Top 5s Created 10 years ago2014-06-16 08:23:18 UTC by Archie

Hopefully get some chat going with this thread. The topic will change weekly, but the basis will always be "Top 5..."
Post your top 5 in the category and discuss it with others. I'm gonna start with TV Shows.

In order;
1. Avatar: The Last Airbender
2. Arrested Development
3. Archer
4. Parks and Rec
5. Spaced

Narrowly knocked off the list is Breaking Bad.
Avatar is one of the most difficult shows to sell to people because on the surface it is just an Americanised anime kids' show. But goddamn if it isn't one of the best realised fantasy worlds ever created with a global, looming threat and a planned three act structure spanning three full seasons. It's phenomenal story-telling.

Have not seen most of the shows Archie has on the list, but il have to check them out.

Here's mine:
1. Stargate Universe (SGU)
2. Under the Dome
3. The Mentalist
4. Falling Skies
5. Game of Thrones

As with Archie Breaking Bad doesn't make it there since it, atleast to me, has an negative atmosphere really makes me feel like im sick just by watching, its a good show, but yeah. SGU was the best spin-off of the stargate series by far, having the story be set in a moving isolated environment really excited me rather then the gate being stationary on earth etc... I'm disappointed that they cancelled it GoT makes the list just because if there is a problem with a character they solve it in the most quickest and easy way by just killing the character and being done with it, man would i love some movies to do the same.

Top 5, eh? Hmmm... But it's like choosing between my children! I love them all!
There's not a whole lot that I would say I really love. 5 might be a hard number to reach, actually, but here goes...

1. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K)
2. The Ricky Gervais Show
3. Whose Line Is It Anyway
4. Arrested Development
5. ... I just can't think of a fifth. At least, not one that particularly deserves the spot over the others in my head. I HAVE NO FIVE
Won't list the honourable mentions.

While I didn't grow up with MST3K, I wish I had (and like to think I did anyway). The Ricky Gervais Show got introduced to me by the brother about, ooh... a year to two years ago? Brilliant stuff. Will have to check out all the other stuff they've done at some point. Whose Line, well, not as affable to it as the others, but it can be as funny, if not quite often funnier, than the others, so it gets a top spot. And Arrested Development... 'nuff said, really.

I've watched essentially no television in the last two-and-a-half years, so I've missed Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and all the other stuff I've heard people banging on about since then. And you know what? I really don't mind. (Actually, a friend forced me to watch a handful of TWD and the first episode of GoT. It didn't help.) The sole exception is Archer, which is pretty good.

I thought Stargate Universe was widely regarded as the worst Stargate. (I can't remark much myself, other than the odd episode of SG-1, I've not really watched any of them.)

Either people are strange or im different, but there's always a niche group of people who liked the unliked shows.

Walking Dead's first season was quite all right, but then came what comes after every zombie flick ever made - there's nothing to show anymore, so it was a steady decline to where i would only watch it while i wasted time on the train home.

I must admit I never made it past four episodes of Stargate Universe. Thought it was awful, which really surprised me since I'm a big Stargate fan and a big Bobbie Carlyle fan. I thought I'd forgive it for more than I did.
But then I was already slightly bitter since SG-1 saw a massive decline in story cohesion & quality as well, which is an utter shame. Season 7 of SG-1 is, I think, one of the finest examples of action Sci-Fi ever broadcast. The two-parter episode 'Heroes' was truly touching, saddening and hilarious all at once. Then season 8 forgot how to Stargate. Then season 9 was just embarrassing and I stopped watching.

I've been through all of SG-1 twice, including the direct-to-DVD movies. I... still like it, despite MacGyver's departure.

This question is way harder than I thought, I don't think I can narrow it down. The only show I think I can definitely say is a top 5-er is Blackadder.

The others I can't possibly choose from are Futurama, QI, Arrested Development, Parks & Rec, Avatar (goooood), A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Batman TAS, FMA, Cowboy Bebop...

Stargate Universe was a great show in concept, somewhat less so in practice imo; Don't get me wrong I still really enjoyed SGU! Falling Skies is another example of a show which I loved the actors/premise/production, the show just falls a little short somehow story-wise.

My tastes seem to change very quickly nowadays, and some genres are just dead to me now, e.g., The Walking Dead was my favorite show 2 years ago, and now I just don't think i'll ever watch it again...

