Hey guys! This episode of GBNF was made from suggestions from fans who emailed us demanding this show be covered in this series. If you want to make suggestions for future episodes of GBNF then e-mail GBNFSeries@gmail.com and maybe we’ll cover your show!

Fun fact: the showrunners made sure not to use any references or things that could make the show feel dated. And it absolutely worked..

So happy to see The Shield get the love it deserves. Back when it was on live, the wait between seasons was BRUTAL but Tuesdays at 10 were all about Vic and the boys

Best cop drama of all time. Breaking Bad wouldn't have even happened without it.

Im so glad you played extended scene with Dutch. He finally got his due respect. My favorite episode.

What was interesting about Dutch is he could have easily been a serial killer himself. There are many clues to suggest he was right on the line, but still chose to side with law enforcement.

How did the network not like Shane ?!!! He plays perfect against Vic . They'll never make a show like this again ,times have changed too much

Michael Chiklis is amazing, he was the best part of both Tim Story Fantastic 4 movies, he brought Ben Grimm to life in a very nuanced way and he will always be the Thing.

To say that this show was groundbreaking would be an understatement. It's the giant of whom shoulders shows like Justified, Yellowstone, and the entirety of the modern AMC network stand on. Not because it's gritty. But because these characters were common people, living common lives, showing the all too common realities of existing in the gray area between right & wrong. Unlike the Sopranos, Deadwood, and Sons of Anarchy, the SHIELD showed cops, criminals, politicians, and victims in the harsh light of truth. There were no winners & losers or white hats & black hats. These were just people making the compromises they felt they needed to make to get through. The audience connected because each of us sees aspects of ourselves in each of them. Every episode invokes the question, "What would I do (or want done) in that situation?"

Still one of the best shows ever on TV. I'm watched this series at least 12 times from beginning to end. Vic was the one to root for to get away with it all.

I was too young to realize how good this show was at the time and all the good mid 2000s shows that became the new Golden Era of TV (Breaking Bad, GoT Seasons 1-5, Dexter, the list goes on)

The guest stars on this show were tremendous

Had the best last few episodes and finale of any show on TV.

The Shield is my most favorite TV show ever. I like it even more than The Wire, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad. It has the best pilot episode ever, and the best finale ever. I recently rewatched the whole series, and I still loved it as much as the first time I watched it 20 years ago, maybe even more. Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins are amazing actors.

OMG, The Shield was amazing! Probably the most underrated show ever

Thank you for talking about this show. It's one of my top favorite shows ever and it does not get the recognition it deserves.

I was in the middle of talking to my friend when Lem was murdered, and I stopped mid-sentence and screamed, “OH, MY GOD.”

Killing Crowley in the pilot is what sealed the deal for the series. If he had dragged it out through Season 1, I don't think it would have grabbed so many people so fast. It's takes huge cahones to risk putting such a dramatic moment so early in a new series, but that moment is what riveted most of us to the series straight away. My friends and I always watched the show together and never missed an episode.. it was like a marital "movie night"! :)

I just can't understand how you cover the series and fail to mention Anthony Anderson as Antwon Mitchell. He cemented the series as one of my all time favorites. He was leaning heavy and hamming it up on the good/ bad dialogue. One of my favorites was "you ain't the only one doing youh research. Don't you wanna hear my book repore." Delivered like a boss. I was just like.. dude, you are absolutely fucking ridiculous. .. and I love it.

The Shield was top notch TV, the acting and writing were outstanding 🎉

The Shield is the best drama ever put on the small screen. Bar none.

This is one of the best five tv shows ever created in the early 2000. Stands with the others great show like THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER, OZ, THE WIRE. THE SHIELD is a master piece from actors to script and direction. #lovefrombrazil

I’m so glad you made a video on such an overlooked masterpiece. I wish you didn’t spoil it for new viewers though

This was an amazing show. The pilot episode continues to be may favorite pilot show ever.

This is one of the best shows ever. I was home on Tuesdays at 10:00 every week. Never missed an episode. Every episode ended on a cliffhanger. The ending was perfect. Vic being unhappy at his desk job and his family left him.

@9:03 even though crawley was killed in the first episode. his death resonated and called back to constantly throughout the series. the strike team was forever looking over their shoulders based on that one incident.

This show doesn’t get enough credit! Ahead of its time and just brutal at times!

