NYT rates the 20 best shows since "The Sopranos" -- and my response

A while ago, the New York Times ran an interactive article identifying the 20 best shows (in the author's view) to have aired since "The Sopranos" debuted 20 years earlier.

Several of the shows on NYT list are also on my post-"Sopranos" list -- indeed, some of these would even make my all-time favorite TV show list, including:

• "The Shield": Simply brilliant in terms of how it made you root for who would ordinarily be the antagonists of a show. I felt dirty hoping that corrupt cop Vic Mackey would get away with his schemes, which is a testament to the writing and the acting. Yeah, it wasn't as realistic as "The Wire," but it was far more interesting.
• "Battlestar Galactica": The ending didn't make much sense, and it tended to sag in the middle of each season. But it was so dark, gritty, and intense in its peak episodes, with a more or less continuous story lasting 4+ years (counting the mini-series and "Razor" movie). I'm reading the unauthorized oral history of BSG (both incarnations), So Say We All, and I just got to the section about the mini-series.
• "Lost": Another show whose ending (indeed, the entire last season) didn't make sense, but was still captivating throughout its entire run. The framework of mixing present day scenes with flashbacks (and then that mindblowing flashforward!) was subsequently adopted by one of my all-time favorites, "Once Upon a Time." [Strangely, "Once Upon a Time" did not make the NYT list, perhaps because it was too mainstream?]
• "Veronica Mars": A teen noirish mystery that launched Kristen Bell's career. I didn't watch the third/last season, and haven't gotten around to the movie either, but that first season was twisty.

On the "just missed the cut list" of the NYT:

• "Justified": This would also make my all-time list. I used to think Captain Kirk was the coolest character on TV, and Jack Bauer was the most interesting. Kirk has been supplanted by Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, whose misadventures in Harlan County, Kentucky, were laconically intriguing. I loved how Givens' character could be summed up in an eight word sentence he once told a bad guy: "You make me pull, I'll put you down." And of course he would make sure that he was justified in shooting.

But there are also a number of shows on the list that I, while possibly acknowledging their greatness, never watched or tried to watch but never really got hooked on:

• "The Wire": I know that it is a common opinion that this is the best show ever in the history of television. I just found it dull and populated with boring characters. It's not that I don't appreciate characters with shades of gray -- notice that I loved "The Shield," and the main character in that is a bad guy! Pretty much every actor in "The Wire" that I've seen elsewhere has been better elsewhere, from Lance Reddick in anything, to Wendell Pierce in Amazon's "Jack Ryan," to Michael B. Jordan in "Black Panther."
• "Grey's Anatomy": I've never watched this, so it isn't entirely fair for me to question its placement, but another procedural/soap opera didn't sound interesting to me. (It's also weird to me that this made the list but "Scandal" did not. See below for more on that.)
• "The West Wing": This has seemed to me like the left-wing version of "24." Each presents a fantasy world where its proponent's fears are being realized, and stopped only through the proponent's heroism.
• "Breaking Bad": I need to watch this. A major reason I haven't yet is that I'm not ready for my image of the goofy dad from "Malcolm in the Middle" to be overwritten by Walter White/Heisenberg.

And then there are the post-Sopranos shows that are on my list but absent from the NYT:

