Instead of re-hashing favorite Six Feet Under episodes, which I might do anyway just for the hell of it, I am going with the best cop show ever, yes, better than Hill Street Blues and The Shield...not sure how many people here have watched this show or if they are a mega-fan like I am but it is one of my three favorite shows. It was groundbreaking and the executive producers, Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana had major control, something that Lynch and Frost had started with the creative control they had over Twin Peaks. The entire series was shot on location in Baltimore using hand-held cameras the vast majority of the time. I just started watching it from the beginning again. This list only goes through season 6...I still haven't bought the 7th and final season...this was actually hard to just pick 10...so I didn't... 

1.- 3. "The City That Bleeds" (directed by Tim Hunter), "Dead End" & "End Game" (a three parter from Season 3). Steve Buscemi has a guest appearance in "End Game"

4. "Three Men and Adena" - (from season 1). An episode that is set entirely in the interrogation room ("The Box" as they call it). This episode won an Emmy for writing. Andre Braugher and Kyle Secor are awesome in this episode.

5. "Every Mother's Son" - one of the greatest episodes of television I have ever seen.(from season 3) 

6. "Crosetti" (from season 3) 

7. "The Subway", guest appearance by Vincent D'Onofrio (from season 6)

8. "Thrill of the Kill" (another Tim Hunter episode from season 4)

9. "Prison Riot", guest appearance by Charles S. Dutton (from season 5)

10. "Justice" (parts 1 & 2), guest appearance by Bruce Campbell (from season 4)

11. "Colors", guest appearance by David Morse (season 3), had to add this one to the list...

and for Twin Peaks fans..."Wu's on First" (from season 5) had a good guest appearance by Joan Chen and another great guest appearance (from season 4) was Lily Tomlin in "The Hat", one of her finest performances in my opinion 

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

I've never seen Homicide: Life on the Street but I have watched Oz.  Until it got to hard to take.  I think it was an episode where one guy had an eye gouged out while another inmate -- while nude and deranged in solitary confinement, rubbed his feces all over his body. Not in an artful manner as in Quills' Marquis de Sade.  Fecal content on TV-film is more of a turn-off than on screen vomiting.  Anyway I question the veracity of the Oz depiction of life behind bars and wonder if there isn't even ONE convict who enjoys sitting in his cell reading books.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Right.  And the guy who's "lucky" enough to be put into isolation doesn't even take the time to enjoy his solitude before he's smearing his body with feces. 

It's probably a lot different in women's prisons.  Martha Stewart did just fine. 

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

She'll be fine.  The city doesn't want that law suit.  She'll be in her cell 23 hours a day.  I can't see how the experience will be too dreadful for her and I'm sure she'll prosper from it.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Yes, Levinson and Fontana were the executive producers of both Homicide and Oz. Also, David Simon whose non-fiction book was the basis for Homicide also is the creative force behind The Wire (not sure if or how much Levinson and Fontana are involved with this one)I haven't seen it but I heard it is kick ass. I did watch some of Oz when I had HBO like 5 years ago and I liked what I saw of it. A lot of the actors on it have been in Homicide episodes and in episodes of the many incarnations of Law and Order. When The Sopranos are over, Susan, I highly recommend you start renting Homicide from the beginning, I think it is right up your alley.   

update: i was looking for a few Homicide clips to put up here for Susan and I found this...it's too cool....

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns_zjWi0rKg

I found this clip from the interrogation episode from season 1 - Three Men and Adena

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vd5LhZoniQ

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love."