Current quick top-5 shows
1. Stargate SG-1
2. Check it out! With Dr. Steve Brule
3. Game Of Thrones(my rating of this show has gone way down this season)
4. Burn notice
5. Big Bang Theory

I've never seen Arrested Development because i don't have cable, but all my friends love it. so I'll watch it eventually.. There are a lot of other shows I follow, but just haven't had time to keep up with, like: Archer, Orange is the new black S02, Californication, Clone Wars, Futurama etc, etc, etc.

Quick top-5 shows of all time
1. Original Star Trek(the predecessor of all the great series to follow!)
2. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles(I'm a Terminator nut, so..)
3. Firefly
4. Farscape
5. Lexx (the best low-budget sci-fi TV show ever, imo)

So many other great shows.. MST3000, Trailer Park Boys, South Park, Lost, Smallville just too many to list...

Rufee: Under The Dome looks cool, I've never heard of it before! =P

I think I cried when SGU was cancelled.
Why on earth would they replace the Friday night SGU slot with WWE wrestling on the SYFY channel is beyond me. Freaking stupid producers. That show had nothing but fantastic ratings even when they moved it to Tuesday Nights.

It followed the story perfectly and you never knew if Rush was good or bad...
sigh. rufee, you brought back a world of emotion for me.

My top 5:
1) Stargate (SG1+Atlantis+Universe)
2) Archer
3) Walking Dead
4) Game of Thrones
5) Robot Chicken

Why:
Stargate is a show that could actually happen. If we found a piece of alien tech like that, the government would take over, cover it up, and dump a lot of money into understanding it. I also feel that the mission planning and general handling of some of the missions would be carried out the same. It's just far fetched enough and there's plenty of comic relief. It's cheesy, but hilarious, and just a well put together show. Atlantis was OK with the overly cliche' baddies and I wanted Teyla to spontaneously combust half the time. Universe was incredible. Absolutely perfect as a modern TV show. Well directed, the graphics were spot on and I think it had the strongest cast even though they didn't rely on previously known roles (Carter, Jackson, O'Neill etc..) Chloe could have been a better actor but she played a tough role. All in all I was very very disappointed that they cut it off because it was at a point of limitless potential - especially when they reached the revelation they had at the last episode... Shakes fist at executives

Archer is pure magic. The comedic timing is always spot on and even the worst episode of Archer is better than 90% of Family Guy episodes. Nothing more to say about Archer than WATCH IT.

Walking Dead is painful to watch sometimes. It's slow at times and some of the people are stupid as shit, but the last season's finale was well done and I can't wait for it to pick up again. There are villains you HATE and when they go down, they go down in style - which is fantastic.

GoT is fantastic. I've read the first book and I was happy to see the first season follow it well. Like all book->show/movie things, you miss some details, but the movies really try to tie everything in with subtle details that would go unnoticed to the general watcher. I highly recommend investing the time to read the books if you're a fan of the show. Upon reading after watching, its easier to put faces and voices to characters and I say reading after watching Enhances the books. It's a fantastic 'ride' if you will.

Robot Chicken just barely beat out Aqua Team Hunger Force because it reminds me of Kablam from my childhood. Extremely stupid sketch/situational comedy complete with highly offensive material = Gold.

Archie - That's good to know about the Avatar Series. I'll have to see if it's on Netflix. I'll need something to watch after I'm caught up on GoT, and I re-watch SGU.

As far as stargate goes, the Arc was supposed to end at season 8, and the producers didn't know they were going to make it past 5. You're right about Heroes too (Amanda Tapping Directed those, and The eps she wrote/directed were some of the best IMO) I loved the 100th and 200th episodes, but I think it would do you well to watch the final season. The last episode of SG-1 lets you see a few things you've probably wanted to see for the whole show. It's a huge stretch as far as possibility, but you made it so far - grin and bear it, you might actually like it.

Enjoying the amount of Archer love on display here. It's so good!

I'll have to check out SGU again, then! Obviously four episodes was not judging it fairly, does it take a while to find its feet? I wonder if it's because I've always been a big ST:Voyager fan so I've already seen the beacon of humanity travelling through alien space plotline.

That's good to know about the Avatar Series. I'll have to see if it's on Netflix.

