Best (non-comedy) TV shows of all time

[XelaM]

Having just finished Season 3 of "Succession" I feel bereft and looking to find something good to watch.

"Succession" is the best thing I have seen on TV probably ever, but equally great I found
"Breaking Bad" (first 4 seasons); and
"Ozark".

Are there any other shows out there that can rival those three in brilliance of script, acting and twists? Looking for inspiration.

Or
The Big C
Nurse Jackie
The Good Wife
The Good Fight
Spiral (Scandi)
Inspector Montalbano (Italian)

@Jewel1968 Agree about "Shtisel". It was absolutely superb

Will look for all the recommendations on this thread

I keep thinking of more -
Homicide:Life on the Streets, The X Files (some episodes), Twin Peaks, Law and Order (in all it’s variations), NYPD Blue, Peaky Blinders.

@DockOTheBay

Agree with Breaking Bad. Also Game of Thrones, especially seasons 1-4. Even including the awful last season, the average episode ratings 8.8 out of 10 on IMDB, and various episodes on 9.9 or 9.8 which is pretty unusual.

I still wonder if the end of game of thrones was ment to be the beginning of a new series of it, but without the authors input as we know the dead could be resurrected and we know their were other red priestess, and as the Dragon took danny, seems plausible, that she was going to be revived.

Definitely The X Files - it's all on Disney Plus.
Was obsessed when I was younger but currently on a rewatch from the beginning and it's better than I remembered.

Dark Angel
Buffy
Person of interest
The lone gunmen (x files spin off)
X files (various episodes)
Stargate franchise
Sliders series
Ncis
Various csi series
Bones
Supernatural series
Smallville
La femme nikita series the original with petea Wilson I think her name was

@ppleasebob

Definitely The X Files - it's all on Disney Plus. Was obsessed when I was younger but currently on a rewatch from the beginning and it's better than I remembered.

Have you seen the x files spin off the lone gunmen ?

True Detective, Fargo, Breaking Bad, The End of the F*ing World, Dark, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, The Haunting of Hill House.

(And going back a bit, Our Friends in the North and Turtle’s Progress)

I'm trying to think of some but nothing can live up to succession. Esp season 1&2
I'll try the Americans after all the recommendations on here though

@whatnumber Succession Seasons 1&2 were simply genius.

Season 3 was weaker, but still very good and the episode with the planned shareholders vote was superb Tom has really grown on me in the last season, but I have gone off Shiv. I'm always rooting for Kendall to win 😭 and Connor is always hilarious 😂

I love Breaking Bad, BCS and Ozark - one of the very few things that has come close was Sneaky Pete, was on Amazon Prime. Just wonderful in all the ways the others are.

Absolutely joy bringing 😂❤️ Three seasons as well I think.

Mad Men has been the best series ever for me..

Also enjoyed How to get away with murder and Gran Hotel (dubbed to English)

Twin Peaks! Never been telly like it before or since. And Spiral. Gore, hard assed cops, French chic and shagging. Also if you watch enough of it you get really good at swearing in French, which is a life skill worth having.

And old ER from the early days I can and do watch again and again.

Agree with Sopranos, West Wing, making a murder

I would add money heist, call my agent

The Last Kingdom
Vikings
Call The Midwife
Robin of Sherwood
The White Queen
The Spanish Princess
Black Beauty

The Wire
I, Claudius
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the Alec Guinness series)
The Shield (that final scene... all that and he had learned nothing)
First series of 24 -- as an exercise in maintaining tension across a series arc it broke major ground
Peaky Blinders
Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth one)
Buffy
Band of Brothers
NYPD Blue
Line of Duty
Doctor Who (quality varies a lot of course but it's lasted)
Deadwood
A Very English Scandal

Oh and Queer As Folk (the original UK one)

The West Wing is without doubt one of the best TV series ever made, but I may even slightly prefer the other Aaron Sorkin series The Newsroom.

Agree with the first series of 24 too, fantastic nail biting stuff.

Lost was brilliant to start with, but I think they disappeared up their own backsides somewhere early in series 3.

I remembered another one

London Spy

No one else got it, but I thought it was transcendent.

Spooks, particularly some of thr earlier series.
Line of Duty
The Bridge
Money Heist gets my top spot.
The Americans

Also agree re X Files.
Especially because Gillian Anderson wasn't doing the utterly irritating slow motion not opening her mouth properly to speak voice she uses for everything these days. I started watching The Fall after recommendations on here but found myself just obsessing about her diction and losing the plot. Literally. Because Stella Gibson and Margaret Thatcher are actually the same person if you close your eyes and just listen.

@PAFMO totally, and also she does the same accent in Sex Education! (That show is also absolutely brilliant)

For those who recommend It's a Sin - it appears to be on Netflix now

Oh there's lots but for starters...
Tinker tailor & Smileys people (both Alec Guiness)
The Prisoner - weird but good
Secret Army (shows on talking pictures)