Homeland is excellent (in a first season of 24 kind of way). Game of Thrones, Louie, Justified, and Boardwalk Empire are all fun to watch as well, though The Walking Dead seems to have some pacing issues to me. It seems that the film version of The Walking Dead loses some of the nuance the comic communicates. I suspect comic books are just a better vehicle through which to tell those stories.

I’ve yet to catch American Horror Story and Friday Night Lights.

Still, I like Complex’s list a bit more.

UPDATE: Checked out a few episodes of American Horror Story online. It’s good. Meanders a bit here and there, and the season finale’s denouement is forced (it seems to me as though it was not written backwards), but I’ll check out the second season when it airs.

“Every scene must be dramatic. That means: the main character must have a simple, straightforward, pressing need (goal) which impels him or her to show up in the scene.”

Mamet’s writing credits include: Wag The Dog, Glengarry Glen Ross, Homicide, The Untouchables, Heist, and Red Belt.

I love each one of those films for the crisp dialogue, scene structure, and plotting. And who could forget that unforgettable ‘enthusiasm’ speech utterly devoured by Robert De Niro in The Untouchables?

“A man stands alone at the plate. This is a time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field … what? Part. Of. A. Team.”

Beyond that dialogue, the element that really sells that scene to me is the fact that everyone around the table is wearing a tuxedo. Brutal, thuggish contrast.

I could watch this video for hours. It’s truly an amazing time in which we live, wherein a house above the world offers us a glimpse of heaven and a spectacular collage of light shows.