# TV Guide's 60 Best Shows - Which ones have you NOT seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818 "2015-12-08T14:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/61 "2015-12-08T23:18:45Z")
At this point 20 voters have indicated that they have seen an entire episode of **Your Show of Shows**.\* If you are one of these, how and when did you see it? Live in the early 50s? mmm \*unless, of course, they voted incorrectly ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/62 "2015-12-08T23:23:28Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > At this point 20 voters have indicated that they have seen an entire episode of **Your Show of Shows**.\* > > If you are one of these, how and when did you see it? Live in the early 50s? > mmm > > \*unless, of course, they voted incorrectly I’m one of them. Vague memory for sure but it was live in the early 50s on somebody else’s TV. We didn’t get our own until 1955, I think. I may have seen clips instead of the actual show itself, but I did count what I had seen as enough to avoid checking that one. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/63 "2015-12-08T23:40:46Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > How old would you have to be, without determined searching it out, to have watched a full episode of Your Show of Shows or Ed Sullivan? At least Gunsmoke and Honeymooners were shown occasionally in rerun when I was quite young (I’m 46 now) but those two I’ve only seen occasional clips of. I think I watched virtually every episode of \*Your Show of Shows, \*though I was only 5-9 years old at the time. It was the type of show entire families watched, and there was little else on at the time. I do remember that Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca were comedy gold. Or platinum. And of course watching \*Ed Sullivan \* was a mandatory Sunday-night ritual. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/64 "2015-12-08T23:55:34Z")
There were 7 or 8 that I haven’t seen. Show of Shows was before my time. Some of the police dramas like The Wire just never appealed to me. A couple of friends of mine watch the Good Wife and say it is great so I plan to watch it at some point but just haven’t found the time. One that I’m not positive about is Battlestar Galactica… I’m sure I probably watched at least one but don’t remember it at all. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/65 "2015-12-09T00:07:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > We need a poll of shows we’ve never even heard of. 😉 The Good Wife is one that I’d never ran across before this thread. I guess it never reached syndication. The Good Wife currently anchors the CBS Sunday Night schedule. Hardly a candidate for MeTV. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/66 "2015-12-09T01:48:13Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > At this point 20 voters have indicated that they have seen an entire episode of **Your Show of Shows**.\* > > If you are one of these, how and when did you see it? Live in the early 50s? When I was in my 20s, an even-younger friend who REALLY knew his pop culture raved about YSOS, particularly the “Uncle Goopy” sketch I linked in a previous post. I probably saw a lot of it on Sid Caesar tributes. Later, I bought a cheapo DVD containing some of the best bits. If you’ve seen the excellent Peter O’Toole comedy MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982), you’ve had a taste of the YSOS experience. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/67 "2015-12-09T01:55:41Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I rewatched The Prisoner on DVD not long ago. The ending doesn’t make any more sense now than it did then. > > The best thing to do is to just not watch the last two episodes. The penultimate episode is rough going. It’s a two-man performance for McGoohan and Leo McKern, so it’s interesting to see to fine actors at work, but the story is beyond tedious. The final ep is a grand old freak show! Anyone who admires the 1967 James Bond spoof CASINO ROYALE (MANY people hate it) will get a huge kick out of it. It’s got that incomparable 1967 “We’ve taken lots of LSD! Have YOU?” vibe, in spades. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/68 "2015-12-09T02:07:44Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > When I was in my 20s, an even-younger friend who REALLY knew his pop culture raved about YSOS, particularly the “Uncle Goopy” sketch I linked in a previous post. I probably saw a lot of it on Sid Caesar tributes. Later, I bought a cheapo DVD containing some of the best bits. > > If you’ve seen the excellent Peter O’Toole comedy MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982), you’ve had a taste of the YSOS experience. Highly recommended. Also, The Alan Brady Show (the show within The Dick Van Dyke Show) was loosely based on Your Show of Shows. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/69 "2015-12-09T02:35:20Z")
Of that list there are only three shows I’ve never watched, never even seen one second of. _ **American Idol** _ _ **Survivor** _ _**Battlestar Galactica (2004)**_ ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/70 "2015-12-09T02:38:25Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > At this point 20 voters have indicated that they have seen an entire episode of **Your Show of Shows**.\* > > If you are one of these, how and when did you see it? Live in the early 50s? > mmm > > \*unless, of course, they voted incorrectly During the 1970’s , when I was a teenager, **Your Show of Shows** ran in syndication (my local UHF channel, Channel 53 in Pittsburgh carried it) also, several times during the 70’s and 80’s PBS carried several episodes and clip shows of **Your Show of Shows** ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/71 "2015-12-09T02:49:23Z")
