more than the dialog in Peter Berg's phenomenal football drama, which gave Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton the roles of a lifetime and (if there's any justice)will secure stardom for newcomers Gaius Charles and Taylor Kitsch." For 2007, The Sopranos and Mad Men headed Johnston's list. Commenting on The Sopranos, he wrote: "Lots of TV dramas are compared to novels these days, but few others (maybe only The Wire) have achieved the scope of literary fiction while painting between the lines of small screen convention." In a debate with fellow critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz, which was published in Slant Magazine, Johnston advocated for The Sopranos as the greatest TV drama ever. On Mad Men: "Mere weeks after The Sopranos ended its run, David Chase protege Matthew Weiner offered up the next great TV drama. Drawing on the stories of John Cheever and the films of Billy Wilder for inspiration, Weiner's chronicle of the advertising world in the early 1960s instantly established itself as one of the medium's greatest studies of class in American society." Johnston wrote analytical recaps of episodes of The Wire, Mad Men and Friday Nights Lights, which are available in the archives of Slant Magazines blog The House Next Door. References External links In memoriam: Andrew Johnston, 1968–2008 | Things to Do, Blogs, Time Out New York blog | reviews, guides, things to do, film Andrew Johnston, 1968—2008 | Movies | reviews, guides, things to do, film http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2008/10/death-proof-the-life-in-andrew-johnston/ American film critics Earlham College alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni 1968 births 2008 deaths People from Washington, D.C. Deaths from cancer in New York (state)