A frequent complaint I hear is that with satellite and cable TV, there are hundreds of channels, but nothing good is on. Thankfully, that is not 100% true. There are a few good scripted TV series out there, you just have to know where to look. So if you get tired of fake “reality” shows or lame-duck sitcoms, take heart that there is quality TV out there. I wanted to take a second to throw out endorsements to two series I think are as good as anything on the air today.
Both of these shows have received a lot of praise, and have loyal audiences. I’m just putting these out here in hopes I can convert a couple new fans.
My last couple of Netflix discs have been episodes from season four of “Mad Men,” an original series at airs on AMC. Set in the 1960s at a decadent advertising agency, the series revolves around creative whiz Don Draper. This one got me hooked from the beginning. Draper oozes charm, and while the series could have just rode that one gimmick, instead it reveals that not only does Draper and the rest of the agency spin fantasies to sell products, but many of their own lives are elaborate selling jobs as well, hiding pasts they are desperate to leave behind. The show is full of great characters, from John Slattery as Roger Sterling, the schmoozing party man of the office to the hyper-ambitious Peggy Olson and Pete Campbell (Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser) using any means necessary to get to the top.
Oh by the way, for the guys, this show is worth watching just for Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris.
All four seasons (there will be a fifth but it won’t air for a while) are available on Netflix and on DVD.
The other one I wanted to mention is a tremendously underrated drama on NBC called “Friday Night Lights.” It’s based on one of the best non-fiction sports book ever, was made into a pretty good movie a few years ago, and has been taken to a new level in this series. It centers around a high school football team in Texas, although you don’t have to care about or even like football to enjoy this show. It starts with the highly-recruited QB injured in the first game, and follows the sensitive, almost-forgotten backup QB who must now take the reins, the running back who feels responsible for his friend’s injury, the coach who has to deal with the pressure of winning and keeping his family together and the boosters who are looking for any reason to throw the coach out on his ear should not win big.
The coaches, players and school officials are all complex, well-thought-out characters and the writing is absolutely sublime. It does an amazing job of capturing the pressure exerted on high school football players in Texas (it really is a religion) and develops past that in later seasons to one of the most realistic coming-of-age dramas that’s been on TV. It’s a show that treats its viewers and characters with respect and intelligence. I recommend strongly starting at the beginning. Watch the pilot episode (which Tom Shales of the Washington Post called the best pilot he’d ever seen, and he reviewed TV for the Post for 30 years) and see if you don’t love it.
“Friday Night Lights” began its fifth and (sadly) final season last week. It airs on NBC Friday nights (of course) but some older episodes are available on hulu.com and the first four seasons are available for instant viewing on Netflix.
Check these out if you get a chance. I know everyone has their favorite shows, and these are by no means the only good shows on these days, but I definitely feel they're worth your time. 
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