I voted for “Firefly” based on its potential, really - watching and re-watching the little they gave us, I think it had potential to be one of the best shows that tv ever saw.
Not having HBO, I’ve never seen The Sopranos or The Wire (though I am resolved to catch the latter one day).
So despite my love for Blackadder, The Twilight Zone and Deadwood, I have to go with Homer, Bart & co., which I probably reference daily and which, at its height, was really without equal.
Here’s a look at the shows that have received multiple votes:
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 Simpsons 15 11.03%
The Wire 15 11.03%
Breaking Bad 12 8.82%
The Sopranos 10 7.35%
M*A*S*H 8 5.88%
Seinfeld 7 5.15%
Doctor Who 7 5.15%
Star Trek: TOS 6 4.41%
Firefly 5 3.68%
Buffy 5 3.68%
The West Wing 5 3.68%
Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.94%
Band of Brothers 4 2.94%
The Twilight Zone 2 1.47%
All In The Family 2 1.47%
Northern Exposure 2 1.47%
Deadwood 2 1.47%
Mad Men 2 1.47%
OTHER -- Post and explain 6 4.41%
Voters: 136
Have we already established the Top Five?
Thought I would get more than one pick in the poll, selected several and hit ‘vote’ and don’t know which one took.
Firefly - awesome show, no need to explain that here.
All in the Family - Ground breaking show, made a few people stop and re-evaluate their way of thinking while delivering laughs.
The West Wing - Gave us the President we wanted and great writing.
Band of Brothers - Again, great writing and history in one short series. One of those shows that when bored and channel surfing you stop to watch, again.
Doctor Who - I can only comment on the reboot part of the series having only seen a few of the earlier episodes. Great character(s) and writing.
My Name is Earl - Comedy with a moral.
Can’t miss, great shows currently and not on the list - Justified and Luther - Awesome characters and writing. Hell on Wheels isn’t bad either.
(Don’t have any of the premium cable channels.)
The vote that counted was
I apologize for not making it clear that the poll was ONE VOTE per voter.
I voted for MAS*H. They did a lot of cool special shows, the B&W interview show, Hawkeye’s dream, Hawkeye’s chicken episode, the stopwatch show, the kid who thought he was Jesus, the list goes on. Some groundbreaking television there. Sure, it got a little preachy at times but damn what a cast.
Twin Peaks was my second choice. MAS*H was like a brilliant star for years, Peaks was like a supernova with a brilliant flash and then gone. Some of the episodes of Twin Peaks were amazing, like Maddy’s death dance with Leland, Leland’s suicide, the dancing dwarf.
I picked MASH because, even after 40 years, I can sit down and rewatch almost every episode and enjoy it. If nothing else is on, MASH will always satisfy me if I want to watch TV. As much as I love Doctor Who and Firefly, MAS*H has stood the test of “Do you want to watch it over and over again”. This week I happened to catch the ep where (spoiler alert) Henry dies, and it still brings tears to my eyes.
StG
I picked other, and my vote is for NYPD Blue. Striking, powerful, long-lived, left its mark on a decade of culture.
The old poll linked to in the OP had 298 voters. We have passed the halfway mark to that number now and here’s the situation after 150:
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 Simpsons 16 10.67%
The Wire 15 10.00%
M*A*S*H 12 8.00%
Breaking Bad 12 8.00%
The Sopranos 11 7.33% 66
Doctor Who 8 5.33%
Seinfeld 7 4.67%
The West Wing 6 4.00%
Star Trek: TOS 6 4.00%
Firefly 5 3.33%
Buffy 5 3.33%
Band of Brothers 5 3.33%
Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.67% 46
The Twilight Zone 2 1.33%
All In The Family 2 1.33%
Northern Exposure 2 1.33%
Deadwood 2 1.33%
Barney Miller 2 1.33%
Mad Men 2 1.33%
Gilligan's Island 2 1.33% 14
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 1 0.67%
Monty Python's Flying Circus 1 0.67%
Cheers 1 0.67%
Fawlty Towers 1 0.67%
Futurama 1 0.67% 5
Star Trek: TNG 1 0.67%
WKRP In Cincinnati 1 0.67%
Lost 1 0.67%
The Bob Newhart Show 1 0.67%
The Office (Original -- UK) 1 0.67% 5
Six Feet Under 1 0.67%
Freaks & Geeks 1 0.67%
Rome 1 0.67%
Good Eats 1 0.67%
Twin Peaks 1 0.67% 5
ER 1 0.67%
I Claudius 1 0.67%
My Name Is Earl 1 0.67% 3
Arrested Development 0 0%
NOVA 0 0%
Battlestar Galactica 0 0%
House 0 0%
News Radio 0 0%
Whose Line Is It Anyway? 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%
OTHER -- Post and explain 6 4.00% 6
Voters: 150
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Thanks to all for the participation. Can we top 300 voters this time?
