What are the 5 best series of all time ?

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For years, the small screen has thrilled spectators. Whether it's TV series or iconic shows, Variety has scrutinized them all. The American media has been devoted to the entertainment industry for (very) many years. So much so that he is an authority in the pop culture landscape.

While Rotten Tomatoes looked back at the 25 best series of the last 25 years to celebrate its quarter century, Variety has just lifted the veil on an even more substantial ranking to properly welcome 2024. Thus, the American media analyzed all the series but also television programs, their quality as well as their cultural impact, to make this selection. The idea was to highlight how television is part of our lives and highlight the familiarity and discovery that it has offered viewers for years.

Of course, we are not going to focus on the 100 programs chosen by Variety but here are the 5 best series according to the media.

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When it comes to choosing the best series of recent years or of all time, Breaking Bad often comes to the forefront. Released in 2008, the series led by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul won multiple awards, including Emmy Awards and Golden Globes, and has had an undeniable impact on the audiovisual landscape in recent years. The direction, the writing, the plot, the acting… All these data make Breaking Bad an excellent series.

For those who missed Breaking Bad, the series focuses on Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher suffering from incurable lung cancer. While he was already tightening his belt to provide for the needs of his pregnant wife and his disabled son, this announcement overwhelms him. To be able to shelter his family when his time comes, this fairly ordinary fifty-year-old starts producing crystal meth with a former student who has become a second-rate dealer.

The five seasons of Breaking Bad are to be seen and rewatched on Netflix, just like the excellent spin-off Better Call Saul and the movie El Camino. AlloCiné spectators give it a score of 4.7 out of 5.

Is there a more iconic animated series than The Simpsons ? Broadcast since 1989, the adventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and their loved ones are unanimously loved by spectators around the world. Today, they are undoubtedly the most popular American family. After 35 seasons (all available on Disney+), this is understandable.

The credits are cult, the “D'oh !” regularly uttered by Homer is unavoidable… The Simpsons is American life as it really is. And that’s surely why Matt Groening’s animated comedy and satire series has everyone in agreement and has continued to be broadcast for more than three decades.

On the small screen, there was a before and after The Sopranos. A monument stamped by HBO, this series immerses us in the daily life of Tony Soprano, father and husband but above all head of the mafia who decides to undergo therapy. If you want antihero, you will be served with The Sopranos.

The quality of the series The Sopranos is undeniable. Spectators give it a rating of 3.9 out of 5 on AlloCiné, the awards have poured in and, above all, it is regularly cited among the most popular series of all time. No surprise, therefore, that The Sopranos takes 3rd place in this ranking produced by Variety. The seven seasons that make up the series are available on Prime Video via the Warner Pass.

Mad Meninvites us to take a little trip into the past. With a polished aesthetic, the series takes us to the heart of the 60s in New York, when the advertising industry was in the middle of a golden age in the United States. This is good: Mad Men is interested in the most prestigious advertising agency in New York and more particularly in the professional and personal life of its creative director, Don Draper. Whose past is very mysterious…

With a rating of 4.2 out of 5 on AlloCiné, spectators especially highlight the fact that Mad Men succeeded in depicting social changes and morals which took place in the United States in the 60s. Emmy Awards, Golden Globes… The series also obtained its share of awards during its broadcast. It can be seen and rewatched on Prime Video.

For Variety, you have to go back a long way to find the best series of all time. Indeed, the media gives the crown to the sitcom L'Extravagante Lucy, released in 1951. Before Friends, before The Office, before A Nanny from Hell and even before My beloved witch, there was The Extravagant Lucy or I Love Lucy in original version.

The synopsis of The Extravagant Lucyis quite simple. Lucy Ricardo is bored in her role as a housewife and would like to launch an artistic career but, obviously, her husband doesn't see it that way. However, Lucy can count on her best friend Ethel to do everything to circumvent her husband's ban. Of course, this will create some funny situations and poor Lucy will cause hilarious disaster after hilarious disaster.

If the impact of The Extravagant Lucy is not as strong here as in the United States, this sitcom had a considerable effect in the audiovisual landscape. The series uses the laughter of a real audience and features a female, feminist and independent protagonist… In the 50s, this was not at all common. The Extravagant Lucy won several Emmy Awards between 1953 and 1956, including twice for Best Sitcom.

If the series is not available on any streaming platform, not even for purchase and rental, the film Being the Ricardos on Prime Video gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the sitcom L'Extravagante Lucy.

Among the 100 programs highly recommended and highlighted by Variety, we can notably cite Succession (n°13), Game of Thrones (#21), Twin Peaks (#27), Friends (#29), Bojack Horseman (#55) Fleabag (n°82) but also the classics Saturday Night Live (n°15) or The Oprah Winfrey Show< /em> (n°17). What do you think??