This is TV at its finest: good stories, good acting, cliffhangers, and new ideas. While Hollywood and its ilk are busy focussing on an endless outpouring of politically-corrected or social-justice-oriented remakes, the creators of the shows on this list have sought out fresh ideas and novel approaches to TV making. And perhaps best of all, none of these shows are pushing an agenda! We have hand-picked this list not just for being the best of what is being made now, but also those shows that will appeal to Listverse readers....

10 Whirling Dervishes The dervishes of the Mevlevi Order achieve union with the divine through dance. Founded in 1273 by the poet and mystic Rumi, this order derives from Konya in modern-day Turkey. Rumi was born in Afghanistan but migrated westward with this family following the Mongol onslaught. Rumi was introduced to the mystic tradition of dancing through his friend, Shams-e Tabrizi. Following Rumi’s death at the hands of his own son, Sultan Veled, his grandson, and a disciple founded the Mevlevi Order....

10 Neil Dovestone On December 11, 2015, an elderly man walked into the Clarence Pub in Greenfield, England. He asked for the quickest route to walk to the “top of the mountain” even though he wasn’t dressed for such a trip. The following day, his body was found at the top of nearby Saddleworth Moor. He had died from taking strychnine. The man had £130 and some train tickets in his pockets, which showed that he had traveled 320 kilometers (200 mi) from London....

Although this list includes as many major international cases as I could find, a list about tampering is bound to be heavy on U.S. content. There are simply far more tampering cases in the United States than there are anywhere else in the world, and the Food and Drug Administration’s records make information about each of them easy to find. Tampering, by definition, is when a product is altered without the manufacturer’s knowledge, and so the tragic cases in China involving melamine in milk powder (2008) and antifreeze in toothpaste (2007) don’t qualify....

Peter the Great did some incredible things for Russia, but he was mainly working off the idea that if the Europeans were doing something, Russia should be doing it, too. And that led to some absolutely insane decisions. For better or for worse, Peter the Great brought Russia into the modern world—but he did it in some of the strangest ways possible. 10 The Terrible Disguises Of Peter The Great Peter the Great was determined to make Russia a nation that rivaled the greatest European powers....

That said, there are still some classic works of fiction out there that, for one reason or another, have yet to be adapted to film. And while the reasons for this vary from story to story, they all share one thing in common: the fact that they are each brilliant and could all provide a very interesting movie or TV conversion if circumstances ever allow for it. So, let’s take a look at some of them today, ten in fact, and try to see just what it is that makes them so special, as well as some of the reasons why they have yet to make it to screen....

10Orlando Serrell As sad as brain damage is, a tiny percentage of people who suffer from it come out the other end with an unusual new ability. People who gain special abilities through a form of head trauma are called “acquired savants.” In general, savants have extreme mathematical capabilities or can, say, draw the entire city of Rome in striking detail. In 1979, Orlando Serrell was playing a baseball game in elementary school when a stray ball slammed into the side of his head....

10 The Mafia Menagerie Some Mafia bosses in Italy raised their tyranny to “Bond villain” status by threatening people with exotic animals. One mafioso kept a crocodile on his terrace and fed it live rabbits in full view of his neighbors. Local business owners were ordered to pay protection money or be fed to the crocodile the same way. The reptile was about 2 meters (6 ft) long and weighed about 40 kilograms (90 lb)....

It seems that Mr. Titus has not met some of the people on our list. The placenta is the organ that connects the mother’s body to her child. It’s an efficient delivery and filtration system that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. It channels nutrients and oxygen to the growing baby and filters out the baby’s waste products. When the baby is born, the placenta naturally emerges with the newborn through the mother’s vagina or is surgically removed during a C-section....

What better way to start off 2019 on Listverse than to talk about mysteries and aliens? There’s been a new development regarding a classic incident referred to as the “British Roswell.” We also learn about two scientists who claim that the oldest person ever was a fraud. There are also two stories involving creepy-crawlies, and yes, they’re both from Australia. 10 They Came To Rendlesham A new source claims that the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident back in 1980 was a revenge prank by the SAS played on the US Air Force....

