In the course of writing a column (see The Daily Maverick, next Wednesday) on Julius Malema and whether ‘Kill the Boer’ should be banned, I was wondering whether there was anyone I hated. Think on it for a moment – “hating” someone is appealing to quite a strong emotion, and I wonder how often it’s true. We might use that word fairly frequently to mean something like “have contempt for”, or “be very angry at”, or somesuch, but what does “hate” add to the picture? Does it mean you want them dead? I did come up with one example of a person I hated, but unfortunately, that person was on my television screen – Marlo Stanfield from The Wire. I certainly want him dead, preferably with some torture and great suffering thrown in beforehand. A great character, certainly, but one that should suffer.
In case you haven’t see The Wire, I’ll say no more. Except that you should see watch the series, which I came to very late for some reason. But now that I have watched it, there’s no question that it fits into the category of the best television shows ever, at least in my estimation (even though I might not be able to help this – it’s listed on Stuff White People Like, after all). To further expose myself to potential ridicule or potential accusations of a deficit in aesthetic judgement, here’s my list, rank-ordered for bestest-ever TV:
- The Wire
- Deadwood
- The West Wing
- Battlestar Galactica (the 2004 version)
While I was intending to tell you why, there are lectures to be written, and a Sunday to enjoy. But if there are any of these four that you haven’t watched, they are all worth checking out. And seeing as it’s soon to be Winter, you surely need to think about what to do on those days and nights where leaving the house is unthinkable. Unlike today.
I haven’t seen a single episode of The Wire (though I’m planning to watch the entire Battlestar series for the first time very soon)… But the Guardian’s piece on Marlo was very interesting nonetheless.
Did you see either of the two seasons of Rome?
Yep, I watched all of Rome – certainly hooked me. But it was at a standard where I could list another bunch of series’ as being equally good, much of the time – Dexter, True Blood, Treme, Boardwalk Empire, etc. etc. – the four I listed in the post stand above everything I’ve seen, though. Enjoy Battlestar when you get there (but do a bit of web research – there are some prequel things that are worth watching before get into the series proper).
Interesting. I started out disliking Marlo, but ended up quite liking him. (I never hated him). Interesting how people love Stringer Bell and Omar…. Oh, if you’ve not read this New Yorker profile of David Simon, do so.
I agree The Wire is the best television series ever made (by far). But I’d have to include Dexter (first two seasons) and South Park in my top 5. I haven’t seen Deadwood. BSG has just enough annoyances to keep it out of the “great” category…
And I wouldn’t put True Blood anywhere near the top. PHILISTINE!!!11!
Dexter does make a good case for inclusion in a top 5, agreed (also on the seasons). Certain South Park episodes would rank highly for me, but as a show it’s too uneven.
Yeah, South Park is uneven. But the sheer number of fantastic episodes puts it over the line IMO. (A bit like Monty Python: lots of crap, but also a lot of sheer genius).
I’m going to have to get Deadwood. I also hear Breaking Bad is superb.
I’m not sure if you watched any of it, but OZ was really good too. Or at least I enjoyed it a lot.
I was trying to get it again to watch it all, but don’t know anyone with it taped or with the dvds.
From my top 50 on listology.
3. “Deadwood”
4. “Dexter” (3rd season not so great)
5. “The west wing” (I’ve only seen the first few seasons)
15. “The wire” (only seen the seasons 1 and 2, and 3′s 1st disc)
29. “Battlestar Galactica” (reimagined)
40. “True blood” (2nd season not as good)
Haven’t seen “Treme” or “Boardwalk empire” yet.
I recommend “Firefly” – it’s network like “The west wing” so there’s no swearing (in English, it’s in Mandarin) and they can’t show sex and gore like HBO and Showtime; but it’s by far the best TV series I’ve ever seen.