In order:
- West Wing
- Hill Street Blues
- The Twilight Zone
- Star Trek
- Columbo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy/ Smiley’s People (bleak spy series starring Alec Guinness)
Callan (bleak spy series starring Edward Woodward)
The Singing Detective
Edge of Darkness
I Claudius
- West Wing (first 4 seasons)
- Babylon 5
- Firefly
- Homicide: Life on the Streets
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- CSI
- Gilmore Girls
-DF
I really like these three:
- Action
- Six Feet Under
- Millennium
Babylon 5
Firefly
Hill Street Blues
The Twilight Zone
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
I don’t watch many dramas, so I’ll go with the odd combination of:
Magnum, p.i.
Buffy/Angel
and
Mission: Impossible
These are the only shows I’m willing to watch at any time. Mission: Impossible saved my sanity when I was taking a class in intensive Greek.
- I, Claudius
- The Sopranos
- Freaks and Geeks
- The Prisoner
- The original Star Trek
- Buffy
- Farscape
- CSI
- 24
- Keen Eddie
This is tough. Some series that I rememeber fondly, watching as a teen, don’t hold up too well with time. I got The Prisoner on DVD and though the concept is still interesting, it hasn’t aged all that well, mainly because McGoohan chews the scenery way too much. So even though I and many others seem to think that tv gets worse over the years, my list will be highly slanted towrads after the 80’s.
- Prime Suspect - not only the best crime series ever, Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison is the best tv show ever. I just ordered the DVD, and even though I’m sad there are so few epsidoes, I guess that’s what keeps the show at such an extremely high level, where each episode is even better than most theatrical features.
- I, Claudius - even if it feels more like filmed theatre than television, it still one of the best acted pieces ever.
- Buffy - for breaking new grounds in what can be done on tv. For taking very big chances and not only stretching the envelope but throwing it away. Overall impression is brought down, because there are just too many so-so episodes. My #1+2 don’t have a single filler.
- Babylon 5 - for the unique storytelling. Even though there are some good stuff in S.5, the overall score is lessened by this last season.
- Miami Vice - 20 years later we might laugh at the clothes and settings, but Michael Mann really changed the way television is told.
Honorable mention: Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, Homicide
I’m sticking with dramas, not miniseries (which leaves out The Singing Detective and I, Claudius). They’re two different things.
- Hill Street Blues – certainly the most influential TV drama ever.
- Homicide: Life on the Streets – Gritty (of course), but a great portrayal of working cops. Probably the least violent cop show ever (you saw dead people, but rarely saw anyone die).
- Babylon 5 – technically, I suppose you could count this as a miniseries (since it had one big story arc), but it was certainly the most sophisticated science fiction ever to be on television. Because of its five-year plan (marked down to four, unfortunately), it was one of the few to have foreshadowing, making the original run especially exciting: you had to pay attention to everything, since they might be important later.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The one-year “big bad” story arcs made the Babylon 5 concept manageable and allowed for a lot of long-term character development.
- My So-Called Life – Terrific show that died too soon. People thought it was a teen angst drama, but I loved it and was 42 when it ran.
- The West Wing – up until Sorkin left. It’s OK now, but not what it was.
- Picket Fences – up until Kelly left. Wierd town, with great characters and interesting plots.
- Twilight Zone – I prefer the New Twilight Zone (for its lack of gratuitous nastiness), but the original was so good it became a catchphrase. A bit dated now, but many episodes are quite good.
- Star Trek – The original, of course. Good SF comes to TV. And, of course, it’s influence is huge.
- Twin Peaks – The early episode were incredible. There was some floundering, but it was on a new track when the plug was pulled. Very influential (Picket Fences was in many ways just Twin Peaks Lite).
I must have been watching TV on another planet:
Blackadder
Fawlty Towers
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Ripping Yarns
Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister
and another galaxy:
SeaChange
Ummmmm, you’re welcome.
Marc
Band of Brothers
Roots
Deadwood
Twilight Zone
Mission: Impossible
Star Trek
I would have added The Sopranos, but they’ve not been consistent.
West Wing
Firefly
24
CSI
Star Trek DS9
Simpsonses
Quantum Leap
Star Trek TNG
Futurama
Dramas, eh? The 5 I’d most enjoy revisiting:
The Twilight Zone
Hill Street Blues
Crime Story
Mission: Impossible
The Equalizer
I don’t include The Singing Detective because I consider that a mini-series, not a TV series.
I’d forgotten about Prime Suspect. Wedge that into my list.
And I included a “miniseries” in my OP to let you know that I included them, at least the standout ones that cannot be overlooked, in the question.
1) NYPD Blue
2) Law & Order
3) Hill Street Blues
I’m sure I am overlooking some, but the first few that pop into my head as shows I could watch repeatedly are . . .
- The Prisoner
- The Twilight Zone
- The Avengers
- Mission: Impossible
- The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Admittedly, #3 and #5 weren’t strictly dramas, and could probably be called comedies just as fairly. But they had dramatic elements, so I’m countin’ em.
I had to dismiss any show, no matter how good, that had a bad season. This kills West Wing, X-Files, Andromeda, Le Femme Nikita, and a number of other really good shows. I also dismissed shows that didn’t run at least two full seasons. Which kills Carnival, Nip/Tuck, Dead Wood, Firefly, and some other great shows. I mean, we are talking greatest ever, I have to have some criteria…
- Buffy
- The Waltons
- Angel
- M.A.S.H. (The orginal dramady)
- Sopranos
- West Wing
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- (Really tied for 2, but lost out because of longevity) Sports Night
- Family Ties
- MAS*H