In season 2, there is a fight between Shane and Tavon that still haunts me to this day with its realism. I cannot believe both actors made it out of that scene unscathed.

A friend turned me on to this show years ago, started watching it on Netflix, but half way through season 1 they took it off, I had to buy the DVD set, no regrets. I've watched it a few time since, and will be again soon.

One of the best crime shows of all time. But I couldn't rewatch it. I can't believe you mentioned goggins but not justified .... He was amazing in that too

Best pilot ever. Most shows take a few episodes to get going but that pilot made you want to jump straight into the next episode, all the way to the series finale.

I still remember the moment; first episode of The Shield was on the TV, me and my friend both watched it in our homes. The second the first commercial break began, there were a ton of text messages sent back and forth. Wow, what a show! And man, what a ride during the length of it. Chiklis ran the show with an iron first, everyone else did amazingly well in their roles, but Chiklis... This show made me a huge fan of his work. His role in Gotham was also really, really good. There are some nice easter eggs/references too. ;) I still check out his IMDB page pretty regularly, to see if he has new roles in shows/whatever. Coyote, that recent-ish TV show he starred in, was a massive let-down. Me and my friend were waiting for that show like there was no tomorrow (and we both re-watched The Shield right before it started)... I couldn't even finish that one season of it. Damn it. Also during my last re-watch of The Shield - I started to think that The Wire holds up even better than this show, but they are so closely matched that the next time I watch The Shield, probably think it's again the better one, out of the two. :D Great video, sorry about my rambling. This show deserves all the attention it can get. The way it was made was like I was watching almost a real-life footage of real cops doing all that stuff. Excellent.

The Shield was such a great show. When i first started watching it i didn't know if i really gonna like it since it was on FX instead of a channel like HBO. I was used to the R rated and sometimes worse shows on HBO like OZ, Sopranos etc but i gave The Shield a shot and loved it! I used to laugh sometimes when the characters didn't curse but would almost or change the word fuck to frig Lol but later seasons got heavier and i was great. It also introduced me to other FX shows like "Rescue Me" with Dennis Leary another great show!

First episode had me hooked! Loved it!

Vic Mackey was a cop who, metaphorically speaking, survived at the expense of losing all of his limbs. I would hardly consider that a victory, in fact, some may even interpret Vic's penultimate outcome as a fate worse than death. That having been said, if a continuation of the series were to ever be put into action, I could see a 2-3 hour movie being made to finalize everything, with a narrative being told primarily, if not exclusively, from Dutch's perspective.

Don't forget that Walton Goggins stayed on the FX channel in his other amazing role on the popular crime drama Justified.

Hell yeah!!!!!! Love the shield. This along with Nip/Tuck made FX. And how the writer talks about his home town in the last couple episodes when referring to Jane the Dinosaur

I have all 7 DVDs and have watched the entire series 3 times from start to end. The Shield was the 2nd best show ever on TV next to the 1960s Twilight Zone.

This series is so good!, The sad and weird thing is that I have completely forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me of this underrated gem! I will start rewatching the series again right after this video!

This show was phenomenal. I watched all but two episodes live as they aired. Thank you for showing it some love here, it really deserves it.

I was a fan from the beginning of The Shield and loved it all the way through. This is an excellent summary and analysis of The Shield.

Great analysis of the show...spot on. I watched it from start to finnish as it aired. No binge watching lol.

Please make a 3h video about the shield. I can never get enough of it , still to this day , and nobody talks abiut it .....

Micheal Chiklis was awesome on The Shield.

Man, I LOVED this show but now a'days every precinct is its own Rampart scandal. Watching cops get away with murder isn't fun anymore.

The Shield has been in my Top 5 for over a decade and will remain one of my all-time favorite TV shows. Similar to the other shows in my Top 5, I was hooked from the first episode. I bought the entire series on DVD for $15 during my first deployment to Iraq. Honestly, if the price wasn't so intriguing I probably would've never watched the show, but thankfully I decided to buy it because where we were stationed didn't have Internet. Anyway, I binged the first season in a little over a week and then started recruiting some of my battle buddies to check it out as well. Everyone loved it and before I knew it they were asking to borrow the DVD set for the seasons that I had already finished so that they could catch up. Everyone in the cast gave great performances and the writing was excellent. It has been off the air for 15 years but I still see Michael Chiklis as Vic no matter what I see him in. On another note, FX makes some really good series (Atlanta, Dave, Sons of Anarchy, etc.) and Snowfall is next on my watchlist. I am thinking about rewatching The Shield after I finish Snowfall but honestly, there are so many shows on my watchlist already that it seems impossible at this point.

