Top 10 Greatest TV Shows

[AgentC]

I was cleaning out my magazines today and came across an issue of Entertainment Weekly that had "The 100 All-Time Greatest Movies and TV Shows and Albums and Novels and More" and thought it would be a fun topic for this forum. Hopefully you all agree or this will be a very short thread!

Here EW's top 10 for TV shows.

1. The Wire (2002-2008)
2. The Simpsons (1989- present)
3. Seinfeld (1990-1998)
4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977)
5. The Sopranos (1999-2007)
6. All in the Family (1971-1979)
7. The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
9. Mad Men (2007-present)
10. Your Show of Shows (1950-1954)

I was happy to see one of my all time favorites (Buffy) and a new favorite (Mad Men) made the top 10.

Some other random spots
11. I Love Lucy (1951-57)
13. The Twilight Zone (1959-64)
16. The Cosby Show (1984-92)
29. The X-Files (1993-2002)
30. ER (1994-2009)
40. The Real World (1992- present)
49. The Muppet Show (1976-1981
53. American Idol (2002-present)
64. Modern Family (2009-present)
69. Star Trek: TNG (1987-94)
76. Game of Thrones (2011-present)
84. Family Ties (1982-89)
98. Bewitched (1964-72)
100. The Brady Bunch (1969-74)

So now it's our turn. Agree? Disagree? What is your top 10? Who doesn't belong in their top 10? Who did they miss?

[NJGIRL]

Love Seinfeld, it's my favorite! It's funny how this list will change. If you had a copy of that mag from 10 years ago I bet some of the shows like the Brady Bunch wouldn't even be on there...and others were once listed but aren't anymore. The Simpsons & Sopranos also deserve their ranks. I have never even heard of The Wire, which I find a little weird, the number one ranked show of all time and a TV buff like me hasn't even heard of it???

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

[AgentC]

Love Seinfeld, it's my favorite! It's funny how this list will change. If you had a copy of that mag from 10 years ago I bet some of the shows like the Brady Bunch wouldn't even be on there...and others were once listed but aren't anymore. The Simpsons & Sopranos also deserve their ranks. I have never even heard of The Wire, which I find a little weird, the number one ranked show of all time and a TV buff like me hasn't even heard of it???

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

Dark Shadows didn't make the list or any of the specialty lists. I've only seen it a few times but I remember it as a cool creepy show.

The Wire was a show about the drug trade on HBO. I've never seen it but we dropped HBO after the Sopranos went off.

Seinfeld was one of our "must see" shows. I recently watched some reruns and it really holds up.

[1DisneyNut]

Cheers should be in the top 10. It usually is in most of these types of lists. It was still the #1 prime time show it's last season and won tons of awards along the way. The sarcastic humor is still just as funny today as it was back then.

I have never even seen several of the shows in the top 10 including The Sapranos. I don't subscribe to HBO anymore. I actually stopped subscribing when they started showing these types of series tv shows. I have plenty of options for that already.

[AgentC]

Cheers should be in the top 10. It usually is in most of these types of lists. It was still the #1 prime time show it's last season and won tons of awards along the way. The sarcastic humor is still just as funny today as it was back then.

I have never even see The Sapranos. I don't subscribe to HBO anymore. I actually stopped subscribing when they started showing these types of series tv shows. I have plenty of options for that already.

They have Cheers at 15 overall and as 7 for American Sitcoms.

[Hammer]

Love Seinfeld, it's my favorite! It's funny how this list will change. If you had a copy of that mag from 10 years ago I bet some of the shows like the Brady Bunch wouldn't even be on there...and others were once listed but aren't anymore. The Simpsons & Sopranos also deserve their ranks. I have never even heard of The Wire, which I find a little weird, the number one ranked show of all time and a TV buff like me hasn't even heard of it???

The Wire was on HBO. Very well done, but very dark and gritty. It was based (and I believe actually filmed) in Baltimore, much like Homicide:Life on the Street. The difference is Homicide was on NBC, so it had to be toned down.

Lists like this so are subjective. I enjoy most of the shows in the top 10, except for Simpsons and Seinfeld. Before everyone gets on my case for not liking Seinfeld, I have never like Jerry Seinfeld. He is like nails on a chalkboard for me. Actually other than Jason Alexander, I'm not a fan of any of the actors who were on that show. As for the Simpsons, I just don't find the show funny, I think it is crude. I feel the same way about South Park.

After looking over the list, here are my favorites from 11-100. As you can see, I do like some comedies:

• M*A*S*H
• ER
• Homicide: Life on the Street
• Cosby Show
• Sex In The City
• St. Elsewhere
• Frasier
• Oz
• Taxi
• Will and Grace
• West Wing
  
  and my absolute favorite show ever-
• Law and Order

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

I found the list on the EW website and did not see Dark Shadows on the list, Rita.

[NJGIRL]

The Wire was a show about the drug trade on HBO. I've never seen it but we dropped HBO after the Sopranos went off.

Seinfeld was one of our "must see" shows. I recently watched some reruns and it really holds up.

That when we dropped HBO too. lol

I am one of those people that watch TV to be entertained so I like to watch "light" and 'mindless" stuff. I don't watch movies or TV shows to learn anything because I feel Hollywood always twists the truth. So I rarely watch things "based" on fact.

