TV Tuesday: Top 10 Dramas

[yourlibrarian]

The drama genre covers a lot of territory as it has all sorts of subcategories, though it differs from procedurals which tend to be centered around cases rather than characters. What are your 10 favorites, and is there a particular drama category that you tend to look for?

Comments

[jo]

So I'm not up on all the TV-related lingo stuff -- my categories are shows I like and shows I don't. So when you say procedurals, do you mean police procedurals, or is this something else? Because I've tried googling and just ended up more confused. Are they just mostly self-contained story-of-the-week type shows (e.g. original Star Trek) as opposed to shows that mostly have one main plot/storyline that carries through over all the episodes in one season (or the entire show), e.g. Lost?

[yourlibrarian]

Others may want to weigh in, but my understanding is that procedurals tend to be workplace setting shows where the main focus is on the storyline such as a police or medical or legal case. By comparison there might be family dramas or community dramas (I'd say Gilmore Girls was a blend of both) or dramas circulating around particular events, or an institutional setting (dramas set at schools, sports dramas).

While I think there are still some clear examples of procedurals today, I think that in the past procedurals tended to be more cut and dried with little background or "non-worktime" scenes with principle characters, because their main purpose was to do the thing the show was actually about. Whereas I think there are shows now that tend to cross into drama territory where exploring the characters is about half and half with solving the case of the week.

[shadowkat]

Police procedurals fall into the following categories:

1. Episodic case of the week - which isn't really a police drama. Ex: Bones, Castle, The Inspector Morse Mysteries, Miss Scarlett and the Duke, Miss Fisher Mysteries, Will Trent, Chicago PD, CSI's, NCIS, The FBI,

2. Non-Episodic police procedurals - heavy on the procedural elements: Homicide Life on the Streets, The Wire, Prime Suspect, True Detective,

3. Police Dramas - which are lighter on the procedural element but heavy on the drama element: Hill Street Blues, Mare of Eastwick, Broadchurch, Fargo, NYPD Blue,

[necrophilia]

After thinking about it for at least three seconds, I'm going to list all the shows I've loved that are either drama or drama/other genre.

Me, sci-fi drama tends to be my favourite, with horror drama following closely behind. I tend to get bored with teen dramas and family dramas very quickly, although the increasingly robust trend of teen dramas including ghosts and murder is appealing to me. Ask me the time I watched Riverdale through to mid-season five even though it was hot garbage after season one. Anyway, here's my list:

The Haunting of Hill House
Veronica Mars (esp. season one)
Gilmore Girls
Orphan Black
Heroes (season one only!)
X-Files
Hana Yori Dango
The Last Of Us
Stranger Things
Hannibal
Daredevil / Jessica Jones / The Defenders

[yourlibrarian]

Teen supernatural dramas definitely seem to be appearing by the fistful.

[shadowkat]

Top ten as of this moment in time? (I'm moody and change my mind often.)

In no particular order:

1. The Wire / Homicide Life on the Streets - example of a police procedural meets political satire done well. The Wire was among the best of the bunch, possibly because the folks writing it were ex-cops, journalists, teachers, and experts in the field. David Simon (Homicide Life on the Streets), Denis Lehan, and others...

2. This is Us/ Brother's & Sisters/ Parenthood/ Six Feet Under - the Family Drama

3. Bridgerton/ Dowton Abbey/ Gilded Age/ Lessons in Chemistry/ - the historical costume drama - fluffy and fun social satire light, from Shonda Rhimes, who did similar things with medical drama, political satire, etc.

4. The Good Wife / Scandal - political and legal procedural satire, hybrid. It's a drama, but hilarious at times.

5. Game of Thrones/ House of Dragon/ Rings of Power/ Sandman - high fantasy political intrigue and horror

6. BattleStar Galatica 2.0/ Farscapee/ The Expanse / Firefly - speculative sci-fi meets space opera

7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Vampire Diaries/ Teen Wolf - the Teen Supernatural Drama (Buffy was the best of this group.)

8. Lost/ Westworld - the sci-fi speculative high tech drama

9. True Detective/ Dexter/ Longmire/ Fargo/ Prime Suspect /Veronica Mars - the serialized crime mystery drama

10. Angel/ Supernatural/ Jessica Jones/ Daredevil/ The Defenders - the horror mystery/ supernatural/vigilante series...

[yourlibrarian]

Yeah The Wire is a good example of a police show that's a drama. The issue of a serialized mystery is an interesting one. A procedural usually is episodic in nature but I could see one with a whole season focused on one case. But it also depends on the character and world building included in it. I think the size of the cast also matters here.

[shadowkat]

I'd agree. Except, that in the non-episodic police procedural there's a focus on all the details in solving the case. And it's often far more detailed in the procedures and solving than the episodic version. I'd agree - that it also has a much larger, ensemble cast. It rarely focuses on one or two people like the episodic versions often do.

I'd also describe the non-episodic police procedural drama as one that focuses more on the characters than the "case" (which is interesting with a large cast) and usually has a case that lasts the entire season, sometimes it's limited to just one season (Mare of Eastwick) and it may have more than one case (Homicide Life on the Streets), but that's exceedingly rare, and involves all the characters. They've a problem to solve - but it takes an entire season to resolve it (which is realistic). Also the focus is in all the details.

