2. Luck (HBO)
HBO shut down this racetrack drama from David Milch and Michael Mann after a string of horse fatalities, and its loss still stings. Every episode featured brilliant writing and acting, and its philosophical complexity put other series to shame. It was headed for Deadwood-level greatness.
http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/matt-zoller-seitz-top-ten-tv-shows.html
Yeah, I hope history doesn't lash this thoroughbred of a show with John From Cincinnati just because they're both created by Milch and lasted a single season on HBO. This is much more in the vein of Deadwood, boasting fantastic characters, profane, craggy, complex; white-knuckle and lyrical direction; and of course the supremely knotty writing that demands the upmost concentration. I haven't even seen all of it yet but it was pretty obvious from the get-go that this is TV of the highest calibre.
shareIt was a brilliant show. I'm also a fan of JFC, but Luck didn't have nearly as many flaws, it had a narrative drive and a much more even-handed structure... at first I thought a few episodes near the beginning were a little ponderous, but on re-watches the show just gets better and better. I wish it had lasted so much longer than 9 measly episodes. Unfortunately, the Milch/Mann collaberation that made the show so singular and unique and beautiful also may have been at least part of why it couldn't sustain itself.
But there's never been another show like this -- and only a handful as visually remarkable. Seriously, the whole thing is incredibly consistent, aesthetically, and it's like watching a digital-era Michael Mann film for television: ephemeral, liquid elegance, long-lens abstractions and shimmering mid-afternoon light. Like I said, a beautiful show.
Wait 'til you get to the end because the last 5 episodes are all perfection and the finale is one of the greatest things I've ever seen.