• "24": Yes, it's more fantasy than "Battlestar Galactica" in a lot of ways, but for sheer adrenaline rush, there's nothing like it. I watched every season as it aired starting halfway through season 2, then watched them all on DVD, and then over the course of several months streamed them all while running on the treadmill. My wife has asked me how I can watch it over and over, and the answer is, I can never get enough of Kiefer Sutherland's intensity as Jack Bauer, yelling, "Tell me where the bomb is!! There's no time!!"
• "Once Upon a Time": I didn't think this would be good, but I TiVo'd the pilot episode to give it a try. Within 10 minutes, I was hooked by the magical look of the Enchanted Forest in the flashbacks, and the puzzle of matching the present day residents of Storybrooke to their fantasy counterparts. And this is a show that featured multiple strong female characters (Emma Swan. Regina/Wicked Witch, Mary-Margaret/Snow White) who easily satisfied the Bechdel test every episode. (I didn't watch the last season, though, which was a soft reboot; the season 6 finale seemed to me to be a very good series finale.)
• "The Last Ship": Military valor, end of the world pandemic, conspiracies -- yeah, I'm a sucker for all of that.
• "Scandal": Another show that was basically fantasy, but it was as addictive as "24" was. I loved it whenever Olivia Pope was in "I'm in control" mode, which was most of the time. I liked it a lot less when she in "I'm moping over President Grant" mode.
• "Star Trek: Discovery": I get that it's controversial. It's a lot darker than the usual Trek series (even "Deep Space Nine"). But I like that. Based on season 1 (I watched the DVDs, so can't watch season 2 yet), it's my second favorite Trek series. It could move up to #1 with more excellent seasons. It would have to get a lot worse to drop to #3.
• "Hawaii 5-0": I don't claim that "Hawaii 5-0" is good in the ways that critics view shows. I find it hilariously entertaining, less so in the mystery of the week than in the character interaction (no show is complete with McGarrett and Dann-o bickering, and without the shrimp truck guy), and it's the only show on TV I can think of that features multiple regular actors who are of Asian descent, which is worth supporting alone for the Asian diversity factor (even if the show ended up making Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park leave because they weren't paid the same as Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan).

ABC's "Once Upon a Time" - time to let it go?

For the past six years, ABC's "Once Upon a Time" has largely been my favorite network TV show. If I really had to choose, I think I would rank it ahead of "Hawaii 5-0," "Survivor," and "Scandal." As for "24," it's only had two short seasons ("Legacy" this year and "Live Another Day" in 2014), so it would be hard to count it as a full competitor.

At one time, "OUaT" was one of ABC's stronger shows, regularly winning its timeslot, but it's tumbled badly in the last couple of years. Last night's episode finished last in its time slot, something that's happened a lot this year. As a result, "OUaT" has been a bubble show all year - not doing so poorly as to be an obvious cancellation, but not doing well enough to be an obvious renewal either.

Still, the prediction sites that I check have consistently put "OUaT" in the "likely renewal" category. It's a veteran show, so there may be a desire to give it a final season to tie up all the loose ends. Plus, Disney owns ABC, and it's able to use "OUaT" to promote all kinds of Disney characters (such as part 1 of Season 4, which brought Frozen into Storybrooke).

Today's news is that star Jennifer Morrison declined an invitation to return as a regular if there is a season 7. On top of that is the news that if there is a Season 7, it will be something of a reboot with only part of the cast. The last time I remember something like this happening was the last season of "The Practice," in which half of the cast was fired, and James Spader and Rhona Mitra were brought in. I guess you might call that a success, since it led to the spin-off series "Boston Legal," but it certainly didn't do much for "The Practice."

"OUaT" is an ensemble show, but Morrison's character (Emma Swan) has been the central one. The series started with Swan in the real world, being brought into Storybrooke by the 10 year old boy who turns out to be the son whom she gave up for adoption, and the whole first season arc revolved around her gradually coming to believe that there is magic, that her parents are Snow White and Prince Charming, and that her son Henry's stepmother is the Evil Queen. I can certainly see the show without her, but I'm reluctantly coming to the view that if the Season 6 finale really is going to finish the main storyline, it's probably best to end the show. For example, I miss "Justified" and believe it could have gone on for another season or two, but better that it ended a season too early than one too late. (I watched "The X-Files" to the end of its original run, but man, those last two or three seasons were not good....)

ABC's "Once Upon a Time" and the Bechdel test

ABC's "Once Upon a Time" is my favorite scripted TV show that's currently airing. (Perhaps Fox's "24: Legacy" will take that spot when it debuts in the next TV season.)

