THE 35 BEST SHOWS ON TV--EVER

To: mupcat; MassRepublicanFlyersFan

IMO Frasier was the funniest situation comedy ever! The writing was sharp, sarcastic with that dry sense of humor, also the best ensemble cast ever put together. Sure miss it. Thank heaves for reruns.

I really miss it. I liked the fact that the writers didn't dumb it down, and kept all sorts of highbrow literary and artistic references in it. I think the decline started when Niles and Daphne got together. The sexual tension prior to that was priceless.

121 posted on 04/27/2008 7:25:30 PM PDT by lesser_satan (Vote McCain - The Choice who Sucks Less!)

Sanford and Son is the greatest show in television history.

Rule 1: Any US show copied from a Brit show will be crap by comparison - no exceptions

Yes that even applies to Three's Company

122 posted on 04/27/2008 7:25:38 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy (Holy State or Holy King - Or Holy People's Will - Have no truck with the senseless thing.)

The two omissions that stuck out as glaring were 'Mash' and 'The Honeymooners', but you named some other shows that were just as obvious. (Personally, I think 'Barney Miller' is one of the best TV shows ever made, but there you go - - everybody has their own opinions.)

Any attempt at a "list" like this one absolutely needs to be separated by genre. Check out this thread from a few years ago:

(VANITY) The Greatest TV Sitcoms of All Time

123 posted on 04/27/2008 7:25:42 PM PDT by Lancey Howard

To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

124 posted on 04/27/2008 7:26:09 PM PDT by alnick

I Claudius is right up there as one of my all time favorites. Livia prepared me for Hillary and Company. It is pretty funny to watch the library copy and note the action then and now. Political intrigue and brutality have not changed over the centuries.

125 posted on 04/27/2008 7:26:10 PM PDT by mountainfolk ( God bless President George Bush and Pope Benedict)

A friend from work loaned me the 4 dvd set of Firefly’s one season a few months ago. I’d never heard of it. I watched the fist show just to humor him - had it on in the background while I worked on my novel. Didn’t take long to latch on to it. Very good show and the theme song spun through my mind for quite some time.

126 posted on 04/27/2008 7:26:34 PM PDT by tang-soo (Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks - Read Daniel Chapter 9)

Agree on WKRP. Wish TV Land would play it.

127 posted on 04/27/2008 7:28:37 PM PDT by alnick

As Scarchin noted … Obviously compiled by folks under the age of 40. ;-)

Hey, I'm only 36. I would have put it on the list. :)

128 posted on 04/27/2008 7:30:37 PM PDT by Daus

Oh, and Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color should be on the list.

129 posted on 04/27/2008 7:31:42 PM PDT by alnick

To: LibFreeOrDie

” Poldark “

One of my all-time faves . Have the complete DVD box sets .

How about Upstairs Downstairs ; Duchess Of Duke Street and Lillie ? The Pallisers ?

130 posted on 04/27/2008 7:33:07 PM PDT by sushiman

Thinking about Lucy, her classics were the chocolate production line, and the grape stomping episode. No matter how many times I see those, I still collapse laughing!

Oh, and Vitameatavegamin.

131 posted on 04/27/2008 7:33:41 PM PDT by alnick

132 posted on 04/27/2008 7:34:03 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s........you weren't really there)

They tried, but didn’t want to pay the royalties on all the old classic rock that Johnny Fever played, so they put in songs like “Achy Breaky Heart.” It ruined a lot of the ambiance of the show. I liked it when it was absurdist, but it got very serious towards the end, and I didn’t care for it nearly as much.

133 posted on 04/27/2008 7:34:15 PM PDT by Richard Kimball (We're all criminals. They just haven't figured out what some of us have done yet.)

I’m over 60 and I know my list would be very different … ;-) Of course, I can remember Howdy Doody and Claribel the Clown – LOL!

134 posted on 04/27/2008 7:36:33 PM PDT by doc1019 (Acts 16:31, Romans 10:13 ... nuff said.)

They can’t play the original show without changing it.

It seems that the RIAA is miffed that the show doesn’t have the rights to play the music they played. If the show is on, they have to substitute the musical soundtrack. That’d ruin it.

135 posted on 04/27/2008 7:36:47 PM PDT by wolfpat (If you don't like the Patriot Act, you're really gonna hate Sharia Law.)

To: ChildOfThe60s

Wow, I thought I was the only person on earth that remembered Kolchak. That show gave me the creeps, I couldn’t get enough.

136 posted on 04/27/2008 7:38:02 PM PDT by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)

To: ChildOfThe60s

” The Millionaire “ ...Wow , that was a fave as a tot . Thanks for reminding me of it !

137 posted on 04/27/2008 7:41:01 PM PDT by sushiman

To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

This is the list from NY Post: (my comments by each)

1 THE SOPRANOS - wrong, never watched it, not interested in make believe thugs - we have real ones to think about..Hitlery for instance.

(1999-2007, HBO)

2 ALL IN THE FAMILY = would not be number 2 for me but belongs in the list. I would put The Jeffersons (spinoff) above All in the Family.

