Honest TV Show Reviews, Ranked Without Hype

Find your next series through spoiler-free reviews, head-to-head ELO rankings, and honest long-form analysis from a lifelong TV enthusiast.

Featured Reviews

A fresh selection from the archive, rotated daily.

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Severance review: the horror of never leaving work

My spoiler-free Severance review after finishing season two: why its divided lives, performances and unsettling office made me rate it more highly.

The Sopranos: Still the Best Television Ever Made

The Att on why The Sopranos is still the best TV series: James Gandolfini, two families, extraordinary dialogue and comedy as sharp as the drama.

Gomorrah: Italy's Greatest Crime Saga

Gomorrah is one of my strongest recommendations: five seasons of loyalty, ambition and fear, led by Ciro and Genny. Watch it with subtitles.

The Wire: All the Pieces Matter

The Wire builds an extraordinary portrait of Baltimore from patient police work, street-level survival and institutions that reward the wrong things.

The Queen's Gambit: Brilliant at Chess, Less Certain Everywhere Else

The Queen's Gambit makes competitive chess absorbing through Anya Taylor-Joy's Beth Harmon, an excellent small cast and beautifully judged period design.

StartUp: Good Ideas, Very Bad Seed Money

StartUp turns a cryptocurrency venture into an engrossing Miami crime thriller, with Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero, Adam Brody and Martin Freeman.

Top-Ranked TV Shows

The current top twenty from our head-to-head ELO leaderboard.

Explore the Full Rankings

Rank	Show	ELO
1	The Sopranos	1934
2	Game of Thrones	1922
3	The Shield	1900
4	Gomorrah	1869
5	Black Mirror	1864
6	Peaky Blinders	1845
7	Mad Men	1828
8	Suburra: Blood on Rome	1827
9	The Wire	1825
10	The Last Kingdom	1802
11	Homeland	1800
12	Breaking Bad	1800
13	Fargo	1799
14	Dexter	1790
15	Oz	1784
16	Stranger Things	1783
17	Better Call Saul	1777
18	Tokyo Vice	1774
19	Boardwalk Empire	1773
20	Band Of Brothers	1768