I really enjoyed, but I thought it ended badly. Some of the acting was excellent (O' Quinn, Emerson, and a few others)

Maybe not bad acting, but unbalanced; some people were clearly better than others, and some people i just think didn't deserved to be there. Too many whatatwist moments, too

They overused the cliff hanger to drive the story, but I loved it.

I think I benefited from watching the first 5 seasons in one summer. I could imagine the show being frustrating if you had to wait around for months for the next season/episode.

First two or three seasons were alright, and highly watchable, but it just nosedived and went to shit in seasons 5/6. The series finale was cringeworthy. But I stuck with it that long so I had to see it out. It sorta made me regret watching the whole series.

What they did with Locke still annoys me.

its the ambition that draws me in. even if they were constantly unable to match it with the execution. which meant that it was always frustrating, but always interesting.

the acting was definitely uneven. some of the best actors i've ever seen were on that show constantly doing great work, and their episodes were always more interesting because of it (Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson, Henry Ian Cusick, Nestor Carbonell, Jeremy Davieis, etc).

the high points of Lost were just too good. the problem is, you can't watch them without watching the whole thing. but its worth it to see The Constant, every Ben Linus episode, etc.

and i still differ from most people in that i loved the ending.

Lost has the distinction of being a show where its main character was the least interesting out of the main ensemble.

I liked the ending too, Pave. Didn't love it, but it wasn't as terrible as it could have been.

That's the opposite of what happened! Seasons 2 and (especially) 3 were shitty, so they stopped doing flashbacks, set an end date and turned it into the best one-hour on network TV. I agree that the finale was dumb but the season leading up to it (on the island anyway) was great and seasons 4-5 were uniformly fantastic.

Breaking Bad belongs on the Wire's tier after their recent season, I think. If the last 16 episodes are really fantastic it could make a case for best show ever made. It would have to blow the previous 4 out of the water, but given that every BB season has been progressively better I think Gilligan et al have it in them. The Wire ended on its weakest season which is something I certainly can't picture BB doing.

Sons of Anarchy and Treme should probably get added to the Very Good tier. Maybe Justified too once I've gotten through both seasons.

EDIT: may have spoken too soon on Sons of Anarchy. The season 4 finale featured maybe the dumbest plot twist I've ever seen in anything, dropped in from out of absolutely fucking nowhere.

I think I might like Generation Kill as much as The Wire.

Full disclosure in that I haven't seen some of these at all or all of the ones I've seen in their entirety. The Wire is far and away the best for me.

The Wire had a great finale. Especially that last montage.

Yeah the plot was just too loopy for me and the acting pissed me off. That and the marketing campaign which consisted of some of the hammiest scene cuts I've ever seen.

Eh I'd say Season 2 was the worst Wire season. Season 5 felt a bit rushed but I thought it had the shows strongest episode (the last one) and I thought it explored one of the most interesting aspects (the Media).