It is unacceptable that Babylon 5 is not on this list. It was rare, at the time, for shows to have a multi-season story arc with character development planned from the start. JMS got his seasons, though, and used them beautifully. Every single episode, even those that don’t contribute to the main storyline advancing, either show a character developing or build the foundations for that development.
Resident Alien
I’ve been rewatching Community recently and it definitely fits the bill. It has incredibly good writing.
But more than that, Community gives me the impression that is has an infinite budget. Not a ridiculously big budget like some shows and movies do… an infinite budget. The difference being that they don’t waste a cent. There isn’t a single thing on screen that doesn’t serve a purpose. No ridiculous effect or expensive crane shot added in just to flaunt their budget. But if an episode’s script actually called for a particular shot to be done, they would move heaven and earth to make that happen. That’s what it feels like.
In my head I compare it to having unlimited vacation days at work. Case studies have shown that workers take fewer vacation days when they can take as many as they want, compared to when they have a set number per year. So in the analogy, a show with a set ludicrously high budget will use every last cent of it even for pointless frill, whereas a (hypothetical) show with an unlimited budget would only use however much money is necessary to create the show. Somehow, Community became that show. … It probably has to do with how frequently they actually went way over budget in practice.
I fucking love Community.
Dan Harmon has said the producer did this magic for him. He would often telling Dan that, no, they were over budget when they weren’t, so he could then say yes to the best ideas, actors/cameos, etc.
I’m a huge superfan. My ringtone is Professor Professorson’s.
Absolutely no comedy series comes close to being as in depth and well thought out as community was. Community is actually art for the ages.
They spent all their money on overdubbing lines.
King of the Hill
- Mister Roger’s Neighborhood
- Twin Peaks
- Frasier
- Futurama
- The Wire
- NCIS S1 to like S5
- Fringe
- Peaky Blinders
- Orphan Black
- The Good Place
- Severance
- Fringe but only to the two or third season
Can’t believe Ted Lasso hasn’t been mentioned
The Good Place. It starts off deceptively shallow but by the end it became one of my favorite shows of all time.
Dark. The constant time travel makes it hard to keep track of what’s going on a lot of the time but if you can manage, it’s very rewarding. Great character development. Not the best ending, but good enough.
Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad have some poorly written characters but the well-written ones are very well-written.
I didn’t include any shows based on books because I felt that would go against the scope of your question.
+1 for Good Place. That show is phenomenal.
Bojack Horseman
Firefly.
Sons of Anarchy
Lost (until it sucked)
The Middle
The Office (US)
Animal Kingdom
My Name is Earl
Young Sheldon
Funny thing about Young Sheldon, When I started watching it, I had never watched Big Bang Theory, and honestly, now that I have, I don’t even really like it, but Young Sheldon is better than it deserves to be.
House. I remember fuckall from the past 40 years of watching tv but that one show is etched in the feels.
Full Metal Alchemist:Brotherhood (Nearly perfect)
The first 9 seasons of the Simpsons (great little 22 minute stories. Character depth is episode dependent, but some of the best episodes of anything television has ever offered.)
Battlestar Galactica (Had some iffy plotlines along the way, but great character development and intriguing story)
FMA:B is up there on “shows I wish I could forget just so I can watch it for the first time again”, and so much of it has is how many characters’ final moments (re)define them. Tossup for me between:
spoiler
- Kimblee reminding everyone that he might not subscribe to conventional morality, but he does have a code.
- Truth showing genuine joy at Edward giving up his alchemy. It completely re-frames Truth’s role in the series.
Upvote for FMA:B
Andor
So good.
The Leftovers, Maniac, Mr. Robot, anything by Sam Esmail really.
Dirk Gently
Based off a book based off a script for a Dr Who episode that was too weird by the guy who wrote Hitchiker’s Guide, starring Frodo:
Good show. Shame that it ended on a cliff-hanger and didn’t get renewed because Max Landis turned out to be a sex pest.
There was a UK made adaptation starring Steven Mangan that’s pretty good as well.
No Douglas Addams story ever really ends…
Whether you read to the end of the material or quit on a random page, you’re always just getting a small glance into a much larger world where nothing is self contained and everything is connected.
Like, dude wrote a five book trilogy, it’s obviously not a normal story structure. Even more than Tolkein, his work is about the journey and not a destination.
So yeah, would have loved for it to keep going. But an ending of “everyone keeps going on adventures” is the norm for Addams, I don’t think there’s ever a “happily ever after” and that’s kind of why his stories have always felt so real to me.
Same with Heinlein and other early pulp scifi writers, it was a job even if it was a passion, you always left it open ended and you always left them wanting more. Because you might need to write a sequel for next month’s rent.
