So many channels, so many series? which are the ones worth watching? As Sky Atlantic launches, here are our favourite US shows
Blame it on HBO. Ever since they said yes to the idea of a TV show about a gangster with some serious maternal issues, we've been in the middle of a renaissance in US drama. Big budgets, big themes and the kind of acting that used to be reserved for the big screen. Now with Sky Atlantic offering us a UK version ? almost the entire HBO catalogue from Boardwalk Empire to Six Feet Under ? we thought it was time to have a look at the current crop of high-end dramas. There are more on the horizon ? Steven Spielberg's Terra Nova, Dustin Hoffman in Luck, gritty boxing drama Lights Out, "Sopranos with swords" Game Of Thrones ? but here we've chosen the dramas our writers are already enjoying. Some you'll know, some you won't and the rest we hope you'll be looking forward to ? whether they're on TV this week, out on DVD or available to download (you know, legally, from iTunes, of course).
Boardwalk Empire
Steve Buscemi, who specialises in bug-eyed and jittery, wouldn't seem like automatic first choice to play a charismatic, corrupt politician with a string of mistresses and at least one foot firmly planted in the criminal underworld. But producer Martin Scorsese and writer Terence (Sopranos) Winter jumped at the chance to cast him as Nucky Johnson, kingpin of prohibition-era Atlantic City, in their vast violent period piece. He seems an even less likely romantic lead but his relationship with Kelly Macdonald is the emotional heart of a series where the blood flows like illegal booze from broken bottles.
Tue, 9pm, Sky Atlantic
Jonathan Bernstein
Breaking Bad
The early days of this show, when its chemistry teacher hero only had terminal cancer and only dabbled in cooking crystal meth to provide for his family now seem like a happy distant memory. In recent seasons, Walt (increasingly scarily portrayed by Bryan Cranston) has become every bit as ruthless and homicidal as the Mexican drug cartels who want his head. The consequences of Walt's career choice get grimmer as the series progresses. The family he tried to protect falls apart, while his dimwit dealer protege surpasses him in dead-eyed soullessness.
Season one: Wed, 10pm, FX; season two: Wed 11.55pm, Five USA; both on DVD
JB
Nurse Jackie
We've all overdosed on medical shows of late so your reluctance to swallow another one is understandable. But the others don't have Edie Falco (formerly Mrs Soprano) as a funny, drug-snorting, emotional cul-de-sac on legs. In scrubs. Female protagonists are mothers or career women; rarely gobby nurses with no ethics who punch strangers and sleep with horny pharmacists in exchange for Vicodin. And somehow you're still rooting for her. All the signs say, "Judge this woman" and yet Falco's careful portrayal makes you completely understand and sympathise with her. Neat trick.
Sat, 10.40pm, BBC2; Season one on DVD
Julia Raeside
Fringe
Fringe started off as a monster/mystery-of-the-week affair, like early X-Files. But with the subplot of a parallel universe gradually taking centre-stage (complete with villains operating in a still-intact World Trade Center under the guidance of Leonard Nimoy) it's become an infinitely more twisty affair with Anna Torv and John Noble among many characters appearing in dual versions
Season three returns 10 Feb, Sky 1; seasons one and two on DVD
Phelim O'Neill
The Vampire Diaries
Yes, snapping up a pre-Twilight series of Young Adult novels about the tortured romance between an brooding vampire and an unsullied high-school girl reeks of opportunism. But putting Scream creator Kevin Williamson in charge of the TV adaptation was a very bright idea. Even brighter was the casting of Ian Somerhalder as the brooding blood-sucker's self-amused brother who swigs scotch and snaps human necks while tossing off wry quips. The wordless yearning emo love stuff is unavoidable but Vampire Diaries is a faster, funnier, more entertaining alternative to the increasingly ponderous True Blood.
Tue, 9pm, ITV2; season one on DVD
JB
Mad Men
Do not be fooled by the good-looking cast. This bourbon-soaked tale of wealthy NYC advertising folk is smarter than The Sky At Night. The cast look like their own action toys, yes, but behind Jon Hamm's lantern jaw and Christina Hendricks's rollercoaster figure lies the complex tale of a man without identity and those who get hit by his emotional shrapnel. The attention to period detail is staggering, with every season underscored by the events of 1960s America. It does however have the unfortunate side-effect of making you want to drink and smoke like Dean Martin, which is of course terrible for your health.
