I'm all for more Westerns on television. It's a genre that lends itself well to the ongoing storytelling format that a regular TV series allows. So when I saw an article that FX was gearing up Reconstruction, a series set in the post-Civil War era of American history, I was pretty excited.

Creators Joshua Brand and Peter Horton thought it would make a good allegory for today's world, dealing with the economic crisis and even the ongoing war. "How does one heal after (a war)? How do you find your humanity again?" asked Horton. These are things the show hopes to deal with.

It centers around Jason, an East Coaster who comes back from the war changed. He finds refuge in a small town in Missour, where the saga will unfold. All of this was great, until I got to one line in the Reuters story: "Brand, the co-creator of St. Elsewhere, is writing the script for the project, which will include magical elements, with thirtysomething actor-turned-director Horton attached to take the helm." Magical elements? What?! Why?

It may have been the Me Decade.

But in TV land, the sisters were doin' it for themselves and finally getting respect as cops, war nurses and working moms; iconic shows like 'Hill Street Blues,' 'St. Elsewhere' and 'L.A. Law' would forever change (for the better) cop, medical and legal dramas; and no idea was too high concept to fill a primetime spot (time-travelling physicist? check; housewife-turned-CIA op? check; New York City beauty in love with a subterranean monster? check).

The bottom line: They all add up to 10 years of fine channel surfing -- and our awesome list of the 40 best series of the 1980s.

It's not easy winnowing more than 50 years of small-screen gems into a list of 50.

But AOL TV's picks of the top TV dramas include the most brilliant doctors and lawyers, the angst-iest teens, sci-fi series that transcend their genre molds, family dramas that both warm and break your heart, terrorist- and mobster-fighting heroes ... and a show that combined the best of family and gangster drama into one unforgettable series.

Click through to see all 50 of the best TV dramas of all time.

As AOL Television continues their look at the 50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever with their Top 10, we here at TV Squad are also looking at television comedy, but with a slightly skewed difference. Last week, we took a look at the Saturday Night Live cast members from 1996 to 2006 that made it to the big time. This week, we get a bit more serious.

There are those in the industry who say that it is easier to go from acting in a drama to acting in a comedy than it is the other way around. Yet, as you will see from the list we've compiled after the jump, there are plenty of comedic actors who have jumped from the world of comedy films, stand-up comedy, and television sitcoms into the more serious world of drama. In many cases they have had even greater success than they did on the other side of the tracks. There have even been instances where they stayed in the drama genre and never went back to being funny.

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