My favorite show ever!!! I can't believe this hasn't blown up with KZfaq culture. I can't say enough good stuff. It was AGONIZING when I watched it On FX and had to wait to watch the next episode.

This show is so underrated and I think unfairly overshadowed by the Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. I think it’s on par with those two… maybe arguably better than Breaking Bad at least.

I agree, watched it when it first came out. I need to watch it again.

i remember waiting each week for it. i loved it!

The Shield is one of the best TV shows EVER EVER EVER to air on TV in the history of TV. No bad season, great acting, good scripts( credit Kurt) good actors and characters. That's a winning hand

The Shield is an all time great. Anyone who's watched it won't ever forget the 1st and last episode (still have chills remembering the last scene). A must see. You forgot to mention that Walter Goggins was also incredible in Justified.

For the longest time this was my absolute favorite tv show. Breaking Bad eventually topped it, but damn The Shield deserves more praise. Kinda sad it’s been somewhat forgotten. Walton Goggins is probably one of the most entertaining and talented actors of the last 20 years, and I so glad that he didn’t get the boot from the show as originally intended. His character arc in this series is incredible. Michael Chiklis also does a phenomenal job of making you want to root for a guy who is honestly not a very good person. The casting in this show was very good ( most of the time ) and has one of the best Forrest Whitaker performances ever. Anthony Anderson gives an amazingly intimidating performance I didn’t expect from him. Claudette, Dutch, Lem, Ronnie, hell even Billings were all amazing characters and played perfectly. The only gripe I had was this: (SPOILER) WHY THE HELL DIDNT VIC ASK FOR IMMUNITY FOR RONNIE LIKE HE DID CORRINE?!?!?!?! He knew he was fucking Ronnie over during his “confession” to get the ICE job, so it still pisses me off that he didn’t negotiate a deal for Ronnie!!!! UGH!!!! Still an amazing show though lol

Man i love this show growing up i couldn't wait for every new episode, i just recently re-watched the series on hulu and its still amazing

Vic took shortcuts to put a lot of very dangerous people away. He didn't frame innocents. That's why he's so well liked.

I can't believe I almost missed a Jesse Shade video covering one of my favorite TV shows. JoBlo, you really gotta put Jesse's name, as well as other reviewers, in the title. His style is my favorite among all of them, he can draw through his own name at this point.

I watched this show 3 times and you make me want to rewatch it a 4th time now.

One of my all time favorites.

One of the greatest show ever. Period.

The ending was infuriatingly wrong, but that was a good thing. What a trick to pull, amazing.

Great video" Can you do one on "The Sopranos"?

Very raw, hit a lot of nerves. Loved this show❤

I was in that group of people rooting for Vic most of the time. But then something happened in the series finale between Vic and Claudette and in that moment it was complete switch and I found myself routing for Claudette. I think that's benchmark of great writing.

You should check out The Shattered Shield. A podcast some folks did a few years back. They interviewed a lot of the actors and writers including Michael Chiklis.

Vic killing Terry in the first episode is what hooked me right away. I remember watching it while I was still in high school. Sitting through commercials, having to wait for months in between seasons, and still being so excited to see the new episode. For some reason, in the era of "binge-watching" an entire TV series, I only recently re-watched the whole series. I watched all 7 seasons over the span of not even 2 weeks. All I can say is WOW It's even better than I remembered it. The acting, the writing, the pace of the show, the editing, the DRAMA, was just incredible.

I still own the full series on DVD. 🤣

This is my all time favorite show

pretty much my all time favorite show. have watched every episode at least 4 or 5 times. when ever i start seeing someone new if it seems like its going to last a bit and she can put up with me i'll show her the first episode and they are hooked. even on multiple viewings when watching with someone who hasnt seen it you are sort of experiencing it for the first time again through their eyes

family meeting the best episode in television history

This was one of the most consistently excellent shows on TV and it stuck the landing

Great show with an amazing cast

I recently re-watched it with my 13 year old son and it’s crazy how little explaining I had to do. Also surreal watching it because I’m now a cop. When I was a kid I knew it was based on the Rampart district (thanks to reading about the show on forums lol). I thought it was exaggerated stories of things that real dirty cops did. Knowing what I know now, pretty much every department has a strike team and they usually do some really shitty things that they shouldn’t be doing. I’m fortunate to be far removed from it. But I can also see how Mackey did what he did, similar to how Walt in Breaking Bad turned into a monster over several seasons.

