The Sopranos is a David Chase-created American crime drama television series. The plot follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American gangster, as he struggles to combine his family life with his career as the boss of a criminal organization. During his appointments with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi, he explores these issues. Tony's family members, mafia associates, and rivals—most notably his wife Carmela and his protégé/distant cousin Christopher Moltisanti—play major parts in the series.

The Sopranos is largely recognized as one of the all-time best television shows. The series earned plenty of prizes, including two Peabody Awards, 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards in its first two seasons. It has inspired books, a video games, soundtrack CDs, podcasts, and other goods, as well as critical analysis, controversy, and parody. Several members of the cast and crew of the show were fairly unknown to the general public at the time, but have subsequently gone on to have successful careers.

Detailed Information:
Genre: Crime drama, Serial drama
Created by: David Chase
Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli
No. of seasons: 6
No. of episodes: 86

Roots: The Saga of an American Family is an American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel of the same name. In January 1977, ABC premiered the series. Roots was nominated for 37 Primetime Emmy Awards and won nine of them. It also received a Golden Globe nomination and a Peabody Award.

Roots drew a record-breaking 100 million viewers, surpassing previous marks for a show that many said would fail. Slavery was a forbidden subject in every way; even mentioning its presence in front of a television audience was enough to bring the trouble. Roots not only depicted slavery, but it also gave every horrifying fact a face. For its mastery of storytelling and character, as well as its achievement in getting a country to properly atone for its past, even if for a little while, Roots has become a show of legend.

Detailed Information:

Genre: Historical drama

Directed by: Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene, Gilbert Moses

Starring: John Amos, Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, Louis Gossett Jr.

No. of episodes: 8 (re-edited to 6 for video)

Mark Frost and David Lynch created Twin Peaks, an American mystery-horror serial drama television series. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and lasted two seasons until being canceled in 1991. The program gained a devoted cult following in the years after its broadcast, and it has been mentioned in a wide range of media. Twin Peaks is commonly quoted as one of the greatest television series of all time, with overwhelming acclaim from critics and audiences alike.

The series follows an investigation into the death of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the imaginary town of Twin Peaks, Washington, headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and local Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean). The show's plot is based on detective fiction, but its unsettling tone, supernatural undertones, and campy, theatrical portrayal of quirky individuals are also influenced by American soap operas and horror cliches. Surrealism, odd comedy, and unusual cinematography distinguish it from much of Lynch's work.

Detailed Information:
Genre: Serial Drama, Mystery, Drama, Horror
Created by: Mark Frost, David Lynch
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook
No. of seasons: 3
No. of episodes: 48

The Simpsons is an American animated comedy created by Matt Groening for Fox Broadcasting Company. In the series, the Simpson family, which includes Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, is a satirical portrayal of American society. The comedy is set in a fictional town called Springfield, and it mocks American culture, society, television, and human nature.

Just before a call for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks, Groening came up with the idea for the family. With the exception of Bart, who he thought was a funny name since it sounded similar to "simpleton," he created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family. The shorts first aired on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was turned into a half-hour prime time show, becoming Fox's first series to enter the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).

Detailed Information:
Genre: Animated sitcom, Satire
Created by: Matt Groening
Voices of: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith
No. of seasons: 33
No. of episodes: 717

David Simon, a novelist and former police reporter created and wrote the American crime drama television series The Wire. In the United States, the series was shown on HBO, a cable network. The Wire ran for five seasons, from June 2, 2002, to March 9, 2008, and had 60 episodes. The Wire is set and filmed in Baltimore, Maryland, and each season introduces a new institution and its ties to law enforcement while keeping characters and stories from prior seasons. The illicit drug trade, the port system, municipal administration and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news media are the five subjects, in chronological order.

Saturday Night Live (abbreviated as SNL) is a late-night sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol in the United States. Michaels is currently the showrunner for the show. On October 11, 1975, George Carlin hosted the show's premiere on NBC, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night.

