Best of the Small Screen, Cable Series No. 1

 


Welcome to this year's exploration of TV, the Best of the Small Screen. Throughout the year I'll be looking at my favorite shows in four categories: Network Sitcoms, Network Dramas, Cable Series and Streaming Series. We'll cap the exploration with my Top 10 shows of all time regardless of format. Check back each Saturday for another installment in the countdown!

Nora Durst: The best day of my life happened a few months before October 14th, but I didn't know it. It just seemed like, um, a nice day, you know, all four of us at the beach: my husband, my 6-year-old son, and my 4-year-old daughter. Their names were...are Doug, Jeremy, and Erin. The kids built a sand castle. Doug and I, we just sat on a blanket and watched them work, and it was just perfect, and it felt like, um I didn't deserve anything that good. This one Saturday, the winter before that, we all got hit with the stomach flu, the whole family. We were all feverish and throwing up, and I couldn't even get out of bed, and the kids were lying there with us, and I could feel the heat coming off their bodies, and I remember thinking, "This is it," I was gonna die. I'm not greedy. I'm not asking for that perfect day at the beach. Just give me that horrible Saturday, all four of us sick and miserable, but alive and together.

The Leftovers (2014-2017)
Starring: Carrie Coon, Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Margaret Qualley, Ann Dowd, and Liv Tyler
Favorite Episodes: "Two Boats and a Helicopter," Episode 1.03; "Guest," Episode 1.06; "The Garvey's at Their Best," Episode 1.09; "The Prodigal Son Returns," Episode 1.10; "International Assassins," Episode 2.08; "I Live Here Now," Episode 2.10; "The Book of Kevin," Episode 3.01; "G'Day Melbourne," Episode 3.04; "It's a Matt Matt Matt Matt World," Episode 3.05; "The Most Powerful Man in the World (And His Identical Twin Brother," Episode 3.07; "The Book of Nora," Episode 3.08
About: What if the ones you loved were gone in the blink of a second? What if your family was sparred as millions of others saw their loved ones simply disappear in the blink of an eye? How would you respond? At one point, Tom Perrotta tackled this concept with his book, The Leftovers. It imagines the aftermath of a world where two percent of the world's population disappears in a rapture-like event. That book was adapted into a series by Damon Lindelof, and it became one of the greatest meditations on loss, grief, anxiety, fear, depression and love that I've ever seen. Last week I wrote about my love for The Wire. I never thought another series would ever surpass it. And then, I saw The Leftovers. The first season begins as a slow burn that draws you in. But this is a three-season story. By the end of the final season, I was convinced that what I'd seen was the best series I'd ever seen. I still am. Lindelof is an incredible storyteller. He's had three series on this list as we've gone along, but this is his magnum opus. And he's blessed by an incredible cast. Theroux is the heart of the series in the lead role but what made it No. 1 for me is Coon. She's a powerhouse and her Nora is the heart of this deeply moving series. This is the pinnacle of the many, many cable series I've seen.

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