20 TV Shows That Are Practically Flawless

Is there such a thing as a perfect TV show? Well, in short, no.

The longer answer is that whilst many shows have the ability to maintain their highest quality throughout their run, the medium effectively dictates that a show's production and overall reception is completely unpredictable.

Creative differences can ruin the tone, writing room changes can alter the story, audience tastes can change, actors can come and go, and others can prove more popular than the studio had intended, beefing up their role and causing changes to ripple through the rest of the series.

Unlike movies, which are one-shot-and-done, popular TV shows can last for years, meaning they're sure to change something down the line that doesn't quite gel with critics or general audiences.

But that doesn't mean that some shows haven't come close to making their run a perfect achievement. Though the following series are not without their faults, they certainly came closer than most other shows to scoring an unblemished existence.

With all that in mind, here are 20 TV shows (excluding miniseries and one-season shows like Firefly and Freaks & Geeks) that are just about flawless.

Despite not being live-action, Batman: The Animated Series' visual appeal and innovative experimentation didn't just bring the Caped Crusader's tale to life with wonderfully refreshing style, but it actually made his story feel darker, grittier and more real than any other Batman adaptation on offer.

Thanks in equal measure to the show's slick noir style and striking maturity, The Animated Series revelled in its darkness, but still allowed itself to have twisted fun with its characters - particularly Mark Hamill's deranged Joker - and musical score, which alternated between ominous and playful in a single scene.

Add to these technical flourishes a sense of scope Gotham has never seen before and its expansive, pitch-perfect cast - as led by Kevin Conroy as the titular vigilante - and what you have is a series that transcended its animated medium at every turn, and remains one of the finest and most faithful comic book adaptations ever made.