I don't think it's ever quite matched the sense of wonderment that it engendered in the first season, although the Peter Pan arc in season 3 was very good. It's gotten darker in recent seasons, which is generally good as far as I'm concerned, but "OUaT" has done it unevenly. For reasons I can't quite fathom, the male antagonists have been much more interesting than the female ones, which is quite surprising considering how much the female protagonists drive the show.

Apart from Rumplestiltskin and maybe Killian/Captain Hook, most of the male characters are either dull (David Nolan/Prince Charming, Robin Hood) or plot devices (Henry). However, there is a cornucopia of strong women who light up the screen and get things done: Emma Swan, Regina/Evil Queen, Mary-Margaret/Snow White, and even secondary characters like Mulan and Ruby/Red Riding Hood.

This is a show that easily aces the Bechdel test:

1. The [show] has to have at least two women in it,
2. who talk to each other,
3. about something besides a man

There are entire scenes in this show in which the only speaking characters are female, and they are not talking about a man. (Okay, in some of those scenes, especially from the first season, Emma and Regina are squabbling over a male, but that is their son Henry - Emma's by birth, Regina's by adoption. I suppose that may be a technical violation of the Bechdel test, but they are defined in their relationship to Henry by motherhood, not romance.)

Indeed, a recent episode [SPOILERS for the episode "Ruby Slippers" OAD 4/24/16] involved the backstory of how Red and Dorothy Gale met, with no discussion of men at all, because the episode culminated in the two women declaring their love for each other.

Other continuing arcs/relationships involving just women include the sibling rivalry between Regina and Zelena/Wicked Witch; the even more complicated triumvirate of Regina, Zelena, and their mother Cora/Queen of Hearts; Regina's and Snow's rivalry for dominance of the Enchanted Forest; Elsa's and Anna's sisterhood (ABC is owned by Disney); the trio of villainesses Cruella De Vil, Ursula, and Maleficient and their plan to take over Storybrooke; and others. About the only major female character who is defined primarily by her connection to a male character is Belle (who is Beauty to Rumple's Beast).

Random thoughts about fall 2015 TV shows

Most of my current TV shows are entering hiatus, having aired their winter finales. I've got questions about them. [SPOILERS AHEAD for "Grimm," "Supergirl," "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD," and "Once Upon a Time."]

- On "Grimm," there is a mayoral candidate who's been on the City Council for the past 8 years, and claims his district is #1 in terms of job growth. Considering that "Grimm" is not just set in Portland but also filmed here, you would think the writers would've been able to figure out that Portland elects its city councilmembers at-large, not by district.

- I get that Supergirl is largely invulnerable because of her Kryptonian background and something about the sun's yellow radiation, but her costume is made from Terran materials. When she steps in front of an out-of-control train and uses herself to slow it down, how do her boots not get eroded to nothing by friction?

- One of the results of watching as much TV as I do is that I start recognizing potential twists because, at a meta-level, it's what would be surprising. In "Agents of SHIELD," the Hydra sleeper Grant Ward takes nerd Fitz and some Hydra redshirts to the alien planet via the black monolith portal, in an effort to grab the alien god or something. Fitz's unrequited love Simmons spent several years on the alien planet, surviving only because of the presence of stranded human astronaut Will, with whom she fell in love. Fitz finds the astronaut's underground home, tries to escape from Ward, but ends up getting himself and Will captured. Hmm, I thought, I wonder if that's really the astronaut ... or if he's the alien god? Sure enough, "Will" turned out to be just a shell, with the real human having been killed covering Simmons' previous escape. And when Fitz "killed" the body with a flaregun, we later saw a silvery substance slither out of the charred remains - all of which reminded me of the black oil from "The X-Files" and the body-stealing alien from the underrated sci-fi horror flick The Hidden.

