Three’s Company
The Wire is my favorite TV show by a good margin. And of all my favorite things (book/movie/music/whatever) it’s the one that is the clearest selection, the one I feel most confident that large numbers of other people could and should agree with.
I picked Lost and it seems I’m the only one. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for series that weren’t great every season, which didn’t have an ending, or ended poorly. And I couldn’t bring myself to vote for a comedy over a drama. More specifically some contenders:
Arrested Development: it was fantastic, but not iconic. Extremely clever and often hilarious, but never deep.
BSG: Actually, having a little trouble finding fault with this. Elements of it were superior, but Lost’s overall arc was more polished.
Buffy: Genre definer, but at times too campy or angsty, and the last two seasons were uneven.
Dr Who: this was a close second for it’s “greatness”, but lost points for it’s campy bits.
Firefly: Too obvious. Also, might have been number one, but disqualified due to ending prematurely. Even if you count the movie, which was fantastic and wrapped up the River and Reaver plots, there needed to be at least one more to resolve some of the character and background relationships and plots.
X-Files: faltered when Mulder left, still needs one more film for resolution.
The Wire: I’ve heard great things, but I haven’t seen it. Although from the premise, I wonder if it might be just too relentlessly tragic. Is there any joy in it, or just compelling drama?
Six Feet Under: not in poll. Could easily be a contender. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose.
Community: Fantastic. But comedy, and not finished.
HIMYM: Ditto.
Pushing Daisies: unfinished, and perhaps too cartoony.
There’s some great shows on the list. But I went with my first thoughts without even looking first and came up with Seinfeld.
Too bad Jerry is a dick IRL.
Do you often contradict yourself like that?
There are some very, very funny moments (and characters), but it’s certainly not a laff-riot.
FWIW I don’t see a contradiction in jackdavinci’s post.
mmm
I realize I’m in the minority, but I thought Lost was consistently strong, each season had a great twist in focus, and it had a great ending.
More amazingly, it’s one of the few mystery shows of that style to get a chance to resolve in the manner the writers intended. Most other mytharc shows either get cancelled too early, or drag on past their due date.
If I catch an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway on TV, I’ll watch it again even though I’ve probably already seen that same episode six hundred times before. I’m not sure I can say the same about any other series.
I’m going with The Muppets.
Other - The Prisoner (1967-68)
The Carol Burnett Show.
I absolutely loved this variety/comedy show as a child and still miss it.
Buffy.
No Family Guy?
My vote went to The Wire before I even opened the thread, but I think Family Guy would have received some votes. It is the one show I can count on laughing while watching. It’s not going to win the poll, but I think it touches on a lot of subjects that no one is willing to, and gets away with it because it’s a cartoon. I love it’s political incorrectness.
Tier 1: The X-Files, The Wire
Tier 2: Arrested Development, The Shield, Futurama
Tier 3: Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter, Firefly
Tier 4: Buffy, Angel, Breaking Bad, Community, Scrubs, DS9
It was a tough choice, but I went with The X-Files over The Wire. It certainly had more impact on me than any other show, and those early seasons are wonderful. It was almost a different show after they moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles, leaving behind the crew and the locations which were essential to the show.
Disagree with “the manner the writers intended”, as JJ Abrams and the head writers had promised that by the end of Lost, everything would make sense, rationally, with “no magic involved”.
Hmmm, I think we need a thread on “Shows that were awesome right up until the last episode”.
Some might call it “a Seinfeld/Sopranos thread”; I’d call it “the Lost/Prisoner discussion”.
So far, the leading contenders include Buffy, Firefly, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Dr. Who, and The Simpsons.
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Bah! Internet nerds!*
The Dick Van Dyke Show had the best scripts & cast.
Period.
Other as I do not have one single show.
I liked the early years of X Files - the monster of the week format. I detested it when it went to story arcs.
I like Babylon 5, though not every single episode is the same quality.
I love certain Doctors Who - give me Tom Baker and David Tennant Doctors. I started watching regularly with Tom Baker, I caught the last few stories of the Jon Pertwee Who but not regularly. I really did not like the cricket player Who and stopped watching until I caught the David Tennant Who.
I love Mythbusters, Ghost Hunters, not so much GH International. Lexx was fun as was Farscape, but not as striking that I would claim them as the best show ever. I did love I, Claudius - as a production it was excellently adapted, well cast and had high production values, perhaps one might be able to claim the whole Masterpiece Theater as the best show ever as it did a range of productions.
Compare these sorted results:
What is the best show in the history of television?
Other 29 14.43%
The Wire 26 12.94%
Seinfeld 15 7.46%
Firefly 11 5.47%
The Simpsons 11 5.47%
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 10 4.98%
Doctor Who (2005) 9 4.48%
The Dick Van Dyke Show 7 3.48%
Myster Science Theater 3000 7 3.48%
M*A*S*H 6 2.99%
Star Trek 6 2.99%
The West Wing 6 2.99%
Cheers 4 1.99%
Deadwood 4 1.99%
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 3 1.49%
Monty Python's Flying Circus 3 1.49%
The Twilight Zone 3 1.49%
Twin Peaks 3 1.49%
The X-Files 3 1.49%
All in the Family 2 1.00%
Arrested Development 2 1.00%
Battlestar Galactica (2003) 2 1.00%
Breaking Bad 2 1.00%
Fawlty Towers 2 1.00%
Freaks and Geeks 2 1.00%
Friends 2 1.00%
Hill Street Blues 2 1.00%
Married...with Children 2 1.00%
Monday Night Football 2 1.00%
Saturday Night Live 2 1.00%
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 2 1.00%
The Sopranos 2 1.00%
The Andy Griffith Show 1 0.50%
60 Minutes 1 0.50%
The Honeymooners 1 0.50%
Lost 1 0.50%
The Office (British) 1 0.50%
Sesame Street 1 0.50%
Soap 1 0.50%
Star Trek: The Next Generation 1 0.50%
Taxi 1 0.50%
Voters: 201
The show that has continually and consistently blown me away: Breaking Bad.
It’s gonna be a while before that gets overthrown. Although, I’ll have to watch The Wire as this board keeps bringing it up. Fine! I’ll watch it! 