My favorite show of all times! Solid writing and tremendous characters from beginning to end

Been viewing your site for quite awhile now..I've enjoyed everything you guys cover..Very comprehensive;informative and entertaining..I will say I believe like any TV shows in history there's always some exaggeration;even so-called"gritty realism."..I think it's the same here..And what was said about sensitivity and what shouldn't be shown nowadays;a lot of these shows were made after incidents like Rodney King..So there's always going to be that..I also think just like in real life unfortunately and unfairly cops are damned if they do and damned if they don't a little too much..That's bearing in mind the corrupt ones of course..There is the underbelly as what is shown in the show..But i've met and know of through others good&bad cops..Also it's hard to have sympathy for most criminals..Especially the types in The Shield..As far as regular citizens it's especially hard when the justice system many times seems to put more importance on perps as victims and victims as perps !

One of the greatest shows ever made!

The shield was excellent me and my older bro use to watch it religiously but eventually stopped watching it due to work schedules and didnt finish it 😢

Two part finale was some of the best and most intense television I have ever seen.

The pilot episode ending with the murder is what made this show so dramatic and instantly hooked me the first time I saw it, I knew it was going to be crazy great. I'm glad they didn't string it through the whole first season, otherwise that may not have quickly hooked me into the show.

To think Michael Chiklis' previous foray into police drama was the Commish.

I just rewatched it recently. "Just another daaaaaay!!" 😎

Bawwitdabaw playing at Two-Times break in scene of Ep1 made the twist perfect and want more.

A lot of people say that Six Feet Under has the best series finale, and it is good, but I think The Shield's is even better. For broadcast television, The Shield had amazing writing and cinematography, especially back then. As a gritty cop show, most of the series had fast pacing with quick cuts, but the final season got away with longer, more thoughtful shots and dialogue that gave it a cinematic feel. In case you're curious, the real "Farmington" is the rough MacArthur Park/Westlake neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, immediately west of downtown L.A.'s financial district. (Not to be confused with Westlake Village, which is a separate wealthy city in L.A. County near Malibu.)

Don't forget that Walton Goggins stayed on FX in an amazing on the popular series Justified as well.

I remember watching this show as a kid and absolutely loving it, such an awesome series.

Great show, with the best series finale of all time, imho.

That was a good series!!!! my favorite at that time along with Nip/Tuck!

Truly Innovative and before it's time. Still holds up.

THANK YOU!!!!!!! That's the same reason I had to stop watching. It was messing with my anxiety that bad! 😰

One of my all time favorites, by far. But I agree that there are moments that are hard to get through. I had to watch a lot of comedies after the last time I rewatched it. I realized later that the thing that kept drawing me back was, despite the moral greyness and sometimes disturbing content and characters, I just loved spending time with them and watching all their wacky shenanigans play out. There's most often a point in each episode where I say to myself: "oh boy, how are they going to get themselves out of this one?!" That's a major reason I enjoyed the Harry Potter books so much, too. 😁

What an effn awesome show

My brother goes on and on about this show. 1st of all it's the greatest cop show ever. 2nd, I had to take a break from it too! I couldn't take the intensity anymore. I had to get into something a lil more tame like Sons of Anarchy. 🤷

One of the very first shows I got hired on as a production assistant

One of my favourite programmes

I love Dutch! You know why? Because he was always hungry. Hungry...like the wolf. Seriously, one of the best shows in the history of TV and easily the best of the early 2000s for me.

Man, I'd forgotten how many great actors were on this show. You don't mention Kurt Sutter, who was also a producer on the show and how he took so many actors from the Shield over to Sons of Anarchy. It was practically a Shield reunion at times.

Wow, watching this was nuts. So many faces that have blown up since then. Crazy. Like watching an old In Living Color episode.

Jesse you need to do this entire channel

So good!!!😊

An absolute gem. I remember watching every episode riveted to the TV. If you liked this show I highly recommend Dead Wood!

Thank you, The Shield was so freaking good and terribly underrated. The money train fiasco kept you on the edge of the seat.