And yes, there’s evidence that we need a follow-up thread to deal with those shows that people really love that weren’t on this list.
Somebody else want to start such a thread?
I’m going to have to go with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It combined the virtues of TOS and TNG, lost most of their flaws, found a good balance between myth arcs and stand-alone episodes, and had characters who actually got married and had kids.
Here’s a recap of the “OTHER” shows already mentioned:
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 Simpsons 16 10.13%
The Wire 15 9.49%
Breaking Bad 13 8.23%
M*A*S*H 12 7.59%
The Sopranos 11 6.96% 67
Doctor Who 8 5.06%
Seinfeld 7 4.43%
Buffy 6 3.80%
The West Wing 6 3.80%
Star Trek: TOS 6 3.80%
Firefly 5 3.16%
Band of Brothers 5 3.16%
Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.53%
Deadwood 3 1.90% 50
The Twilight Zone 2 1.27%
All In The Family 2 1.27%
Star Trek: TNG 2 1.27%
Northern Exposure 2 1.27%
Barney Miller 2 1.27%
Mad Men 2 1.27%
I Claudius 2 1.27%
Gilligan's Island 2 1.27% 16
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 1 0.63%
Monty Python's Flying Circus 1 0.63%
Cheers 1 0.63%
Fawlty Towers 1 0.63%
Futurama 1 0.63%
WKRP In Cincinnati 1 0.63%
Lost 1 0.63%
The Bob Newhart Show 1 0.63%
The Office (Original -- UK) 1 0.63%
Six Feet Under 1 0.63%
Freaks & Geeks 1 0.63%
Rome 1 0.63%
Whose Line Is It Anyway? 1 0.63%
Good Eats 1 0.63%
Twin Peaks 1 0.63%
ER 1 0.63%
My Name Is Earl 1 0.63% 17
OTHER -- Post and explain 8 5.06% 8
Voters: 158
There were a lot of awesome contenders, but in the end I had to vote for Sopranos.
Here’s a comparison between today and the original poll from 2010:
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 1 0.63% The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 74 24.83%
Monty Python's Flying Circus 1 0.63% Monty Python's Flying Circus 71 23.83%
Cheers 1 0.63% Cheers 54 18.12%
Fawlty Towers 1 0.63% Fawlty Towers 50 16.78%
Futurama 1 0.63% Futurama 48 16.11%
WKRP In Cincinnati 1 0.63% WKRP In Cincinnati 39 13.09%
Lost 1 0.63% Lost 33 11.07%
The Bob Newhart Show 1 0.63% The Bob Newhart Show 30 10.07%
The Office (Original -- UK) 1 0.63% The Office (Original -- UK) 30 10.07%
Six Feet Under 1 0.63% Six Feet Under 29 9.73%
Freaks & Geeks 1 0.63% Freaks & Geeks 27 9.06%
Rome 1 0.63% Rome 26 8.72%
Whose Line Is It Anyway? 1 0.63% Whose Line Is It Anyway? 24 8.05%
Good Eats 1 0.63% Good Eats 22 7.38%
Twin Peaks 1 0.63% Twin Peaks 20 6.71%
ER 1 0.63% ER 15 5.03%
My Name Is Earl 1 0.63% My Name Is Earl 11 3.69%
Arrested Development 0 0% Arrested Development 58 19.46%
NOVA 0 0% NOVA 43 14.43%
Battlestar Galactica 0 0% Battlestar Galactica 38 12.75%
House 0 0% House 31 10.40%
News Radio 0 0% News Radio 25 8.39%
Family Guy 0 0% Family Guy 22 7.38%
Angel 0 0% Angel 19 6.38%
The Shield 0 0% The Shield 19 6.38%
The Golden Girls 0 0% The Golden Girls 17 5.70%
NCIS 0 0% NCIS 13 4.36%
The Avengers 0 0% The Avengers 11 3.69%
Carnivale 0 0% Carnivale 6 2.01%
Voters: 160 Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 298
No love for Friends or Fraiser?
