Posted on 06/03/2013 2:52:47 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
(Newser) – Still reeling from last night's episode of Game of Thrones? Need to take a break and watch a different, but also well-written, TV show? Then the Writers Guild of America's list of the 101 best-written television series arrives just in the nick of time. Here's the top 10:
1.The Sopranos
2.Seinfeld
3.The Twilight Zone
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
Click for the complete list. (Game of Thrones doesn't show up until spot No. 40.)
Acually I see a pattern: The Writers Guild of America rates long runners good 'cos they give writers work writing for a established format.
Dollhouse which was a mind twist from the start, then got complicated, no chance.
1. Once Upon a Time 2. Space: Above and Beyond 3. Nowhere Man
If the X-Files had ended quickly you’d probably be right. But it got into a serious rut after the movie where they kept promising to reveal the secret plan of the secret masters and the “reveal” kept being that there was another group of even MORE secret masters with an even MORE secret plan. After the 3rd or 4th of those reveals it all got kind of boring. Prior to then it was one of the best shows ever.
My votes go to “Small Wonder” and “Land of the Lost”.
EDITED.................
_______________________________________________________________________________________
1. THE SOPRANOS
2. SEINFELD
3. THE TWILIGHT ZONE
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 AND THE CITY
40. GAME OF THRONES
41. THE BOB NEWHART SHOW - TIE
YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS* - TIE
43. DOWNTON ABBEY* - TIE
LAW & ORDER - TIE
THIRTYSOMETHING - TIE
46. HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET - TIE
ST. ELSEWHERE - TIE
48. HOMELAND
49. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
50. THE COLBERT REPORT - TIE
THE GOOD WIFE - TIE
THE OFFICE (UK)* - TIE
53. NORTHERN EXPOSURE
54. THE WONDER YEARS
55. L.A. LAW
56. SESAME STREET
57. COLUMBO
Created by Richard Levinson & William Link
58. FAWLTY TOWERS* - TIE
THE ROCKFORD FILES - TIE
60. FREAKS AND GEEKS - TIE
MOONLIGHTING - TIE
62. ROOTS
63. EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND - TIE
SOUTH PARK* - TIE
65. PLAYHOUSE 90
66. DEXTER - TIE
THE OFFICE (U.S.) - TIE
68. MY SO-CALLED LIFE
69. THE GOLDEN GIRLS
70. THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW
71. 24 - TIE
ROSEANNE - TIE
THE SHIELD - TIE
74. HOUSE - TIE
MURPHY BROWN - TIE
76. BARNEY MILLER - TIE
I, CLAUDIUS* - TIE
Written by Rupert Graves and Jack Pulman
78. THE ODD COUPLE
79. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS - TIE
MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS* - TIE
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - TIE
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS* - TIE
83. GET SMART
84. THE DEFENDERS - TIE
GUNSMOKE - TIE
86. JUSTIFIED - TIE
SGT. BILKO (THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW) - TIE
88. BAND OF BROTHERS
89. ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN
90. THE PRISONER*
91. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS (U.K.)* - TIE
THE MUPPET SHOW - TIE
93. BOARDWALK EMPIRE
94. WILL & GRACE
95. FAMILY TIES
96. LONESOME DOVE - TIE
SOAP - TIE
98. THE FUGITIVE - TIE
LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN - TIE
LOUIE - TIE
101. OZ
For the first time in years, I'm going to differ with you on that, dear onyx. Fred Thompson was a rare bright spot but he was just a token.
Otherwise the program was a litany of liberal hate directed at Conservatives, especially white Christian Conservatives. Dick Wolf's tiresome formula was to generally portray a minority (notably a mooselimb or some kind of foreigner) as the victim. The guilty party was almost inevitably a white person, often one who sent his children to a private school. The political correctness of L&O was palpable as was its celebration of, ahem, diversity. In Dick Wolf's twisted world, one can only imagine the plots he'd hatch around Sarah Palin supporters and Tea Party patriots.
Did Not Make (the list)
Deadwood
Justified
Loneseome Dove
There, now I do not feel so out in the cold. I do skirt around the edges sometimes, tentatively.
Not overtly, but the assumptions were all there.
Amen! My all time favorite and IMO one of the best written comedy shows on television. I hated Seinfeld, but adored Frasier. .
Yes, I still watch the Twilight Zone whenever I can. Some episodes have haunted me since childhood.
Probably a minority opinion, but I thought the first season of V was marvelously written. The last one, sappy and horrible.
That’s one of my favorite episodes of any Star Trek series.
"Look out, he's got a nug!"
Oh I forgot about The Dick Van Dyke Show! It's actually my second favorite right behind Frasier. Great show. One of my favorite segments was the toupee one with Sheldon Leonard and Mary Tyler Moore.
Babylon 5. I liked DS9 as well but not as much.
Walking Dead = DNM, that’s an injustice.
Sex in the City was garbage! Should not have been on the list.
The Sopranos was a good show, but not #1 by a long shot.
Both “Game of Thrones” and “Rome” are/were better IMHO.
“I Claudius” was great. I watched it in Latin class.
“Twilight Zone” probably #1 show of all time IMHO.
That’s OKay, I started watching L & O from the very start, when Michael Moriarty was the DA. Those shows are excellent and most of L & O followed actual cases.
Justified. 86? Should be in top 5.
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