# What are the ten GREATEST television shows of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867 "2009-07-22T16:10:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/21 "2009-07-22T17:53:17Z")
I don’t have a full list of ten- everyone else has pretty much covered the shows I would put on that list, anyway- but I do want to nominate one show in particular: [Chef!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef!), but \*only \*the first two seasons. The third season is an abomination and must not be discussed further. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/22 "2009-07-22T17:59:44Z")
1: The Daily Show 2-10: The Colbert Report. Because he’s that awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/23 "2009-07-22T18:52:42Z")
Without looking at others, so I’ve missed some 1. Babylon 5 2. Frasier 3. Yes (Prime) Minister 4. Firefly 5. Blackadder 6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7. QI 8. The Wire 9. Monty Python’s Flying Circus 10. Jonathan Creek ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/24 "2009-07-22T19:34:21Z")
In no particular order: Lost Simpsons South Park Futurama MASH Cheers Night Court Seinfeld Saturday Night Live I realize that’s only 9. Obviously, my viewing habits are not very broad. But these represent shows that I pretty much consistently enjoy and which I think tend to be a cut above the rest of their genre for some reason or another. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/25 "2009-07-22T19:42:04Z")
1. Meet the Press 2. All in the Family 3. Sesame Street 4. The Simpsons 5. Twin Peaks 6. ABC Wide World of Sports 7. MASH 8. Hill Street Blues 9. The Tonight Show 10. Saturday Night Live (Latest seasons not withstanding, and its cultural impact) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/26 "2009-07-22T19:46:30Z")
I haven’t seen a lot of TV shows but I will throw X-Files out there. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/27 "2009-07-22T19:46:51Z")
1. The Sopranos 2. I Love Lucy 3. The Simpsons 4. Law and Order 5. The West Wing 6. Mary Tyler Moore 7. All In The Family 8. OZ 9. NYPD Blue 10. LA Law ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/28 "2009-07-22T19:56:56Z")
Here’s the running tally on shows that have received 4 or more votes (I tried to be as accurate as possible but don’t sue me if I missed one): The Simpsons (11) The Sopranos (9) Arrested Develpment (6) Seinfeld (6) All in the Family (5) Lost (5) MASH (5) The Wire (5) Babylon 5 (4) Battlestar Galactica (4) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (4) Cheers (4) Frasier (4) NYPD Blue (4) Rome (4) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/29 "2009-07-22T20:39:38Z")
I Love Lucy [Needs no explanation] Mystery Science Theatre 3000 [Also, needs no explanation.] The Price is Right [Bob Barker and Rod Roddy era] We need a game show on the list. Price wins it. Mythbusters We need some educational programing here and this show does it well, with humor. Sesame Street - change of pace. Educational / A lot of jokes in the show Kids totally miss as well. Masterpiece Theatre To complete the culture trifecta Saturday Night Live - A Time capsule of current events, with humor. Prison Break\* [Seasons 1 and 2 only] Beyond Belief\*\*: Fact or Fiction Law and Order\*\*\* - Strictly better than 24, IMHO. Prison Break started out of the gate strong, taking the lessons learned from 24. Seasons 3 and 4, not so much. \*\* Strictly better than Twilight Zone, Outer limits, X-files, Fringe. The premise is similar, but has 5 stories per hour, and some of them are based on actual events. The end of the show asks you to judge, and then the answers are revealed. \*\*\* Just slightly beats out Star Trek. Both shows offer up complex situations and a process to resolve them, just L&O has the bigger audience. I would have liked to have picked a “News” type show, but I think the timing would fail if you had to pick a handful of episodes for archival purposes. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/30 "2009-07-22T20:50:21Z")
Veronica Mars Freaks and Geeks Undeclared How I Met Your Mother The Drew Carey Show I Love Lucy MythBusters Firefly The Office Three’s Company ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/31 "2009-07-22T20:54:02Z")
1. St. Elsewhere 2. The West Wing 3. All in the Family 4. Mary Tyler Moore Show 5. Ed Sullivan (too young to have seen it, but what an impact on pop culture!) 6. Six Feet Under 7. The French Chef (Julia Child) 8. Sesame Street 9. 60 minutes 10. Hill Street Blues ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/32 "2009-07-22T21:42:51Z")
1. Sopranos 2. Ken Burn’s The War 3. Ken Burn’s The Civil War 4. The Wire 5. Rome 6. The Simpsons 7. NYPD Blue 8. 60 Minutes 9. The News Hour on PBS 10. MST3K ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/33 "2009-07-22T22:34:53Z")
