20 More TV Shows That Are Practically Flawless
14. The Shield
Alongside The Sopranos, The Wire, Hill Street Blues and Oz, The Shield is one of the most influential shows of the modern TV era, an engrossing crime-drama that consistently dared to make monsters out of its heroes, tackling corruption, betrayal and institutionalised power with both intelligence and style.
With characters who push the line between villain and anti-hero, the show follows an LAPD strike team led by Michael Chiklis's brutish cop Vic Mackey, who uses whatever illegal means necessary to make his team the most successful the force has to offer.
Subverting every expectation with every new twist - a trend started in the show's premiere with a shockingly brutal murder - The Shield pushed the boundaries of what modern TV could put its viewers through, and the results, from the epic premiere to the haunting finale, were to die for.