- In the resolution to "Once Upon a Time's" "Dark Swan" arc, Emma gets freed of the darkness when Captain Hook sacrifices himself to stop the revived Dark Ones, by sucking them into the sword Excalibur, which he then begs Emma to use to kill him. She does, but only later does she learn that Rumplestiltskin charmed the sword to become a conduit, rather than a vacuum, so that all of the darkness flowed into him, reinvigorating him as an uber-Dark One. Emma forces him to help her open a portal to the Underworld so she can rescue Hook; he agrees to do so because she threatened to reveal his treachery to his love Belle. All fine and well, but in the next scene, it's not just Emma and Rumple at the river Styx. Snow White, Charming, Regina, Robin Hood, and Henry are all there! Now, first of all, why oh why would you bring Henry on a journey to the freaking underworld?!? But more importantly, how does Emma explain to the others that Rumple can open a portal to the underworld? Doesn't this mean the others also know that he's back to being the Dark One?

UPDATE (12/15): Is Kara Danvers' (aka Supergirl) catty boss Cat Grant the smartest human ever in comic book TV history? I realize that Kara puts on glasses and ties her hair back in the ponytail to "disguise" herself, so it's a good thing she doesn't give in to vanity to get contact lenses. But Cat notices some interesting coincidences, corners Kara, and asks her to take her glasses off.... Wow, someone in a comic book show actually figured out a superhero's identity by, you know, observing things!

ABC's "Once Upon a Time" and Yaz's "Only You"

I'm catching up on this season's "Once Upon a Time," where our Storybrooke crew has to cross into the land of King Arthur in an effort to free Emma Swan from the curse of being the Dark One. In the second episode, teenage Henry gets his first crush on a teenaged girl at Camelot. At his grandpa's (Prince Charming) urging, Henry goes to talk to the girl (Violet). As things start to turn awkward, he pulls out an MP3 player, shares earphones with her, and starts playing music: Yaz's "Only You."

This is a pretty old song: 1982. At first, I wondered, would a modern kid like Henry listen to something so old? And then, when back in Storybrooke he played the same song on a jukebox, I wondered even more. But then I started to think, in the show's mythology, it was 2011 when Emma got involved with Storybrooke. But Storybrooke had been stuck in time for 28 years, so "modern" music would have been that in 1983 or so. It certainly wouldn't be unexpected to find a year old pop song on a jukebox.

So, yeah, not an anachronism, but actually a contextually appropriate song selection!

"The X-Files" revival

The news that Fox is bringing "The X-Files" back for a limited 6-episode run is a week or so old now, but here are my thoughts.

At one point, "The X-Files" was my favorite TV show on the air. (This was well before I had TiVo, but I did tend to record them on videotape so that I could skip commercials. The downside of videotaping, as opposed to DVRing, was that I had to wait for the episode to finish airing before I could rewind the tape to start watching.) I liked the alien-government conspiracy myth arc stories better than the monster-of-the-week ones, for the most part, and I was not a 'shipper.

However, the central problem with the long-time stability of the series was that it became impossible to sustain plausible Scullysque explanations for the phenomenon being depicted on-screen. About midway through the third season, it became clear that Mulder's view of the world was indeed correct and that Scully's continued refusal to accept the existence of extraterrestrial life was just pig-headed stubbornness.*

My recap of the fall 2014 TV season

Now that the fall 2014 TV season is over, pretty much all network shows are going into repeats or hiatus until after the new year, and in some cases, until late winter/early spring. Overall, I thought it was mildly disappointing even compared to recent years, and a far cry from the golden era of the mid-2000 decade, when "24," "Prison Break," "Lost," and "Battlestar Galactica" were all on the air at the same time.

New Shows

There were a number of new shows that I was excited about: "Gotham" (Fox), "How to Get Away With Murder" (ABC), and "Scorpion" (CBS). But "Gotham" ended up being too relentlessly grim and bleak for my tastes; since we know(?) how the show will end, Detective Gordon can't win against the bad guys, and things will just get worse and worse. It certainly seemed well-done, though.

