I haven’t been watching much in terms of actual shows for a good while, then while listening to a podcast a host casually mentioned they had rewatched Chernobyl, how it still holds up, that there’s a reason it got as much acclaim as it did, etc. So I thought I’d give it a go and wow, loved it (still one episode left to watch).
Had me thinking, what else have I missed out on? What are some “absolute cinema” TV shows that still hold up and and are considered must watch?


Dawg, you did not need to use AI just to make that comment lol. I’m not sure what exactly was obnoxious about the characters of Death Note? I guess they’re dramatic, but that’s part of the fun of the show. Also, Westworld (Season 1, I’ve only seen that) was amazing, with a very satisfying conclusion, interesting philosophical questions, and good plot twists
I have no PC. You wouldn’t dare to write and format that on a phone, it’d take an hour or more.
If you can’t see the fake intellectuality and garbage dialogue from that show as bad, okay, one can really like any show if their weakest points aren’t a bothering factor for me.
I dont like those though, i like state of the art writing and production, and in the anime world Sosou no Frieren is an example: I simply saw no flaw in the show and where it does drop in quality it is negligible, absolutely staying way above garbage-level shows.
That’s what makes a masterpiece, not that it’s dlawless, but that it is crafted with much care everywhere, and it’s consistent. Shows nowadays have quality fluctuate a lot. Doesn’t ruin shows but the wider and frequent the variance the harder it is for the producers to keep it all together
There is no “fake intellectuality and garbage dialogue” at all imo. It’s just a game of cat and mouse where two people are trying to trick and one up each other, and it’s not really trying to be anything other than that. Frieren has a higher production quality and better art, but it came out over a decade later so that’s kind of a given. In terms of how well the stories are made, I’d give that to Death Note easily. Frieren has a very good story, but no anime besides Steins;Gate or Code Geass had me wanting to see what happens next like Death Note. I guess it just depends on how much you like thrillers/suspense?