Best TV Dramas (Ivan's Opinion)

In our last post, Artiom shared his opinion on the best TV dramas of all time. This has propelled me to make a list of my own. It follows the same premise as Artiom's list, but there a few things that I changed and took into account while creating my own list.

While writing this list a seriously took into account the length the show has been on the air. If Heroes taught me anything, its to not get super excited about a show after just one season (and that the girl from Remember The Titans really grew up) . This is why shows like Game of Thrones will be left of the list. I look for consistent excellence.


Top 5


1) The Wire - This choice really needs no explanation. The Wire's message for the rest of the shows on this list: "If you come at the king, you best not miss." - Omar Little

2) Breaking Bad - After a short period of 2-3 episodes in the first season where nothing happened, this show really took off. This show has a great story, but more importantly great characters. This show has lovable characters like Jesse to comic relief characters like Saul Goodman. When the plot dulls down the characters can really carry the show the rest of the way.

3) Dexter - This show is six seasons in and had arguably its best season since the first.  The show is a riveting experience which the viewer experiences a serial killer trying to fit into what he hopes is a normal life. Action, killing, cops, and personal turmoil seem to blend perfectly in a show I'm very excited to continue watching.

4) The Sopranos - A mob show centered around Tony  Soprano. This show is a classic and a must watch for anyone who enjoys dramas.

5) Sherlock - I almost broke my rule with this selection. Sherlock is a BBC show which is an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes in the modern day world. It finished its second season in January of 2012, making it eligible for the list. With the episodes lasting 90 minutes, it really allows the show to create episodes where a story is introduced, elaborated on, and completed. I expect would have been much higher on this list if I was making it a few years from now.

Best TV Dramas Along With Other Things (Artiom's Version)

With NCAA March Madness in full tilt both today and yesterday, one of us is most likely going to talk about the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight more in depth tomorrow. The Elite Eight games are on today and there are some great match ups and teams that are vying for a position in the Final Four in New Orleans. Like said before, we will talk more about some of the great sports stories that popped up during the week and essentially give you or thoughts on March Madness, Peyton Manning to the Broncos, and the New Orleans Saints Bounty scandal.

Now on to something that is trending on the web. Lately a lot of websites have gotten in the March Madness spirit and done brackets of the best TV dramas and have fans vote for their favourite shows. Since Ivan's back home in Toronto, I gotta do this one solo and give my opinion on what may be the best TV Dramas. I'm thinking that the best way to do this would probably be to do this in a list of top 10 shows with honourable mentions. Here we go.

Honourable Mention:

Friday Night Lights - A show that ran for 5 seasons first on NBC and later on DirectTV. It was a spin off from the movie and it centred around it's main character, Coach Eric Taylor. The show in my opinion was better than the movie because it had a great supporting cast and revolved around the high expectations of high school football in Texas. It did a great job throughout its run and did a good job developing its main characters.

Homeland - A relatively new show that finished it's first season earlier this year (which it won the golden globe for best TV Drama). It is about a CIA agent who discovers that a prisoner of war has been turned and is plotting an attack on the United States. It is a great show so far and recommend it because as soon as you watch the first episode you are hooked.

Falling Skies - Another new show whose second season starts this summer on TNT. It deals with the effects of an Alien invasion and a small resistance force fighting for the survival of humanity. People may be weary because they've heard this sort of premise before. The cool thing with Falling Skies is that it has Steven Spielberg producing it and it has great plot twists and is a fairly realistic show in the sense of if an alien invasion did occur, this is what the result would be.

Top Ten:

10) Southland - An awesome show that first ran on NBC and now is on TNT. It's about police officers in Los Angeles and some people may recognize some of the actors who star in it. It is an underrated show that not many people know about but it is worth watching and makes you want to see more.

9) Dexter - A show that is still running on Showtime and centres around Dexter Morgan who is a blood splatter pattern analyst for Miami's Police department who moonlights as a serial killer. Need I say more?