Mon-Thu, 11.20pm, BBC2; seasons one to three on DVD, season four out on DVD in March
JNR
Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena
Blood And Sand was a crafty little show that dazzled/turned off viewers with opening episodes that consisted almost entirely of gory fighting and sweary shouting. However, they stealthily added elements like great performances (notably John Hannah and Lucy Lawless as the Roman gladiator owners) and a plot that hooked the attention and refused to let go until a stunningly emotive and brutal climax. Ill health forced series lead Andy Whitfield out and has seen the creation of this stopgap prequel before a recast full on second season arrives.
March, Sky 1
PO'N
The Walking Dead
In a TV world full of vampires it seems what we really wanted was zombies. With lead Andrew Lincoln (Egg from This Life) the most famous name for the UK audience, expectations weren't running too high for this comic book adaptation from Mad Men channel AMC. But with Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont running the show, this short six-episode zombie apocalypse hit hard (the undead attacks are as explicit as any horror movie) and hit big (it broke all kinds of US cable viewing records). The wait for the 13-episode second season is now officially unbearable.
Season one repeats, 23 Feb, FX; DVD out March; season two on TV on the autumn
PO'N
Ride-Along
In The Shield, writer Shawn Ryan created some really, really bad cops. In his new series (called The Chicago Code in the US), he redresses the balance. He really, really redresses it. Detective Jarek Wysocki is so strait-laced and above-board, he refuses to allow potential partners to utter so much as a syllable of profanity. Superintendent Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals) is such a zealot, she wants to rid Chicago of every bad cop, on-the-take-politician, and drug-dealing scumbag in the Windy City. But in case you were worried Shawn Ryan might have lost his touch, wait till you get to the climax of the first hour. May, Sky 1
JB
Justified
Elmore Leonard hasn't always been best served by live-action adaptations of his work. Timothy Olyphant hasn't always found the best vehicles for his flinty charisma. Justified goes a long to way righting both these wrongs. Initially, the cop-western hybrid seemed to consist of nothing but scenes of Olyphant's Marshal Raylan Givens mocking and then gunning down an entire community of villainous Kentucky yokels while remaining laconic under his big hat. But as the series found its footing, the Marshal lost his unflappability, especially when facing his most elusive adversary: his lying bastard of a father.
JB
Wed, 11pm, Five USA; season one out now on DVD. Season two will be on later in 2011
Sons Of Anarchy
Hamlet on Harley Davidsons. It's as simple (and as complex) as that. This is a show that proves characters don't need to be likable, just compelling and watchable. In dealing with the criminal antics of a motorbike gang in the far from sleepy Californian town of Charming, Sons presents a riveting family drama punctuated by extreme violence and heavily shouldered secrets. Hellboy's Ron Perlman leads the pack but even he's eclipsed by ex-Married With Children star Katey Sagal, who just won a Golden Globe for her den mother Gemma. Despite rival gangs and white supremacists, their worst enemy is always themselves.
PO'N
Wed, 10pm, Five USA; seasons one to three on DVD
Treme
If you don't go into this examination of post-Katrina New Orleans armed with the knowledge that it's David Simon's first TV series since The Wire, you stand a better chance of keeping profound disappointment at bay. By episode three of The Wire, the story was starting to take shape and the players on both sides were coming into focus. The same cannot be said of Treme ? which, to be fair, is a very different kind of show (also starring The Wire's Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters). Treme moves leisurely and plotlessly through the lives of a selection of New Orleans locals. If you can stay awake, it may well prove rewarding.
JB
Fri 18 Feb, 10.15pm, Sky Atlantic
Friday Night Lights
It doesn't matter if you know anything about American high-school football. Friday Night Lights, based on the film based on the book, is a beautiful, heartfelt look at a small Texas town where time moves slowly and opportunities for advancement are scarce. ITV4 dropped it, so it's a DVD import if you want more.
Seasons one to four on DVD
JB
United States Of Tara
Has a show ever had Award Magnet emblazoned on it in more garish lettering than United States Of Tara? Created by Juno's Diablo Cody, and starring Toni Collette as a suburban housewife plagued by multiple personalities (sullen teen, a 1950s homemaker and a male redneck) US Of T was a dream playground for any actor. Collette won an Emmy and Golden Globe for the first season, but it still hasn't been picked up here.
Seasons one and two on DVD
JB
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jan/29/best-of-us-drams
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