a lot of fun. But the last 5 episodes contracted awfully hard. The sense of potential I felt resolved in a way that left me going, “That’s it?” Like they make this big to-do about Jackie, saving what happened to her to the very last episode. And it’s just…going to sleep outside. It’s such an anticlimactic decision. Same with the blackmail subplot. Over and over again, I repeated that question: “That’s it?” I also think the flashback stuff is a lot more compelling than the modern day stuff. It’s also weird because the tone is so strikingly different. There are times that the present timeline feels almost…campy? While the flashback stuff feels a bit more like Lost. That’s not necessarily bad. I can see some people really loving that difference in energy. It can be jarring to me, though. So. Eh. I’m definitely going to be watching season 2 and think the show still has a lot of potential. I just hope it levels up a bit.
Watch on:BOSTON LEGAL
Boston Legal came out when I was in high school and it was something my mom watched all the time. As an aspiring writer, I was really into how awesome Alan Shore’s (James Spader) closing arguments were. And Spader himself was such an interesting actor that it became not just something my mom watched but something we enjoyed together. As a young kid, I also loved Murphy Brown, so Candice Bergen being a lead was a blast from the past. Same when Michael J. Fox had a recurring role. I never watched Star Trek but my mom was a huge fan. William Shatner was the entire reason she watched Boston Legal to begin with. She and I watched every episode of the first season, then I went off to college and fell off of it. But she kept watching. She had a number of episodes that she refused to delete from our DVR, despite running out of space. It brought her a lot of comfort. Especially after my dad passed away in 2007. My mom passed in 2012.
So I’ve had this weird dynamic of wanting to watch Boston Legal because of the memories with her, but also…well…there’s a lot of emotion there. So I’ve put it off for years. Finally, though, it felt right. And the experience was nice. The writing wasn’t as good as I remember it being. And some of the stuff just hasn’t aged well at all. But there’s enough humanity and charm and kindness that I kept happily watching. I understand why my mom felt such an attachment to the show. It brought a unique sense of comfort and familiarity. Maybe because it spends so much time espousing the friendship between Alan and Denny? Overall, it was nice to feel that connection to my mom and imagine how she would have responded to episodes and characters.
At a certain point, I did have to accept the show wouldn’t be a bounty of quality narratives and just appreciate the moments that worked. I feel like it’s almost overrated when it comes to the claim of “Best legal show ever”. Which maybe just says more about that genre as a whole than it does Boston Legal? The cast did a tremendous job, but they were often working with some less than ideal material. But at least it was self-aware?
Watch on:MAD MEN
I think Mad Men is very good but also incredibly overrated. It won so many Emmys. Yet Better Call Saul won absolutely zero? That’s insane. My issue with Mad Men is that it didn’t go anywhere. It chased its own tail for 8 season (since 7 was two parts) with barely anything of actual consequence ever happening. Every season had the same two issues. Don’s relationship with a woman. Something happening to Sterling Cooper. Sterling Cooper’s being sold. It’s merging. They’re breaking off on their own. They’re merging again. They’re on their own again. They’re brought again. Come on. And with Don, it would be one thing if he was growing as a character with each relationship. But the show refused to give him any kind of consequential development until the very last episode. Even then, we don’t get to see what his ultimate catharsis leads to. Will he finally be capable of a healthy relationship? Will he just keep being who he has always been? Is this a story about breakthrough or one about the impossibility of overcoming our worst traits?
People won’t like me saying this, but I don’t think Mad Men has anything to say. It reflects back to us topics of the time, like the evolution of women in the workplace, or the reaction to the loss of JFK and MLK. It shows us cooky people who were of that era like Cooper and Peter. But what is it actually saying about any of it? Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t have to say anything. That’s fine. It can just be entertaining. But I don’t think that means it should be in the conversation for best TV show of all-time. Not when we have things like The Wire and Better Call Saul and The Sopranos and Veep that just do everything much better than Mad Men ever did.
I still get mad at Peggy’s character arc. I feel like they gave her story to Joan and let Peggy just kind of blow in the wind for long periods. That her conclusion is just starting a new relationship with someone was nice in the sense that you like both characters and it makes sense. But dumb in the sense that wtf did her character even get to do?
Season 5 was amazing. It was a bit weirder and experimental. I had high hopes that it was the start of the show hitting a next gear that would deliver on the hype I had heard about for years. Alas. I do think the actors were tremendous. And Jon Hamm was always incredibly compelling.
Watch on:ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
I finally finished Arrested Development. I had watched all the way up Season 5 part one but never picked it back up for the final stretch. Instead of watching the whole show again, I picked up from S5E1. It was a lot better than I remember. Maybe because my expectations were already lowered? But I had a lot more appreciation for the intricacies and a lot less judgment for some of the awkwardness (like with Portia de Rossi’s involvement) and pointlessness (Tobias). While it wasn’t perfect, I still think it was impressive. I had initially ranked the show in the Really Good category but bumped it up to Impressive. Regardless of its flaws, it’s still such a one of a kind experience and kept me laughing up through the end.
Watch on:STRANGER THINGS (S1-S4)
I, like most people, was pretty blow away by the first season of Stranger Things. Cool, dynamic, patient, climactic. It’s one of the few shows I started at dinner then stayed up all night to find out what happened. Season 2 didn’t have the same magic, but I liked how it opened up the world. Then Season 3…it almost felt like a parody. All the craftsmanship kind of vanished. Cartoon-logic abounds. But the cast is so damn likable. And the fantasy elements are fun. So as upset as I was, I still watched. Season 4 was hit and miss. I thought it watched better than S3. Vecna added a needed edge. Not to mention character development. The previous monsters were all animalistic. So to have a more humanized antagonist with personality was refreshing. But the season was still very dragged out. It probably could have been half the runtime and not lose anything of substance. We’ll see what happens with Season 5. My expectations are pretty low. I don’t think it will be bad. It’s just at this point I’m not expecting anything great.
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