We cover a few enigmas this week. There is something really strange happening in a tiny Canadian town, while Spanish authorities are trying to determine the mystery owner of a plane sitting in the Madrid airport. A third conundrum is put to rest as archaeologists rediscover the burial ground of an English explorer lost 150 years ago. In science news, researchers planned one of the most ambitious experiments in history, developed a laser that whispers in your ear, and saw if Spock is wiser than Yoda....

This was a week of mysteries. Some of them were solved—the black sarcophagus, Barclay’s cache, the Inca saywas, and the cratonic roots. Others, like the wreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi and galactic filaments, are still waiting for an answer, although we took a few steps in the right direction. 10 Incas Used Saywas To Mark Astronomical Events Archaeologists, astronomers, and historians worked together to elucidate a mystery behind a series of cairns built in the Inca Empire hundreds of years ago....

We have two space stories this week. One involves NASA investigating the first alleged crime in space, while the other looks at the possible end to the decades-old tradition of astronauts peeing on the bus wheel on the way to a launch. There is also a story that will make arachnophobes sleep with earplugs on, a remarkable discovery made in ancient puma poop, and a stunning look at a ship “lost in time” for a century and a half....

10 ‘Shit’ A piece of early 2000s viral claptrap held that the word “shit” originated from the acronym SHIT, for Ship High In Transit. The story goes that manure transported by ship had to be stored above deck to prevent it from getting wet and causing a potentially explosive buildup of methane. When people smelled it coming, they said, “That smells like shit.” That story is utter shit. In fact, “shit” has loftier origins....

Some lived in their victim’s homes for more than a year before they were caught. Others escaped before they could be identified. All of the following stories are good reason to double-check that your doors and windows are locked. 10 Tatsuko Horikawa In 2008, an unnamed 57-year-old Japanese man realized he had been sharing his home with a secret tenant. Prior to the discovery, he had noticed that someone was stealing food from his fridge....

10Darth Vader: The Lightning In The Fighting Devil Dogs George Lucas once said, “With both Star Wars and Raiders, I started out by asking myself ‘Gee, when I was a kid what did I really like?’ ” The answer was that he loved the old serial adventures of the 1930s. One of the earliest costumed supervillains in cinema was The Lightning, who appeared in the 12-chapter serial The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938)....

To make those paintings in the first place, people had to search out pigments to make paints. To dye cloth, people experimented for years to get just the right color. Some of those experiments went in very odd directions. Here are ten pigments with strange histories. 10 Tyrian Purple Tyrian purple was once the most highly sought-after pigment in the world. Known as imperial purple, only those of a high status were allowed to wear it....

10Uplifted Animals The idea of raising animal species to human intelligence is an old one that dates back to H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr Moreau. Cordwainer Smith imagined uplifted animals as an oppressed underclass fighting for their rights, while David Brin’s Uplift series presented a universe where almost all intelligent creatures owed their sapiency to patron species, with humanity exploring the universe with intelligent apes and dolphins at its side....

10The Mentor’s Cargo A case of sticky fingers is still being disputed between Greece and Britain. In 1801, Lord Elgin filled 16 crates with marble art he removed from the Parthenon. The next year, the British ship Mentor sailed for London, carrying the loot (or rightful property, depending on one’s view) and Lord Elgin. Near the island of Kythera, it was scuttled by a storm. Shortly afterward, the crates were salvaged and their contents displayed in London’s British Museum....

Moments range from the adorable, like a moon trying to eclipse the largest planet in the solar system to record-breaking fire and hurricane seasons battling each other. There is also the ISS hogging attention during a full eclipse and rainbow circles buzzing a helicopter. Top 10 Magical Images Of Mysterious Locations 10 Jupiter’s Black Spot Jupiter is known for the Great Red Spot, a massive storm larger than Earth. But a black spot?...