My favorite (non-movie) pop culture of 2016!

Last updated on: December 20, 2016 at 10:13 pm by Chris Williams

My favorite (non-movie) pop culture of 2016! 2016-12-20T22:13:29-05:00 Chris Williams

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4.) TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time by Alan Sepinwall and Matthew Zoller Seitz

While movies have always been my go-to artistic medium, in recent years I’ve been delighted at how great television has become at spinning memorable stories and creating complex characters. As “Breaking Bad,””Fargo,” “True Detective” and other shows have captured my attention, there have been few better guides than Alan Sepinwall and Matthew Zoller Seitz. The two are some of the best writers and critics tackling any medium, but their knowledge of television history and its potential as an art form has made them stand out in this new Golden Age of the tube.

So it’s only fitting that the two former colleagues should be the ones to compile a canon of the 100 best American shows of all time. The duo does it with wit, intelligence and insight…but not, thankfully, with brevity. This is a deep-dive into great television that takes its time, with expertly crafted essays about each program. The two aren’t snobs; “The Simpsons” mingles with “The Sopranos” and “The Wire,” and the two make room for “The Office,” “Friends” and even “SpongeBob Squarepants.” The recent deluge of great television means that the book does feature many recent titles, but Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz don’t neglect the medium’s groundbreakers and hall-of-famers. Archie Bunker, Lucille Ball and Marshall Dillon are well-represented, and the tome even takes the time to single out the medium’s best miniseries, movies and filmed plays.

Don’t let the writers’ internet pedigrees fool you. This isn’t a collection of bite-sized overviews or click-bait masquerading as journalism (followers of the writers know not to expect that). The book opens with a 20(ish)-page debate between the two as they hash out their picks for the top 5. Past their “pantheon,” they don’t skimp for words for a majority of entries, making this an deep read for those who love TV. But it’s no stuffy tome; Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz are fantastic, fun writers, and devouring their essays is a great deal of fun. In the coming years, as television continues to make its mark, I assume we’ll see more scholarly works about the medium. But it will be hard to top the work done by these two.

TV (The Book) is available for purchase.

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