In past years, the summer television season has been a wasteland, a barren time where reruns reign and misfires go to die. However, this summer proved to be an exception, with absolutely fantastic television that kept many out of the heat and glued to their screens.

While it started before the summer began, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” brought out its best in the final episodes of the famed show, making major moves to set up the show’s endgame. The captivating fantasy series about wars between families and dark forces in the fictional land of Westeros featured one of the most impressive battle scenes ever filmed with “Battle of the Bastards,” while the finale, “The Winds of Winter,” was simply one of the finest hours of television in history, ripe with fantastic direction and writing, powerful acting and some of the most memorable music the show has ever used. If “Game of Thrones” wasn’t being recommended enough before, this season (without a doubt its best yet) only fueled the fires of its audience’s obsession.

Also on HBO, the grim miniseries “The Night Of” painted a dark portrait of racism, justice and violence in New York as it followed a young Muslim man (Riz Ahmed, “Nightcrawler”) through the horrors of the criminal system after he wakes up to find his fling from the night murdered with no memory of what happened to her. The show is a mesmerizing slow-burn highlighted by perfect performances from Ahmed as well as John Turturro (“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) as his eccentric lawyer. The show is an eerie and timely look at modern issues under the guise of tightly crafted procedural. Fans of HBO crime classics such as “The Wire” and “True Detective” will be equally enthralled with this thoughtful and moody trip into the heart of darkness. 

Straying into the weird but wonderful, Hollywood funnymen Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg partnered with AMC to take a controversial and frequently considered “unfilmable” graphic novel called “Preacher” and morph it into a highly entertaining and stylish series unlike anything else on television. With the story of a supernaturally gifted priest (Dominic Cooper, “Captain America: The First Avenger”) who enlists the help of a vampire (Joseph Gilgun, “Misfits”) and his criminal ex (Ruth Negga, “Loving”) to find God, the show is a darkly funny and violent exploration of the ugly side of America and religion. Featuring fascinating performances and a charming embrace of the weird, “Preacher” is a must-see for anyone who likes their TV on the stranger side.

Speaking of the strange, it would be impossible to talk about the summer’s best television without mentioning the best of them all, Netflix’s runaway hit “Stranger Things.” An 80s love letter about the disappearance of a young boy and the quest undertaken by his friends, his family, a police chief and a mysterious and powerful girl to save him, the show is a highlight of everything wonderful about modern television. Beautifully shot, ingeniously written and featuring the absolute best cast of the year (there have never been child actors more talented), “Stranger Things” is more than worthy of the binge-time associated with it. The final episode, “The Upside Down,” is in particular an 80s film lover’s dream; the episode is filled with unforgettable imagery, incredible excitement and emotional punches that certainly set it up as not only one of the great episodes of television this year, but perhaps ever. Catch up and feast your eyes upon a brand new and well-deserved cultural obsession that pushes the limits of great television.