Why do they never include “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” in those lists? Is it because it starred an actor past 50? Is it because narration during a show is bad? Were the villains tacky? An all-white main cast? A Chicago setting? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/72 "2015-12-09T03:04:36Z")
Another sorted listing after 152 voters. Compare with Posts 21 and 43: ```auto View Poll Results: TV Guide's 60 Best Shows - Which ones have you NOT seen a complete episode of? The Twilight Zone 7 4.61% Star Trek 7 4.61% Jeopardy! 7 4.61% Cheers 9 5.92% The Simpsons 10 6.58% Saturday Night Live 10 6.58% Seinfeld 11 7.24% M*A*S*H 12 7.89% I Love Lucy 16 10.53% 60 Minutes 16 10.53% The Cosby Show 17 11.18% Sesame Street 18 11.84% Late Night/Late Show with David Letterman 18 11.84% Roseanne 19 12.50% Monty Python’s Flying Circus 22 14.47% All in the Family 24 15.79% The Bob Newhart Show 24 15.79% The Dick Van Dyke Show 25 16.45% Taxi 25 16.45% The Andy Griffith Show 26 17.11% The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 26 17.11% The Carol Burnett Show 27 17.76% The X-Files 27 17.76% Friends 27 17.76% The Mary Tyler Moore Show 29 19.08% The Big Bang Theory 33 21.71% Barney Miller 34 22.37% The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 35 23.03% Columbo 37 24.34% The Honeymooners 38 25.00% The Golden Girls 41 26.97% Law & Order 43 28.29% Masterpiece Theatre 49 32.24% Everybody Love Raymond 52 34.21% ER 53 34.87% The Waltons 56 36.84% Hill Street Blues 57 37.50% Gunsmoke 65 42.76% Modern Family 66 43.42% Breaking Bad 67 44.08% Dallas 68 44.74% The Oprah Winfrey Show 71 46.71% Buffy the Vampire Slayer 71 46.71% Survivor 72 47.37% Sex and the City 72 47.37% NYPD Blue 72 47.37% St. Elsewhere 72 47.37% Lost 73 48.03% American Idol 74 48.68% Battlestar Galactica (2004) 75 49.34% The Ed Sullivan Show 79 51.97% Mad Men 80 52.63% The Sopranos 81 53.29% The West Wing 86 56.58% The Larry Sanders Show 93 61.18% Homicide: Life on the Street 94 61.84% The Wire 101 66.45% The Shield 109 71.71% The Good Wife 122 80.26% Your Show of Shows 128 84.21% Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 152. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/73 "2015-12-09T03:58:00Z")
To either my credit or my failing, I have not seen a single episode of 24 of these shows. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/74 "2015-12-09T04:02:56Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Why do they never include “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” in those lists? Is it because it starred an actor past 50? Is it because narration during a show is bad? Were the villains tacky? An all-white main cast? A Chicago setting? Lived the show but he never bathed ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/75 "2015-12-09T04:26:29Z")
The only ones I cannot remember ever even seeing a clip of is _Your Show of Shows_ and _The Wire_. Nine others I’ve seen bits of but never a complete episode: _Masterpiece Theater, Mad Men, Lost, Modern Family, American Idol, The Shield, Homicide: life on the Street, The Larry Sanders Show, Everybody Loves Raymond_ (I don’t). Some were on cable channels I don’t get and couldn’t be arsed to get on DVD; some just don’t appeal. Especially cop shows. I’ve been burned out on those ever since around the time _Hill Street Blues_ went off the air. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/76 "2015-12-09T04:34:18Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Lived the show but he never bathed He did during the two full-length pilots. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/77 "2015-12-09T05:22:06Z")
I’ve never seen a whole episode of 14 of them. Of those I more or less know what 12 of them are about. No idea what Your Show of Shows and The Ed Sullivan Show were other than old. Looking up Your Show of Shows on wiki, it looks like the show went off the air when my dad was four, and my mom wasn’t even born yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/78 "2015-12-09T05:40:46Z")
14 shows. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/79 "2015-12-09T09:24:44Z")
Can I just butt in and say here that it’s probably the last time I shall ever appear in this thread? No I’m afraid you can’t, we haven’t got time. Just to bring you up to date with a few results, er, that you may have missed. Engelbert Humperdinck has taken Barrow-in-Furness, that’s a gain from Ann Haydon-Jones and her husband Pip. Arthur Negus has held Bristols. That’s not a result, that’s a bit of gossip. Er…Mary Whitehouse has just taken umbrage. Could it be a bit of trouble there. And apparently Wales is not swinging at all. No surprise there. And…Monty Python has held the credits. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818/80 "2015-12-09T09:29:33Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > TV Guide released this list in 2013. That’s a very American-centric list. Naturally, I’ve not seen most of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-guides-60-best-shows-which-ones-have-you-not-seen/739818.md?page=5)