It's funny how some shows do stand the test of time and others that were once so popular are forgotten. Although I always crack up when I see Jerry pull out his cordless phone that is the size of a tractor trailer. haha

[Mickey'sGirl]

Glad to see Star Trek:TNG on the list, but no Law and Order? 20 years on the air (and I watched every one!) and not a mention?

[NJGIRL]

I found the list on the EW website and did not see Dark Shadows on the list, Rita.

.....It's one of those shows where either you like it or not. There is no in between so I guess I can understand it not being on the list.

[Hammer]

Glad to see Star Trek:TNG on the list, but no Law and Order? 20 years on the air (and I watched every one!) and not a mention?

Jen, Law and Order is on the list, I think it was in the upper 20's. I would have protested if it wasn't in the top 100!

[MNNHFLTX]

I only looked at the original lists in the first post so that I wouldn't be influenced, but have to comment on--The Wire??? I have never even heard of that show! And while Buffy is one of my favorite all-time shows, I don't know that it deserves to be in the top ten. Same for Mad Men, and I think the Simpsons are questionable. IMO, Cheers and MASH should have made the short lists for sure and ER deserved to be further up in the pack.

[MNNHFLTX]

The Wire was on HBO. Very well done, but very dark and gritty. It was based (and I believe actually filmed) in Baltimore, much like Homicide:Life on the Street. The difference is Homicide was on NBC, so it had to be toned down.

Thanks for the explanation, Christine. Based on that I truly think it does not belong in the top 10 and definitely not at #1. Must have been a HBO executive who compiled the list.

[NJGIRL]

Thanks for the explanation, Christine. Based on that I truly think it does not belong in the top 10 and definitely not at #1. Must have been a HBO executive who compiled the list.

That's what I was thinking also. I am not denying that it was a good show, but to be number one on an all time list, I would think it should be a show where everyone has at least heard of it.

Ask my husband and he said never heard of it either and he likes shows like that.

[AgentC]

Glad to see Star Trek:TNG on the list, but no Law and Order? 20 years on the air (and I watched every one!) and not a mention?

Law and Order was 23.

[Scar]

I have a standard top 5:

M*A*S*H
Seinfeld
Cheers
All in the Family
The Honeymooners

After that it's a little more difficult

Fraizer
2 1/2 Men
Survivor (not so much anymore and ZERO rerun appeal)
The Odd Couple
Mary Tyler Moore

Amazingly, 3 of those show were on the same night and same channel for a time.

[AgentC]

That's what I was thinking also. I am not denying that it was a good show, but to be number one on an all time list, I would think it should be a show where everyone has at least heard of it.

Ask my husband and he said never heard of it either and he likes shows like that.

I've never seen it but their explanation says The Wire ' used the drug trade in Baltimore . . . to tell tales of race and class with unprecedented complexity."

I'm with you on the Simpsons. I haven't watched it in years and while we used to enjoy top ten does not come to mind.

I think you can make a case for Buffy as a show that really highlighted a female hero in a genre where male heroes are much more common place and examined issues in a very entertaining non preachy way but when you add in the "all time" I could see moving it down.

I'll hold my opinion on Mad Men until I see how the last season ends.

[BrowncatP]

The Brady Bunch at 100. NO,NO,NO. Top 20 anyday on my list! Just remember "don't play ball in the house."

[NJDad]

The Wire was on from 2002-2008. I'd heard about it a lot and resisted watching it as well until someone lent us the box set.

It's pretty amazing. It does require you to watch each episode with your full attention though.

It's not just about the drug trade. Each season looks at an institution in Baltimore. First year was cops vs drugs, 2nd season looked at the seaport, 3rd was politics, 4th education, 5th a newspaper.

Great cast(s), really fascinating, very entertaining. It's not all grim, there's some dark humor as well. It probably works better when you can watch the episodes as quickly as you want without waiting weeks or months for the next one.

And it's not just EW that called it the best show ever. TIME, the Chicago Tribune, Slate, SF Chronicle, Philly Daily News and the British newspaper The Guardian have as well.

Writers Guild had it as the 9th best written show.

[MNNHFLTX]

And it's not just EW that called it the best show ever. TIME, the Chicago Tribune, Slate, SF Chronicle, Philly Daily News and the British newspaper The Guardian have as well.

Writers Guild had it as the 9th best written show.

I guess it depends on how a person defines "greatest TV shows". I interpret that to mean shows that gained a widespread audience, were well-written and were a representation of society and/or cultural norms of its time; an icon, if you will. 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?

What pops into my head when talking about TV's greatest shows are ones that if you turned on a rerun today, you would be seeing a slice of life in the time-frame it was made or portrayed--like a time capsule. I guess that's why shows like Cheers, MASH, The Andy Griffith Show, All in the Family, the Mary Tyler Moore show, etc. all seem appropriate on the list to me. Even the Brady Bunch fits the criteria.

You know, I just thought about something, Cindy--where was Friends on the list? That show certainly was an icon.

[AgentC]

You know, I just thought about something, Cindy--where was Friends on the list? That show certainly was an icon.

Friends came in at 21. They called it a "shiny-happy triumph of friends as family comedy."

There were definitely a lot of "popular" shows on the list that represented their time. For example Beverly Hills 90210 (the original) was 75. There is a whole generation of us who were glued to Brandon, Brenda, Kelly & Dylan. And Dawson's Creek came in at 78.