Posted on 02/15/2008 8:34:43 AM PST by Cagey
Some people think that TV rots your brain, but the head of an organization for smart people has a list of what he said are the smartest shows ever made.
Jim Werdell, the chairman of Mensa International, gave his list of the 10 most intelligent shows ever in honor of the end of the Hollywood writers' strike.
In an interview with Fancast.com, he said the top 10 shows of all time are:
"M*A*S*H"
"Cosmos" (with Carl Sagan)
"CSI"
"House"
"West Wing"
"Boston Legal"
"All in the Family"
"Frasier"
"Mad About You"
"Jeopardy"
He said some excellent current shows are "NCIS," "Law & Order: SUV," "House" and "Stargate SG-1."
The 63-year-old retired government official from Northern California listens to about 10 hours of TV a day as background noise and admits to watching five or six hours a day.
West Wing is for sheeple. Should not be on list.
Top ten smartest shows of all time (in no particular order):
1. M*A*S*H – It had smart repartee and was so much more than a comedy.
2. Cosmos (with Carl Sagan) – Sagan was able to communicate something extremely complicated to the layman and do it well, and that’s unusual for a scientist at his level.
3. CSI — The way they use science to solve their programs is intriguing to viewers.
4. House – Again, it’s high level type of show; it’s the personality that makes it a winner, plus it deals with science.
5. West Wing – you had to pay attention to stay up with it. The repartee was fast and furious and you needed a fairly high level intelligence to keep up with it.
6. Boston Legal – It’s primarily because of the characters. The story lines are okay, but the characters are incredible and the writers give them great dialogue.
7. All in the Family – The show dealt with social issues before its time and was on the forefront of trying to show people’s feelings, beliefs and the complexities of personality, in both a serious and comedic way.
8. Frasier – The repartee was sensational; the main characters were very good. Even though they portrayed people who were likely of high intelligence, they also showed their weaknesses.
9. Mad About You – It’s a personal favorite, I loved the characters and the back and forth. It was very smart.
10. Jeopardy – It’s about the only game show that really tries to test people’s intelligence. There’s very little luck involved, and there are few game shows like that. I don’t watch it all that much honestly, but from what I’ve seen it tests more than knowledge, it tests intelligence too.
I hope they mean Stargate Atlantis, SG-1 wrapped up a while ago.
He doesn’t sound like a genius to me. He left out NOVA and Masterpiece Theatre, but put in MASH and Mad About You.
Mark Harmon...Yes!! The characters are great except for Holly....the red haired b**** with the mouthful of teeth.
“...listens to about 10 hours of TV a day as background noise and admits to watching five or six hours a day.”
Wow. Get out of the house some. :-)
He forgets Mystery Science Theater 3000. For shame.
After I posted the story I found a link that had his explanations to why he had chosen some of the shows on his list. It’s in post #4.
Frasier, nothing better, ever!
This list isn’t about political leaning, it’s about repartee and the such. I don’t care if you didn’t care for it’s politics, in the beginning years, it was one of the most well written shows around.
Pretty decent list. I’ve never watched West Wing or Boston Legal. I haven’t given NCIS a rating yet. It’s a little weird, so I’m holding off.
Wotta knucklehead.
I’m with you! I loved the Stooges. And now I like the office.
But what will they think of next? According to the article, there’s now a “Law and Order” related to Sport Utiity Vehicles (Law and Order:SUV)!
That's because most successful business men with high IQs don't feel the need for peer re-enforcement of their intellectual abilities.
The 63-year-old retired government official from Northern California listens to about 10 hours of TV a day as background noise and admits to watching five or six hours a day.
Yeah, smartest guy in the history of the planet is dyslexic.
Exactly. Mensa is mostly an exercise in IQ narcissism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTZqIkKSlSU
“Bakersfield P.D.” was a great show that, unfortunately, didn’t last long.
As a former member of Mensa (I got dumber - too dumb to see the value in paying the annual renewal fee) I have to agree. All intellect and no intelligence. Seems like half the members are unemployed - or greatly underemployed. ;)
The early years of Frasier were some of the best written television ever IMO.
What about SCTV???? The smartest show ever.
Yep, and they don't shower as often as they should.
The early Simpsons were brilliant. I remember one episode that simultaneously satirized “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “The Great Escape” and Ayn Rand, all in one half-hour. You really had to be on top of things intellectually to get the humor. The show has fallen pretty far but in the early days it was some of the most intellectual TV around.
