Alright, so all the TV series I’ve watched over the last five years have been piling up in my notes, to the point where it’s giving me anxiety just staring at them. So here’s part two of the TV Party roundup, more or less in order of preference. Stay tuned for Part 3.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

created by David Chase

written by David Chase, Mark Saraceni, Jason Cahill, James Manos Jr., Frank Renzulli, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Joe Bosso, Terence Winter, Todd A. Kessler, Michael Imperioli, Salvatore J. Stabile, Lawrence Konner, Maria Laurino, Nick Santora, David Flebotte, James Hayman, Matthew Weiner, Michael Caleo, Toni Kalem, Diane Frolov, and Andrew Schneider

directed by David Chase, Dan Attias, Nick Gomez, John Patterson, Allen Coulter, Alan Taylor, Lorraine Senna, Tim Van Patten, Andy Wolk, Matthew Penn, Henry J. Bronchtein, Martin Bruestle, Lee Tamahori, Jack Bender, Steve Buscemi, Rodrigo García, Peter Bogdanovich, Mike Figgis, David Nutter, Danny Leiner, Steve Shill, and Phil Abraham

I’m not sure what can be said about The Sopranos that hasn’t been said already. On the surface, David Chase’s groundbreaking series is a crime drama about the Mafia in New Jersey. But in reality, it’s about a violent capo, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), going through an existential crisis as he tries to reconcile his business with his multiple family roles (emotionally scarred son of a domineering mother, adulterous husband, ill-tempered father). The whole cast is amazing, the characters rich and well-developed, and the directing top-notch. Best of all, its eighty-six episodes move inexorably toward a final moment so perfect, I can hardly think of a better finale aside from Six Feet Under‘s (2001-2005) two years prior. The Sopranos makes us relate to a morally corrupt individual who nevertheless is as human and imperfect as any of us.

Rating: ****

The Office (2005-2013)

created by Greg Daniels

based on The Office sitcom by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

written by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Greg Daniels, B. J. Novak, Paul Lieberstein, Michael Schur, Greg Daniels, Mindy Kaling, Michael Schur, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg, Larry Wilmore, Jennifer Celotta, Steve Carell, Brent Forrester, Justin Spitzer, Caroline Williams, Lester Lewis, Ryan Koh, Aaron Shure, Charlie Grandy, Anthony Q. Farrell, Warren Lieberstein, Halsted Sullivan, Daniel Chun, Jason Kessler, Jonathan Hughes, Peter Ocko, Jon Vitti, Carrie Kemper, Steve Hely, Robert Padnick, Amelie Gillette, Allison Silverman, Dan Greaney, Owen Ellickson, Jonathan Green, Gabe Miller, Dan Sterling, Graham Wagner, Niki Schwartz-Wright, and Tim McAuliffe

directed by Ken Kwapis, Ken Whittingham, Bryan Gordon, Amy Heckerling, Greg Daniels, Paul Feig, Charles McDougall, Dennie Gordon, Victor Nelli, Jr., Roger Nygard, Randall Einhorn, Miguel Arteta, Tucker Gates, Jeffrey Blitz, Harold Ramis, Julian Farino, Joss Whedon, J. J. Abrams, Craig Zisk, Paul Lieberstein, Jason Reitman, Jennifer Celotta, David Rogers, Stephen Merchant, Dean Holland, Asaad Kelada, Gene Stupnitsky, Steve Carell, Brent Forrester, Lee Eisenberg, Reggie Hudlin, Seth Gordon, B. J. Novak, John Krasinski, Marc Webb, Matt Sohn, Mindy Kaling, Rainn Wilson, John Stuart Scott, Alex Hardcastle, Danny Leiner, Michael Spiller, Troy Miller, Charlie Grandy, Ed Helms, Eric Appel, Brian Baumgartner, Claire Scanlon, Daniel Chun, Bryan Cranston, Rodman Flender, Kelly Cantley, Lee Kirk, Jon Favreau, and Jesse Peretz

The original British mockumentary series The Office (2001-2003) is probably one of my favorite television mockumentaries of all time, running for a lean fourteen episodes and two Christmas specials. Talk about perfect. So when this Americanized version debuted some years later (lasting a whopping nine seasons), I ignored it. How could it possibly be any good? Well, at some point during the pandemic I gave it a shot, and damn if it isn’t really good. Most of it lies with the clever casting – as Michael Scott, the inept and inappropriate regional manager of paper company Dunder Mifflin, Steve Carell is a revelation. The writing is also on point, with a perfect balance of comedy and heart. And even though the show continued after Carell’s departure in 2011 (he’d return for the series finale), it managed to stay relevant. Let’s just say I cried during the final episode… and I don’t do that often.

