1. “The Leftovers”
A lot of people compare “The Leftovers” to “The Wire”, both because they are a couple of the best television series ever made and they never received any major award recognition. Created by Damon Lindelof, who was also a creator on “Lost” and the new “Watchmen” series, “The Leftovers” aired for 3 seasons.
Starring Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, and Christopher Eccleston, the show was about a small town in New York 3 years after the strange event where 2% of the people on Earth just inexplicably disappeared.
Thankfully, the show didn’t have to deal with a cancellation, and HBO gave them an amazing amount of freedom to execute their vision in the 3 seasons they got. “The Leftovers” takes on huge ideas about the meaning of life, whether an afterlife exists, if we are judged for our actions, and if we have any control at all over our lives.
The show doesn’t try to explain why the event happened, or what happened to the people that disappeared, but instead focuses on the people left behind and how they cope with that. Some characters think the event was really the Rapture, joining a silent cult focused on it, while others just try to live a normal life.
Fair warning, “The Leftovers” doesn’t really attempt to answer any of the questions it raises, but that doesn’t mean that the show doesn’t have anything to say. The show is extremely grounded and personal, really spending time with these very human characters, yet it also goes to some interesting and supernatural places that you would never expect.
A few highlights of the show are Ann Dowd’s amazing acting as Patti Levin (before she won an Emmy for “The Handmaid’s Tale”), and the 2 episodes where Kevin Garvey (Theroux) finds himself in another dimension. I’d say that “The Leftovers” is arguably one of the 5 best television shows ever made, so I totally recommend it for your next binge!