19 of the Best TV Series Ever Produced. Period. (Mini-series included)

Film resonates with us, that unexplainable lingering feeling, sometimes lasting days..., sometimes unshakable.

A string of emotions get played with and nothing can replicate that experience other than being there first-hand.

So, with that, I bring you my most coveted list of breathtaking fictional content.

From sub-plots being properly answered to meaningful character development throughout the series to lighting and cinematography choices being considered, I was there watching intently, scrubbing frame by frame to ensure continuity and flow.

Real, raw and as close to the source as it gets, I try to get in-depth with TV series that transcend the ages and help us better understand the human psyche just a little more.

If we had to explain ourselves to Aliens to help them not want to terraform our planet and reap it of its resources, I think this list is our best "fictional hope" for survival.

These series contain some of the best acting, monologues and script-writing I've ever watched. They are held to the highest standard of judgement and they were meticulously researched with serious merit for enunciation on 'growth, change and development of human emotion, plots and sub-plots.'

All to determine the most bad-ass, innovative, earth-shakingly RAW material I could present. Complex subtleties weigh through all of these picks with many great metaphors and imagery of events, both past and present. Displayed wonderfully with unmatched cinematography coupled with a brilliant delivery.

These TV series do one of two things;

• they either do an amazing job of helping you escape reality as they consume your neural-impulses for a few weeks,

or they do the complete opposite.
-- they anger and motivate you; to want better for us and this planet.

UPDATE DEC 2015:

So... It's been a while, I get that. So much production has happened since I've last updated this list. TV is the new "movie" and people are realizing a better story can be told through episodic television than it can a film (albeit, I still lovvvve film).

I guess I should start with what I've removed and why I thought I'd make room to add some more "current" productions.

First off, I removed Firefly. A few reasons being; it only made it through one season and all the others were at least 3. So, I think I'm going to count from 3 seasons minimum (given the current competition) for this list, unless it's a mini-series.

Also, I don't do honourable mentions because that list would be to far and vast. There is so much good content out there that I cannot even begin to write about it without knowing I'll lose you guys by page 72 of the list...

Secondly, I removed Carnivale. It made it to only 2 seasons and was cancelled, which sucked, because in my opinion, it had the premise/themes to be one of the greatest shows ever produced, honestly, it's quite a masterpiece, cut short in its prime.

Thirdly, I've removed The Newsroom. While brilliant, it was also cut down in its prime. It brought about important world events in an entertaining and approachable manner that everyone could watch while maintain good character development throughout the series. It however, wasn't "groundbreaking" per se, considering there were series before this using this structure.

I also wanted to mention another thing regarding a few more of the "greats". First being, I get you all love Band of Brothers and people are giving me flak for not including it, but, quite honestly it was that or Generation Kill for ground-breaking military movies and I feel that GK took the win for creating a slightly more engaging and raw series and didn't want to dilute the pool with two war series when everything else is pretty unique to its genre.

The same reason, more or less, goes for "Breaking Bad" -- which didn't make my list and will-not because, while fun and brilliant, it was, at times, missing sub-plots and not tying up certain characters story-lines as well as some of these series. It had strong drama a little shock and awe and comedic elements that were new and exciting, but, it just didn't really irk my heart strings as much as I hoped it would beyond the "cool factor."

Also, I might be slightly inebriated, but, I have to mention one of the greatest primetime network TV series, beyond "The Goodwife."

They call it Homeland, and season 5 sold me. Finally, a premise that relates to what is really going on in the world, not just some fantastical premise that is so close to reality, but not (but so close that it skews reality to a biased pov).