Peter clement not for broadcast1/22/2024 Midway through its run, Donald Trump moved into the Oval Office. When Armando Iannucci remade his splenetic Westminster sitcom The Thick of It as a Washington satire, a politician as venally incompetent as vice-president Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) seemed cartoonish. Veep (2012-2019)ĭid the president call? … Veep. Graphically sexual and gruesomely violent, it helped usher in the golden age of TV. “It’s no place like home.” Together with The Sopranos, the taboo-tackling prison epic set at Oswald maximum security penitentiary built HBO’s reputation as a drama powerhouse. A fourth instalment, set in Alaska and starring Jodie Foster, is expected in 2023. Unfortunately, the hypnotic debut run – with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as Louisiana cops on the trail of an occult serial killer – was followed by two plodding sequels. If True Detective was a one-series deal, it would be much higher in our ranking. A landmark docuseries which helped bring a monster to justice and kickstarted the entire true-crime genre. New York real estate heir Robert Durst’s confession that he “killed them all, of course” was one of the most jaw-dropping TV moments of all time. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. One of its stars, Murray Bartlett, would go on to steal the show in stablemate The White Lotus. Looking (2014-2016)Ĭhronicling three gay men forming a makeshift family in San Francisco, this gorgeously naturalistic series lacked the shock factor of Queer As Folk but was more meditative and moving. Spike Lee’s epic and profound docuseries about the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina was described by a HBO executive as “one of the most important films we’ve ever made”. Frances McDormand was mesmerising as the misanthropic “math” teacher from Maine, strongly supported by Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan, Jesse Plemons and Bill Murray. The miniseries adapted from Elizabeth Strout’s novel earned every one of its eight Emmys. This miniseries about real-life Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko managed to make thrilling drama out of public housing policy. Show Me a Hero (2015)Ĭo-written by David Simon, directed by Paul Haggis, soundtracked by Bruce Springsteen and starring Oscar Isaac? Pretty solid credentials. Wild, weird and sadly a one-series wonder. This pulpy period horror saga reimagined the tales of HP Lovecraft from a racial perspective, as Korean War veteran Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors) battled the bigoted terrors of segregated 1950s America. The Deuce (2017-2019)Īunjanue Ellis in Lovecraft Country. It was about family, faith and politics, with Chloë Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jeanne Tripplehorn as the “sister wives”. Big Love (2006-2011)īill Paxton played a retail boss with three wives in a fundamentalist Mormon community, but this richly emotional drama covered more than the juicy subject of polygamy. Happily, it’s just been renewed for a second run. Nathan Fielder’s meta docucomedy, in which he stages elaborate simulated scenarios for punters facing difficult conversations, is deeply odd but utterly hypnotic. The none-more-00s adventures of a movie star’s posse of pals, loosely based on exec producer Mark Wahlberg’s life, were huge fun for a while back there – largely thanks to abrasive agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Kate Winslet won a raft of awards for her gut-punch portrayal of a struggling single mother during the Great Depression, desperately trying to earn the love of vile daughter Veda (Evan Rachel Wood). Once they tuned into its slow-burn storytelling and jazzy rhythms, what emerged was a love letter to the city and the power of community. “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?” Some viewers were initially baffled by David Simon’s post-Katrina drama, expecting The Wire Mk 2. Clarke Peters as Albert Lambreaux in Treme.
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