The "How to Get Away With Murder" pilot was anything but boring. Unfortunately, included in "anything" was utter ridiculousness and a complete lack of any likeable characters. It's not that I expected it to be slavishly realistic about law and law school. One of the few law-related shows I enjoyed was "Boston Legal," which was hardly realistic. The difference is that "Boston Legal" didn't even pretend to be serious, whereas "How to Get Away With Murder" seemed to want to be taken seriously.

Finally, "Scorpion" was kind of like "Mission: Impossible" with all nerds + Katharine McPhee. It came across as a show about what Hollywood thinks geniuses are like.* It was okay, though implausible; but somewhere around the eight episode or so, I realized I'd had it running on the TV and had been paying no attention to it. I deleted the season pass and haven't missed it since.

* The scene in the Vegas episode where O'Brien defends himself in the bail hearing by arguing that it would be impossible to find a jury of his "peers" - meaning 190+ IQ persons - was kind of funny, I'll admit.

Oddly, the one new show that I've liked is one I wasn't planning on watching at first, and in fact, I missed its premiere; fortunately, it re-aired the following night. That would be "The Flash" (CW). Granted, as between Marvel and DC comics, I definitely prefer the former, and that bias is probably why I was going to pass on "The Flash." But it's actually a refreshing change from most superhero shows where the main character is brooding, damaged, etc. I just wish they would wrap up the unrequited love storyline....

There are some new shows debuting in the spring, but "Marvel's Agent Carter" is the only one I'm likely to give a chance. Besides, season 5 of "Justified" should be hitting Amazon Prime in a month or so, so I've got that to look forward to for any spare TV watching time.

Returning Shows

I've stuck with "Once Upon a Time" (now in season 4), "The Blacklist" (season 2), "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" (season 2), "Person of Interest" (season 4), "Survivor," "Scandal" (season 4), "Hawaii 5-0" (season 5), and "Grimm" (season 4).

I did watch a lot of "The Voice" as well, but my HD antenna was having trouble with the NBC feed for a while, and on top of it, I couldn't remember any of the contestants, which is not a good sign for a reality TV competition! I did like the episodes with Taylor Swift as the guest mentor, though. I'd come back to watch the show if they add her as a judge.

As for the rest, "SHIELD" seemed to continue the generally higher level of quality ever since the crossover with Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. "Person of Interest" too has gotten really good with the heavily serialized story arc of Samaritan vs. the Machine. "Hawaii 5-0" continues to offer outstanding scenery with a mash-up of "The Odd Couple" and the mystery of the week. "Grimm" has sent Trubel off somewhere, leaving it open for a possible spin-off, I suppose. And "Once Upon a Time" remains my favorite show on air right now, although I didn't think the winter finale had anywhere near the same impact as last winter's finale did. Then again, I continue to think last winter's finale should have been the series finale.

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": who will be next to die?

"Once Upon a Time" doesn't rack up a body count the way "24" does, but it certainly hasn't been shy about killing off characters, including semi-main ones. It sounds like the deaths won't stop, per this interview with the creators/producers:

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": don't mess with Mr. Gold! (recap of "The Apprentice," OAD 10/19/14)

Last night was the fourth episode of this season's "Once Upon a Time." Titled "The Apprentice," it continued the Frozen arc but introduced a new element drawn from "the sorcerer's apprentice" part of Fantasia. There was a walking broom complete with arms, and even a mouse!

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": thoughts on "White Out" (OAD 10/5/14)

The season 4 premiere episode of "Once Upon a Time" set Elsa (from Frozen) as the seeming antagonist for the current arc, with her determined to find younger sister Anna in Storybrooke. How did the storyline advance in episode 2?

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": season 4 has started!

My favorite current TV show, ABC's "Once Upon a Time," has returned, and even though I've got "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder" waiting on my TiVo, I couldn't wait on this one.

