# Time chooses the 100 best TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599 "2007-09-09T20:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/1 "2007-09-09T20:13:58Z")
[Of all time, even.](http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1651341,00.html) I haven’t seen all of these, but I don’t see anything to disagree with, or any glaring omissions, except maybe Sports Night. The site could take awhile to explore. There are video clips for each entry. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/2 "2007-09-09T20:29:33Z")
I liked the list, but I think they should’ve included more English shows. Blackadder, Ab Fab, As Time Goes By…glaring omissions, those. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/3 "2007-09-09T20:52:49Z")
I see \*Trek \*and \*Buffy \*made it so I’m pleased to see my past and current favorites get nods but am somewhat disappointed to see \*Scrubs \*didn’t make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/4 "2007-09-09T21:04:03Z")
Ah. My favorite. [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341\_1659188\_1652090,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659188_1652090,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/5 "2007-09-09T21:06:02Z")
_I Love Lucy_ is on the list, which renders the whole thing suspect at best. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/6 "2007-09-09T21:11:14Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] _I Love Lucy_ is on the list, which renders the whole thing suspect at best. [/QUOTE] Word. I also note that The Venture Bros. is not on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/7 "2007-09-09T21:39:41Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] _I Love Lucy_ is on the list, which renders the whole thing suspect at best. [/QUOTE] If Lucy wasn’t it would be a major oversight. It’s one of the most influential shows ever made. Everyone is going to have favorites that aren’t on the list and can’t stand some of the shows on the list (24? Really?) but all in all it’s a very thoughtful list. There was stuff that I really like that wouldn’t expect to make such a list (Mystery Science Theater 3000), it wasn’t weighed too much with recent shows (though with five decades of major programming and 100 entries they are well represented), and it was really varied. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/8 "2007-09-09T21:52:32Z")
There’s a handful I would argue don’t belong on the list (The Office - both versions, The Odd Couple, Lost, King of the Hill, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development) but overall it’s a good cut. The two I wanted to make sure were the Ernie Kovacs Show and See It Now, and with those in place I pretty comfortable with the list. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/9 "2007-09-09T21:53:41Z")
The list doesn’t say “Influential,” it says “Best.” Therefore any inclusion of Lucielle Ball in any fashion whatsoever is a travesty. She wasn’t the best, she was only the first. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/10 "2007-09-09T21:59:56Z")
> [@](#): > > MTV 1981-1992 Oh, man, that shit is _cold_. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/11 "2007-09-09T22:00:15Z")
My first thought in scanning the list is that it really ought to have Northern Exposure on it. Although overall, it seems pretty solid. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/12 "2007-09-09T22:07:31Z")
Zoggie writes: \> I liked the list, but I think they should’ve included more English shows. \> Blackadder, Ab Fab, As Time Goes By…glaring omissions, those. In the justification that James Poniewozik gives, he says: \> I included British shows, for instance, but not many, and generally those that \> got wide exposure on American TV. Because I’m American, and we’re like that. It appears to me that this is a list of shows which were important to American audiences, where “important” is some sort of an average between “best” and “most influential.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/13 "2007-09-09T22:20:22Z")
They missed _Rome_. I would put that in the top 10. Other than that, it looks OK. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/14 "2007-09-09T22:21:20Z")
No _Frasier_? No _Little House on the Prairie_? No _The Waltons_? Only _Star Trek: TOS_? Phooey. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/15 "2007-09-09T22:29:37Z")
I don’t know why people eat up lists like this. Unless someone has watched every TV show ever made, I don’t see how they could know what the best are. I guess I’m just salty because I don’t see a lot of my favorite and almost-favorite shows listed. Like, I’m surprised **Frasier** is not on there. I think it’s kind of weird that short-run, prematurely canceled shows like _My So-Called Life_ and _Freaks and Geeks_ got included along with long-running programs. Don’t get me wrong. I think those were good shows that never had a chance, but that’s just it. They didn’t have a chance to get really bad or really good. It’s like taking a 90-year-old guy who’s spent his life serving his community and living an overalll righteous life and comparing him with a 9 month old baby who looks cute and makes us smile right before he chokes to death. They just seem more like honorable mentions, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/16 "2007-09-09T22:42:25Z")
No _Firefl_y _No Black Books_ (UK) Heresy, I tells ya ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/17 "2007-09-09T22:43:29Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] I don’t know why people eat up lists like this. Unless someone has watched every TV show ever made, I don’t see how they could know what the best are. [/QUOTE] True, but what does “best” mean anyway? I think most of the shows on the list demonstrated at least a few seasons of high quality and originality. Works for me. **Frasier** ’s omission is puzzling – maybe because it was a spinoff? There are no spinoffs on the list. I love lists. I know I’m not alone. Lists are everywhere. If nothing else, they’re good for starting discussions. (Like prizes and awards.) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/18 "2007-09-09T23:13:53Z")
Read Poniewozik’s justification of how he chose the shows. It’s right there in the link under “How I Chose the List.” He says that he didn’t generally pick spin-offs. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/19 "2007-09-09T23:20:55Z")
I think the list should clearly be called **Time chooses the 100 best American TV shows** ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599/20 "2007-09-09T23:27:00Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] Read Poniewozik’s justification of how he chose the shows. It’s right there in the link under “How I Chose the List.” He says that he didn’t generally pick spin-offs. [/QUOTE] That seems like a wacky arbitrary rule that takes away from the meaningfulness of the list. IMHO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-chooses-the-100-best-tv-shows/418599.md?page=2)