(1971-79, CBS)

3 THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (1986-present, syndication) (gag I guess so - but don’t watch it).

4 AMERICAN IDOL (2002- present, FOX) I watch it - but best show? I guess.

5 THE WEST WING (1999-2006, NBC) ABSOLUTELY NOT - NEVER!

6 MARY TYLER MOORE (1970-77, CBS) Yes. Funniest thing I saw on TV for many years was the funeral of Chuckles the Clown where MTM cannot stop laughing....

7 DALLAS (1978-91, CBS) Not a soap opera fan and that was simply a glorified soap opera - did not watch it.

8 24 (2001- present, FOX) ....did not watch it but heard it was good.

9 TWIN PEAKS (1990-91, ABC) Nope - never watched it....

10 SESAME STREET I am old enough to be BST - before Sesame Street....but guess it needs to be on here

(1969-present, PBS)

11 THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARSON (1962-92, NBC) YES

12 60 MINUTES Was once appreciated. That ended a decade or two ago....It, like West Wing, should NOT be on here.

(1968-present, CBS)

13 THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW (1948-71, CBS) YES. First viewing of the Beatles.....plus so much more.

14 I LOVE LUCY (1951-57, CBS) Absolutely the best! My #1. Along with the early Andy Griffith shows.

15 LAW & ORDER — sorry hate it.

(1990-present, NBC)

16 MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS....never saw it.

(1969-1974, PBS)

17 THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW (1967-79, CBS) Yes. The Scarlett O Hara scene is the most classic comedy scene of all time...imho...from a variety show.

18 THE SIMPSONS (1989-present, FOX) -—sorry no.

19 SEX AND THE CITY (1998-2004, HBO)-—sickening - no

20 ER (1994-present, NBC) sorry - no (but Where is Dr. Kildaire or Ben Casey???? These were the original Dr shows! and they were good - in their day! Esp Dr. Kildaire...but my best friend liked Ben Casey better.

21 THE HONEYMOONERS (1955-56, CBS) = Yes - am old enough to remember watching it.

22 MIAMI VICE (1984-89, NBC) Give me a break - NO.

23 SEINFELD (1990-98, NBC) Absolutely yes - but they need to add Will and Grace which, IMHO, supplanted Seinfeld as the best comedy on TV....

24 GUNSMOKE (1955-75, CBS) YES. But where are all the other GREAT Western series? Especially Rawhide-—where we first saw that hunk Clint Eastwood..... But also the Maverick series..Wyatt Earp...the Rifleman....many more.

25 ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN (1968-73, NBC)....I guess so...it did make me laugh - but it was the debauched 60’s in front of our eyes.

26 HILL STREET BLUES (1981-87, NBC) Yes

27. STAR TREK(1966-1969, NBC) Yes

28THE X-FILES (1993-2002, Fox) Nope - sorry. Never watched.

29 THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW (1961-66, CBS) Yes.

30 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1975-present, NBC) Guess so...don’t watch it now...but surely in the past had some of the best talent...

31 JEOPARDY! (1964-75; 1978-79; 1984-present, NBC and syndication). Ok.

32MOONLIGHTING (1985-89, ABC) Was great show - but top 35?

33 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1966-73, CBS) Yes - watched every episode. I also liked “I Spy” where Bill Cosby made his dramatic debut.

34The Cosby Show (1984-92, NBC) Yes. I love watching the reruns - every one of them. Would put Cosby Show in top 10.

35 GENERAL HOSPITAL (1963-present, ABC) Yuck...guess so-—but why not All My Children if you are going to do a daytime soap?

As others have said - this list MUST include:
Andy Griffith Show
Jack Benny Show
The Beverly HIllbillies (rediscovering this one on reruns)
Combat (great WWII show)
The old Disney shows....many were THE Best
Rawhide (as stated above)
Adventures in Paradise (no one remembers this one?)
The Fugitive
Dr. Kildaire (as stated above)
Father Knows Best
Amos and Andy
Twilight Zone - as others have said
Hitchcock hour - as others have said
Will and Grace - outrageous mucn of the time but very funny
and, yes, I loved Sonny and Cher also!

I know I have forgotten many other great ones of old....nice walk down memory lane.

138 posted on 04/27/2008 7:41:27 PM PDT by Freedom'sWorthIt

To: ought-six; devere

“The best TV show ever was “I, Claudius”, the 1976 mini-series.”
Excellent series. I'd have to put “Lonesome Dove” right up there with it.

OOH Yes and Yes

OTOH if you are going to limit it to 35, I can see omitting mini series

The Gripping Hand: I would also rule ineligible: quiz, reality, variety, and chat shows

Which would all room for Get Smart, MASH, Barney Miller, Soap, Family Ties, Northern Exposure, Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

139 posted on 04/27/2008 7:41:42 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy (Holy State or Holy King - Or Holy People's Will - Have no truck with the senseless thing.)

To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

Manimal got left out?!

140 posted on 04/27/2008 7:42:07 PM PDT by Snickering Hound

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