Here's a fun question to ponder - what truly great TV shows have all (or even most) of these? I'm coming up pretty blank because of "wish fulfillment" and "civilizational high stakes"
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Avatar: The Last Airbender, maybe?
aug 5, 2025, 6:35 pm • 1 0 • view
Mad Men: Secret power is naps Civilizational high stakes is the implied coke ad never coming to fruition
aug 5, 2025, 7:25 pm • 0 0 • view
First one that came to mind was Andor. The only one I fudged was "abilities" since he doesn't have blatant abilities, but he always seems to be able to work his way out of a jam
aug 5, 2025, 6:30 pm • 2 0 • view
Not a Jedi, so Andor is not compelling. I don't make the rules.
aug 5, 2025, 6:41 pm • 0 0 • view
I assume he has the force sensitive powers of Jedi, without being granted the rank of Jedi. If it can happen to Leia, it can happen here too. He gets out of too many scrapes without it
aug 5, 2025, 6:43 pm • 1 0 • view
There's a.... thing that alludes to that in the show, without getting too spoilery.
aug 5, 2025, 6:52 pm • 1 0 • view
I found the show compelling BECAUSE no one had the force. Everyone was just a person either hurting or helping.
aug 6, 2025, 7:26 pm • 0 0 • view
Power rangers
aug 5, 2025, 6:29 pm • 3 0 • view
The truly great NBC hit, Heroes. Also, the hot WB classic, Smallville.
aug 5, 2025, 6:42 pm • 1 0 • view
I think we should let him do another Smallville.
aug 5, 2025, 6:45 pm • 0 0 • view
I was trying to think of which had the fewest, and I think Seinfeld arguably only has 1 (humor)
aug 5, 2025, 7:33 pm • 1 0 • view
The Leftovers kinda has protagonists with hidden ability (can Kevin rise from the dead?) and takes place after the world-altering event (well, also a naked guy on a sub launches nukes at one point)
aug 5, 2025, 7:51 pm • 0 0 • view
(I bet Bezos would hate The Leftovers)
aug 5, 2025, 7:51 pm • 0 0 • view
Game of Thrones kinda ticks all the boxes.
aug 5, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
I would bet money this list was made in 2011 or 2012 and they were exclusively thinking about Game of Thrones and Harry Potter.
aug 5, 2025, 6:36 pm • 1 0 • view
It's Bezos in 2017
aug 5, 2025, 6:37 pm • 2 0 • view
Game of Thrones and Harry Potter and Marvel.
aug 5, 2025, 6:39 pm • 1 0 • view
Game of Thrones was not truly great, though
aug 5, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
Through season 5 it was! It was not predestined to go to shit.
aug 5, 2025, 6:33 pm • 2 0 • view
Fair enough
aug 5, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
I can't think of any shows with a global thread to humanity.
aug 5, 2025, 6:36 pm • 0 0 • view
Bezos wanted his own Game of Thrones and didn't see what was so hard about it. Typical guy does one thing right assumes he's a genius in everything. Not understanding GOT timing in its success is mistake one. You can't duplicate SUPRANOS, MAD MEN, TED LASSO or BREAKING BAD anytime soon .
aug 6, 2025, 7:24 pm • 0 0 • view
Civilizational high stakes are not *necessarily* an impediment to making a great TV show, but they crowd out other things in a way that makes it harder. It’s like saying every great meal has to have truffle oil.
aug 5, 2025, 6:37 pm • 0 0 • view
This list reminds me of GRRM's critique of LOTR where he wanted to know Aragorn's tax policy. Let's just say, it's safe to say no one knows anything, least of all experts.
aug 5, 2025, 6:38 pm • 0 0 • view
This is basically describing Lord of the Rings, right?
aug 5, 2025, 6:40 pm • 0 0 • view
If you run the Sopranos through this it has maybe half of them depending on how you interpret some of the vagueness.
aug 5, 2025, 6:40 pm • 0 0 • view
stargate sg-1
aug 5, 2025, 6:45 pm • 1 0 • view
altho i will say it started going downhill fast after the goa'uld were no longer the primary antagonists
aug 5, 2025, 7:03 pm • 1 0 • view
"Star Trek Deep Space 9", "The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin", and several episodes of "Kids in the Hall" fit the bill.
aug 5, 2025, 6:42 pm • 1 0 • view
Glad that he gave examples for positive and negative emotions, because emotions are confusing and writers might not understand them.
aug 5, 2025, 6:42 pm • 1 0 • view
The Wire, except Omar can shoot lightning from his fingertips and Hamsterdam is the last bulwark in an alien invasion
aug 5, 2025, 6:51 pm • 1 0 • view
The Expanse arguably checks all the boxes
aug 5, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
"legitimate salvage"
aug 5, 2025, 6:32 pm • 0 0 • view
I'm gonna say The Good Place checks most (all?) of those boxes, although I'd assume the intent of the list was to describe a Very Important drama and not a mostly-heartwarming sitcom.
aug 5, 2025, 8:04 pm • 0 0 • view
breaking bad: not great because walt's meth empire wasn't big enough
aug 5, 2025, 6:27 pm • 17 0 • view
The Expanse and arguably Babylon 5 has all of that, but other than that I am drawing a blank. Wait, Dr. Who.
aug 5, 2025, 6:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Also Walt was not heroic as a protagonist. Just a terrible show
aug 5, 2025, 6:31 pm • 3 0 • view
This is a horrible take.
aug 6, 2025, 7:29 pm • 0 0 • view
What part of it is horrible
aug 6, 2025, 7:46 pm • 0 0 • view
The terrible show part.
aug 6, 2025, 7:47 pm • 0 0 • view
If you go back through the thread, Bezos is saying every great show has the 12 elements. Breaking Bad and the Wire are two notable examples that don’t have all of those elements, yet they’re two of the greatest shows ever made. I was ripping on Bezos, not being serious :)
aug 6, 2025, 7:50 pm • 0 0 • view
Oh sorry.
aug 6, 2025, 7:51 pm • 0 0 • view
The Wire is missing 1, 3, and 7 I'd argue
aug 5, 2025, 6:34 pm • 1 0 • view