Answer by Ankit Singh Yadav:
At present, I won’t say these ( mentioned below) are better because genre is completely different but they are in the same league as of GoT-
1.The Americans –
Spy story set in cold war era.I’m hooked already.Put in excellent writing,superb acting, a clear conceptual vision and you got a great show. It does the near-impossible of making American viewers cheer for Russian spies in America ( Can you believe that ).The series is created and produced by former CIA officer Joe Weisberg.Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys), two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple living in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. with their unsuspecting children (Holly Taylor and Keidrich Sellati) and their neighbor, Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), an FBI counterintelligence agent. It just finished it’s second season and it’s the highest rated show of 2014.
2.Fargo –
It’s an American dark comedy-crime drama television series inspired by the 1996 film of the same name.Fargo has received broad acclaim from television critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes currently reports a 98% “certified fresh” critics rating. Fargo presents more quirky characters and a new storyline that is expertly executed with dark humor and odd twists.
3.True Detective –
True Detective is an American television crime drama series on HBO created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. It’s about two detectives, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson of Louisiana State Police Criminal Investigations Division hunting for a serial killer in Louisiana across seventeen years. Many top critics call it the best show of 2014. Matthew McConaughey is just too good.He is going to give Heisenberg a run for his money at Emmy’s this year ( already won ahead of him at critics choice award this year ).It’s current IMDB rating 9.4.It’s anthology series.
Few other mentions-
4. House of Cards –
I would say the second season is way better than the first.It”s all politics,power and corruption.They add chinese angle to the second season too.And did i say Kevin Spacey was awesome.5.American Horror Story –
It’s genre is horror and it’s an anthology series,with each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries.It has three great seasons.Potential to be Great –
1. Outlander -:
One of the most awaited show for past one year or so and for the book fans the wait of 23 years is over.It’s finally here. The pilot is too good and true to book. So Outlander is a World War II-era woman time-travels back to 18th-century Scotland. Sounds ridiculous? Well it should be but it’s much much better than I’m making it sound. Outlander has a woman at its center. That woman, Claire (Caitroina Balfe), is neither hapless nor incompetent. She has a job and we see her doing it(a nurse in world war 2 ). She has complicated thoughts about love, duty, and honor. She argues; she’s obstinate; she’s unruly. She’s passionate and sexual but not sexualized.
The scenery is delicious; the leading man is handsome, and his accent is legit.There are visceral action scenes; there are men being men and living the sort of simple life of honor.There are even witches and time travel and the music is damn good.Reviews have been great for first season not just for pilot. Whether it’s a female version of Game of Thrones as some people are calling it or not i will be coming back for more.It has all the ingredients of a hit .2.Halt and Catch Fire – Just watch the first two episodes and i will be coming back for more.The series is set in the early 1980s ( 1983 ) and depicts a fictionalized insider’s view of the personal computer revolution. Reverse engineering an IBM chip and all that.
EDIT – It’s a dud.Don’t waste your time watching it.
3.Orange is the new Black – It’s based on Piper Kerman’s memoir,Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, about her experiences in prison.First season received universal acclaimed.My All Time Top Five –
1. Band of Brothers
I always have keen interest in the WWII and stories related to it.It took me 3 years to complete it because I don’t want it to be over ever but all good things has to end . It’s the highest rated item on IMDB, no other movie/series/mini-series has matched it yet. It has 9.6 rating.
Let me just quote some top reviews for it because i don’t think i can write better than them.
Caryn James of The New York Times called it “an extraordinary 10-part series that masters its greatest challenge: it balances the ideal of heroism with the violence and terror of battle, reflecting what is both civilized and savage about war.”
Robert Bianco of USA Today said the series was “significantly flawed and yet absolutely extraordinary — just like the men it portrays,”New York Post ,Adam Buckman — ” After watching the 10-hour Band of Brothers, I’m so drained by the intensity of what I have just beheld that I’m ready to declare this World War II miniseries the finest piece of work ever produced for television.”
Howard Rosenberg of Los Angeles Times ” — May be the best-ever film depiction of war in the trenches, large screen or small, and TV’s loftiest miniseries since the Brits sent over “The Jewel in the Crown” in 1984. Give Band of Brothers a medal.”
Robert W. Butle of Kansas City Star — “Over nine weeks and 10 hours, this extraordinary television event looks for humanity in the midst of carnage and despair. Time and time again, Band of Brothers finds it.”
2.Breaking Bad –
Have been watching it when first episode aired in USA and over the course of six years became so attached to it that when it ended last year it left a hole which is near impossible to fill. Any list of greatest show of all time without Breaking Bad is incomplete. In 2014, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness Book of Records as the highest rated show of all time.
All Hail the Great Heisenberg.3.The Wire –
Well if it hasn’t been for season 5 it might be number one on the list.
4. The Sopranos –
This show made HBO what it is today.
5.Friends
The Shield
Mad Men
Deadwood
Person of Interest
Twin Peaks-
Can’t pick one.
I hope to see Game of Thrones on this list once it’s finished.
Tales from Gaurav Chauhan 