The 2000s have produced a lot of great television. Channels like HBO, AMC and FX have been churning out critically acclaimed programmes for years now. Breaking Bad, Mad Men and True Detective are just a few examples of the ambitious content that has recently landed on our screens. TV, once something of the 'ugly sister' to film, has re-built its reputation as a format and is slowly overtaking film as the place to watch high-quality drama and comedy in the process. TV frequently goes further than film and audiences are choosing their box sets over the cinema in increasing numbers. But TV didn't just get good with the appearance of The Sopranos and The Wire in the early new Millennium. The 1990s was the decade that really established 'quality television' as a genre in its own right. Quality television is, of course, an incredibly subjective term but the '90s saw a noted increase in shows that focused on ensemble casts, were self-referential, had a higher production value and caused the viewer to think and not and not just consume. Given the amount and popularity of contemporary quality television, some of these shows have fallen by the wayside and are criminally underrated. These are worth going back and watching, if you didn't catch them the first time.