It's definitely on UK Netflix, so unless Nickelodeon have exclusive rights in the US, you should be able to see it there. You'll probably enjoy it right from the start, but it's about three quarters of the way through season 1 where it just clicks and becomes a total binge-watching show. I think I watched all of season 2 in a weekend, and the three-part finales are DISASTROUSLY good.

Strider and other Avatar fans, what do you make of Korra so far? I thought season 1 was terrible. Real shame as the baddy was brilliantly scary and a lot of the world is cool, but it just seemed so rushed compared to the absolute deliberateness of everything in Avatar. Also I could do without soap-levels of teen angst and love triangle bullshit completely mis-handled and stupid.
Season 2 didn't start off much better, but the last 6 or so episodes are absolute dynamite. The crushing defeat right at the end is ultimately crushing. Brave, brave writing.

I'll wait for the next list. I barely watch TV and definitely don't have a top 5 of currently running shows.

I'll wait for the next list. I barely watch TV and definitely don't have a top 5 of currently running shows.

Older ones sure:

1. Game of Thrones
2. Red Dwarf (up to season 9)
3. Bottom
4. My Mad Fat Diary
5. ...

yeah

[edit]I clicked "edit" dag nabbit!

SGU is pretty awkward up until the first mid-season finale.
Once everything cools down between the two generals (the asian one and the old disgruntled one) the show gets better. It's really the major roadblock in the storyline.
There's one specific episode that marks the turning point (in my mind) for the show... it becomes more about surviving than getting home, and its at that point where the show really takes off; it's about halfway through the first season - you were almost there.

Archie: I don't really understand the amount of dislike Korra gets. From the get-go I think I instinctively treated each season as a small-scale independent story and enjoyed them that way, though S2 really did up the ante. It might do with the fact that I watched Avatar and then Korra S1 fairly close together, so I didn't have to sit through all the wait and rampart speculation.

The teen love-y stuff didn't even bother me, it felt fairly appropriate given her age and overdeveloped ego. She humbles out a fair bit over the course of the seasons, too. I think it's great seeing a character who starts with a such an inflated opinion of herself getting all that sense constantly beat into her in the harshest of ways (and actually becoming a better Avatar for it).

Its still a good thing they left it on a cliff hanger, but still why the hell cancel it was the only normal sci-fi series to watch.
Under the Dome is a good concept that lacks in execution maybe, idk. Its watchable, but you can tell it could be better.

I really like LOST, i like it more for the Dharma part rather than the Jacob/Smoke monster thing, so season 6 was a total derail for me. What can i say im a sucker for bases on islands.

^
I've been wanting to make a lost-themed map for forever.. How you could you not love a secret research facility on a uninhabited, mysterious, tropical island =P

I can do this!

1. Stargate: SG1
2. Doctor Who
3. Castle
4. Attack on Titan
5. Community

That was kind of hard. had to leave off SG:Atlantis/SG:U and Firefly, as well as a couple others like the Avatars(book 3 hype train for Korra).

SG:U's ending was a fucking disgrace, and now they're trying to 'reboot' the SG brand. Well it's done for.

I think the hate for Korra came from how in the first season she was immature and shit, then she mellowed out, then at the start of the second season she straight up went back to being immature and shit, and then mellowed out, again. And because HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO FUNNY LOVABLE BOLIN?!?!?! HE HAS A CUTE FUCKING FERRET THAT DOES CUTE SHIT KORRA. FUCK YOU. Bosami 2014.

Community is great, I totally forgot about it! I could never get into the new Doctor Who, not for lack of trying!(I only liked about 10% of seasons 1-4) ='(

Other great shows
-La Femme Nikita(the most underrated, fantatic action/spy drama ever)
-Nikita(Really good reboot of above)
-Heroes Save the Cheerleader, Save the world!
-Buffy/Angel Series
-E.R. (Fantastic show, even dated as it is)
-Norther Exposure
-Children's Hospital!
-So many more....

Will definitely Check out the Last Airbender Series, never heard of that one either! =P

0: Game of Thrones
1: Firefly
2: Dark Angel
3: Dollhouse
4: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
................................. I hate Fox.

Has no-one seen The Ricky Gervais Show, or am I just the only one who loves it?

I've never seen it.
I don't watch TV until my group of friends tells me there's a really good show on.
Else i'm on the computer

Like Strider I'm having trouble with a concrete list of top 5 TV shows, there are a couple of shows that I really like, and then a bunch of others that fall into the "pretty good" category after those...

