Posted on 04/27/2008 5:55:21 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
Our parents told us TV would melt our brains. While it's possible "Punky Brewster" and "A-Team" did just that, along the way we saw some genius art. Television can't play 90 minutes on the big screen and vanish into the bargain bin. And it lacks one author to take it from introduction to the final page. Yet within these boundaries, there are a small number of shows that capture our attention, our obsession, and create enduring stories. How many? 35. They're listed here.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
No “Young Indiana Jones”? What about “Max Headroom”?
Before looking at the list, I thought MASH would top or at least be in the top five.
I’d have to add Battlestar Galactica (the new one). It’s the best science fiction.
I’d also add Lost.
I guess I’m not much of a TV guy. I’ve never seen an episode of a lot of those shows, especially the newer ones.
How ‘bout “marshmellowed meatballs”?
I actually bought a copy a couple years back. Derek Jacobi is great. I remember watching the original on PBS back when I was taking Latin in Junior High.
My take on the shows I’ve seen:
3 THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (1986-present, syndication)
-Why? Why? WHY??? What is so special about this show?
9 TWIN PEAKS (1990-91, ABC)
-It was different and quirky and fun... and who could possibly forget David Duchovny in drag?
16 MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS (1969-1974, PBS)
-Sketch comedy at its best.
19 SEX AND THE CITY (1998-2004, HBO)
-No... no... I fail to see what is so special about this...
27 STAR TREK(1966-1969, NBC)
-Aside from the fact that I grew up watching this, it has more spin-offs than any other TV show, and has influenced modern sci-fi so much - I can hardly watch an episode of something like Heroes or Stargate Atlantis without running across a Star Trek reference.
28THE X-FILES (1993-2002, Fox)
-Like the article said, the first time geeks were heroes. Plus, the creepy factor was even above most episodes of the original Twilight Zone, and it also seemed to be inspirational for quite a few other shows.
Missing:
- Firefly. It was well-written, funny, with great characters, and the only sci-fi show I’ve watched that has never annoyed me with scientific impossibilities.
- Twilight Zone. For me, NOTHING has ever beat the creepyness of the episode with the creature on the wing of the airplane (although certain X-Files episodes and ‘Blink’ from season 3 of Doctor Who came close).
- Doctor Who. As the longest-running sci-fi series ever, with (especially for the new seasons) great storylines that go back decades, it’s definitely one of the top shows ever. Not to mention it’s spawned almost as many spin-offs as Star Trek...
- Stargate SG-1. It was like Star Trek for my generation. It was smart, mostly scientifically sound (I love that!), funny, and sort of self-aware - the 100th episode, where the show parodied itself, has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
Honorable mention:
-Friends. I’m not a sitcom person, but when even I know who Chandler, Ross, Joey, Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica are, and I generally find sitcoms to be painfully not funny.
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While there was a significant amount of mediocre material, there was quite a bit of brilliant writing and directing in certain episodes, especially ‘Hush’ (an episode which had minimal dialogue, yet was nominated for an Emmy for writing).
Sex and the City? General Hospital?!
I’m trying to recall the Davis show, but I may have been working nights then, which I did a lot throughout my life. Missed a lot of series that didn’t have a long run.
Just remembered another good western-TALES OF WELLS FARGO.
Also CHEYENNE.
There’s no way in HELL you can limit any list to just 35. There were too many good programs.
KMG 365
Frasier is probably the best show on TV ever, with Seinfeld coming on strong second. Frasier is truly the show that gets me to laugh literally out loud.
I couldn’t get into X-Files. The story was so convoluted that it looked like they were making it up as they went along.
I also liked Saturday Night at the Movies.
It's where I saw the likes of The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Haunting.
As soon as I saw that Oprah was on the list, it lost all credibility with me.
I've never even seen Oprah, but I've heard enough about how she shills for people like Al Gore and Hussein Obama to know that it's got to be a lot of garbage.
I agree. Frasier was like getting an intelligent one-act play in your living room. Fantastic acting and scripts that assumed the viewers were educated and smart!
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