# The Best All-Time TV Show -- UPDATE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727 "2013-08-20T17:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727/61 "2013-09-07T03:26:58Z")
The correct answer is _Gilligan’s Island._ ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727/62 "2013-09-10T13:08:29Z")
Update time. Not many new votes. Are we done yet? ```auto View Poll Results: What is the Best TV Show of All Time? This poll will close on 11-18-2013 at 12:06 PM The Wire 18 10.00% The Simpsons 17 9.44% Breaking Bad 15 8.33% The Sopranos 13 7.22% M*A*S*H 12 6.67% 75 Seinfeld 9 5.00% The West Wing 8 4.44% Doctor Who 8 4.44% Star Trek: TOS 7 3.89% Firefly 6 3.33% Buffy 6 3.33% 44 Band of Brothers 5 2.78% Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.22% All In The Family 3 1.67% Star Trek: TNG 3 1.67% Northern Exposure 3 1.67% Deadwood 3 1.67% Gilligan's Island 3 1.67% 24 The Twilight Zone 2 1.11% Barney Miller 2 1.11% The Office (Original -- UK) 2 1.11% Six Feet Under 2 1.11% Freaks & Geeks 2 1.11% Mad Men 2 1.11% I Claudius 2 1.11% 14 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 1 0.56% Monty Python's Flying Circus 1 0.56% Arrested Development 1 0.56% Cheers 1 0.56% Fawlty Towers 1 0.56% Futurama 1 0.56% WKRP In Cincinnati 1 0.56% Lost 1 0.56% The Bob Newhart Show 1 0.56% Rome 1 0.56% Whose Line Is It Anyway? 1 0.56% Good Eats 1 0.56% Twin Peaks 1 0.56% ER 1 0.56% My Name Is Earl 1 0.56% 15 OTHER -- Post and explain 8 4.44% 8 Voters: 180 ================================ ``` Still waiting for at least one more show to move into double digits… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727/63 "2013-09-19T12:08:20Z")
Voting appears to have slacked off substantially, so here’s the state of affairs: ```auto View Poll Results: What is the Best TV Show of All Time? This poll will close on 11-18-2013 at 12:06 PM The Wire 19 10.38% The Simpsons 17 9.29% Breaking Bad 15 8.20% The Sopranos 13 7.10% M*A*S*H 12 6.56% Seinfeld 9 4.92% The West Wing 9 4.92% Doctor Who 9 4.92% Star Trek: TOS 7 3.83% Firefly 6 3.28% Buffy 6 3.28% Band of Brothers 5 2.73% Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.19% All In The Family 3 1.64% Star Trek: TNG 3 1.64% Northern Exposure 3 1.64% Deadwood 3 1.64% Gilligan's Island 3 1.64% Voters: 183 ``` ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727/64 "2013-09-19T13:13:45Z")
I love me some sci-fi, but the problem I have with both _Doctor Who_ and _Babylon 5_ is that they’re both very uneven shows. Where they’re good, they’re spectacular, but where they fail they fail big too (“The Unicorn and the Wasp”, anyone? Or “TKO”?). And _Firefly_ never got a chance to live up to its potential; the subsequent movie at least covered the intended storyline but a measly half-season is not enough to take on the multi-season big boys on the list. No, I went for _M_A_S_H\*, which I’m old enough to remember in its first run. Sure, it too had its duff episodes (the one where they spent half the ep giving Potter’s horse an enema springs to mind) but there was a remarkable amount of both funny and seriously moving material spread out over the long, long run. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727/65 "2013-09-19T13:29:38Z")
Hill Street Blues. We’re all done here, now. Any argument and I’ll bite you! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727/66 "2013-09-29T15:33:32Z")
Ten days later: ```auto View Poll Results: What is the Best TV Show of All Time? This poll will close on 11-18-2013 at 12:06 PM The Wire 19 9.90% The Simpsons 18 9.38% Breaking Bad 15 7.81% The Sopranos 13 6.77% M*A*S*H 12 6.25% Seinfeld 10 5.21% 87 (6) The West Wing 9 4.69% Doctor Who 9 4.69% Star Trek: TOS 8 4.17% Firefly 7 3.65% Buffy 7 3.65% Band of Brothers 6 3.13% Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.08% 50 (7) All In The Family 3 1.56% Star Trek: TNG 3 1.56% Northern Exposure 3 1.56% Deadwood 3 1.56% Twin Peaks 3 1.56% Gilligan's Island 3 1.56% 18 (6) The Twilight Zone 2 1.04% Barney Miller 2 1.04% The Office (Original -- UK) 2 1.04% Six Feet Under 2 1.04% Freaks & Geeks 2 1.04% Mad Men 2 1.04% I Claudius 2 1.04% 14 (7) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 1 0.52% Monty Python's Flying Circus 1 0.52% Arrested Development 1 0.52% Cheers 1 0.52% Fawlty Towers 1 0.52% Futurama 1 0.52% WKRP In Cincinnati 1 0.52% Lost 1 0.52% The Bob Newhart Show 1 0.52% Rome 1 0.52% Whose Line Is It Anyway? 1 0.52% Good Eats 1 0.52% ER 1 0.52% My Name Is Earl 1 0.52% 14 (14) NOVA 0 0% Battlestar Galactica 0 0% House 0 0% News Radio 0 0% Family Guy 0 0% Angel 0 0% The Shield 0 0% The Golden Girls 0 0% NCIS 0 0% The Avengers 0 0% Carnivale 0 0% (11) OTHER -- Post and explain 9 4.69% 9 Voters: 192 ``` [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-all-time-tv-show-update/666727.md?page=3)