My list without perusing the thread first… 1. The West Wing (Far and away #1. Everything else is a distant second.) 2. Babylon 5 (Absolutely brilliant. I think I was 14 or 15 when B5 came on the air and it introduced me to long form storytelling on TV.) 3. Deadwood (I didn’t care for westerns until I gave this show a chance. Now I’ve seen almost every one Clint Eastwood’s been in a few others besides. I still hate that this show never had a real ending.) 4. Angel (I always preferred Angel to Buffy, but both shows were fantastic.) 5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer 6. Batman: The Animated Series (As a children’s cartoon this show wasn’t ordered by ‘seasons’, but it had well over 100 episodes by the time it was finished so I’m including it. The only show from my childhood I can still watch today.) 7. Lost 8. 24 (The only reason this makes the list is because of Kiefer Sutherland’s portrayal of Jack Bauer.) 9. Alias (Total guilty pleasure. And my favorite character on the show was Jack Bristow, portrayed by Victor Garber. Totally likable badass. ) 10. The Simpsons Honorable Mentions. There are 3 shows that would have made the list if not for the 2 season restriction. Firefly (Of course.) The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (Totally cheesy, but in the best way possible. Bruce was great in what was, in hindsight at least, an atypical role for him. And Julius Carry was great as his partner in bounty hunting. Also had quite possibly the best theme song in television history. 1 season, 25 episodes.) Aeon Flux. (The original MTV animated show. Twisted, perverted, obtuse, pretentious… and completely awesome. The movie wasn’t bad but it didn’t do the show justice. Only had 13 episodes.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/34 "2009-07-22T23:54:51Z")
Kung Fu Dallas All In The Famlly Lost SNL Seinfeld Twilight Zone Star Trek Operation Repo Monty Python’s Flying Circus ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/35 "2009-07-23T00:09:13Z")
Also in no particular order: The Simpsons MST3K MASH Star Trek TOS Star Trek Next Gen Monty Python Doctor Who Late Night with David Letterman The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Mythbusters ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/36 "2009-07-23T00:26:08Z")
No Particular order 1. Northern Exposure (no one voted for this yet ☹ ) 2. DS9 (best of the Treks) 3. Rome 4. Simpsons 5. Fraiser (best sitcom) 6. Seinfeld (second best) 7. The Daily Show 8. X Files (was more fun when I thought the plot was going to go somewhere, but still cool) 9. Avatar, the Last Airbender (gotta throw in one animated show) 10. Frontline ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/37 "2009-07-23T01:02:38Z")
Well some of my favourite shows (2 series Pride & Prejudice, I Claudius, Elizabeth R) won’t qualify as they were just 1 series. & I’m going to cheat & put Fawlty Towers at the top. It did last 2 series but this being renewed thing is more an American concept I think. From memory, they just realised they had run out of ideas & stopped. If only more shows would do the same There will be a considerable gap to the rest & in no particular order The Good Life (British not completely different American show) Absolutely Fabulous The Brittas Empire 3rd Rock From the Sun The Amazing Race Master Chef Bugs Bunny Beverly Hillbillies A week of it/McPhail & Gadsby. Old NZ shows. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/38 "2009-07-23T01:38:40Z")
The Sopranos The Wire The West Wing Seinfeld South Park Battlestar Galactica Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Shield Mad Men Breaking Bad Honorable mention: My So-Called Life and Firefly. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/39 "2009-07-23T02:00:08Z")
If we’re taloking American TV, I’d break it into comedy and drama categories: Comedies: 1. The Simpsons 2. All in the Family 3. Seinfeld 4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show 5. The Cosby Show 6. Newhart 7. I Love Lucy 8. Taxi 9. Scrubs 10. Cheers Honorable mentions to Friends, Family Guy, The Addams Family, Titus, The Brady Bunch, WKRP, The Andy Griffith Show, and I don’t know what to do with MASH. Dramas: 1. The Sopranos 2. Battlestar Galactica 3. Homicide: Life on the Street 4. The Rockford Files 5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer 6. Star Trek 7. Gunsmoke 8. Columbo 9. Miami Vice 10. The West Wing Honorable mentions: Rome, 24, Lost, Cagney and Lacey, CSI (the original), NYPD Blue, Magnum PI, Star Trek: The Next Generation, MASH maybe, Kung Fu. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/40 "2009-07-23T02:40:28Z")
Highly subjective response 1. West Wing 2. Lost 3. Frank’s Place (look it up!) 4. The Simpsons 5. I Love Lucy 6. ER (for the first few seasons) 7. Science Fiction Theatre 8. Hill Street Blues (first two seasons) 9. Thirtysomething 10. Rocky and Bullwinkle [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867.md?page=3)