This is a favorite list, not a best list. I am not interested in what you think the ten best shows of all time are, because then we get into a discussion of what makes a show great and/or historically viable and important. This does not interest me right now. I just want to know your ten faves! There is only one rule: You can list only ten. Make some choices, people. They can be soaps, Saturday morning cartoons or BassMasters! My number one is my number one, the rest are in no order.

1. Family Ties
2. The Joy of Painting
3. Star Trek: The Next Generation
4. The West Wing
5. 24
6. Transformers The original, not that computer generated crap they came up with later.
7. The Muppet Show
8. Airwolf
9. The Simpsons
10. The Sopranos

Just missing(this is allowed): Dr. Who, The Fall Guy, Northern Exposure, and Homeboys in Outer Space. Wait a second

I would say:

1. Twin Peaks
2. Lost
3. 24
4. Alias
5. The X-Files
6. The Simpsons
7. Seinfeld
8. Jeopardy
9. Veronica Mars
10. Arrested Development

It's a tough call though. I tend to put a lot of stuff on the list that's still on the air.

Especially in the case of dramas, I think there's some better stuff on the air now then there's ever been. I like the trend of continuing storylines as opposed to single episode storylines which seemed to be the norm in the past. A couple that just missed the boat for me include Homicide: Life on the Street, Law and Order, and CSI

Comedies are a bit easier, because there haven't been a ton of advancements in humor. A lot of the comedies from the 80s (Cheers, Cosby), still make me laugh. Also, there's very few network comedies currently on the air that seem at all fresh and aren't just a retread of shows that came before it. Near misses include: Cheers, The Cosby Show, Friends, and The Office

Jeopardy was the only non-fiction show I put on the list, mainly because I think it's one of the few game shows that's really a challenge. There's no luck. You actually have to be smart to win.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
I would say:

1. Twin Peaks

5. The X-Files

These were a couple close ones for me.

1. Xena Warrior Princess
2. Beauty & the Beast
3. Dark Shadows
4. The Simpsons
5. The Andy Griffith Show
6. Twin Peaks
7. Hawaii 5-0
8. The Avengers
9. Mary Tyler Moore
10. Bewitched

Mostly older shows, I don't watch much TV anymore. The Avengers might move up the list as I recently found some used dvd sets of the Linda Thorson years, and I'm the oddball that prefers Tara King over Emma Peel. I'm also waiting for Hawaii 5-0 and The Addams Family to make it to dvd, as well as season 2 of Twin Peaks and seasons 1 & 2 of Beauty & the Beast. I do like TV shows on dvd.

1. The Sopranos and The Simpsons
2. Band of Brothers
3. Six Feet Under
4. South Park
5. Futurama
6. Home Movies
7. Family Guy
8. CSI
9. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
10. Deadwood

Honorable Mentions: Pee Wee's Playhouse, The Venture Bros., and When the Levee's Broke. I need to catch up with HBO I haven't seen The Wire yet and just grabbed the first disc of the first season at Blockbuster.

Thank God's It's September

There's no order, except that "All in the Family" and "The Simpsons" are at the top.

Hard to keep it at 10 though.

"All in the Family"
"The Simpsons"
"Twin Peaks"
"Get Smart"
"Sanford and Son"
"The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson"
"Jeopardy!"
"Star Trek"
"Northern Exposure"
"Hill Street Blues"

I guess I'd add "24" if allowed.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:


I guess I'd add "24" if allowed.

So allowed. But only because I fear reprisal from Jack Bauer.

1. Lost
2. South Park
3. Futurama
4. Prison Break
5. Family Guy
6. The Simpsons
7. 24
8. Only Fools and Horses
9. Blackadder
10. Red Dwarf

Four way tie for first

Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Futurama
Simpsons
South Park

5. Newsradio
6. Strangers With Candy
7. The Critic
8. Clerks
9. Kids in the Hall
10. Norm

quote:

Originally posted by Buck "Sweetie" McGuck:
Four way tie for first

Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Futurama
Simpsons
South Park

5. Newsradio
6. Strangers With Candy
7. The Critic
8. Clerks
9. Kids in the Hall
10. Norm

Ever think about trying something out that isn't a comedy?

quote:

10. Norm

Ok, as long as that isn't the Norm MacDonald comedy that was on FOX a little while back.

It lasted one, maybe two episodes and I remember that at one point, Norm MacDonald jokingly said something like "Why would I want a comedy show? I'm really not very funny."

Turns out he was telling the truth. yech.

01. Veronica Mars
02. Scrubs
03. The Office
04. Futurama
05. SpongeBob SquarePants
06. Grey's Anatomy
07. Desperate Housewives
08. The Simpsons
09. Friends
10. ThunderCats

1) The Simpsons
2) The Sopranos
3) Monkey
4) The Office
5) Rage
6) D Gen - The Late Show
7) The Goodies
8) Alas Smith and Jones
9) Six Feet Under
10) South Park

A mixture of favourites as a child (Monkey, Goodies) and recent discoveries (Sopranos, Six Feet Under). Rage is an overnight Australian music show.

