# No time limit; Stop at 10: Favorite TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221 "2014-07-02T21:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/41 "2014-07-03T16:43:52Z")
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Firefly The Simpsons Seinfeld The Wire The Sopranos The Colbert Report Stargate SG-1 The Venture Brothers King of the Hill ---
**Author:** ![Breen11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Breen11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breen11)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/42 "2014-07-03T16:58:05Z")
No particular order. The Sopranos Sons Of Anarchy Breaking Bad The Office (U.S) ER Bob’s Burgers King of Queens Fresh Prince of Bel Air Kenny vs Spenny Home Improvement ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/43 "2014-07-03T17:06:47Z")
Barney Miller Fawlty Towers The Good Wife Six Feet Under The Wire Sports Night The Larry Sanders Show Law & Order Pushing Daisies Frontline Modern Family ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/44 "2014-07-03T17:29:18Z")
My Standard Disclaimer: this list may be different 10 minutes from now The Cosby Show Hey Arnold! (yes, the Nickelodeon show) Hill Street Blues Hogan’s Heroes Jeopardy! Monty Python’s Flying Circus The Price is Right The Prisoner The Simpsons TBS’s Saturday afternoon/evening wrestling program (at least until WCW Monday Nitro started, and excluding for the few months in 1984-85 when it became a WWF highlights show) ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/45 "2014-07-03T19:01:03Z")
A lot of predictable ones on my list: [ul] [li]Breaking Bad[/li][li]Buffy[/li][li]Doctor Who (not sure about this one - sometimes I love it and sometimes it just annoys me)[/li][li]Firefly[/li][li]Futurama[/li][li]Game of Thrones[/li][li]The Life of Birds (highly recommended)[/li][li]The Simpsons[/li][li]The X-Files[/li][li]The Wire[/li][/ul] I tried to make it more interesting by just picking one out of Buffy/Firefly and The Simpsons/Futurama. But I can’t honestly say there are other series I looked forward to watching as much, and would re-watch/recommend/quote/think of and laugh/not roll my eyes at as much as the ones on my list. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/46 "2014-07-03T20:30:22Z")
In no order whatsover: \*Arrested Development Seinfeld Cheers Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Andy Griffith Show\* (until Barney left) \*\* The Bob Newhart Show - Jeeves and Wooster The Mary Tyler Moore Show Northern Exposure\* (until Joel left) _The X-Files_ - extraordinarily comforting television shows, these ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/47 "2014-07-03T21:34:16Z")
NewsRadio Arrested Development Lost (the first couple of seasons, anyway) Dexter (ditto…John Lithgow creeped me out so much I never watched again) Beautiful People Buffy Six Feet Under X-Files Law & Order (the original) Law & Order CI ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/48 "2014-07-03T22:35:38Z")
In no real order: Futurama Babylon 5 X-Files Band of Brothers Firefly Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) The Goodies Fawlty Towers Blackadder (Series 2-4) Deadwood ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/49 "2014-07-03T23:29:14Z")
[ul] [li]Seinfeld[/li][li]Os Normais (It’s been a while since I’ve done much in Portuguese, so I don’t know that I could watch and understand episodes of Os Normais now. But I absolutely LOVED it about 10 years ago.)[/li][li]The Wire[/li][li]Breaking Bad[/li][li]The Sopranos[/li][li]Arrested Development[/li][li]Futurama[/li][li]The Daily Show[/li][li]The Colbert Report[/li][li]King of the Hill[/li][/ul] There’s got to be a way to fit in Vice shows (Vice News, Vice Guides), The Thick of It, Sherlock, Pushing Daisies, Deadbeat, and The Booth at the End, but you only asked for 10 shows. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/50 "2014-07-03T23:35:45Z")
Mythbusters MacGyver (which I’m surprised nobody else has mentioned) Voltron (probably not as good as my nostalgia remembers it) The Big Bang Theory Firefly Babylon 5 Battlestar Galactica (the new one), except for the last half-season or so Avatar: The Last Airbender Star Trek: The original series Animaniacs ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/51 "2014-07-03T23:47:09Z")
No particular order, except for the first one 😃 THe Walking Dead Friends Will & Grace 3rd Rock From the Sun Mythbusters The Crocodile Hunter Breaking Bad Dirty Jobs Roseanne The Golden Girls ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/52 "2014-07-04T00:07:25Z")
For those of you who may wish to review the history of the “Top TV Shows” issue (at least as far as threads that I had something to do with)… Check out these threads – shown in reverse chronological order – that began in 2010 and ran through 2013: ============================================= > **[Final Round -- Best All-Time TV Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=703529)** > > 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! Final Round – Best All-Time TV Show 09-30-2013, 10:04 AM Voters: 90 This poll will close on 10-31-2013 at 10:07 AM > **[The Best All-Time TV Show -- UPDATE](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=699986)** > > If you’ll refer to The Best All-Time TV Show \[vote for up to 10\], which was active a couple of years ago, you’ll see the basis of the 51 shows in this poll. Vote for YOUR FAVORITE in this group. If your favorite isn’t on the list, vote OTHER and let... The Best All-Time TV Show – UPDATE 08-20-2013 Voters: 195 This poll will close on 11-18-2013 at 12:06 PM > **[Your Top Five Most Preferred TV Shows (Final Poll)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=567279)** > > Vote for up to five. Your Top Five Most Preferred TV Shows (Final Poll) 06-15-2010, 01:24 PM Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 280. This poll is closed > **[Your Preferred TV Shows (Section C) -- Vote for up to 10](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=565330)** > > These are the 40 shows that received two mentions in Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows – Second Pass. Multiple Choice: Vote for up to 10 shows. The title’s “preferred” is meant to suggest that whether you see your vote(s) for “favorite” or “best” is... Your Preferred TV Shows (Section C) – Vote for up to 10 06-01-2010, 07:38 