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"The Punjabi ArchivesLannisters send their regards."

And that was it -- the peak moment of the peak episode from the peak show in television's peak year. Truly, "Peak TV."

It's a term we throw around a lot these days, but technically, it should be in past tense. Because there is no doubt that TV peaked on this very day, exactly four years ago, on June 2, 2013, with "The Rains of Castamere," aka the "Red Wedding" episode of Game of Thrones.

SEE ALSO: Get used to the idea that the Lannisters will prevail

That day was a high water mark not just for the show, but for the medium itself, at a time when everything around it was peaking, too. Never before have we had such a moment.

We may never again.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The week before "Rains of Castamere," Mad Menhad just concluded the first half of its its two-part finale. Less than two months later, Breaking Badwas gearing up for its final run. Though we've had a crazy glut of strong shows come along since, nothing has stepped forward to replace AMC's pillars of prestige television.

Go ahead, take a moment to try and think of something. (I hear you, Leftoversfans, and I'm sorry. You're just not there in terms of cultural cache.)

Take heart: Yes, we are still standing in the deep end of TV's "Golden Age." There are more options than ever before, subgenres and spinoffs, a wider diversity of points of view, truly something for everyone.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

But whereas "Peak TV" used to mean an abundance of quality, now it's more of a lament for an overabundance of quantity. "Peak TV" is what we cry when we feel overwhelmed by buzzing shows we just know we'll never get around to trying, let alone finishing.

In 2013, it was still manageable, and for whatever reason, the quality far better. Nay -- it was, without question or equivocation, the best we've ever seen.

Why 2013 wins outright

This idea that TV peaked in 2013 came when a different question came to mind one day: "What are the new Mad Menand Breaking Bad?"

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As I could not name anything -- and I'm sorry, but in terms of prestige, buzz and cultural clout, no one could -- I started poking around at what was going on in TV at the time.

In a moment of inspiration, I went all Beautiful Mindon a whiteboard at the office. Sure enough, 2013 was a dazzling collection of TV highlights. And right there, dead center in the middle of the thing, ran the Red Wedding episode ran like a Valyrian steel blade.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

My goodness, it was an embarrassment of riches.

• Game of Thrones, TV's alpha show then as now, gave us its third and finest season, with a penultimate episode that had people staggering from their living rooms. It has yet to return to this form, and likely will not.

• House of Cards, the vanguard of Netflix's original content strategy, launched its first -- and easily its best -- season on Feb. 1. TV has never been the same.

• Orange is the New Black, speaking of groundbreaking Netflix shows, launched its first (and also best) season on July 11.

• Veepand Girlsboth launched their second, footing-finding second seasons early in the year on HBO.

• The Walking Deadwas in Season 4 -- its lowest-rated and least-loved -- but still relevant.

• Homelandwould launch its third season in September -- the last to feature Damian Lewis as Brody, ergo the last season anyone cared about.

• The Good Wifegains serious critical traction in its fifth season, widely believed to be the moment it raised the bar to become an awards powerhouse. Juliana Margulies wins her second Emmy.

• Scandal, speaking of network dramas, sees its viewership leap from 8 million to more than 12 million in this, its third season, spawning the Thursday night Shonda Rimes bloc known as "TGIT."

• The Newsroomis a show we still sorta take seriously. Jeff Daniels wins Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Season 1, just as the second season is winding down.

• Downton Abbeycomes to the U.S. for a fourth season. (I've heard it's great?)

• The Americansdebuts on FX to little fanfare in late January. It would slowly develop into one of the few shows that people might try to argue is as good now as Mad Menand Breaking Badwere in 2013 (it isn't).

• The Daily Show with Jon Stewartand The Colbert Report are both alive and kicking, with Comedy Central's bread-and-butter bloc rivaling network late-night (which at this point still has David Letterman on the air). At this point, we have the luxury of firmly taking them for granted -- it wasn't until Mashablefirst reported in April 2014 that Colbert was eyeing Letterman's seat that it began to unravel.

The soft decline

It's been a gentle roll downhill since those dizzying heights of 2013.

From that list so far we've lost Girls, Homeland, The Good Wife, The Newsroom, Downton Abbeyand the Comedy Central shows in late-night. Clear endpoints have been defined for Game of Thrones, Scandaland The Americans.The rest can't be far behind.

Meanwhile, comedy seems to have picked up some of the slack, with Netflix firmly in charge, giving us shows like Master of Noneand Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; and HBO's dazzling Silicon Valleycame on strong in 2014.

New dramas like Amazon's Emmy-winning Transparent, AMC spinoff Better Call Sauland a resurgent Leftoverson HBO have done an adequate job of upholding the "Golden Age," while Netflix originals Dear White People, The Crown, 13 Reasons Whyand its suite of quality Marvel shows might give the impression that "Peak TV" is still here, or maybe just around the corner.

But it's not.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Nothing has truly emerged to fill the void that 2013 has left. Not Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, not Starz' American Gods, not even the return of Twin Peakson Showtime.

All great -- none Mad Menor Breaking Bad.

Surely there's no single reason for this, but if I had to guess, I'd say that the exuberance of "Peak TV" got Hollywood into such a bearish mood that the top talent, once coalesced around a handful of top programs, has diffused into a creative pond that's much larger now.

More shows = a thinner spread of ideas and know-how.

Also?

More shows also = well, more shows. A different kind of "Peak TV."

Just not the kind we enjoyed four years ago today, on June 2, 2013.

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Topics Game Of Thrones HBO