Non-episodic procedural and non procedural police dramas are Hill Street Blues, Homicide Life on the Streets, Mare of Eastwick, The Wire, Prime Suspect, True Detective, Fargo. (Episodic police procedurals do not tend to hold my attention, because I prefer an on-going case.) The Closer - kind of did both...but it was more episodic in nature, and among the few episodic police procedurals that I enjoyed. Also Broadchurch fits into this category of the non-episodic police procedural drama, the UK does a lot of them.

Examples of episodic police procedurals: Bones, Castle, Will Trent, NCIS, JAG, CSI, FBI, Chicago PD..
where they solve a new case each week and may have one over-arching one, and it's usually a serial killer (sigh, they've overdone that trope - I can now predict it).

[jo]

I guess my list would have to include the following (in no particular order):

Friday Night Lights
Borgen
The Expanse
Occupied
Fringe
Star Trek Strange New Worlds
Broen/Bron (The Bridge)
Severance (was a bit hesitant to include this as we've had only the one season, but I really, really loved that one season, so fingers crossed that the next season is as good)
Line of Duty
Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes

I tend to be drawn to police/crime drama (and if it's Nordic Noir, bonus!) and science fiction. Borgen, Occupied, and FNL are the exceptions to that on my list. The first two, if you're not familiar with them (both on Netflix still, I think), are political dramas. Occupied I guess could also be considered a thriller -- a political thriller maybe? Anyway, it's damn good and you should all watch it. Honourable mentions go to Deadwind (also a Nordic Noir police/crime drama), Star Trek: DS9, X-Files, Hannibal, and The Wire.

[yourlibrarian]

Borgen's a good one, I really like political dramas. Have you seen The Tunnel?

[jo]

I have. It's the UK-French adaptation of Broen/Bron. The first season was almost identical to the original, if I recall correctly, but then they went off on their own, plot-wise, in subsequent seasons. I liked it, but prefer the original Danish-Swedish series.

[goldentunes]

Friday Night Lights!!!!! I loved that show so much. Admittedly I didn't finish it (I watched all the way till the main season 1 cast started to graduate) but what I did see I adored.

Ooh Severance. I'm looking forward to season 2 too! I wonder how long the series is meant to be though? I really hope it doesn't drag into anything more than three seasons long.

[valoise]

Hmm, I had to think about this. Eliminating procedurals helped quite a bit. But there were far more than 10 that I wanted to include, so I decided to eliminate any shows of only 1 season that I haven't rewatched. On any given day I might switch out some shows for the ones below, but today this list of ine is what I came up with. I've also noted when the show inspired creative works.

The X-Files
Although I despised some of the choices they made in later seasons, this is the show that pulled me into fandom. Wrote fanfic in the early years.

Highlander: The Series
Still has a close place in my heart. The decision by headwriter David Abramowitz to focus so much on character and the consequences to living as an immortal really made this series so very good. Have vidded.

Doctor Who
I can't stress how strongly I love this show. Sure in the many seasons since its creation in 1963 there have been highs and lows, but I love, love, love this show. Have vidded, knitted, and embroidered.

Fargo
Wonderful show, each season distinct yet connected with a shared timeline. Have vidded.

Mr. Robot
Wow, once I watched the series finale I realized how they had seeded the entire series with information that was all tied up at the end and immediately launched into a rewatch. Have vidded.

Umbrella Academy
Absolutely love all the weirdness in plot and character and I'm looking forward to the upcoming finale season.

Lost
This show hit my love of weird sf in just the right spot. I even liked the end.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
I love, love, love this show, the best Trek ever. I don't know how many times I've seen it.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (the 30 minute series that ran from 1955-1962)
Included by the Writers Guild of America in the list of 100 best-written tv series, many (or most) episodes were based on short stories and the series writers, directors, and actors include the best of those working in Hollywood at the time. Really, really, really good. Have included in a multi-fandom vid.

[yourlibrarian]

Oh interesting about the Hitchcock one. I know of the show but have never actually seen it (looks like it ran for many episodes though).

[tinny]

oh my, that's a hard one.

I just peeked at other people's answers, and I also loved X-Files, Friday Night Lights, The Expanse, Angel, Bridgerton, and Farscape.

What I haven't seen here yet is
The West Wing (I haven't actually watched a lot of it, although it's brilliant)
Alias
Battlestar Galactica
Black Sails
E.R. (could be called episodic, though)
Grimm (also a mix of episodic and longer arcs)
Guardian (cdrama)
Heartstopper
Lucifer
Sleepy Hollow
Stumptown
The Americans
Timeless
Young Royals

that's already well over 10. omg so many. :)

[yourlibrarian]

I still plan to someday watch all of West Wing. I have only seen a few scattered episodes. Am still very fond of BSG and Black Sails. The Americans was a very impressive show and I was glad I watched it, but I also didn't warm to it, if that makes sense.

[tinny]

I was glad I watched it, but I also didn't warm to it, if that makes sense.

Yes, I know what you mean. The characters were pretty ruthless, and I found it hard to empathize with them a lot of the time. Especially in later seasons. I only watched the first three, iirc.

[valoise]

Stumptown! This show is so good I still don't understand why it didn't get a second season.

[tinny]

SOOOO Goood!

Covid, I think. Really bad timing. wikipedia says:

"In May 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.[3] In September 2020, ABC reversed the renewal decision and canceled the series after one season, as production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant the series wouldn't be ready until April 2021. "