[SPOILERS]

The business of ABC's "Once Upon a Time" & "Frozen" cross-over

The Motley Fool has a detailed column about the business implications of having Elsa appearing in the upcoming season of "Once Upon a Time." Here's the takeaway:

In conclusion, Once Upon a Time's Frozen tie-in is a shining example of Disney doing what it does best -- effortlessly crossing one business segment's property into another to maximize exposure and profitability.

 It's a simple concept that Disney's rivals can't grasp. Time Warner, for example, has allowed its small screen DC heroes -- Green Arrow and Flash -- to inhabit a different world from big screen counterparts like Batman and Superman, crippling the ability of the CW (which is co-owned by CBS) to directly tie into Warner Bros.' films.

Once Upon a Time's crossover might seem ludicrous, but it's quite standard for a show that has already featured Red Riding Hood turning into a wolf and introduced Peter Pan as a villain. Simply put, it's a fun idea that could boost ABC's ad revenue, increase sales of Frozen DVDs, Blu-Rays, and albums, and strengthen Disney's cohesive connections between its film and TV universes. 

The column also notes how "Agents of SHIELD" is basically a series of 42-minute commercial for the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. As a Disney shareholder, I'm pleased to see that the company has a clue about how to maximize the value of its assets.

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": thoughts on "No Place Like Home" (season 3 finale)

Wow, my favorite current TV show, ABC's "Once Upon a Time," had a two-hour season finale last night. Let's get to talking about it!

NBC's 2014-15 new dramas

NBC has announced its new fall dramas (comedies too, but I don't watch those so have nothing to say):

ABC 2014-15 dramas -- my thoughts

ABC announced a number of renewals and new dramas today. Of particular interest to me were "Once Upon a Time," "Scandal," and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," all of which were expected renewals.

What about the new dramas? Collectively, they look heavy on serialized mysteries/conspiracy theories. Here are some first impressions based on the brief descriptions:

NBC's "Grimm": setting us up for a "Trubel" spin-off?

I've watched NBC's fantasy/crime thriller "Grimm" from the very start, admittedly in large part because the show is both set in Portland as well as filmed there. Its basic premise was, at a high level of generality, similar to ABC's "Once Upon a Time" - and both shows debuted in fall 2011. I quickly came to adore "Once Upon a Time" while "Grimm" seemed just okay. It was too much of the "monster of the week." Gradually, however, "Grimm" built up its mythology and longer arcs began to develop. The biggest positive step was to stop having Detective Nick Burkhardt conceal his powers from everyone around him other than his werewolf friend Monroe. Monroe's girlfriend Rosalee (a werecat) has been a useful source of lore and potions, Nick's partner Hank is no longer a befuddled ordinary human with no idea what's really out there (that role is reserved for the poor Sergeant Wu), and most importantly, Nick's girlfriend Juliette has become much less annoying now that she too knows what's going on. On top of it, Nick's mysterious supervisor, Captain Renard, seems to have chosen sides.

But now there is a new addition to the case, the troubled teenager Theresa Rubel, aka Trubel (sound it out). What is the future of Trubel?

ABC's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.": dramatic improvement since "Captain America 2" came out, but is it too late?

ABC's unwieldily named "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." debuted in the fall with really strong ratings, but it quickly sank to the ranks of mediocrity - and deservedly so. Most of the lead characters were boring, and the show fell into a rote dangerous villain of the week pattern. There was some head bad guy named The Clairvoyant, and some recurring dudes with metallic centipede-like things on their forearms, but it was mostly boring. Not so boring that I stopped watching, but it certainly seemed disappointing compared to the high expectations that it had generated.

Then came the episodes that bracketed the debut of "Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier" in the movie theater, and the show quickly picked up. But is it too late?

ABC's "Once Upon a Time": thoughts on the episode "A Curious Thing" (OAD 4/27/14)

My favorite network TV show that's still on-air is ABC's "Once Upon a Time." It's a really clever play on the old fairy tales that we all grew up with as kids, transposed into a modern setting. (The premise is much like the graphic novel series Fables, which I tried and didn't quite like nearly as much.)

SPOILERS AHEAD