Rating: ***½

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2013-2018)

presented by Anthony Bourdain

I once met Anthony Bourdain during a production shoot for Travel & Living Channel. He arrived alone – no friends, representatives, or entourage – said his hellos, and quickly sat down for an interview. Afterward, he graciously signed my copy of his comic book Get Jiro!, took a couple of pictures with me and my co-workers, and left. The celebrity chef/writer/documentarian was exactly as I had imagined him: Smart, direct, socially awkward, sardonic. Yet you could tell that, above all, he was a decent bloke thankful to have the privilege of traveling around the world.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, the CNN series in which he explored unsung places and cultures, is a beautiful distillation of everything that made the man tick, from his sincere passion for food and history to his uneasy relationship with the realities of the TV business and his own fame. Better yet, at times Bourdain would push the show to something closer to art, with its evocative images, lyrical narration, and narrative gambles. The man passed away in 2018, yet his star continues to shine.

Rating: ***½

Better Call Saul (2015-2022)

created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould

written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchison, Bradley Paul, Gordon Smith, Jonathan Glatzer, Ann Cherkis, Heather Marion, Alison Tatlock, and Ariel Levine 

directed by Vince Gilligan, Michelle MacLaren, Terry McDonough, Colin Bucksey, Nicole Kassell, Adam Bernstein, Larysa Kondracki, Thomas Schnauz, Peter Gould, Scott Winant, John Shiban, Michael Slovis, Daniel Sackheim, Keith Gordon, Minkie Spiro, Michael Morris, Andrew Stanton, Deborah Chow, Jim McKay, Bronwen Hughes, Norberto Barba, Gordon Smith, Melissa Bernstein, Rhea Seehorn, and Giancarlo Esposito.

I never wrote a review of Breaking Bad (2008-2013) because I started watching it prior to this blog’s existence. It’s arguably considered one of the best shows on television, and while I definitely like it, I think its reputation is a bit inflated. So when a prequel/sequel called Better Call Saul was announced, I didn’t really care. What more could possibly be said about con artist/ambulance chaser Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk)?

Turns out, lots. So much that for three seasons or so I thought it could become one of the truly best shows ever: Saul’s past (real name: Jimmy McGill) as a man desperate for the love of his overpowering brother Chuck (Michael McKean); his relationship with pragmatic lawyer and confidante Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), who both sneers at and is excited by Jimmy’s tricky ways; the way Jimmy gradually gets involved in the unsavory world of drug dealer Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) and his cleaner Mike (Jonathan Banks), both also getting tantalizing backstories – Better Call Saul was a feat of character development and how-does-this-all-get-to-Breaking Bad virtuoso writing. And yet, the more the show got closer to its predecessor, the more it surrendered to the same flashier tendencies and plot convolutions. Still, you can’t take it away from creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. In the end, Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad were must-see television, even if they failed to reach the heights of The Wire (2002-2008) or The Sopranos (see above).

Rating: ***

1883 (2021-2022)

created by Taylor Sheridan

written by Taylor Sheridan

directed by Taylor Sheridan, Ben Richardson, and Christina Alexandra Voros

This prequel miniseries to Yellowstone (2018-2023) starts with a group of traveling pioneers getting attacked and violently massacred by Native Americans. It then flashes back to the events that led up to that point, as a former Union captain (Sam Elliot) and a veteran Army sergeant (LaMonica Garrett) escort a group of immigrants from Texas to Oregon. Along for the ride is the Dutton family – father James (Tim McGraw), mother Margaret (Faith Hill), rebellious teenager Elsa (Isabel May), and young son John (Audie Rick) – who hope to settle somewhere out west. Let’s just say that most of them won’t make it. Creator Taylor Sheridan doesn’t skimp on the realism – scalpings, drownings, rattlesnake bites, armpit hair – crafting an authentic-feeling, nicely-acted Western worth checking out after you’re done with Deadwood.

