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The Wire. Nothing has or will ever get close. Seasons 1, 3, and 4 are probably the three best seasons of any show, ever. The hyper-realism, the ability to showcase incredible depth and nuance of dozens and dozens of characters, the engaging story, the powerful Shakespearean nature of some of the story lines (AVON AND STRINGER), the universally phenomenal performances (with the exception of Kima, one of the best characters ever but one of the worst actresses), without EVER sliding over into sensationalized or over the top stories...a true powerhouse of story telling. Unbelievable.
But for other various reasons:
Game of Thrones
30 Rock
Arrested Development
The X-Files
Homeland (seasons 3-5, particularly)
Are ones that stay with me as truly, consistently excellent. There are some other shows (Entourage, for example) that played a huge role in my life at one point but don't quite age as well with me.
After a long pause, I've seen some of the episodes from the most recent few seasons of South Park and am happy to see it is still as biting, scathing, and witty as ever, with the constant ability to challenge my thoughts on things. Looking past the immaturity of the humor at times (which I enjoy too), the show has had a tremendous run without any real sign of slowing down (19 seasons???).
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