A few days ago, on a whim, I added tags to the American TV shows I’d marked on Douban, and while I was at it, I put together my own list of the ten best American TV shows.
Here’s the list:
No.01 Twin Peaks
Season 1 through episode 9 of season 2 (the story actually ends here; episode 10 of season 2 starts making things up, and I still haven’t watched the third season that was just revived last year) is my No.1 American TV show. Director David Lynch is truly a once-in-a-century genius.
No.02 True Detective
I only recommend the first season. The second season fell apart (fortunately, each season is a complete standalone story). If the really great American TV shows of these past few years are called “god-tier series,” then the first season of True Detective can only be called a “Zeus-tier series,” a “Jesus-tier series,” or a “Buddha-tier series.”
No.03 Rick and Morty
Even top-tier films and shows can really be divided into two levels. The first is the “inspiring” level: you finish it and get excited—“If I ever get the chance in this life, I’m going to make a film this damn good too.” The second is the “soul-crushing” level: you finish it feeling utterly miserable—“I’ll never make a film this damn good in my entire life.” Rick and Morty is the latter.
No.04 American Horror Story: Asylum
Mental illness + psychopathic killer + Nazi doctor + The Diary of a Young Girl + human experimentation + the devil + fallen angels + aliens—somehow, all mixed together without feeling out of place at all! I really want to study the way this screenwriter’s mind works.
No.05 Mad Men
If True Detective has already entered the realm of pure literature, then Mad Men unquestionably has too. True Detective portrays the darkness of the soul; Mad Men lays bare the bleakness of the human world.
No.06 Breaking Bad
This show probably doesn’t need much explanation, right?
No.07 LOST
I think LOST’s writer Damon Lindelof owes me a “you complete me.” Everyone says LOST fell apart at the end, but with my hundred-thousand-plus-word plot analysis added in, it’s complete.
No.08 Shameless (U.S.)
Every time I think the last shred of decency has finally been shattered, the writers still manage to lower the bar even further. In the most recent seasons they stopped lowering the bar—and had me crying my eyes out.
No.09 Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
This was made by BBC America, so I suppose it counts as an American TV show. I’ve recommended the first season several times already. The second season wasn’t done well, the ratings were poor, and it was canceled. Luckily, the first season works perfectly well as a complete story on its own. A little bit of trivia: a few days ago, the Tesla Roadster Elon Musk sent into space had “Don’t Panic” printed on its center console. That reference comes from the science-fiction novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Its author, Douglas Adams, was also the original author and screenwriter of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. I introduced his “three laws of technology” on one of my programs before.
No.10 Stranger Things
In the 1980s, China was researching qigong, while the U.S. and the Soviet Union were researching psychic abilities. Zhou Xingxing from The Saint of Gamblers flew to America to lend Eleven a hand. The gloriously off-the-rails ’80s: world peace at last.
Note
- This “New Knowledge in Psychology” series was written at the time as a collection of short popular-science pieces and miscellany related to the New Knowledge in Psychology course by Zhichao Wei. They were published on the now-shut-down platform Fantuan, and the link to the original text no longer exists.
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