Top 10 Greatest TV Shows

[jmj18]

M*A*S*H

#1 in my book!

[NJGIRL]

M*A*S*H

#1 in my book!

Years ago this show used to show up on these types of lists in the top 5.

These lists are always changing, but they are interesting to read!

[barnaby]

My top 10 (no order, other then #1)

Supernatural
CSI
Survivor
Simpsons
Seinfeld
ER
Friday Night Lights
Ghost Hunters
Wonder Years
My So Called Life

My favorite newer show is Duck Dynasty

Cindy, I am a huge Dark Shadows fan....Did it make the cut?

I am watching the old Dark Shadows shows on Netflix.

[NJGIRL]

My top 10 (no order, other then #1)

Supernatural
CSI
Survivor
Simpsons
Seinfeld
ER
Friday Night Lights
Ghost Hunters
Wonder Years
My So Called Life

My favorite newer show is Duck Dynasty



I am watching the old Dark Shadows shows on Netflix.

Seinfeld is my all time favorite. It's funny because I remember when it first came on and my younger sister told me to watch it because it was so funny. Well, I hated it. lol But since I was living at home at the time and she watched every week, so did I, and it grew on me.

Supernatural I watch almost every morning on TNT. That show is so well written and the plots are so interesting. It's a hidden gem and it doesn't hurt that Sam and Dean are so cute. Love the rock music they play on the show. I had read that Sam was only supposed to be a limited character but the chemistry between the two was so good they made him permanent.

Friday Night Lights...well I was depressed when it ended. I'm not at all interested in football but loved the characters. The man wrote created the series was from Philly and that's why they ended the show in Philly, filming at Temple.

I was a huge ER fan up until maybe the last 5 years. They got too preachy for me and felt a lot of what was written was bashing America.

Ghost Hunters. I watched this show for years also but lost interest for some reason.


Dark Shadows I have on DVD. I get a new season every Christmas.

If you like Dark Shadows there is a really good book called "Angelique's Descent" (Bogart's may have it). It tells the back story of how she became a witch and how she met Barnabas. It was written by the person (her name escapes me right now) who played Angelique on the TV show. I have read other Dark Shadows books, but they are not very good.

[barnaby]

Friday Night Lights...well I was depressed when it ended. I'm not at all interested in football but loved the characters. The man wrote created the series was from Philly and that's why they ended the show in Philly, filming at Temple.

H.G. Bissinger
I am a big high school football fan (Millville Thunderbolts season ticket holder ) and have read Bissinger's book of the same name that the movie and series were based.
Great characters in the series. Same with Supernatural.

[NJDad]

From the sound of it, The Wire sounds like a very good show and well-written, but without a significant audience and the ratings that go along with that. In that sense, it's hard to imagine that it deserved to be the #1 show on the list, but once again, that's my interpretation. You do have me intrigued though; I may have to check it out. Is it offered on Netflix?

Netfilx has it, with a 5 star rating, and the first line of the description is "Widely considered one of the finest-written dramas ever to appear on television..."

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Kind of hard for me to respect a list that doesn't have M*A*S*H in its top 10 but has Buffy.

The finale to MASH aired 30 years ago, yet still remains the top watched episode of all time, only surpassed by a Superbowl viewing in 2010.

I would argue that Dallas should be in the top 10 as well, as it really changed prime time viewing for more than a decade, not only by creating other family prime time soaps/dramas (Knott's Landing, Falcon Crest, Dynasty) but it really established the cliffhanger as a season ending mechanic. I still recall looking at the tv guide the week after the "who shot JR" episode only to find a rerun!!

I wouldn't mind seeing Cheers in the top 10, but while it ruled tv for a decent period (and I think holds the record for the only show to open last in the ratings, yet still reach #1) it didn't really change tv.

[AgentC]

Kind of hard for me to respect a list that doesn't have M*A*S*H in its top 10 but has Buffy.

Last week's EW had Joss Whedon on the cover and a huge article about his new show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. . BUffy might have hit the top 10 because there is so much Joss love right now in the entertainment field.

I agree on MASH. It should have been higher. Dallas did make the list but at 61.

[MNNHFLTX]

I wouldn't mind seeing Cheers in the top 10, but while it ruled tv for a decent period (and I think holds the record for the only show to open last in the ratings, yet still reach #1) it didn't really change tv.

I don't think that's true at all. The concept for Cheers was truly original, with the TV audience invited in as a "regular" at the bar. Every week people took a break from all their worries and went where "everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came" (shameless theme-song promoting). That theme was carried on right to the final show, where the audience walks down the steps to the entrance of Cheers, only to be told by Sam "Sorry, we're closed." I read that the show is also credited with serializing storylines from one episode to another, something that was wasn't done on sitcoms up until that time.

