Current Events > What shows are unarguably better than the first four seasons of Game of Thrones

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've seen Breaking Bad, Succession, I still need to check out The Wire

The Good Place

Unarguably? None.

Check out The Wire

The Shield
Justified
The Americans

Vikings and The Last Kingdom are two of my favorites. Not better than GoT.

kind9 posted...

Unarguably? None.

This. But if you mean general consensus, it's really just the trio of Breaking Bad, Sopranos, and The Wire. Not overall, but maybe the first season of True Detective. Some that might be on par with prime GoT are The Shield and possibly Mad Men.

I don't think anything is inarguably better.

the fourth season should not be included with the first three. that's when the show really started showing its cracks, especially with original material. i mean, you had shirtless Ramsay Bolton soloing a bunch of Ironborn dressed for war which was completely laughable, and even worse you had the utter travesty of a stock mustache-twirling villain that was Karl the Fucking Legend of Gin Alley, one of the most embarrassing characters to have ever somehow made it past the writer's room.

ClayGuida posted...

The Americans

fuck yes

Also, a lot of critic lists have Fleabag extremely high. I don't hear much about it, but yeah.

Doug

As someone who doesn't like Season 1 of Game of Thrones. Only some parts of season 2 and 3 after going back to it years later. And then liking 4 a lot.

I think there's plenty out there with greater first 4 seasons. Succession comes to mind. Breaking Bad. Dexter.

JaiCSC posted...

Dexter

I say this as a fan, people remember the highs of Dexter but it's not as good as people remember.

S2 especially took a fat shit when Lila killed Doakes, completely destroying the actual interesting moral conundrum set up for Dexter.

The writers of that show are the poster children for "missed it by that much"

I agree with The Wire and The Americans.

I know this one is controversial, but Mr. Robot, too - with the exception of the second season, it keeps getting better as it goes on. as far as the second season, it's also a lot better in retrospect, IMO.

edit: Better Call Saul is also up there.

kind9 posted...

Vikings and The Last Kingdom are two of my favorites. Not better than GoT.

eh, i kinda got bored with Vikings around the time right after Paris

Cemith posted...

I say this as a fan, people remember the highs of Dexter but it's not as good as people remember.

You could be right. I actually haven't rewatched Dexter since it ended. Never watched New Blood either.

I really love The Expanse. Its for the political drama with a mystical element that starts as a light touch. Sci-fi instead of fantasy. Season 1 is probably not better but once you get attached to the main group I find it better.

Cemith posted...

I say this as a fan, people remember the highs of Dexter but it's not as good as people remember.

S2 especially took a fat shit when Lila killed Doakes, completely destroying the actual interesting moral conundrum set up for Dexter.

The writers of that show are the poster children for "missed it by that much"

That moment in S2 is when I quit the show. With all the complaints I saw of later seasons, I think I made the right decision.

Peaky Blinders

The Big Bang Theory

Six Feet Under

None. Got s1-4 is peak tv

Blue_Popo posted...

None. Got s1-4 is peak tv

This, the only downside to GoT is that S5-8 retroactively made S1-4 worse.

Babylon 5
The Expanse
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Band of Brothers

Attack on Titan
It's always Sunny
Boy Meets World

Mad Men

That show deserves more attention. Look I'm not saying it is unknown but whenever these type of subjects come up online I always see people default to a lot of the same stuff and this one rarely gets mentioned and it should.

From a personal standpoint though I could list quite a bit of other shows for the simple reason I never thought the GoT show was all that past the first season because as a book reader as soon as they needed to start introducing more characters and moving the locations around it became further and further away from the source material and I thought at season 4 was off the rails to me.

I did like season 1 though because much of the dialogue was like page by page right out of the book in some scenes. I really like that.

Even just HBO original series alone I would personally take a handful of shows over GoT. Shit I loved like

Six Feet Under
The Wire (previously and often mentioned yes)
Deadwood (I'm a western junkie and my only complaint is the premature ending after season 3)
Big Love
Boardwalk Empire

And seriously like probably 10 other HBO shows, especially if we start including the more comedic ones. This is just HBO. If we start including Starz and other cable tv channels my list would absolutely explode. I still think stuff like The Shield holds up and that is over 20 years old now and was just a network cable show that couldn't push the boundaries nearly as much as an HBO series.

bfslick50 posted...

That moment in S2 is when I quit the show. With all the complaints I saw of later seasons, I think I made the right decision.

You aren't missing much. Every time they have a good idea, a gnarled monkeys paw curls a finger. Especially when Scott Buck took over. Puke.

itcheyness posted...

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

FMA:B is incredible all the way through, but only if you watched 02 or read the manga. The beginning's lightning pacing can be pretty disorienting, since it basically doesn't give you a chance to breath establishing literally everything in the span of 3 episodes. What took a few chapters or a few episodes in 02 will be completely resolved in one episode. It is a LOT.

The first four seasons of Game of Thrones are pretty much the best thing TV has to offer.

I would say there are shows that can compete with it, but nothing is indisputably better.

Mr. Robot is probably on the same level. Though that'd be comparing 4 standout seasons (1-4) of a total of 8 to Mr. Robot's 4 which arguably is standout for every season and fully concludes. I don't think that's a very fair comparison, especially given how different the shows are, but I'd say is it of similar quality.

Breaking Bad is the only challenger. Mad Men, the Expanse, BSG, Boardwalk, are all contenders.

Sharp Objects

It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia
The Sopranos (I'm surprised only one other person has named this one)
True Detective seasons 1&3
The Venture Bros.

Villain_S_Fiend posted...

Sharp Objects

I mean if we're including limited/mini series, there's a thousand shows you could list, like Watchmen. But I do think that having 2-3 seasons should be the bare minimum.

Breaking Bad

Rome

Black Summer is really underrated.

Currently on netflix

Knight Rider

Little House on the Prairie

Agree with other HBO shows especially Velma

While not better than Game of Thrones, the show Spartacus that was on Stars had 4 great seasons and the ending was great.

What shows arent?

Sonixs posted...

While not better than Game of Thrones, the show Spartacus that was on Stars had 4 great seasons and the ending was great.

I watched Spartacus first and was thus highly confused when people said Game of Thrones was pornographic for having like four sex scenes in the first season. I remember seeing a compilation of all the sex scenes in the first season of Spartacus and it was like fifteen minutes long. It didn't even include all of the nudity because there would just be topless women in the background of scenes.

The first four seasons of Dexter

the sopranos, breaking bad, and oz

The Shield

Sonixs posted...

While not better than Game of Thrones, the show Spartacus that was on Stars had 4 great seasons and the ending was great.

Honestly, while GoT's first few seasons are definitely better, I'd say Spartacus is easily the better show overall.

The Wire