[detective]

1. Sopranos- This was well written. It had multifaceted characters, complex plot lines and an evolving story line. Most episodes were not predictable and good acting made the story believable.

2.Seinfeld - Some shows were well written and funny. Some were just annoying.

3. Twilight Zone - A lot of these stories were very good. Some of the story lines have become cliches but many stand the test of time.

4. All in the Family - Carroll O'Connor’s performance made the show. The plots were all predictable. Archie would be ignorant and wrong. The Meathead or whoever played against Archie would be right.

5. MASH - Some good acting but the episodes were all predictable. Frank Burns, Hotlips, Klinger, etc were predictable one dimensional characters.

6. Mary Tyler Moore - Good writing and many good characters from Rhoda to Ted Baxter.

7. Mad Men - Complex characters and multi-layered plots. Very well written and well acted.

8. Cheers - Interesting story lines and funny dialog. Good acting and comic interplay. I still smile when I think of some of the lines of Norm and Cliff.

9. The Wire - The first season was very good. Some great scenes, an exciting plot and interesting characters. The first season got weaker towards the end. The second season was terrible. I could only watch a few episodes and never watched it again.

10. The West Wing - A terrible show. One predictable liberal cliche after another. I could not watch more than a few minutes without changing the channel.

[Political Junkie Too]

10. The West Wing - A terrible show.

Were they the episodes written by cokehead Aaron Sorkin, or the later ones written by Liar O'Donnell?

-PJ

[x]

4. All in the Family - Carroll O'Connor’s performance made the show. The plots were all predictable. Archie would be ignorant and wrong. The Meathead or whoever played against Archie would be right.

Well said. I guess they wanted to see all decades represented and it was hard to overlook a 70s phenomenon. I'd move it well below Mary Tyler Moore and stuff it somewhere a lot further down the list. I'd make room near the top for Buffy, Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones.

7. Mad Men - Complex characters and multi-layered plots. Very well written and well acted.

I guess so, if you compare it to the average television show. If you compare it to the "quality television" it competes against, there are a lot of questions. The show works because of the actors and the recreation of the era.

I'm not saying the writing is bad, just that it's frustrating and annoying a lot of the time. I didn't get that feeling with The Sopranos. Even if you hated the mobsters, the show didn't seem slack or out of the control of its creators and didn't force its points so heavily.

Maybe Mad Men is so exasperating sometimes because it can be so good at other times.