I doubt this is the right placement of this post but w/e... I was looking down the list and see that The Simpsons is on many of them. This isnt directly releated to that, I just thought, Does Anyone Actually LIKE the SimpsonS? Before everyone gets riled up, and rallies against me, I was wandering, are you liking it because you are SUPPOSED to like it? Or do you genuinely like it? If the SimPsons was a hated show all around, would it still be on your top 10? Or is it there because you feel it is RIGHT to put it there.

The Simpsons has been, and continues to, a well-written, funny, warm, and subversively clever show for 18 years. I don't like it because I'm supposed to like it...I like it because it's all of those things. I'm not going to raise a rally against you, but I think it's a little ridiculous to accuse the folks who have posted lists here of liking something to fit in, rather than because they actually like it. If I decide to ask you if you REALLY like Ratatat or Mates of State (two bands you've claimed to like in other posts here) or if you were just liking them to fit into a particular in-group, I think you'd be offended. That's essentially what you've said to almost everyone in this thread. I appreciate the devil's advocate as much as the next guy, but I don't think you've given the people who have posted lists here even close to a fair shake.

I seriously dont mean to be the devil's advocate on this one. I am not saying ANYONE here actually doesnt like the Simpsons. I just used that as an example because I find that there are a group of activities that are especially "cool" to do/like. In many cases, people genuinely may like them, but even with myself, I find sometimes I might say I watch Arrested Development, because its "cool" to like Arrested Development. Maybe you think if you say that other people will think you are "with it" and know what is good in the world. I'm sorry i had to place that post under the topic of the simpsons, I really dont mean to offend anyone here (at least the ones that are authentic.)

I won't deny that I've gotten into some shows over the years because other people have recommended them to me. I had no interest in HBO's Oz until a friend jammed a pair of tapes in my VCR, and hooked me HARD. I liked the shows because they were good, though, and not because I wanted to make my friend happy. I've told the same friend that some of his recommendations were crap. I do know people who watch some shows simply because they want to be able to talk about them at work the next day. Several people I know say they hate Desperate Housewives, but watch it to be able to be involved in conversations with colleagues. If I ever have to watch shows I hate for dead-time work conversation, I'm pretty sure I'll be quitting that job.

1. The Office (british)
2. The Simpsons
3. Kids In the Hall
4. Saturday Night Live
5. Curb Your Enthusiasm
6. Malcolm in the Middle
7. Seinfeld
8. Cheers
9. Chappelle's Show
10. Pee Wees Playhouse

It's funny, earlier in this post, someone put "Ever try something that isn't a comedy?"...I thought about it, and my answer would be no, not really. I love drama, don't get me wrong but for some reason when I watch t.v., I watch comedy and when I watch movies, they're mostly drama.

quote:

Originally posted by Musicalifragilistic:
1. The Office (british)
2. The Simpsons
3. Kids In the Hall
4. Saturday Night Live
5. Curb Your Enthusiasm
6. Malcolm in the Middle
7. Seinfeld
8. Cheers
9. Chappelle's Show
10. Pee Wees Playhouse

It's funny, earlier in this post, someone put "Ever try something that isn't a comedy?"...I thought about it, and my answer would be no, not really. I love drama, don't get me wrong but for some reason when I watch t.v., I watch comedy and when I watch movies, they're mostly drama.

Fair enough. You've got a pretty funny list. Good choices.

Sorry, a top 10 isn't nearly enough room, so I'll do a top 15.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Angel
3. Veronica Mars
4. Late Night With Conan O'Brien
5. Six Feet Under
6. Alias
7. Wonderfalls
8. Firefly
9. Farscape
10. Arrested Development
11. Queer as Folk (American)
12. Sex and the City
13. Battlestar Galactica (Current Version)
14. Xena: Warrior Princess
15. Dead Like Me

My list shows an obvious penchant for Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) and quirky, cancelled dramadies (Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me). I also wanted to show some lovin' for Late Night With Conan O'Brien, which has for some reason managed to be consistently, frighteningly funny and well-written for at least the last five years.

Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica (2004) are the only two scripted entries still on the air on my list. Veronica Mars has blown me away with it's insanely high level of quality and characterization every single episode I've seen. If it keeps up at this pace, it may perhaps some day surpass Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the most intelligently written show ever seen on television. If it can avoid cancellation, that is.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is, of course, currently the only show I could ever imagine being #1 (well, perhaps Angel, but just because of seasons 3 and 4). If you haven't objectively watched an episode of this series yet, then you're really missing out on one of the smartest, funniest and most revolutionary television series ever created. Without Buffy, there would be no smartly-written female-driven shows such as Veronica Mars, no pop-culture-savvy rapid-fire dialog shows such as Gilmore Girls, and I could even make the argument that there wouldn't be any mythologically-rich shows such as Lost or Alias.