Top 3 is fairly easy:
1. Dragon Ball
2. Avatar
3. Firefly

QI probably makes it in the top 5 as well.

I haven't really seen any of the really big recent shows (Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, etc) as they don't really appeal to my tastes. I tried watching Breaking Bad, but I had to stop after 10 episodes because it was just way too intense and I just couldn't bring myself to watch it.

As for Korra, I think the show is good, but it's reasonably different to Avatar so I can see why some people dislike it. The second season was definitely an improvement, the last episodes especially so. I'm looking forward to book 3.

A lot of western TV shows tend to annoy me in that they don't actually have a story to tell (with an actual ending), because there's the culture of milking shows for as long as possible until they burn horribly. On very rare occasions you get shows that work well with that limitation (like Stargate SG-1), even even they get old and die eventually. Though I couldn't watch it, one thing I like about Breaking Bad is that it actually ended without dragging on forever.

I find myself watching a lot more anime shows than western TV these days. Aside from a few long-running shows, anime shows almost always last 13, 26, or (rarely) 52 episodes, and then they end. They have a story to tell and they tell it, and then they stop. Shows don't get milked to death, sequels are rare, and the material is kept fresh. It's a much more interesting medium to consume for me. Shows are allowed much more creativity because they aren't so limited by viewer statistics. Shows are shorter and more numerous, which means there's a massive amount of variety to choose from (something like 50-100 new anime shows air every quarterly season). I wish western TV was more like that. It would allow some of the crazier (and more interesting) ideas to surface.

I've never really enjoyed any anime. I don't know why that is, really... they just don't tend to click with me.

One exception I'm aware of is Wolf's Rain. To put it succinctly, it was fuckin' marvellous. (Except for those couple of refrain episodes... I dunno whether that's common in that type of show or not, but hey, they're easy enough to skip over.) Highly recommended.

1. Get a TV.

Don't bother.

The only channel I watch on tv is Discovery which is a still half decent. Since here in eu we dont get shows untill the next season I use "special" tools. Why cant they just have a global channel for good shows, immagine the ratings it would get.

Uh...

1. Breaking Bad
2. Game of Thrones
3. Futurama
4. QI
5. Father Ted

I haven't really watched TV in years. Game of Thrones, I would describe as being good, but not as good as all the hype makes it out to be. I only started watching it because it seemed like I'm the only one who hasn't watched it, but it is good enough to continue watching on its own merits.

I actually started watching Breaking Bad before I heard any hype about it, mainly because I liked Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle and I wanted to see how effectively he could play such a completely different character. However due to lack of time/options for viewing it I am yet to begin watching season 4.

For Futurama, enough said.

QI is excellent. I pity those in the US who can't watch it. (iirc the reason it never made it there was due to issues with licensing the images that show up on the big screens). It's smart, funny, has a varied roster of guests who are almost always hilarious, and it has Stephen Fry in it.

As for Father Ted, if you've spent at least a week in this country and haven't heard anyone referencing a joke from it you must be deaf. It is extremely well loved in Ireland, and I found it does actually live up to the hype.

1. Game of Thrones
2. Breaking Bad
3. Da Vinci's Demons
4. Parks and Rec
5. Uhm.. Tom and Jerry?

1. Heroes
2. Top Gear (or QI, loved them equal)
3. Game of Thrones
4. REvolution
5. Strike Back (season 1)

Another possible one that could be in there is Full Metal Alchemist, if that counts? It's the only anime/TV show I actually enjoyed when recommended.

I've never really enjoyed any anime. I don't know why that is, really... they just don't tend to click with me.

I'm totally the same. I was told I had to watch Akira and I just sat through it like... Kay? Is this it? If that's a genre-defining anime, it's not a genre for me!
That's one of the reasons I was so pleasantly surprised by Avatar. It completely sucked me into the world and characters, which no other anime has ever managed to do for me.

Why cant they just have a global channel for good shows, immagine the ratings it would get.

This exists. It's called Netflix.

Akira mostly defined the turning point for better and more detailed animation. Every scene in that movie is alive.

Akira mostly defined the turning point for better and more detailed animation. Every scene in that movie is alive.

---Tetsu0

I'm seeing a connection...

This exists. It's called Netflix.

You need a VPN to watch it outside US, doesn't count.

