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Rank 161Down 1
#16 in TV Dramas
of 20 ranked entries
Six Feet Under
Alan Ball · 2001–2005
Ball opened every episode with a death and spent the rest of the hour on the family that has to keep living. The finale is still cited as the best closing minutes an American drama has produced. Recorded specifics: premiered 2001, creator Alan Ball, seasons 5. Panel highlighted a closing sequence rarely matched since, krause and Griffith’s ensemble work and willing to sit in genuine discomfort. The reservation on record is the Nate storyline circles itself more than once.
Family dramaPrestige
Score breakdown
How Six Feet Under earned 77.2
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on TV Dramas.
- Writing & plottingweight 30%
- 79.5
- Performancesweight 25%
- 74.5
- Cultural impactweight 25%
- 76.6
- Consistency across seasonsweight 20%
- 78.0
On the record
Recorded detail
| Premiered | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Creator | Alan Ball |
| Seasons | 5 |
| Rating | 8.6 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- A closing sequence rarely matched since
- Krause and Griffith’s ensemble work
- Willing to sit in genuine discomfort
Where it gives ground
- The Nate storyline circles itself more than once
1 appearance
Where this entry ranks
From the same list
Ranked alongside it
Rank 01Editor’s pickThe Wire
David Simon · 2002–2008
Simon spent thirteen episodes a season indicting a different Baltimore institution — the docks, the schools, the newsroom — and rarely raised his voice to make the point. The plotting rewards total attention and punishes none.
96.9/100 Top 49 score—No change
Rank 02Editor’s pickThe Sopranos
David Chase · 1999–2007
Chase built the modern antihero out of a mob boss in therapy, and the therapy sessions do more character work than most shows manage in a full season. The finale still starts arguments two decades later.
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Rank 03Editor’s pickBreaking Bad
Vince Gilligan · 2008–2013
Gilligan mapped Walter White’s turn from chemistry teacher to kingpin with the precision of the chemistry itself — every episode moves the character one measurable step further from the man he told himself he was.
93.8/100 Top 49 score2Down 2
Rank 04Mad Men
Matthew Weiner · 2007–2015
Weiner let silence do the heavy lifting — a raised eyebrow across a conference table carries more plot than most shows manage in a monologue. The production design is making a quiet, exact historical argument.
92.5/100 Top 49 score1Down 1
Rank 05The Shield
Shawn Ryan · 2002–2008
The pilot ends with Vic Mackey murdering a fellow cop to protect his crew, and the show spends seven seasons living with that decision instead of walking it back. It rarely gets the credit The Wire absorbed for arriving the same year.
92.4/100 Top 49 scoreNewNew entry
Rank 06Succession
Jesse Armstrong · 2018–2023
Every scene is a negotiation and every line of dialogue is a weapon somebody will regret using. Armstrong wrote four seasons about people you should not root for and made it nearly impossible not to.
90.6/100 Top 49 score2Down 2
Rank 07Better Call Saul
Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould · 2015–2022
A prequel that had no business outclassing its source material did exactly that, turning a comic-relief lawyer into one of television’s most patient tragedies. The slower pace is the whole achievement.
90.0/100 Top 49 score2Up 2
Rank 08Deadwood
David Milch · 2004–2006
Milch wrote frontier criminals in something close to blank verse and dared the audience to keep up. Cancelled before its planned ending, and still one of the densest scripts ever put on television.
87.4/100 Top 49 score4Up 4
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.