Quality Viewing: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes
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We’ve all had that moment in our TV watching history: the point when the show you’re watching no longer holds your interest, or ends in an unsatisfying way. In the streaming era, where we can watch (and rewatch) series from the past anytime we want, the way a show is remembered is almost as important as the way it is received when first broadcast. And every once in a while, a show comes along that never lets you down – a series that never dropped in quality, where every episode has something to offer. Whether long or short, hits or undiscovered gems, we gather our picks of the best shows with no bad episodes.

By Victoria Luxford

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Breaking Bad (2008-2013) – The premise of Breaking Bad was simple: a chemistry teacher named Walter White (Bryan Cranston) learns he is dying of cancer and decides to use his scientific know-how to create high-quality drugs, which he can sell in order to leave money behind for his family. However, pinpointing what the show is really ‘about’ is less straightforward. The demise of the American dream, throttled masculinity, toxic pride – all are touched upon across the show’s 62 incredible episodes, each one bringing something new to the table. It’s no great proclamation to say that Breaking Bad is one of the all-time great TV dramas, a reputation based on the fact that every chapter is more compelling than the last.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Feel Good (2020-2021) – In just two seasons, non-binary Canadian comedian Mae Martin created a queer classic with their semi-autobiographical drama. While you might think that the show would centre a lot on identity, Martin plays a fictional version of themselves as they encounter a new relationship, as well as grappling with coming out and addiction issues. Heartfelt and funny, it makes Martin (both the person and the performer) someone you want to see succeed.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Dark (2017-2020) – There’s something unusual happening in the German town of Winden, and the answers only lead to more questions – along with three seasons of pure sci-fi joy. Sharing a somewhat similar atmosphere and themes as Stranger Things, Dark is a captivating – and at times bewildering – mystery that spans time zones and generations, slowly piecing together parts of its narrative puzzle. Every single chapter will keep you on edge thanks to its unsettling feel, but the key objective of any mystery tale is to offer satisfying answers to your questions. In that sense, Dark is near perfect.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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BoJack Horseman (2014-2020) – Few animated series have the pathos and depth of BoJack Horseman, a show about a former sitcom star (voiced by Will Arnett) wrestling with his demons. Even fewer take place in a surreal setting that imagines a world populated by both humans and anthropomorphic animals (BoJack himself is a trash-talking, hard-partying horse) – a big risk, given that even the most intelligent adult animation can struggle to find an audience. The bleak brilliance of BoJack, however, ensured that every season saw the characters learn, grow and heal. And it did all this while being terrifically funny.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Cheers (1982-1993) – Many sitcoms lose that special something over their lifetime; the phrase “jumping the shark”, the moment when a show loses its magic, comes from an episode of 1970s sitcom Happy Days. However, one sitcom never seemed to slow in momentum. Running for eleven years and 271 episodes, Cheers was so beloved that between 80 and 90 million people watched the finale, and tributes ran on US news stations. The show has also aged reasonably well in the 30 years since it left the airwaves, with themes of feminism, consent and gay rights playing out in the tiny Boston bar where everybody knows your name. While those subjects might be commonplace now, in the ‘80s Cheers was a quiet pioneer, not to mention a pleasantly warm experience that can be enjoyed to this day.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Mad Men (2007-2015) – Sometimes the best way to process the present is to look to the past. While set in the 1950s and ‘60s, this story of a Madison Avenue advertising firm spoke to many issues that are still pertinent today. Ambition, gender roles and the pain of loneliness all surface in the ruthless offices of Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency during seven scintillating seasons. Bidding farewell to viewers with one of the greatest series finales of all time, Mad Men is remembered as not just a great TV show, but one of the great works of 21st-century art.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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The Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998) – While not as well-known as some of the others on this list, Garry Shandling’s meta look at the culture of celebrity and mainstream television is sacred to those who have seen it. The comedian plays Larry Sanders, a talk show host who has to deal with unruly guests, eccentric staff and his own personal issues in time to deliver a nightly episode. Many celebrities of the day would make guest appearances as exaggerated versions of themselves, including Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey and Winona Ryder. Having a clear influence on shows like 30 Rock and The Office, the series lasted for 90 episodes, with every instalment featuring at least one moment of comedy gold.