AM Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 98. This poll is closed > **[Your Preferred TV Shows (Section B) -- Vote for up to 10](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=565328)** > > These are the 33 shows that received at least three mentions in Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows – Second Pass. Multiple Choice: Vote for up to 10 shows. The title’s “preferred” is meant to suggest that whether you see your vote(s) for “favorite” or... Your Preferred TV Shows (Section B) – Vote for up to 10 06-01-2010, 07:23 AM Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 91. This poll is closed > **[Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows -- Second Pass](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=562690)** > > Posts in the thread The Best All-Time TV Show \[vote for up to 10\] indicated that some people weren’t aware of the first pass thread or else they were disappointed some of their favorite shows weren’t included in the Top 51 shows involved in the... Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows – Second Pass 05-10-2010, 04:49 PM > **[The Best All-Time TV Show \[vote for up to 10\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=562451)** > > After seven weeks Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows has provided the “favorite” Top 51 TV Shows of All Time. This poll is to try to determine the BEST of those shows. Since there’s no way to control the number of votes in a multiple choice poll, you... The Best All-Time TV Show [vote for up to 10] 05-08-2010, 07:40 AM Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 298. This poll is closed > **[Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=556753)** > > With the apparent enjoyment of two threads with similar purposes: The greatest actors of your lifetime with 48 Replies and 650 Views and Best Western (movie) with 81 Replies and 734 Views …where the intention is to get preliminary data for polls... Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows 03-22-2010, 08:28 AM ============================================= You might even enjoy seeing how your own tastes and preferences may have evolved in that period. No matter what, thanks a lot for playing along. A summary of this thread’s mentions will come as soon as I can get the data together. At least I have something to do on the 4th! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/53 "2014-07-04T04:10:09Z")
No order: M_A_S\*H The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Doctor Who Monty Python’s Flying Circus The Bob Newhart Show The Muppet Show Get Smart The Avengers Moonlighting The Carol Burnett Show ---
**Author:** ![Daffyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daffyd/32/8923_2.png) [@Daffyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daffyd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/54 "2014-07-04T04:12:51Z")
IT Crowd Peep Show Curb Your Enthusiasm Doctor Who Moone Boy Six Feet Under Burns and Allen The Jack Benny Show Absolutely Fabulous Life on Mars ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/55 "2014-07-04T04:25:57Z")
not in strict order: The Dick Van Dyke Show Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister ER Inspector Morse Inspector Lewis All Creatures Great And Small Monty Python’s Flying Circus Babylon 5 Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) The Muppet Show ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/56 "2014-07-04T12:26:20Z")
Saturday Night Live\* Friday Night Lights M_A_S_H Lost Buffy Cheers The Wire Law & Order Match Game\*\* That’s Incredible!_\*\* \*I’m surprised I’m the first to mention this one. I get that it’s wildly inconsistent, but when it’s good, it’s very, very good. \*\*Loved this as a kid, still funny in reruns today. \*\*\* My “when I was a kid I watched this religiously but likely couldn’t stomach 10 minutes of it now” nominee. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/57 "2014-07-04T12:44:37Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Saturday Night Live\* > … > \*I’m surprised I’m the first to mention this one. I get that it’s wildly inconsistent, but when it’s good, it’s very, very good. > … I thought it over, at first I had SNL for the first 5 seasons and a few later ones but then I put the Simpsons on instead. The other one I am regretting a little is leaving Barney Miller off. I really loved the show as a kid and love it now in repeats. Thankfully MeTV has it and I DVR it. I think I needed more than 10 but less than 20. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/58 "2014-07-04T13:27:34Z")
The Walking Dead ER Northern Exposure Mad Men Golden Girls Dirty Jobs Man vs. Wild Lost American Horror Story/True Blood (tied!) HOUSE! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/59 "2014-07-04T15:22:43Z")
**Zeldar** , those polls are for “best TV show”, not “favorite”. There’s a subtle but important difference. Some of my favorite TV shows appeal to a relatively narrow niche, which I happen to be in, but would be much less appealing to a broader audience. Take comedies, for instance: My favorite comedy is _The Big Bang Theory_, because it appeals to me as a nerd. I personally prefer it over _M_A_S_H\*, for that reason… but _M_A_S_H\* is still funny to me, and to almost everyone else, regardless of demographics, and so it’s the better show overall. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221/60 "2014-07-04T15:35:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Zeldar** , those polls are for “best TV show”, not “favorite”. There’s a subtle but important difference. Some of my favorite TV shows appeal to a relatively narrow niche, which I happen to be in, but would be much less appealing to a broader audience. Take comedies, for instance: My favorite comedy is _The Big Bang Theory_, because it appeals to me as a nerd. I personally prefer it over _M_A_S_H\*, for that reason… but _M_A_S_H\* is still funny to me, and to almost everyone else, regardless of demographics, and so it’s the better show overall. This is the sort of topic I was hoping we could deal with in [Let’s discuss where to go next with the “Top TV Shows” issue…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=727627) so as to leave this thread for mentioning shows to be considered. Join me there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-time-limit-stop-at-10-favorite-tv-shows/692221.md?page=4)