August 23rd, 2006
If the TV-on-DVD revolution has taught us anything, it's that TV series should be considered in season-sized chunks, even if the series themselves never relied on season-long story arcs. Below, The A.V. Club offers a consumer guide of sorts: our favorite shows, broken down by the way you can buy them in stores.
The Sopranos: Season Three
Why it's the best: Because Tony Soprano's monumental selfishness leads to him ignoring the dangerous spiral of his daughter's boyfriend—the boy he promised his late best friend that he'd look after. Soprano also has an affair with a neurotic saleswoman (played by Annabella Sciorra) who isn't stable enough to deal with his caprice. The Sopranos extends The Godfather's use of the mob as a metaphor for American capitalism, and season three is where the nature of corporate irresponsibility is shockingly exposed.
Best single episode: "Employee Of The Month," the controversial episode where Dr. Melfi gets raped, and debates whether to use her influence with Soprano to get revenge. Her decision, and the final, clipped line of dialogue, remains one of the most chilling moments of the series to date.
Runner-up season: Season one—still an astonishing, accomplished introduction to the TV epic of our time.
Seinfeld: Season Five
Why it's the best: With the too-long storyline about the NBC pilot out of the way—and the show having become a bona fide hit in the process—Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and the rest of the creative team started to stretch a little, coming up with wonderfully nasty bits about a botched bris and the ego-damaging effects of "shrinkage."
Best single episode: The season finale, "The Opposite," where George decides to change his luck by doing the opposite of his instincts, leading to an upsetting of the cosmic balance that makes Elaine chronically unlucky. Seinfeld, of course, stays "even-Steven."
Runner-up season: Season seven. It isn't on DVD yet, but when it hits the shelves later this fall, complete with George's ill-fated engagement and the introduction of the Soup Nazi, it'll become the best Seinfeld season available for purchase.
Arrested Development: Season Two
Why it's the best: The intricately self-referential underpinnings of the series' comedy really ramped up in the second season, with lots of jokes about missing hands, absent fathers, topless Spring Break-ers, and magic tricks gone wrong.
Best single episode: "Good Grief!", in which heartbroken members of the Bluth family walk around with their heads drooped, Peanuts-style, while Vince Guaraldi music plays. At one point, a Snoopy doghouse even appears in the background.
Runner-up season: The even-crazier season three, with a memorable guest turn by Charlize Theron as Michael Bluth's, um, different girlfriend.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Three
Why it's the best: It starts with the titular series star off her home turf and outside the Sunnydale-nastiness pattern that haunted the rest of the show. It ends with a huge transition, as the main cast graduates from high school with an explosive confrontation. And in the middle, it introduces Faith and follows her down the dark path, brings in Anya, revels in the Mayor's wacky brand of evil, and features some of the best single episodes of the entire series, including "Band Candy," "The Wish," and "Doppelgängland."
Best single episode: "The Zeppo," in which Xander has a manic night out while the rest of the show hilariously parodies itself in the background.
Runner-up season: Season four. Riley is a pill and the Initiative can be a yawn, but "Hush," "Restless," and "Something Blue" are worth it.
Chappelle's Show: Season Two
Why it's the best: In its second season, Chappelle's Show evolved from an intermittently hilarious showcase for Dave Chappelle's improvisational gifts and penetrating observations into a ubiquitous pop-culture phenomenon. Riffing irreverently on racial stereotypes remained the series' forte, and at its best, Chappelle's Show was as wickedly satirical as The Simpsons in its prime. The Comedy Central smash could still be hit-or-miss, but even the weaker skits benefited from the strength and consistency of Chappelle's overarching comic vision of the myriad ways America remains culturally segregated.
Best single episode: Though it owes a tremendous debt to Mr. Show's "Altered States of Druggachussets," the foul-mouthed, bleakly satirical Muppets spoof "Kneehigh Park," with its feral, sourly philosophical parody of Oscar The Grouch, helps make episode 10 the series' pinnacle.
Runner-up season: The first season of Chappelle's Show is often wildly funny, and it shares many of the second season's strengths.
The Simpsons: Season Four
Why it's the best: Having mastered the art of the first-act fake-out in season three, the writers indulged their new storytelling confidence and started getting a little weird, in episodes where they give the town of Springfield a monorail, as well as an annual festival dedicated to beating the crap out of snakes.
Best single episode: "Krusty Gets Kancelled," which riffs on pop-culture fads and talk-show wars, and features guest appearances by Johnny Carson and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Runner-up season: The aforementioned season three. No, five! Six! Seven! Two!
Gilmore Girls: Season Three
Why it's the best: Love triangles, high-school angst, grown-up relationship turmoil… fire! This one had it all, and it found the best balance between the trademarked Amy Sherman-Palladino crackerjack dialogue and the less-commented-upon-but-still-trademarked Palladino warmth-without schmaltz—all without ignoring the fact that life can be really hard sometimes.
Best single episode: "A Tale Of Poes And Fire," in which an Edgar Allan Poe convention spills into town. This installment begins kookily, then ends with a character reversing a plan she's held her entire life. It's disarmingly funny until it suddenly turns moving. Call it the Palladino touch.
Runner-up season: The fifth season finds Rory coming into her own as a character, and not just a bright Everygirl, as she balances college and a boyfriend who may not deserve her yet. Meanwhile, Lorelai wrestles with an adult relationship that might just be for keeps. (The sixth season is pretty great too, until… well, fans know the moment.)
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