Hey now scotch, you're onto something!

Before I start this list, I'd like to say that I am a cartoon person.

1. Breaking Bad
2. Ren & Stimpy
3. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
4. Futurama
5. -

I can't decide my fifth because there are literally like 5 different shows I want to put here that I really like. Ed, Edd, and Eddy as well as Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter's Lab, Codename: Kids Next Door, and even earlier Spongebob episodes. Breaking Bad was the show I watched most recently which is why it is on the top of the list for the moment.

^ Dat Aqua Teen doe!

And how could i forget Breaking Bad?!One of the most satisfying series to watch ever!(There really aren't bad episodes of BB)

Skyler, could you do me a favor? Could you please climb down out of my ass, just this one time? Please honey, get out of my ass?... I'd appreciate it, I really would..

I somewhat agree with Archie when it comes to Akira, I've watched it a few times and I don't really think it's the best anime to introduce someone to the medium. Neon Genesis Evangelion is another show that is commonly recommended as a "starter anime", which is quite inappropriate in my opinion. I'd suggest that anyone who has watched a decent amount of anime should watch Akira, but frankly I would not recommend Evangelion to anybody.

Anyway, I really hope Archie and others don't dismiss anime as a medium simply because you didn't like a single show. The shows recommended by long-time anime-watchers are usually not good introductions to anime. Also, anime is not a single "genre", any more than "live action" is a genre, so there's no "genre-defining" anime in that sense.

For anybody looking for an introduction to anime that deals with a good plot in a mature and non-insane way, I very much recommend any of the following:

• Cowboy Bebop: space western, similar to Firefly
• Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood: fantasy, alchemy, steampunk-ish
• Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex: hard sci-fi (2 seasons)

Edit: removed long-winded rant

1 - Red Dwarf
2 - IT Crowd
3 - The check out (a show in Australia about advertising and stuff, its quite good)
4 - Faulty Towers
5 - Man Vs Food

yeah boi!

Mein:
1. Knight Rider
2. Top Gear
3. Airwolf
4. The Walking Dead
5. Strike Back (OMG SOMEONE ELSE TOO?! =D )

1. Fact or faked, not sure if it will continue. Also haven't watched it in a long time.

2.Survivorman

3.
4.
5.

I don't watch a lot of tv.

1. Fringe
2. Lost
3. IT Crowd
4. Red Dwarf
5. It's got to be motherfuckin' STORAGE HUNTERS YEEAAAHH

Fringe and lost are so good, however lost just got well, lost halfway through. Still one of my favorite shows though. Fringe succeeded where lost failed.

And storage hunters.. it's just amazing.
"ONE HUNDRERETHD TWO HUDNDEDD 3 FPSOFDOJSJTDSHT"
The auctioneer has no idea how to pronounce words, it's just fantastic.

1. Top gear
2. All science shows out there
3. Simpsons, Futurama, Family guy
4. Stargate
5.

I am a man of science. I like all science shows out there. I like top gear mostly because its great humor. It fun to laugh about funny jokes. I rarely watch any cartoons, because watch science shows. I remember that I watched Stargate many years ago.

Couldn't think of fifth one, because I don't watch TV that often.

Science shows? Should I recommend Look Around You?

The auctioneer has no idea how to pronounce words, it's just fantastic.

Its a whole other language, you are looking at this wrong.

Fringe was another really-great series, totally forgot about it Instant!

Should I recommend Look Around You?

This is one of those shows that just floors me laughing. Watch it with the right group of people and even jokes you've heard a hundred times before will have you doubled over, tears streaming down your face.
Watch out for the release of the new albumen! It's out now!

So. Good.

Hey now, little mouse.

One week in 5 hours 11 minutes.
New topic soon?

Top 5 Expansion Packs / DLC / Add-ons

Remember the good old days when an expansion pack was an expansion pack and provided days and days of extra content? Good times. List your top 5 and why!

1. The Shivering Isles [The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion] (2007)
2. Dark Crusade [Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War] (2006)
3. Opposing Force [Half-Life] (1999)
4. The Conquerors [Age of Empires II - The Age of Kings] (2000)
5. Brave New World [Civilization V] (2013)

This is quite a tricky list to compile. There have been a lot of great expansions packs over the years. Honourable mentions must go to Northern Strike for BF2142, almost every expansion pack for The Sims 3 and the cosmetic items store for Dota 2.