Rating: ***

Unbelievable (2019)

created by Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, and Michael Chabon

based on the article An Unbelievable Story of Rape by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong

written by Susannah Grant,  Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, Jennifer Schuur, and Becky Mode

directed by Lisa Cholodenko, Michael Dinner, and Susannah Grant

In Washington, troubled teenager Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) is raped, but after multiple interrogations, the police start to doubt her credibility. She retracts and is charged with making a false report. Three years later in Colorado, detectives Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) and Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) investigate separate sexual assault cases. Soon they realize there are many more… and worse, the serial rapist they’re looking for has an uncanny knowledge of forensics. Based on real events, Unbelievable is one fine drama miniseries, with Wever and Collette perfectly cast as two independent, no-nonsense women who must learn to work together. And Dever’s understated performance speaks volumes as someone who undergoes horrible trauma only to be ignored and humiliated by the same institution sworn to protect her. Truly unbelievable.

Rating: ***

Years and Years (2019)

created by Russell T. Davies

written by Russell T. Davies

directed by Simon Cellan Jones and Lisa Mulcahy

If you’re in the mood for a darkly comic Brit drama that doubles as a cautionary tale about the future, I’d tell you to check out Black Mirror. But after that, then Years and Years is definitely your jam. In fact, it’s probably even scarier, because a big part of what makes this dystopian miniseries work is its insistence that we are this close to economic and political chaos (and of course, that’s no exaggeration). Artificial intelligence, fascism, transhumanism, immigration, pandemics, and even Donald Trump himself figure into the plot, and I for one felt more than a little anxious watching it all unfold. The somewhat hasty ending has creator Russell T. Davies basically urging the world – all of us – to get up and do something about the mess we’ve made. It’s not subtle… but it certainly hits home.

Rating: ***

11.22.63 (2016)

created by Bridget Carpenter

based on the novel 11/22/63 by Stephen King

written by Bridget Carpenter, Quinton Peeples, Brian Nelson, and Bridgette Wilson

directed by Kevin Macdonald, Fred Toye, James Strong, James Franco, John David Coles, and James Kent

This sci-fi miniseries based on the novel by Stephen King follows Jake (James Franco), an average high school teacher who suddenly has the opportunity to go back in time and stop President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Will he be able to figure out if Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) is indeed the shooter? Will he have the guts to change history? And will time itself even allow him to? This low-key effort works because, like the best King adaptations, it focuses more on the characters than on the fantastical elements they face. If you’re in the mood for a more traditional time-travel thriller, this is your ticket.

Rating: ***

Devs (2020)

created, written, and directed by Alex Garland

For a while, this sci-fi mind-bender from filmmaker Alex Garland is one trippy affair. Drawing on the same philosophical ideas behind his film Ex Machina (2014), Devs is about a quantum computer that can see backward and forward in time. Its existence is discovered by a software engineer (Sonoya Mizuno) as she investigates the mysterious death of her boyfriend (Karl Glusman), triggering a series of events that may actually be predetermined. The show looks amazing – Garland’s longtime cinematographer Rob Hardy is a favorite of mine – and the pacing is hypnotic, but the story soon devolves into a pretentious and confusing ramble about determinism vs. free will. Still, even when Garland’s reach exceeds his grasp, he remains an artist whose singular vision is always welcome.

Rating: **½

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

created by Mike Flanagan

based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

written by Mike Flanagan, Liz Phang, Scott Kosar, Meredith Averill, Jeff Howard, Charise Castro Smith, and Rebecca Klingel

directed by Mike Flanagan

Shirley Jackson’s horror novel The Haunting of Hill House was adapted into a great 1963 film and a terrible one in 1999. This loose TV adaptation by writer/director Mike Flanagan (2016’s Hush, 2017’s Gerald’s Game) suffers from a much-too-literal approach and a strained “happy” ending. However, episodes such as the creepy and tragic The Bent-Neck Lady point to his being more adept at developing long-form storytelling. I also absolutely love all the creepy ghosts hiding in plain sight, such as the one under the piano above (you didn’t see it, did you?). A mixed bag, but worth checking out with the lights off.

Rating: **½

Carlos I. Cuevas