SNL has aired 921 episodes since its beginning, and completed its 46th season on May 22, 2021, making it one of the longest-running network television programs in the United States. The show has been developed and recreated in a number of countries, with varying levels of success. The Blues Brothers (1980) and Wayne's World (1981) are two feature films based on successful skits from the program (1992). Saturday Night Live has won several honors throughout its four decades on the air, including 86 Primetime Emmy Awards, four Writers Guild of America Awards, and two Peabody Awards.

Detailed Information:
Genre: Stand-up comedy, Satire, Variety show, Sketch comedy
Created by: Lorne Michaels
No. of seasons: 47
No. of episodes: 921

The Twilight Zone (marketed as The Twilight Zone for the final two seasons) is an American science fiction horror anthology television series produced and hosted by Rod Serling that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1964 for five seasons. Each episode is a stand-alone drama in which individuals are confronted with frequently unsettling or bizarre circumstances, an experience is known as "entering the Twilight Zone". Despite being mostly science fiction, the show's paranormal and Kafkaesque incidents pushed it into fantasy and horror areas. The series created the term "twilight zone," which is now used to characterize bizarre encounters.

The Twilight Zone is largely recognized as one of the all-time great television shows. The series was voted No. 26 on TV Guide's list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002. It premiered at No. 8 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever in 2004, then rose to No. 9 three years later. The Writers Guild of America named it the third best-written TV series of all time in 2013, and TV Guide named it the fourth greatest drama and the second greatest comedy.

Detailed Information:

Genre: Anthology, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Supernatural

Created by: Rod Serling
No. of seasons: 5
No. of episodes: 156

Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld are the creators of the American comedy Seinfeld. It ran on NBC for nine seasons and 180 episodes from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998. It stars Jason Alexander as Seinfeld as a fictitious version of himself, and it centers on his personal life with three of his friends: George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer, his next-door neighbor (Michael Richards). It takes place mostly in an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side. It's been dubbed "a show about nothing" since it frequently focuses on the minutiae of everyday living.

Seinfeld is largely recognized as one of the all-time great and influential comedies. Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and TV Guide have all rated it as one of the best series on television. It was named the No. 2 Best-Written TV Series of All Time by the Writers Guild of America in 2013.

Detailed Information:
Genre: Sitcom, Slice of life
Created by: Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld
Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander
No. of seasons: 9
No. of episodes: 180

Vince Gilligan created and produced the American neo-western crime drama television series Breaking Bad. The sitcom ran on AMC for five seasons, with 62 episodes, from January 20, 2008, until September 29, 2013. It is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a low-paid, overqualified, and depressed high school chemistry teacher who is dealing with a stage-three lung cancer diagnosis. While negotiating the hazards of the criminal underground, Walter commits to a life of crime, working with his former pupil Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to produce and distribute crystal meth to guarantee his family's financial future before he dies.

The first season of Breaking Bad received mostly good reviews, but the remainder of the series gained unequivocal critical praise. The show has been regarded as one of the greatest television shows of all time by reviewers since its completion.

Detailed Information:
Genre: Crime drama, Serial drama, Thriller, Neo-Western, Black comedy, Tragedy
Created by: Vince Gilligan
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris
No. of seasons: 5
No. of episodes: 62

The Leftovers is a supernatural drama television series that aired on HBO from June 29, 2014, to June 4, 2017. It was developed by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta. The series begins three years after the "Sudden Departure," a global event that resulted in 2% of the world's population disappearing. It is based on Perrotta's 2011 novel of the same name. The series revolves around the lives of police chief Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) and his family, as well as grieving widow Nora Durst (Carrie Coon) and her brother, Reverend Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston), as they try to adjust to life after the Departure.

Although some critiqued the series for its dismal tone, the first season received largely excellent reviews. During its critically acclaimed second and third seasons, The Leftovers was re-evaluated by reviewers, with many praising it as one of the best television shows of all time, praising its writing, direction, acting (especially Coon), and thematic depth.

Detailed Information:
Genre: Drama, Supernatural fiction, Mystery, Magical realism, Psychological thriller, Philosophical fiction
Created by: Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta
Starring: Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler
No. of seasons: 3
No. of episodes: 28