These are the leaders at this point:
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 Simpsons 17 10.18%
The Wire 16 9.58%
Breaking Bad 14 8.38%
M*A*S*H 12 7.19%
The Sopranos 12 7.19%
Doctor Who 8 4.79%
Seinfeld 7 4.19%
The West Wing 7 4.19%
Firefly 6 3.59%
Buffy 6 3.59%
Star Trek: TOS 6 3.59%
Band of Brothers 5 2.99%
Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.40%
Deadwood 3 1.80%
11 shows with 2 votes each
14 shows with 1 vote each
OTHER -- Post and explain 8 4.79%
Voters: 167
I voted for Seinfeld. Thought about voting for Doctor Who.
But I’d encourage anyone who likes mockumentaries to watch this episode of “People Like Us” on Youtube:
Easily the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
I could not have phrased it better - and also chose Sopranos by the thinnest of hairs.
But Deadwood and Six Feet Under were very close in my runners up category.
Which will be the next show to gain double-digit votes?
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 Simpsons 17 10.06%
The Wire 16 9.47%
Breaking Bad 14 8.28%
The Sopranos 13 7.69%
M*A*S*H 12 7.10%
Seinfeld 8 4.73%
Doctor Who 8 4.73%
The West Wing 7 4.14%
Firefly 6 3.55%
Buffy 6 3.55%
Star Trek: TOS 6 3.55%
Band of Brothers 5 2.96%
Dick Van Dyke Show 4 2.37%
Deadwood 3 1.78%
Here’s how the Top Ten shows have been shifting around:
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%
Voters: 32
===============================
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 Simpsons 5 10.00%
The Wire 5 10.00%
Doctor Who 5 10.00%
Breaking Bad 5 10.00%
Star Trek: TOS 4 8.00%
M*A*S*H 3 6.00%
The Sopranos 3 6.00%
Buffy 3 6.00%
Firefly 2 4.00%
Mad Men 2 4.00%
Voters: 50
===============================
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 Simpsons 11 11.00%
The Wire 11 11.00%
The Sopranos 8 8.00%
M*A*S*H 7 7.00%
Breaking Bad 7 7.00%
Doctor Who 6 6.00%
Star Trek: TOS 5 5.00%
Buffy 4 4.00%
Dick Van Dyke Show 4 4.00%
Band of Brothers 4 4.00%
Voters: 100
===============================
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 Simpsons 16 10.67%
The Wire 15 10.00%
M*A*S*H 12 8.00%
Breaking Bad 12 8.00%
The Sopranos 11 7.33%
Doctor Who 8 5.33%
Seinfeld 7 4.67%
The West Wing 6 4.00%
Star Trek: TOS 6 4.00%
Firefly 5 3.33%
Buffy 5 3.33%
Band of Brothers 5 3.33%
Voters: 150
==============================
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 Simpsons 16 10.00%
The Wire 15 9.38%
Breaking Bad 14 8.75%
M*A*S*H 12 7.50%
The Sopranos 12 7.50%
Doctor Who 8 5.00%
Seinfeld 7 4.38%
Buffy 6 3.75%
The West Wing 6 3.75%
Star Trek: TOS 6 3.75%
Voters: 160
==============================
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 Simpsons 17 9.77%
The Wire 17 9.77%
Breaking Bad 15 8.62%
The Sopranos 13 7.47%
M*A*S*H 12 6.90%
Seinfeld 9 5.17%
The West Wing 8 4.60%
Doctor Who 8 4.60%
Firefly 6 3.45%
Buffy 6 3.45%
Star Trek: TOS 6 3.45%
Voters: 174
===============================