Can’t complain at all about the top 3 - that’s probably exactly how I’d do it (it seems only fair to put a comedy in there, and they picked the right one). There are things I’d quibble with - The Shield would be #4 or 5 on my list; Big Love would be stricken completely, and where the hell is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? - but overall it seems like a pretty good list. My intense dislike of sci-fi in general has kept me from watching Battlestar Galactica, but it’s in my Netflix queue and I’ve heard enough good things that I’m looking forward to getting it. In fact, I’ll probably end up watching all the series I haven’t seen yet that made the list (with the exception of How I Married Your Mother, which is too conventional-80s-sitcom for my tastes) - I love being able to see entire series on DVD.
I fully expected to see “Freaks and Geeks” on there. I would’ve had it as my number 1 instead of number 4, but I’ve never watched The Wire or The Sopranos.
Without a doubt, Freaks & Geeks is up there, but IMO, The Wire towers over everything else by a wide margin. But their top 10 is basically the same as mine, with some positions switched around.
I can understand The Wire taking the top spot, it’s an amazing show, but I would have put Deadwood at number 1. It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen, movie or television. I do think Dead Like Me deserved a spot on at least the top 30 though, if not the top 10.
This has been a great decade for TV. If I made my own top 10 list of all time almost every single show would have been produced in the last 10 years. I think the only outlier would be X Files.
Sorry, any list that puts Time & Eric on it can not be taken seriously, even though most of the rest of the list is favorable. Hmm…best show of the decade? Honestly, The Shield was amazing in so many ways. I still feel a bit damaged inside just from witnessing the final 2 episodes. I haven’t seen enough of The Wire or BSG to really call them the best, but I like what I’ve seen so far (they just require the type of focus I usually don’t have). Lost has had too many ups and downs to really be considered one of the BEST, but it’s definitely one of the more unique shows. And of course, GOTTA love 30 Rock.
Freaks & Geeks was amazing and I think it deserved a high spot. But Undeclared? It was an also-ran for Apatow on TV. Nothing more to see here. Don’t put it in a top 30 list!!!
If they’re including BBC shows I don’t know how they missed Peep Show. I’d put it up there below The Office and above Spaced if there was a UK-only list.
QI, the “quiz show” from the UK is also absolutely brilliant. I’ve never not laughed out loud at an episode.
I don’t have too many quibbles with the list and since they put The Wire on top I can’t complain too much. I also like that they put Awesome Show, Great Job (a show that “everyone” hates) in the list.
Also worthy of linking is this list of “best episodes” from TV shows that didn’t make the any of the other Best of TV lists. Always Sunny gets some love there, as does personal favorites Brotherhood, Rescue Me, and Better Off Ted.
I would have liked to see Rescue Me in there. It had one silly season but it always remains surprising and the ensemble acting is a joy to watch. Every episode has at least one scene where the guys talk shit. It is the same kind of meaningless stuff that made Seinfeld funny, and they do it just as well but with more humanity. It often seems like it is all adlibbed.
Good to see Friday Night Lights mentioned. It too had one silly, try to be popular season, but I find it the most heart rending show on TV again with a fantastic cast and it’s own look and feel.
I’m glad they listed best episodes. I can make one last attempt to work out the mystery of 30 Rock. I have watched all of one episode and bits of others and cannot understand the reverence in which it is held. Other shows that people love and I am indifferent to, like all the Whedon shows say, I can see why people would like them, and they aren’t cookie cutter TV though they aren’t my cup of tea. Even How I Met Your Mother or The Office which I can’t be bothered watching are very funny whenever I catch a bit of them, but 30 Rock has me beat so far.
I’m glad Friday Night Lights is on the list, but I would have put it in the top five. The lack of love for it in this thread so far convinced me to start the thread about it that I had been thinking about. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11882133
