‘Downton Abbey is ludicrous’: the biggest TV hits we’ve never seen – until now

Continuing our series on a year of bumper pandemic viewing, our critics finally watch the shows that had passed them by, from Downton to Twin Peaks

As with my experience of so many modern cultural touchstones, I first came to 24 via a Simpsons parody. Being only seven years old in 2001, when the 24-episode “real time” thriller first aired, my knowledge of Kiefer Sutherland’s exhausting counter-terror mission to stop the assassination of a presidential hopeful came from a 2007 Simpsons episode starring Lisa and Bart in a split-screen chase to hold off the detonation of a powerful stink bomb at Springfield Elementary.

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The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century

Where’s Mad Men? How did The Sopranos do? Does The Crown triumph? Can anyone remember Lost? And will Downton Abbey even figure? Find out here – and have your say

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The West Wing cast met for dinner – ” but are they really “talking reboot”?

The current political situation in America has many people wishing to go back to a simpler time, when the US President seemed infallible, all his staff were hardworking patriots and it never felt like things could really get too bad. No, we're not talking about the Barack Obama presidency - we're of course referring to the left-wing wish fulfilment of TV drama The West Wing, which depicted the political trials of President Jed Bartlet and his staff and became one of the biggest shows in the world during its 1999-2006 run.

How Would “The West Wing” Handle Donald Trump?

Before the dark drama of House of Cards and the political satire of Veep , there was The West Wing , the beloved NBC White House drama that aired 154 episodes over seven seasons, beginning in 1999. For the past six months, Song Exploder host Hrishikesh Hirway and West Wing actor Joshua Malina have been reliving The West Wing in podcast form, usually one episode per week.

Martin Sheen on Trump: ‘Empty-Headed Moron’

Actor Martin Sheen called Donald Trump an "empty-headed moron" during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that was posted online Tuesday. Sheen, who for seven years played President Jed Bartlet in the television series "The West Wing," was discussing his upcoming movie "The Vessel" when the question-and-answer interview turned to politics.