Posted on 10/15/2010 9:08:27 PM PDT by JoeProBono
"Any top ten list is bound to be subjective, but this one has criteria: to make this list, a show must have longevity (Sports Night was great, but didn’t last), staying power (Three’s Company was funny, but hopelessly dated), strong writing (hopefully self-explanatory) and memorable moments (there’s a good reason that the final episode of M.A.S.H. was until very recently the most watched show in television history). Here are my choices, and let the debate begin."
The only shows I agree with on this list are M*A*S*H, All In The Family and Seinfeld.
The quality of MASH declined in proportion to the expansion of Alan Alda’s creative control of the show.
You make a good point when it comes to the distinction between personal favorites and “greatest”. I love Babylon 5 and would put in my personal Top 10, but I don’t pretend that it’s one of the Top 10 series of all time.
My wife of 28 years will have several extra jewels in her crown for putting up with her...
This is Crapola.
What night was that on?
LOL
Cheers and All in the Family were good too. Forget the rest, never got into them.
Other good shows:
Miami Vice - fast cars, contemporary music, beautiful women, and they actually get to shoot and kill the bad guys. Not PC, but still fun.
Star Trek (original): a morality play set in space.
Secret Agent. Bonanza. Star Trek. Rockford Files. Buffalo Bill. Hill Street Blues. Waltons.
‘Contributed by John Allen Wallace, Catalogs.com Info Guru’
What, no ‘24’.
I Love Lucy should be #1. If not for the simple reason that was ground-breaking television.
The first TV show ever to film with 3 camera’s. All other TV shows followed suit.
Every night on MSNBC.
Nah, I'm with you there. I've only ever watched maybe 4 or 5 episodes. Just never saw the appeal.
Truly one of the great lines! But let's not forget,
"Frasier, I thought you might like to join me. I'm going down to Abigail's to have my crepe pans re-seasoned."
Every night. Over 300 channels and not a damned thing on...
You’re on my list dude.
(they named names.)
Adam 12 and Emergency not on the list. That sucks.
I loved several of those shows. Buffy had one of the best episodes dealing with death - when Joyce Summers died- my, it FELT real. It hit me hard every time I watched it, and I watched it several times. ome of the Twilight Zone episodes too -not just weird, other-worldy stuff (which I love) but honest to goodness life and death and what’s it all about? The Twilight Zone episode when the man goes back to his hometown, literally, in time and place, and the poignancy of the fact that it is all gone- the happiness and the wonder. Youth and joy. Gone. Powerful stuff. I could go on and on about other shows, but one epidsode I saw once- a Honeymooners CVhristmas show hit me hard too.
Patrick McGoohan was pretty good, but I never could take that giant ping pong ball seriously.
What show has provided such intellectual depth as well as pure guilty pleasure?
Oh, I don't know. How about Get Smart, Green Acres, or an old test pattern? I'll admit to watching it for awhile. Finally, I decided that the authors got lost in the maze and didn't have a clue where they were going either. It was somewhat like story telling around a campfire. One fellow starts and others continue with whatever absurdity comes to mind.
My take on the list:
10. All in the Family - I can see this one. I didn’t always agree with some of the positions the show took, but it was often funny, and took chances that were memorable. I still remember the moment in the episode Edith threw the pan of hot food into the face of her would-be rapist. I think you could hear cheering across the neighborhood.
9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Never saw this one.
8. The Simpsons - I loved the Simpsons when it was a short on the Tracey Ullman Show, and for about the first ten season on its own. Somewhere along the line, though, it just stopped being funny (IMHO).
7. The Dick Van Dyke Show - Excellent series. Agree with the chemistry on the show.
6. Lost - Eh, whatever.
5. Saturday Night Live - Well, it was groundbreaking when it started, and it has outlasted all competitors - Fridays, MadTv, etc. Another show that hasn’t been really funny in years, though.
4. Cheers - I never liked this one, for some reason. I remember it was part of the “Thursday super lineup” on NBC - Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court. I pretty much only tuned in for Night Court (Dan Fielding was my role model growing up. :-)
3. M.A.S.H. - Yep. I preferred the earlier seasons, esp. the ones with Wayne Rogers instead of Mike Farrell (got too preachy at the end). But the show was a part of the American culture.
2. The West Wing - I’ll admit the show could occasionally be brilliant, but mostly I found it to be pretentious and self-righteous. Pass.
1. Seinfeld - I get flamed every time I mention this but....I just wasn’t that in to Seinfeld. I won’t deny it is one of the most successful shows of all time, and that it is entrenched in pop culture. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, most episodes.
++++
A few I would put on the list:
The Twlight Zone: Wildly creative and original, TZ was (IMHO) superior to all of its contemporaries and more or less set the pattern for the genre to follow. 40+ years on, references from the show, such as “To Serve Man” continue to pop up to this day.
The Bob Newhart Show: I’d pick this one for the same reason the writer picked Dick Van Dyke. It’s hilarious, and had a tremendous chemistry among the cast.
Star Trek (original series). It gave us William Shatner. That alone makes it near the top of the list!
The Andy Griffith Show: ‘Nuff said.
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