8) The Sopranos - An HBO show that ran for six seasons and centred on Tony Soprano and his reign as the head of a mob family in northern New Jersey. The acting of James Gandolfini as Tony was great and made you root for a mob boss the whole way through. The Sopranos was one of the first shows that centred on an essentially evil main character and it made audiences root for him because you saw a strong character have flaws and him dealing with them.

7) Breaking Bad - An AMC show that centres on Walter White who is a high school chemistry teacher who learns he has advanced lung cancer. He turns to a life of crime producing and selling meth with one of his former students to secure a financial future for his family. A good show all around that has completed four seasons thus far and it's fifth and final season is coming out soon. A highly recommended show.

6) Boardwalk Empire - Another HBO show that centres around the prohibition era in the United States primarily in Atlantic City. It focuses on the life of Nucky Thompson and his dealings/relationships in Atlantic City. The show has finished two seasons and is one of the best shows on TV right now. A great period drama that intertwines it's first 2 seasons very well.

5) Game Of Thrones - Yet another HBO show and not the last. It is a fairly young show that has its second season coming out very soon. It is an adaptation of the books and centres on point of views of various characters in. The show is a fictional/mythical show that does a good job portraying its stories. Has the ability to capture viewers attentions and hook them immediately which is always good.

4) Six Feet Under - An HBO show that ran for five seasons that focused on a family who ran a funeral home in Los Angeles. It has been described as one of the greatest TV series of all time and also having one of the greatest series finale ever. The series traces the lives of the fisher family over the course of the year and allows for viewers to be emotionally invested with the characters.

3) Lost - A ABC show that ran for six seasons and dealt with the crash landing of a commercial plane on an uninhabited island somewhere in the Pacific. The show focuses on survivors of the plane crash and their fight for survival. Without giving anything away, the show had some of the best plot twists that I have seen in a show in a long time and the complexity is so vast and consistent through the show that you are glued through the entire series.

2) Mad Men - Another AMC show that focuses on advertising executives in New York City during the 1960's. It shows the intricacies of the fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper and later Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and it's creative director Don Draper. The show's fifth season is upcoming and is an all around phenomenal show.

1) The Wire - An HBO show that is widely regarded as one of the best TV shows ever made. It ran for 5 seasons and dealt with several facets of the city of Baltimore. The great and lengthy cast did a phenomenal job throughout its run and allowed for viewers to see how and what every character is doing at the end of each season. The Wire also is fairly realistic in all of its dealings and you are left loving enjoying every minute that it has to offer. The story of the show seemingly has no holes and is very consistent in its 5 season run.

So there we have it. The top 10 TV dramas in my opinion. The rankings were very tough to do but I think that many of them can be interchangeable. Since the name of our blog is 2 guys 2 opinions, I'm sure that Ivan will have some say in these rankings as well so maybe in the future we will change some of our rankings. Sorry for the lengthy blog but I hope that you enjoyed it.

First Blog Ever.

Where to start. This is our first blog ever. We're 2 friends who are from Toronto who constantly keep up to date with the latest articles in sports through various news outlets and have constant conversations and debates over what is transpiring. These conversations aren't only limited to sports but we tend to talk a great deal on movies and TV shows along with what's going on in the world today. We, the 2 guys duo, consist of Ivan Andric and Artiom Kvasha. We both are from Toronto. Until we're back in the same area code this summer, we will be doing blogs individually.

With all of that said, it seemed that a great way for everyone else to hear our opinions and thoughts in those discussions was to start our own blog. Since we both frequently listen to sports-related podcasts and their corresponding blogs, it seemed that by writing our own blog would be a great idea and that's where we're at. The next thing to say is for anyone who would read our blog now or in the future is simply thank you for taking time and reading our opinions on what's happening. We're gonna start off with hopefully 1 or 2 blogs a week for now because one of us is in school in London while the other is working a full time job back home in Toronto.

Later on in the week, one of us is will hopefully pump out a blog talking about potentially March Madness, Peyton Manning to the Denver Broncos, or anything and everything exciting that happens.