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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One Day at a Time (2017-2020) – Fans of this modern remake will argue that there was still a lot of life left in this series, which was unexpectedly cancelled for a number of reasons. However, what we do have is a striking, sincere sitcom about the life of a Cuban-American family as they help each other along their individual journeys. The show was praised for its presentation of both the Latin American experience and LGBTQ+ characters, bound together with a hopeful tone that will appeal to everyone. Critics agreed, bestowing a perfect 100% score on seasons 2 through 4. Season 1 lags only slightly behind with 97%.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Band of Brothers (2001) – Following an Oscar-winning collaboration on Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks got together to commemorate real-life heroes in this miniseries following the story of “Easy Company”, an American infantry regiment in World War II. Two masters of storytelling craft an unforgettable story of courage, which gave us our first glimpses of megastars to come. It was the big break for future Homeland star Damien Lewis, while Tom Hardy, Simon Pegg and James McAvoy all had small roles as younger soldiers in the show. Over two decades on, it’s still a wonder to behold.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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The Office (UK, 2001-2003) – The US version has its own legacy, but few shows have ended with a 100% record in quite the same way as Ricky Gervais’ original version of The Office. A satire of both office culture and the reality TV craze of the early 2000s, the creator made a TV icon of David Brent, the cringey manager of a paper company. The show ended with the award-winning Christmas Special, and while the character of Brent has returned in shorts and a movie, Gervais has resisted calls to revive the series, preferring to leave the classic untouched.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004) – Some series seem to emerge from the mist, a suitably spooky analogy for this cult show from the UK. Comedian Matthew Holness wrote and starred in the show as Garth Marenghi, a comedically terrible horror writer who hosted “lost episodes” of his mystery show, Darkplace. The show was a satire of low-budget ‘80s TV, and featured appearances from comedy greats like Richard Ayoade and Stephen Merchant. The show is so beloved that, nearly two decades on, Holness still tours as Marenghi. Despite only running for one season of six episodes, it has made an impact that even its fictional star would be taken aback by.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999) – We’re including the first run of this adored show, rather than the revivals that began in 2017, as it was this first incarnation that crafted a whole genre of comedy. The concept is simple: a worker for a sinister corporation is sent to space and made to watch terrible B movies with his robot friends (puppets that become as much of a star as their human counterparts). Despite a change in hosts and antagonists, the show was arguably responsible for popularising the “riff track”, the show’s main event where the cast watch the terrible movie and make jokes. There’s a clear line from MST3K (as it’s known by fans) to YouTube reaction videos, and considering the number of episodes that aired (just under 200), it’s remarkable to see how well the quality is maintained throughout, even making cult favourites of some of the movies they mock in the process.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Deadwood (2004-2006) – For many years, Deadwood was one of the great TV “what ifs”, with season three ending on a cliffhanger that wasn’t resolved due to the show’s cancellation. Some closure came in 2019 with a TV film, however even on its own merits, David Milch’s story of the real-life Western town of Deadwood is a startling Shakespearean masterpiece. Veteran actor Ian McShane’s career exploded thanks to his appearance as foul-mouthed barman Al Swearengen, while the hero of the piece, Timothy Olyphant, became one of television’s all-time great lawmen as Sheriff Seth Bullock. If you love murky-but-brilliant intrigue, this should be top of your list.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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The Sopranos (1999-2007) – “A mob boss walks into a therapist office…” may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, but this unusual scene is the source of a turning point in TV history. Iconic drama The Sopranos follows the tribulations of a New Jersey mobster (James Gandolfini) as he tries to balance family life with his leadership of a criminal organisation. Despite the release of a prequel movie in 2021, it’s safe to say that the main series – which ended in 2007 – is unlikely to be continued after the death of Gandolfini in 2013. However, the award-winning star left behind a body of work that revolutionised American television, treating every episode as more than simple entertainment. Every week was a cinematic morality play about power, guilt and betrayal. To this day, few shows have come close.

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Culture
TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.
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Peaky Blinders (2013-2022) – Before he wowed audiences in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy played the tortured head of the Shelby crime family in this show set in early 20th-century Birmingham. Based on real criminals, the show’s many twists and turns made stars of everyone in the cast, and featured supporting performances from the likes of Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody and Sam Neill. Ending in 2022 with a critically acclaimed finale, it’s no wonder that every single season boasts a score above 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, with half achieving a perfect 100%.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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TV Gold: 15 TV Shows With No Bad Episodes.

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