your top five best TV shows list

who watches movies anymore anyway? TV's where it's at. (well, actually, video games are probably where it's a, but I'm old so I don't really know about such things.) the sad thing is, about half of the movies in my DVD collection are foreign. all the TV shows I have are American. aren't there any great Japanese or Mexican or French TV shows? and why don't they export 'em?

after some casual deliberation, I've narrowed the list of the "five greatest shows ever made" list to:

1. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
2. Twin Peaks
3. The Sopranos
4. My So-Called Life
5. Angel

no sitcoms is kinda strange, and I was tempted to include 'Larry Sanders' or 'Seinfeld.' but I didn't. I guess I'm just not a "sitcom" kinda guy. and 'The Simpsons' probably belongs on any "best of" list but the last five years or so has REALLY wrecked the grading curve. and I don't think it's fair to just vote for specific seasons.

I tried to think of a few British shows to include, but they make 'em in such small batches that they seem more like mini-series than shows. it just doesn't seem fair to claim that a handful of 'Black Adders' deserves to go up against 110 'Angels'. (and, besides, only seasons 2 and 3 of BA were really all that great) I considered 'Monty Python', and it certainly deserves a place as being influental, but, honestly, there was a lot of filler in there and te laugh track made it almost impossible to enjoy the show. I have a much easier time with the albums and films (especially since 'And Now For Something' compiles all the best stuff).

 

1)All In The Family
2)24
3)The X-Files
4)The Simpsons
5)Dick Van Dyke Show

I changed it!

 

Well, I guess my favorites are...

"The Simpsons"
"The Larry Sanders Show"
"Curb Your Enthusiam" (I'm currently loving it - just getting into it)
"Law and Order: SVU"
"Three's Company" (grew up with it)

JEFF!

 

In no particular order:

1) All In Tha Family
2) Brady Bunch
3) Gilligan's Island
4) The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling)
5) Three's Company

This is not as easy as I thought, because I want to be able to add:

6) Gomer Pyle, USMC

 

Today's list...

1) Rockford Files
2) Law and Order (original)
3) Dick Van Dyke Show
4) Larry Sanders Show
5) Fawlty Towers

Honorable mention to the Ed Sullivan Show!

 

So very true.

1. NewsRadio

And then the rest in no particular order:

Barney Miller, WKRP In Cincinnati, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Simpsons (despite the last 5 or 6 seasons).

 

Anyone remember "Franks Place" with Tim Reid? A short-lived but outstanding series.

(Thanks for reminding me of WKRP - I swear to God I thought turkeys could fly).

 

In no order:

Seinfeld
Mary Tyler Moore
Sopranos
Cheers
M*A*S*H

 

In no order:

Seinfeld
Dick Van Dyke
Twilight Zone
All in the Family
The Simpsons

 

"As God is my witness I thought turkey's could fly".... I think it was that...

 

Right you are - we need reruns! One of the funniest moments in TV history.

 

1 Get Smart
2 Twin Peaks
3 Seinfeld
4 1950s Superman
5 1960s Batman

 

Twin Peaks
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Hey, that list makes me look like a big geek! Perhaps.

 

Sopranos
The Prisoner
The Avengers (EMMA PEEL YEARS)
X-Files
The Simpsons

Jeff

 

Seinfeld
WKRP In Cincinnati
NYPD Blue
Cheers
South Park

Runners Up:
Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H (1st 3 seasons)
Family Guy
LA Law

 

The Prisoner
The Rifleman
Have Gun-Will Travel
Rumpole Of The Bailey
The Fugitive (Richard Janssen)

Runners Up...

Hawaii Five-O
WKRP In Cincinnati
Quantum Leap
Wanted: Dead Or Alive
Remington Steele

 

1) Three's Company
2) South Park
3) The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling)
4) The Honeymooners.
5) Married with Children (1st 4 seasons
6) Alfred Hitchcock Presents

 

I have to add

Beavis And Butthead
WKRP In Cincinnatti
Emergency!
Dragnet (mid-late 60s version)
Dennis The Menace
Sliders (first season)
Melrose Place

 

I hate threads like this one, but only because I rethink my list about 5 seconds after I post it. In the spirit of HIGH FIDELITY, here are my top 5 TV Shows:

1.Hill Street Blues - I think the contribution it made and the ground it broke are largely overlooked these days.

2. Millennium - I love The X Files but I found a lot more to ponder after each episode of this series.

3. Seinfeld - hilarious and infinitely quotable. As cohesive as old-time radio.

4. Freaks & Geeks - loved it when it aired and even more now when I share it with my students. They are amazed at how much of themselves they can find in a series set in what seems like a lifetime ago to them.

5. Hee Haw - because I used to watch it with my dad, and because it introduced me to some great music even before I had sense enough to appreciate it.

 

I can't really pick my five favorite shows - there were many shows which I watched regularly and with enthusiasm at some point in my life, but which I no longer would consider a "favorite." The first show I remember being hooked on was the cartoon, "Astroboy," at age 4 or 5.

But I must post here, since like 93curr I remain devoted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ANGEL.

I also really like the DVD issue of Joss Whedon's Sci-Fi Western series, Firefly - I'm looking forward to Serenity, the big-screen version scheduled for release this fall.

I am sort of surprised that no-one mentioned
"Northern Exposure,"
"Picket Fences,"
"Frasier,"
"Mary Hartman," or
"Saturday Night Live"
not to mention "Laugh-In"

 

Currently...

1. 24
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm
3. Entourage
4. House M.D.
5. Any CSI series

Forever, add:

NYPD Blue, Frasier, Seinfeld, Miami Vice (bit dated now), Cosby Show, X Files, Mind of the Married Man

All-time Britcom: Coupling!

 

SNL is pretty far up there, and Northern Exposure was great for its time. I think if I had to pick 10, one or both of those would have shown up. Also Soap! and Seinfeld...

 

Please add SNL to my list.....until 1985, when Lorne Michaels came back.

 

1. Burns & Allen
2. The Honeymooners
3. Life of Riley
4. Your Show of Shows
5. Seinfeld