I just finished the series finale of Detectorists. I have never seen such a uniquely conceived, brilliantly executed series. Original, nuanced, understated, gorgeous, unduplicatable—without a single misstep.
As for its place in the pantheon of television, I need to think on that one.
Lost has way more scope and complexity, not to mention sheer hours. But it also had some weak episodes in Season Four, the latter abbreviated seasons were a bit of a letdown, and of course the series finale will go down as the worst in history.
Babylon 5 was brilliant, powerful, and intricate. But it suffered from a minuscule budget, continued cancellation threats, and sadly a few B actors.
Dark sagged a bit in the middle of S3.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) was phenomenal, but suffered from some bad politics (read: Starbuck).
Of all in my top five, Breaking Bad probably was the most consistently strong, but it didn’t have the complexity of the other four in my list.
As for shows that really never had a weak moment and perfectly executed what they set out to so, I would say Detectorists, Breaking Bad, and Downton Abbey are tops. All would be in my top ten, but for a top five, I would be forced to only include Breaking Bad.
So my top five are Lost, Babylon 5, Breaking Bad, Dark (2017), and Battlestar Galactica (2003). To expand it to ten would extend to include Detectorists, Downton Abbey, and Doc Martin.
From there, I would probably have to consider shows that had a stellar season or two (even if the others were disappointing), shows that were hit and miss, or shows that got canceled before they even got rolling. Possible inclusions: Firefly, Awake, ST Enterprise Season 3, Dexter Season 2 & 3, Big Love Season 1, Twilight Zone, Farscape, Game of Thrones Season 1, Jericho.
Not sure how to rank comedies like Community and Up. And that opens the door to shows like Newhart and Alf, so I’ll just stick with Drama and leave comedies for another list.