The Sopranos: Season One

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 5 of 5.



The Sopranos: Season One, 1999. A mobster sees a therapist.

Created by David Chase. Directed by John Patterson (2 episodes), Allen Coulter (2), Chase (1), Dan Attias (1), Nick Gomez (1), Alan Taylor (1), Lorraine Senna Ferrara (1), Tim Van Patten (1), Andy Wolk (1), Matthew Penn (1) & Henry J. Bronchtein (1). Written by Chase (5 episodes), Frank Renzulli (4), Robin Green (3), Mitchell Burgess (3), Jason Cahill (2), Mark Saraceni (1), James Manos, Jr. (1) & Joe Bosso (1). Starring James Gandolfini.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). They're good characters, but apart from their humorous sides, I never had any reason to care about any of them.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). There are a number of moments of greatness from Gandolfini. Mostly, it's not an Impressive Acting type of script.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It's all very good, but I expected more. It picks up in the last couple episodes, so I have high hopes that later seasons will be better. There's a lot to appreciate about it, especially if you consider what TV dramas were like back in 1999. I just wasn't pulled in.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

Game of Thrones: Season One

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 4 of 5.



Game of Thrones: Season One, 2011. Various factions plot to gain political control over a fantasy world.

Created by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss, based on books by George R. R. Martin. Directed by Brian Kirk (3 episodes), Daniel Minahan (3), Tim Van Patten (2) & Alan Taylor (2). Written by Benioff (8 episodes), Weiss (8), Bryan Cogman (1), Jane Espenson (1) & Martin (1). Starring Sean Bean.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good). It could have been an hour or two shorter without losing anything. That didn't bother me while I was watching it (except when that damn raven dream kept repeating), but I expect it would seriously mar the show's rewatchability.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Crazy good for a TV show.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). I'm reluctantly giving it an 8 instead of a 9. I loved watching it, but there are a few major problems. Some key plot points are unexplained. Martin's obsession with incest is off-putting. Some of the villains are senselessly evil just for the sake of being villains (huge pet peeve of mine). Oddly, the biggest problem is that there is a ridiculous amount of gratuitous sex and nudity, to the point where it becomes funny. The general rule seems to be that if there's no good reason for characters to not be having sex during their scene, then what are their clothes still on for goddamnit? HBO viewers demand titties! Fantasy is always treading a fine line between immersing and silly, so a show like this that takes itself Very Seriously couldn't do much worse than give you a reason to laugh at it.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)

The Wire: Season One

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 3 of 5.



The Wire: Season One, 2002. A backward police department tries to catch a drug kingpin.

Created by David Simon. Directed by Clark Johnson (3 episodes), Clement Virgo (2), Peter Medak (1), Ed Bianchi (1), Joe Chappelle (1), Gloria Muzio (1), Milčo Mančevski (1), Brad Anderson (1), Steve Shill (1) & Tim Van Patten (1). Written by David Simon (8 episodes), Ed Burns (2), Rafael Alvarez (1), David H. Melnick (1), Shamit Choksey (1), Joy Lusco (1) & George Pelecanos (1); story by Simon & Burns. Starring Dominic West.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great). There are about a dozen main characters, and every one of them has a distinct voice and a well-developed arc. I don't sympathize with any of them (and don't even particularly enjoy watching most of them), but they are interesting and seem completely real.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Solidly written and engaging. Normally I couldn't care less about drug dealers or corrupt cops, but this show's got me curious to see what happens next.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Breaking Bad: Season One

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 2 of 5.



Breaking Bad: Season One, 2008. A terminally ill science teacher takes up cooking meth.

Created by Vince Gilligan. Directed by Adam Bernstein (2 episodes), Gilligan (1), Jim McKay (1), Tricia Brock (1), Bronwen Hughes (1) & Tim Hunter (1). Written by Gilligan (4 episodes), Patty Lin (1), George Mastras (1) & Peter Gould (1). Starring Bryan Cranston.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Well that was fun. People might be on to something with this whole Watching TV thing that's so popular lately.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 (Very good)

Band of Brothers

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 1 of 5.



Band of Brothers (tv series), 2001. A company of WWII paratroopers fights through Europe.

Directed by Mikael Salomon (2 episodes), David Frankel (2), Phil Alden Robinson (1), Richard Loncraine (1), David Nutter (1), Tom Hanks (1), David Leland (1) & Tony To (1). Written by Erik Jendresen (3 episodes), Bruce C. McKenna (3), John Orloff (2), Graham Yost (2), Erik Bork (2), Tom Hanks (1) & E. Max Frye (1); based on a book by Stephen E. Ambrose. Starring Damian Lewis (4 episodes), David Schwimmer (1), Marc Warren (1), Michael Cudlitz (1), Shane Taylor (1), Donnie Wahlberg (1), Eion Bailey (1), Colin Hanks (1) & Ron Livingston (1).

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). I had a hard time keeping the supporting characters straight. There's a lot of story and action; with only ten episodes, there's not enough time left to clearly establish an army of characters.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good). Mostly mediocre, with moments of greatness.
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Very engrossing, but draining. I never looked forward to the next episode.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

VSM: The Best TV Shows We've Never Seen

These are the titles with the highest IMDb score and at least 25,000 votes (and that are available in the US) that we haven't seen. And they all happen to be TV shows, which suits us as we've been itching to watch more TV lately.

Very Slow Marathon #12 - The Best TV Shows We've Never Seen
-Band of Brothers (2001)
-Breaking Bad (season 1, 2008)
-The Wire (season 1, 2002)
-Game of Thrones (season 1, 2011)
-The Sopranos (season 1, 1999)