[MNNHFLTX]

So, this thread got me to thinking what other "greatest TV shows" list might be out there. Found a recent article from TV Guide that has the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time. I can relate more to the shows in the top ten on this list, although I must note that The Wire is on it too, just not in the #1 spot:

1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone (1959)
4. All in the Family
5. M*A*S*H
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7. Mad Men
8. Cheers
9. The Wire
10. The West Wing
11. The Simpsons
12. I Love Lucy
13. Breaking Bad
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show
15. Hill Street Blues
16. Arrested Development
17. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
18. Six Feet Under
19. Taxi
20. The Larry Sanders Show
21. 30 Rock
22. Friday Night Lights
23. Frasier
24. Friends
25. Saturday Night Live
26. The X-Files
27. Lost
28. ER
29. The Cosby Show
30. Curb Your Enthusiasm
31. The Honeymooners
32. Deadwood
33. Star Trek
34. Modern Family
35. Twin Peaks
36. NYPD Blue
37. The Carol Burnett Show
38. Battlestar Galactica (2005)
39. Sex & The City
40. Game of Thrones
41. (tie) The Bob Newhart Show; Your Show of Shows
43. (tie) Downton Abbey; Law & Order; Thirtysomething
46. (tie) Homicide: Life on the Street; St. Elsewhere
48. Homeland
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
50. (tie) The Colbert Report; The Good Wife; The Office (UK)
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. (tie) Fawlty Towers; The Rockford Files
60. (tie) Freaks and Geeks; Moonlighting
62. Roots
63. (tie) Everybody Loves Raymond; South Park
65. Playhouse 90
66. (tie) Dexter; The Office (US)
68. My So-Called Life
69. Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
71. (tie) 24; Roseanne; The Shield
74. (tie) House; Murphy Brown
76. (tie) Barney Miller; I, Claudius
78. The Odd Couple
79. (tie) Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Monty Python's Flying Circus; Star Trek: The Next Generation; Upstairs, Downstairs
83. Get Smart
84. (tie) The Defenders; Gunsmoke
86. (tie) Justified; Sgt. Bilko (The Phil Silvers Show)
88. Band of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. (tie) Absolutely Fabulous (UK); The Muppet Show
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will & Grace
95. Family Ties
96. (tie) Lonesome Dove; Soap
98. (tie) The Fugitive; Late Night with David Letterman; Louie
101. Oz

[Mickey'sGirl]

Beth ... that's a pretty good list in my opinion.

[Hammer]

Like that list (especially West Wing at #10) but how is Law and Order tied for 43? I loved Sex in the City, but don't see how it can be seen as a better written show than Law and Order (or Downton Abbey which is also 43).

[NJGIRL]

I agree on the Dallas post. That show did change how a series ended their season each year. Who Shot JR was all over the place. TV, songs on the radio, Tee Shirts.....It was ground breaking.

[MNNHFLTX]

Like that list (especially West Wing at #10) but how is Law and Order tied for 43? I loved Sex in the City, but don't see how it can be seen as a better written show than Law and Order (or Downton Abbey which is also 43).

I agree, Law and Order was very witty and well-written and should have been higher on the list. As for Downtown Abbey--you know I love that show for the characters and as a period drama, but I don't think it always has stellar writing. More soap-opera-ish than anything, but that's kind of what pulls me in every week (when it's on, anyway).

[NJDad]

M*A*S*H's last few seasons really dropped in quality to me, and the number of years it lasted longer than the real Korean War got a little ridiculous. That would keep it lower on a list I would make.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Last week's EW had Joss Whedon on the cover and a huge article about his new show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. . BUffy might have hit the top 10 because there is so much Joss love right now in the entertainment field.

I agree on MASH. It should have been higher. Dallas did make the list but at 61.

I don't know much about Josh Wheedon, but I do really like his short lived series with Nathan Fillion, Firefly. That show died a premature death. Its easy to see how trending sentiments can impact a list.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I don't think that's true at all. The concept for Cheers was truly original, with the TV audience invited in as a "regular" at the bar. Every week people took a break from all their worries and went where "everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came" (shameless theme-song promoting). That theme was carried on right to the final show, where the audience walks down the steps to the entrance of Cheers, only to be told by Sam "Sorry, we're closed." I read that the show is also credited with serializing storylines from one episode to another, something that was wasn't done on sitcoms up until that time.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Cheers, the two part "Woody's Wedding" especially part 1 is still one of my favorite episodes of all time. I think Cheers gets bumped down a bit because it came at a time when the sitcom was riding its peak, with NBC's must see tv, with Cheers, Cosby, Family Ties, Night Court etc. NBC owned Thursday nights.

I guess I don't recall Cheers serializing story arcs as such, at least not in what I would think of as the traditional sense. They had the Sam-Diane will they won't they arc go on (beyond its shelf life imo) but for the most part the episodes were written as one-off stories.

Like MASH, Cheers survived addition by subtraction when Shelly Long left and Kirstie Alley came on board.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

M*A*S*H's last few seasons really dropped in quality to me, and the number of years it lasted longer than the real Korean War got a little ridiculous. That would keep it lower on a list I would make.

I would agree that the more screen credits that Alan Alda got as the years went on was symptomatic of when the show started its decline.

But its hard to argue about the early years and how well the show was written. Almost any list that talks about tv's top 10 most memorable moments, almost always has the death of Henry Blake right there in the top 10, usually near the top. It had never been done before, at least not like that, and how it was aired, even the cast was unaware of it as it was filmed. No show killed off a character like that. Add to that losing another star, Wayne Rogers, and a couple years later Larry Linville, and it shows how good a show it was to survive major changes like that.

I agree the last couple of years were getting harder to watch, but I can still sit down and watch and laugh at a season 1 or 2 episode as if it were airing for the first time.