# Final Round -- Best All-Time TV Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006 "2013-09-30T15:04:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/81 "2013-10-25T14:11:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’d be willing to bet that if you redo this poll in 5 years, _Breaking Bad_ won’t make the Top 5, let alone be contending for #1. It’s way too soon for any evaluation of the show to be meaningful. I certainly won’t argue that. Over the past few of these polls I have posted, my votes have run to _The Wire_, _The Sopranos_ and now _Breaking Bad_. I had (for me) good reasons for shifting my loyalty: the durability of the shows became an issue. And it took the final half-season of BB for it to convince me it was better than those other two. I suspect there will be a new contender within five years to cause me to adjust my thinking as well. I certainly hope that _Justified_ can continue its quality level so that I can vote for it in another year or so. To address your basic concerns, though, I suggest a new poll that prohibits shows from being considered if they are less than x-number years since their finales. I’ll leave that poll’s construction to anybody who want to post it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/82 "2013-10-29T14:00:27Z")
Just 49 hours left to vote here… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/83 "2013-10-29T15:25:50Z")
Next vote will be #200! ```auto View Poll Results: What's the Best All-Time TV show? This poll will close on 10-31-2013 at 10:07 AM Breaking Bad 31 15.58% M*A*S*H 30 15.08% Seinfeld 20 10.05% The Wire 18 9.05% Star Trek: TOS 17 8.54% The Simpsons 17 8.54% The West Wing 14 7.04% Doctor Who 13 6.53% Buffy 12 6.03% Firefly 10 5.03% The Sopranos 9 4.52% Band of Brothers 8 4.02% Voters: 199 ============================================= ``` ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/84 "2013-10-29T20:33:14Z")
Here’s how things stood after the 200th vote: ```auto ============================================= View Poll Results: What's the Best All-Time TV show? This poll will close on 10-31-2013 at 10:07 AM Breaking Bad 31 15.50% 15.50% M*A*S*H 30 15.00% 30.50% Seinfeld 20 10.00% 40.50% The Simpsons 18 9.00% 49.50% The Wire 18 9.00% 58.50% Star Trek: TOS 17 8.50% 67.00% The West Wing 14 7.00% 74.00% Doctor Who 13 6.50% 80.50% Buffy 12 6.00% 86.50% Firefly 10 5.00% 91.50% The Sopranos 9 4.50% 96.00% Band of Brothers 8 4.00% 100.00% Voters: 200 ============================================= ``` Since there was a tie between _The Simpsons_ and _The Wire_ it’s clear that well over half the votes went to these top 5 shows. As to which of them is THE SDMB choice for BEST, I will accept that there’s room for debate and taste. But I’m also content to say the choice has to be among those shows. Any strong argument against that position? Does anybody else want to rephrase the question and post another poll to address the basic issue? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/85 "2013-10-30T13:23:56Z")
Seven more votes have led to this update that leaves just over 25 hours before poll closing time. It would be an amazing feat if the placement of these shows were to change significantly in that time, but who knows? ```auto View Poll Results: What's the Best All-Time TV show? This poll will close on 10-31-2013 at 10:07 AM Breaking Bad 32 15.46% 15.46% M*A*S*H 30 14.49% 29.95% Seinfeld 21 10.14% 40.09% The Wire 19 9.18% 49.27% The Simpsons 18 8.70% 57.97% Star Trek: TOS 17 8.21% 66.18% Doctor Who 15 7.25% 73.43% The West Wing 14 6.76% 80.19% Buffy 12 5.80% 85.99% Firefly 11 5.31% 91.30% The Sopranos 10 4.83% 96.13% Band of Brothers 8 3.86% 99.99% Voters: 207 ============================================= ``` ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/86 "2013-12-24T18:15:02Z")
For those who participated in this poll, it might be fun to compare notes with [TV Guide Magazine’s 60 Best Series of All Time.](http://tv.yahoo.com/news/tv-guide-magazine-39-60-best-series-time-120100273.html) What’s your biggest surprise in the differences? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/87 "2013-12-24T18:26:52Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > What’s your biggest surprise in the differences? Oprah and Ray Romano ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/88 "2013-12-24T18:48:54Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Oprah and Ray Romano Yep. Other than those two, I have no problem with those choices. Can’t think of any obvious omissions. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/89 "2013-12-24T19:04:20Z")
I didn’t actually count them but there have to be at least 10 on their list that I never saw more than one episode of, some of them none at all. I’m glad our list was included on their list. Again, I didn’t count. I really yo-yo on picking _The Sopranos_ or _Breaking Bad_ or _The Wire_ as the best ever show. But it would have to be one of those three. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/90 "2013-12-24T19:13:35Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Oprah and Ray Romano and no Firefly. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/91 "2013-12-24T19:18:41Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Oprah and Ray Romano > [@AuntiePam](#): > > Yep. Other than those two, I have no problem with those choices. Can’t think of any obvious omissions. > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > and no Firefly. It might make for a fun thread to take their list and replace all the crummy shows they list with “good shows” they left off. I do know there were plenty on our earlier lists that I had never seen but which would probably be better than some of their Top 60. For instance I could replace _American Idol_ with almost anything. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/92 "2013-12-24T19:25:28Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > For instance I could replace _American Idol_ with almost anything. Yeah, including our weekday morning local news. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/93 "2013-12-24T19:39:55Z")
Just in case somebody else wants to start another thread on their list – and what’s wrong with it – here it is: ============================== 1. The Sopranos 2. Seinfeld 3. I Love Lucy 4. All in the Family 5. The Twilight Zone 6. The Wire 7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show 8. M_A_S\*H 9. Breaking Bad 10. The Simpsons 11. Cheers 12. Star Trek 13. The Honeymooners 14. Law & Order 15. The Andy Griffith Show 16. Masterpiece Theatre 17. The Carol Burnett Show 18. Saturday Night Live 19. The Oprah Winfrey Show 20. The Dick Van Dyke Show 21. Mad Men 22. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 23. Hill Street Blues 24. 60 Minutes 25. The X-Files 26. The Cosby Show 27. Gunsmoke 28. Friends 29. ER 30. Sesame Street 31. The Ed Sullivan Show 32. Roseanne 33. Columbo 34. The Waltons 35. Taxi 36. Lost 37. Your Show of Shows 38. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 39. Survivor 40. Sex and the City 41. Late Night/Late Show With David Letterman 42. The West Wing 43. Modern Family 44. NYPD Blue 45. Jeopardy! 46. Barney Miller 47. Dallas 48. American Idol 49. The Bob Newhart Show 50. The Shield 51. St. Elsewhere 52. The Big Bang Theory 53. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 54. The Golden Girls 55. Homicide: Life on the Street 56. The Larry Sanders Show 57. Battlestar Galactica 58. Monty Python’s Flying Circus 59. The Good Wife 60. Everybody Loves Raymond ============================== ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006/94 "2013-12-24T19:42:43Z")
So Band of Brothers didn’t make their list because it was only one season – a miniseries? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-round-best-all-time-tv-show/670006.md?page=4)