With just fewer than 200 voters participating since 08-20-2013 in The Best All-Time TV Show – UPDATE it’s time to identify SDMB’s Number One show from the top finishers.
Public poll. One choice. Make it count!
In spite of previous polls, you left out “none of the above.”
A no-vote can be interpreted that way.
These 12 shows were the top finishers in the UPDATE poll. If your pick for best show is not on the list, and you don’t have a preference for any show on the list, then just don’t vote. That’s equivalent to “none of the above.”
I would have said none of the above, but of the shows given, I selected Seinfeld. The Sopranos would be a close 2nd.
For the record, Arrested Development would have been my top choice. I have not seen the latest season on Netflix, though.
The Doctor, of course.
MAS*H. It’s been off the air for 30 years, and STILL gets in the top two or three against incredibly popular current shows. It’s proven that it has the legs to be best ALL-TIME show.
It was between Breaking Bad and Seinfeld. While I actually think Breaking Bad may be slightly better, so much of the Seinfeld universe has infiltrated society in a way that no other show ever has. Apples and oranges in a way-- Seinfeld is the greatest comedy, Breaking Bad is the greatest drama and a tremendous show overall, but Seinfeld wins my vote because it’s become part of the pop culture and vernacular and Americana in a way that BB never will.
You just never can tell where these polls will go. Compare the first 25 votes here:
View Poll Results: What's the Best All-Time TV show?
This poll will close on 10-31-2013 at 10:07 AM
M*A*S*H 5 20.00%
Breaking Bad 4 16.00%
Seinfeld 3 12.00%
Buffy 2 8.00%
Doctor Who 2 8.00%
Star Trek: TOS 2 8.00%
The West Wing 2 8.00%
The Wire 2 8.00%
Band of Brothers 1 4.00%
Firefly 1 4.00%
The Simpsons 1 4.00%
The Sopranos 0 0%
Voters: 25
With these first votes at
The Best All-Time TV Show – UPDATE
View Poll Results: What is the Best TV Show of All Time?
This poll will close on 11-18-2013 at 12:06 PM
Breaking Bad 5 15.63%
Doctor Who 4 12.50%
The Simpsons 3 9.38%
The Wire 3 9.38%
Buffy 3 9.38%
Star Trek: TOS 3 9.38%
M*A*S*H 2 6.25%
Firefly 1 3.13%
The Sopranos 1 3.13%
All In The Family 1 3.13%
Futurama 1 3.13%
The West Wing 1 3.13%
Mad Men 1 3.13%
I Claudius 1 3.13%
My Name Is Earl 1 3.13%
OTHER -- Post and explain 1 3.13%
Voters: 32
I voted for The Sopranos because episode-for-episode it is simply the most consistently excellent show of all those listed that I have seen.
Buffy, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons had too many weak seasons. Firefly shouldn’t be listed with series that lasted for anything over a full season. MASH* went off the rails for several seasons toward the end. Star Trek: TOS, as much as I love it, was at best a season and a half of really good TV.
Voting is slowing down this week so maybe this is the final word on which show can be regarded (at least by those who have chosen to express opinions) as the Best All-Time TV Show:
View Poll Results: What's the Best All-Time TV show?
This poll will close on 10-31-2013 at 10:07 AM
Doctor Who 7 16.67%
Breaking Bad 6 14.29%
M*A*S*H 6 14.29%
The Simpsons 5 11.90%
Buffy 3 7.14%
Seinfeld 3 7.14%
The West Wing 3 7.14%
Band of Brothers 2 4.76%
Star Trek: TOS 2 4.76%
The Sopranos 2 4.76%
The Wire 2 4.76%
Firefly 1 2.38%
Voters: 42
To me it seems worth noting that the thread debating the merits of Breaking Bad versus The Wire may be focusing on two shows that seem further apart than several nearer the top of this list.
It may be worth discussing the merits of some of these other shows and why they should be seen as more significant rivals to the top three or four.
And then again, this sample may not be convincing enough in its size to draw any real conclusions. At least for me personally, I can’t argue persuasively for my own pick(s). It appears to be a matter of taste more than real quality in the shows themselves.
Just for the record, the other threads I have started on the topic may encourage someone else to devise a better way to find The Top Show of All Time.
Your Top Five Most Preferred TV Shows (Final Poll)
06-15-2010, 01:24 PM
Your Preferred TV Shows (Section C) – Vote for up to 10
06-01-2010, 07:38 AM
Your Preferred TV Shows (Section B) – Vote for up to 10
06-01-2010, 07:23 AM
Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows – Second Pass
05-10-2010, 04:49 PM
The Best All-Time TV Show [vote for up to 10]
05-08-2010, 07:40 AM
Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows
03-22-2010, 08:28 AM
Where is The Shield?
It didn’t rise close enough to the top to make it to these “final” polls. That’s true of many good shows. Check those links in my previous post.
It would be interesting to see how Breaking Bad did in a year, or 5 years, instead of having ended just 4 nights ago.
I never really watched MASH. I HAD to vote for Breaking Bad. It’s not perfect, I think if I were to have seen all of MASH, it might have been a toss-up.
Yes. For me, the last half of the last season really elevated the show in my own judgment as worth contention for “best ever.” The weak seasons in The Wire and the letdown at the end of The Sopranos lowered them for me. The only other show on this list of 12 that I would consider as All-Time Best would be Band of Brothers but its short duration hurt it for comparison to the long run shows.
There are so many shows that got left by the wayside on the way to this “final poll” that I’d like to see somebody else’s approach to a way to determine if there even is an SDMB Favorite show. My best guess so far would be The Simpsons, but I only caught a few episodes of it. Several of these Top 12 are things I never saw at all.
Quite the rectangular distribution thus far; I’m surprised that *Firefly *hasn’t done better.
I voted for MASH, but didn’t expect to see it leading like it is today, albeit by a small margin.
What if we had separate categories of shows, like Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and such groupings? Would that make deciding what was the Best All-Time Show(s) any more convincing?
If so, how would you break down these 12 shows into categories? What about category overlap?
Was MAS*H more of a comedy, or drama… I know it was both, but if you had to place it in one of the 2 genres, which would it be?
I would vote Comedy. Many comedies have “serious” sides just as many dramas have their lighter moments, if not themes.
The boundaries between categories can be fuzzy at least, which make slotting shows into those categories a puzzle.
Is it even worth the trouble? I, for one, can’t equate the quality of MASH* with that of The Wire for several reasons. The importance of the laughs is just one factor in that dilemma.
And how much slack is there between Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and wherever Buffy should be grouped?
How will you know how many people didn’t vote? 