Homeland (2011-Present)
Almost exactly 10 years after the premiere of “24,” "Homeland" arrived (adapted from an Israeli series by former "X-Files," "Buffy" and "Angel" writers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa) on Showtime to give a more nuanced picture of the way the government’s counter-terrorism activities really work. While men with guns like Jack Bauer still exist in this world, they are not the crime-solvers. They are the blunt instruments wielded by analysts whose primary weapons are spreadsheets and intelligence reports. Ten years on, the psychic damage of the war on terror has also begun to show, with Carrie Mathison’s bipolar disorder used as both her key weakness and a symptom of her brilliance.