So, reason to my rhyme?

The Shivering Isles is a no-brainer to put in my number one spot. It was Bethesda's apology for the hilarious horse armour controversy (nobody would bat an eyelid at DLC like that today) and oh boy did it make amends. Not only did it add an entirely new region to the game, it also added arguably one of the best characters in gaming history - Sheogorath the Daedric Prince of Madness. This expansion pack added hours of new questing, loads of new items and some of the greatest laugh out loud dialogue trees I've ever experienced. "Wonderful! Time for a celebration... Cheese for everyone! Wait, scratch that. Cheese for no one. That can be just as much of a celebration, if you don't like cheese, true? You've run a maze like a good little rat. But no cheese for you yet. Well, maybe a little."

Dark Crusade is the perfect example of how to do game-altering content in a hugely popular multiplayer game and not split your playerbase and piss off your audience. TAKE. NOTE. BATTLEFIELD.
It added two intense new races (Taking the running total within Dawn of War to 7), tens of new units, tens of new maps and completely reworked the AI of the game. Sounds like it'd completely separate the people who didn't have it from those who did, right? Wrong. Every Dawn of War player got the new content in a patch so they could connect to games hosted by people with the expansion packs even if they didn't have them. They just couldn't play as the new races or host the new maps themselves. This is how you DLC and it must have done wonders for sales. Players without the expansion pack were teased with its glorious content, without ever being ostracised or left out. Even if the content itself wasn't great (but it was great) this expansion deserves to be in this list for that reason alone.

Opposing Force. What do I even need to say? It carried the torch of Half-Life and breathed a whole new life into one of the best game worlds ever realised. I'm sure I don't need to speak of its value here.

The Conquerors was a proper content expansion. Five new playable races, four new full-length campaigns, 26 new techs, new gameplay modes (including the first inclusion of King of the Hill in an RTS) and loads of new maps. I'm pretty sure I've still not seen everything this great expansion added. And considering it was about five pounds and readily available on the high street, it suffered no lack of players enjoying it online.

Brave New World. While there are many modern DLC packs I actually really enjoy, this is the only one I'm going to include on this list. Why? Because as its title suggests, it is brave. Civ V initially got a fairly bad reception from the core Civ 4 audience. It was different. Simplified on the surface, and fans worried that the series had been dumbed down. Of course we now know that beneath the much more accessible front-end, the game is deeper than ever and Firaxis stuck to their guns about it. This latest expansion pack then came along and fucked with the now established systems to such an extent that it's almost an entirely new game again. They did to Civ 5 what Civ 5 did to Civ 4, and as before despite a frosty initial reception, its value has become more than apparent. The game is so rich now and some 200 hours of gameplay in, it's still vastly different every time I play it. Fantastic.

Hard list to make, but here goes:

1. EVE online (not sure if it fits, read on)
2. TF2
Aaand that's about it im afraid.

EVE online really stands out from all because of the way they do it, they obviously have an old game, but they like to spice things up with new ideas with updates to the old systems in the game. Also the updates are free, well you have to pay a subscription fee (or not if your'e good), but its not like WoW where you pay monthly and have to pay for the expansions. The old way used to be 2 updates per year, but now they are rolling out a new system where there are more smaller gradual updates rather than 2 big ones, plus they listen to the community.

TF2, apart from the item nonsense that made the game unplayable as far as i see was good, free updates, new gamemodes, community driven too. If you ask me the game was perfect up until the scout update. But hey its Valve they break all their games after a while what can you do

Oh boy. Not sure I can give a list for this one. There's not many games I've played where I really felt the effects of an expansion pack. Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction is probably my most played one, but I can't remember what it was like without the expansion.
Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge is probably the one I've actually felt the effects of most, because I did play it a bit before we'd got the expansion. To play it vanilla now, it's so... lacking. Yuri's Revenge was pretty well-needed.
What else... I suppose Opposing Force and Blue Shift count, but I don't really think of them that way. They just seem like official mods to me, rather than directly adding to what Half-Life brought.
If I find more, I'll share, but I think I came a few too many years late to appreciate them so.

EDIT: Each big update to Terraria has felt like an expansion to me. Compared to what it used to be, the game is several times bigger.

Well i could add Red Alert 2: YR and Tiberium Sun to the list