If there’s a common thread that runs through a lot of my favourite TV shows it’s that they allow their characters to be fully dimensional, and always, often to the audience’s chagrin, true to themselves. I love a show that chooses to do something different, that marches bravely into untrodden, un-clichéd, trope-free territory, where its writers are forced to find new, daring, and unexpected paths forward. At the same time, I’ll also take one that simply makes me laugh, and/or tells a classic story exceptionally well.

Here’s a quasi-accurate ranking of my favourite TV shows, broken up into ones whose episodes run, on average, an hour, and those that run, on average, half an hour.

favourite (roughly) hour-long shows

50. Journeyman

49. Timeless

48. Seeing Things

47. Luck

46. Peacemaker

45. Mindhunter

44. Unbelievable

43. Veronica Mars

42. Small Axe

41. Slow Horses

40. Mr. and Mrs. Smith

39. Reacher

38. Ripley

37. Mr. Robot

36. Chernobyl

35. The Good Fight

34. Unorthodox

33. Wiseguy

32. Game of Thrones (the first seven seasons, right up to, but definitely not including, the penultimate episode)

31. Justified

30. Terriers

29. Halt and Catch Fire

28. Breaking Bad

27. V

26. Watchmen

25. Fringe

24. 24

23. Hannibal

22. Adolescence

21. Twin Peaks

20. Homeland

19. The Good Wife

18. My So-Called Life

17. Evil

16. Succession

15. Better Call Saul

14. Friday Night Lights

13. Horace and Pete

12. Lost

11. The Deuce

10. Mad Men

9. The West Wing (Aaron Sorkin years)

8. Station Eleven

7. The Wire

6. Treme

5. Dekalog

4. Andor

3. The Leftovers

2. Rectify

1. Freaks and Geeks

favourite half-hour (or so) shows

50. It’s Like, You Know…

49. Andy Richter Controls the Universe

48. Too Many Cooks (Adult Swim)

47. Baskets

46. The Job

45. Review

44. Extras

43. Stella

42. Police Squad!

41. The Last Man on Earth

40. Parks and Recreation

39. Life & Beth

38. The Office (USA)

37. Homecoming

36. American Vandal (first season)

35. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

34. Flight of the Conchords

33. Barry

32. Togetherness

31. Newsradio

30. Undeclared

29. The Mandalorian

28. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

27. 30 Rock

26. The Grinder

25. New Girl

24. The Kids in the Hall

23. The New Twilight Zone “A Matter of Minutes”

22. One Mississippi

21. Documentary Now!

20. Arrested Development (first three seasons)

19. What We Do in the Shadows

18. Fleabag

17. The Office (UK)

16. Sports Night

15. Curb Your Enthusiasm

14. The Good Place

13. GLOW

12. Somebody Somewhere

11. How To with John Wilson

10. Louie

9. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

8. Mr. Show

7. The Larry Sanders Show

6. Eastbound and Down

5. Detroiters

4. Seinfeld

3. Detectorists

2. Mr. Inbetween

1. SCTV