Intelligent and well-written (mostly) drama shows
After watching Better Call Saul, I realised which shows I like the most :) I will add here intelligent and thought-provoking dramas according to many people on Reddit and IMDb. I have to watch them all!
Remark 1. Bad rating doesn't mean that the show is bad in all aspects. I added it to the list because people say that it either has a very cool screenplay without serious mistakes (e.g. The West Wing), or its screenplay raises deep and complex topics (e.g. Dollhouse). In other words, a bad rating can mean that the show is bad with everything else, such as acting, directing and so on.
Remark 2. There are shows with less than 10,000 ratings at the bottom of the list. This does not mean that they are bad. No. They simply don't have enough ratings compared to other shows to have at least some idea of their quality.
Edit 1: I changed the name of this list: from "Intelligent and well-written (mostly) drama shows that I will probably enjoy" to just "Intelligent and well-written (mostly) drama shows". I added good dramas that I enjoyed: Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Chernobyl, House of Cards.
Remark 1. Bad rating doesn't mean that the show is bad in all aspects. I added it to the list because people say that it either has a very cool screenplay without serious mistakes (e.g. The West Wing), or its screenplay raises deep and complex topics (e.g. Dollhouse). In other words, a bad rating can mean that the show is bad with everything else, such as acting, directing and so on.
Remark 2. There are shows with less than 10,000 ratings at the bottom of the list. This does not mean that they are bad. No. They simply don't have enough ratings compared to other shows to have at least some idea of their quality.
Edit 1: I changed the name of this list: from "Intelligent and well-written (mostly) drama shows that I will probably enjoy" to just "Intelligent and well-written (mostly) drama shows". I added good dramas that I enjoyed: Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Chernobyl, House of Cards.
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- 49 titles
- CreatorVince GilliganStarsBryan CranstonAaron PaulAnna GunnA chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with a former student to secure his family's future.☑️ Done
Netflix
I think Better Call Saul is better than this one. It's consistent, realistic, and positive. I think BCS is my favorite show in this list. See the micro review below (#9). - CreatorCraig MazinStarsJessie BuckleyJared HarrisStellan SkarsgårdIn April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.☑️ Done
HBO Max - CreatorDavid SimonStarsDominic WestLance ReddickSonja SohnThe Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.HBO Max
I heard this show is Barack Obama's favorite TV show of all time. - CreatorDavid ChaseStarsJames GandolfiniLorraine BraccoEdie FalcoNew Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.HBO Max
- CreatorRod SerlingStarsRod SerlingRobert McCordJay OverholtsOrdinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner.Network?
- CreatorNoah HawleyStarsBilly Bob ThorntonMartin FreemanAllison TolmanVarious chronicles of deception, intrigue, and murder in and around frozen Minnesota. All of these tales mysteriously lead back one way or another to Fargo, North Dakota.☑️ Done 2 seasons
Disney+ (what?), Netflix (some seasons) - CreatorAaron SorkinStarsMartin SheenRob LoweAllison JanneyInside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.Network?
According to many people, this show has the best screenplay ever written on television. Well, what else to say if Aaron Sorkin wrote it. It is also his best TV show. - CreatorBeau WillimonStarsKevin SpaceyMichel GillRobin WrightA Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.☑️ Done 4 seasons
Netflix
Only the first 4 seasons! - CreatorsVince GilliganPeter GouldStarsBob OdenkirkRhea SeehornJonathan BanksThe trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer Jimmy McGill in the years leading up to his fateful run-in with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.☑️ Done (waiting for the final season)
Netflix
Unlike Breaking Bad, this show never ceases to be realistic. Actions do not depend on luck, and even when the element of luck begins to be traced, you realise that there are prerequisites for that. The characters are responsible for their own destinies.
Also, unlike BB, BCS screenwriters are very careful in writing their characters as if they had done it even before BD. Everything is neatly served. This is a very consistent TV show. There is no mishmash of scenes as in the first season of BD. And in general, the show is very positive :) - CreatorJulian FellowesStarsHugh BonnevillePhyllis LoganElizabeth McGovernA chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.Network?
- CreatorsBruno HellerWilliam J. MacDonaldJohn MiliusStarsKevin McKiddRay StevensonPolly WalkerThe lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans in the last days of the Roman Republic.HBO Max
- CreatorPeter MorganStarsClaire FoyOlivia ColmanImelda StauntonFollows the political rivalries and romances of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped Britain for the second half of the 20th century.Netflix
- CreatorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyWhen death is your business, what is your life? Laced with irony and dark situational humor, the show approaches the subject of death through the eyes of the Fisher family, who owns and operates a funeral home in Los Angeles.Network?
- CreatorRaphael Bob-WaksbergStarsWill ArnettAmy SedarisAlison BrieBoJack Horseman was the star of the hit television show "Horsin' Around" in the '80s and '90s, but now he's washed up, living in Hollywood, complaining about everything, and wearing colorful sweaters.Netflix
- CreatorSam EsmailStarsRami MalekChristian SlaterCarly ChaikinElliot, a brilliant but unstable cyber-security engineer and vigilante hacker, becomes a key figure in a complex game of global chaos when he and his shadowy allies try to take down the corrupt corporation his company is paid to protect.Prime Video
I am afraid that this series is very predictable for drama (Fight Club?). - CreatorJoe PenhallStarsJonathan GroffHolt McCallanyAnna TorvIn the late 1970s, two FBI agents broaden the realm of criminal science by investigating the psychology behind murder and end up getting too close to real-life monsters.Netflix
- CreatorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.Network?
A very underrated show in the eyes of many people. - CreatorAaron SorkinStarsJeff DanielsEmily MortimerJohn Gallagher Jr.A newsroom undergoes some changes in its workings and morals as a new team is brought in, bringing unexpected results for its existing news anchor.Network?
Sorkin's third best show. - CreatorsRick BermanMichael PillerStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisCirroc LoftonIn the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.☑️ Done
Netflix
The most consistent Star Trek TV series in terms of plot and characters from start to finish. However, it lacks the sci-fi adventure of the previous Star Trek series. Most of the time the series is more of a fantasy, like a cosmic Game of Thrones. - CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsPatrick StewartBrent SpinerJonathan FrakesSet almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.☑️ Done
Netflix
My favorite Star Trek TV show. - CreatorDavid MilchStarsTimothy OlyphantIan McShaneMolly ParkerA show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.Network?
They say the screenplay of this show is very Shakespearean. - CreatorGraham YostStarsTimothy OlyphantNick SearcyJoelle CarterEnforcing his own brand of justice, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a strong-willed, quiet law-man haunted by his past, returns to his native town to see that justice is served to those in need.Network?
- CreatorBryan FullerStarsHugh DancyMads MikkelsenCaroline DhavernasExplores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.Network?
- CreatorsDaniel AbrahamMark FergusTy FranckStarsSteven StraitDominique TipperWes ChathamThe disappearance of rich-girl-turned-political-activist links the lives of Ceres detective, accidental ship captain and U.N. politician. Amidst political tension between Earth, Mars and the Belt, they unravel the greatest conspiracy.Prime video.
The best space opera of the 21st century according to many people. - CreatorsJack AmielMichael BeglerStarsClive OwenAndré HollandJeremy BobbA look at the professional and personal lives of the staff at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital during the early part of the twentieth century.Network?