“Connections” and “Connections II” had it all over “Cosmos”, but then I believe it was a BBC production & may not have qualified.
A male who feels trapped in a Left Wing Human Resource Department dominated corporation may also feel the need to join Mensa. The corporation may well treat him as dumb and expendable and it may be the only source of self esteem left. Being forced to attend meetings where men are blamed for everything wrong in the world may tend to do this.
There are several high IQ organizations that actually look down on Mensa members as the low end of high IQ Spectrum.
Yep. Fractured Fairytales, et. al. Or just about any early Bugs Bunny, for that matter.
Well, other than the fact that Stargate SG-1 isn’t on the air any more, I completely have to agree with that. It’s one of the few sci-fi shows I’ve watched where I got the feeling that the writers actually know something about the scientific principles they’re writing about (like in one episode two characters talk about how the stargate defies the laws of physics) and it feels very real or plausible because of that.
House is another good ‘smart’ show - I can’t stand dumb TV shows, they make me feel like my brain is slowly melting into a pile of radioactive melted stuff.
One of my top five favorites. That probably explains why Mensa has never sent me an invite.
In IMHO, of you’re really smart you don’t need to try and brag about it by joining a group like MENSA. I would make the following comments about a few of the shows on the list.
MASH- Completely unrealistic behavior, that in real life would get many characters court marshaled, in a show that was not really about it’s subject matter at all, but rather about Vietnam, as it’s creators themselves said many times.
CSI- Complete distorts not only the science involved but the process. CSI staff that carry guns? And most of the shots are so obviously NOT done in Las Vegas. Who knew that Sin City looks just like the San Fernando Valley?
If we’re going to select shows for science and technology, why not “The New Detectives?” Or if we’re sticking to dramas, how about the original “Star Trek” that featured technology to be seen outside the lab for decades?
House- Never watched the show, but like Bono, anyone who takes the time and effort to look so scruffily “unshaven” is a dope.
West Wing- How intelligent is it when every character right of center is a Nazi, and a righteous speech by President Bartlett that cites biblical prohibitions about handling pork when referring to football, when footballs have not been made from pigskin in decades?
Boston legal- Another completely unrealistic show. If you’re going o pick courtroom dramas, why not pick “Perry Mason”, a “whodunit” that actually challenges you to use your brain to solve the mystery, and does not make the outcome obvious every time the characters are introduced based on their politics.
Was “Perry Mason” really gay?
The speed at which the characters delivered the dialogue made the show stand out. You had to listen fast and no distractions.
I think that a lot of liberal bureaucrats may fall into the mensa mentality, simply because they are paid so poorly, that they need to find reinforcement of the abilities beyond what the system offers.
I was researching some local issues and came across a list of state dept of fish and wildlife employees and their salaries. The state pays their biologists and inspectors, between $33,000 and 25,000 a year. College graduates, no less. I think that they must do it to keep the class envy thing going.
He also left out the Simpsons. 
I am not.
Whenever I take an IQ test, I grade out in the 135-140 range, so take it for what it's worth, but I don't really watch television or movies for intellectual information, and I sure don't get my politics from them. I watch them for a brain vacation, which probably explains why I prefer movies like "Dumb and Dumber" or "Kingpin" to "Esoterics of the Vaginal Mind" or some other supposed high-brow fare. I end up arguing with the screen when I see logic flaws or improper arguments.
I watch movies for fun, not to be educated.
MENSA dude is obviously a liberal. Most of the dlap trap is anything but smart.
Rock and Bullwinkle ... Now that is my kind of show!
Agree 100%. I watched House for a while but then the writers just got ridiculous, there was an episode where one of the medical team caught something life threatening and then intentionally stuck another member of the medical team with a needle that could have infected her. The next episode they are carrying on as if nothing unusual had happened (as opposed to the realistic firing, refusal to work with the other person, assault, civil law suits, and attempt to press criminal charges, proceeding to revoke the guys medical license). That was the last time I tuned in.
I knew I had seen the Huckabee kid somewhere!
Being ‘head’ of Mensa does not mean being the smartest Mensan.
I canceled my Mensa membership way back in the early 70’s because of Mensa’s opposition to the Vietnam War. Still wear my gold-headed hat pin now and then just to make people ask questions.
Most everyone I ever met at a Mensa gathering was a lib.
Monk ... the only show I look foward to watching.
Half the fun was trying to figure out where the episode was going to wind-up!
They left out One Day at a Time and Deal or No Deal.
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