Howard Gordon followed up his hit show 24 (which we'll come to later) with the ambitious Homeland, which followed along a similar line of spy-thriller intrigue, though with its home being on Showtime, Gordon was allowed to stretch himself a little, throwing swearing and nudity into the mix. When a U.S. Marine named Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) is safely returned to the U.S. after years in captivity in Afghanistan as a prisoner of war, bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire Daines) suspects that he may have been "turned" during his imprisonment, and may, in fact, be plotting a terrorist attack on the United States. Despite the seemingly limited run-time that such a high-stakes premise allows, Homeland has consistently surprised us over its three seasons with wildly unexpected twists and turns, with the show constantly reinventing itself just when it appears to be running out of steam. Granted, with the game-changing climax of its third season, there's clearly not a lot of mileage left in the concept, but if Gordon and co. are smart enough to make the fourth season the last, then Homeland will cement itself as a rare show to bow out while it was still on top. A much tighter narrative ship than 24 and boasting two outstanding lead performances, Homeland is addictive viewing that practically begs to be marathoned.
22. Seinfeld
The brainchild of comic genius Larry David, Seinfeld revolves around comedian Jerry Seinfeld, his neurotic best pal George Costanza (Jason Alexander), his ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and their loopy neighbour Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). Some might tell you that Seinfeld is a show that's essentially "about nothing", but that's really not the case at all: it's a show that's about everything, the boring minutiae of existence, namely all those little nit-picks in our daily lives that might seem insignificant to begin with, but can be fascinating and hilarious to talk about in the long run. What really sets it apart from the likes of Friends is that the characters are not always particularly likeable, and often there's a sense of schadenfreude to be enjoyed in watching their egos (especially George's) set them up to fail. Furthermore, it often broaches more esoteric and adult subjects than similar shows are capable of: one of Seinfeld's most famous and acclaimed episodes is The Contest, in which the quartet try to see who can go the longest without masturbating. Due to the show being on NBC, David was required to use euphemisms and clever wordplay to appease advertisers but still make the situation clear to viewers: it's a masterful instance of sitcom writing at its finest, and the wild dialogue-based chicanery ultimately makes the episode more hilarious than had David just been matter-of-fact about it.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
