You can finally tick it off your watchlist. One of the greatest shows in the history of TV has just been made available to stream. Since 1999, after HBO released The Sopranos, a new Golden Age of Television saw the premiere of numerous prestige shows considered by many to be among the best ever produced.
![[Michael Chiklis in ‘The Shield’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/18/13/newFile-2.jpg)
However, one drama that you might have yet to get around to watching has just been added to Prime Video by Amazon: The Shield. Premiering in 2002, The Shield, created by Shawn Ryan, starred Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey, leader of a Strike Team who uses illegal methods to maintain law and order in Los Angeles.
The series, which achieved a sweat-inducing amount of tension as the net repeatedly closed in on Mackey, clearly inspired Breaking Bad, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest television shows of all time. It has a score of 8.7 on IMDb. Also starring in the series is Walton Goggins, recently Emmy nominated for Fallout, Kenny Johnson, CCH Pounder, Jay Karnes and Catherine Dent, with Glenn Close and Forest Whitaker starring in key roles throughout its seven-season run.
Mackey is one of the biggest antiheroes thrust to the forefront of TV shows during this era, standing tall alongside Tony Soprano (The Sopranos), Walter White (Breaking Bad) and Michael C Hall’s serial killer Dexter Morgan. Chiklis won an Emmy for playing Mackey in 2002, beating Hall, Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Martin Sheen (The West Wing) and Kiefer Sutherland (24).
