# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/81 "2009-07-30T18:01:18Z")
In no particular order: The Honeymooners Star Trek TOS Mission Impossible (1966-1973) The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) Breaking Bad (you have to watch this if you haven’t seen it) All in the Family Seinfeld The Dick Van Dyke Show The Prisoner ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/82 "2009-07-30T19:40:41Z")
[ul] [li]The original Dick Van Dyke Show[/li][li]The original Andy Griffith Show[/li][li]The original Twilight Zone[/li][li]The original Outer Limits[/li][li]The Honeymooners [/li][li]Your Show of Shows[/li][li]All in the Family[/li][li]Marcus Welby MD [/li][li]Nova[/li][li]Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau[/li][li]Spongebob Squarepants[/li][/ul] ---
**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:** [July 30, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/83 "2009-07-30T22:12:02Z")
WKRP in Cincinatti Barney Miller The Dick Van Dyke Show Star Trek: TOS Blackadder Futurama Six Million Dollar Man Kim Possible Battlestar Galactica: OS The Bill Cosby Show (variety show, 70s) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/84 "2009-07-30T23:27:28Z")
In the order I think of them [ol] [li]Star Trek TOS - if only for the impact it had on me, and as a show up to the sf I was reading.[/li][li]The Wire [/li][li]MASH [/li][li]Police Squad - short, but totally insane. Up to Airplane, and better than the movies[/li][li]The Dick van Dyke Show. I’ve only seen the movie made up of segments from Your Show of Shows, but this is its direct descendant.[/li][li]Rocky and Bullwinkle. Wonderfully subversive[/li][li]The Prisoner - for being so different[/li][li]Secret Agent/Danger Man - we just finished the entire series. Well plotted. And Drake is Number 6, even if McGoohan couldn’t admit it without paying royalties to the creator of Danger Man. Watch this show and you’ll know why he resigned. [/li][li]Have Gun, Will Travel - brilliantly written, truly adult western, with shows which would be controversial today.[/li][li]The Daily Show - not quite as good after the boobs caught on to the fact that the reporters weren’t quite reporters, but it kept me alive through the Bush years. [/li] And number 11, 10 if you count Danger Man and the Prisoner as one show: [li]The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I saw Steve Allen’s Westinghouse show, and he was good, but no one was better at doing an entire show than Carson. Plus, he helped expose frauds like Geller, and made Sagan famous.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/85 "2009-07-31T06:41:05Z")
In no order (and, sorry, but I can’t stick to the two season rule!): 1. Twin Peaks 2. Firefly 3. Dead Like Me 4. Battlestar Galactica (Ron Moore version) 5. Lost 6. Carnivale 7. Dexter 8. The Office (U.S. version) 9. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 10. News Radio Heroes would’ve made the list if the second and third seasons had been as good as the first. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/86 "2009-07-31T06:58:12Z")
In no particular order: Sesame Street Blue Peter The West Wing Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister Blackadder Dr Who Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version) Top Gear Rome Antiques Roadshow If you can stomach the class hatred, add Sharpe to that list. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/87 "2009-07-31T11:37:01Z")
I can’t believe I forgot [Corner Gas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397138/), IMO the best written sitcom in TV history. Oscar Leroy: I am not cranky! Brett Leroy: Dad, you once punched a skunk. Oscar Leroy: Well he deserved it! ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/88 "2009-07-31T14:39:43Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > I can’t believe I forgot [Corner Gas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397138/), IMO the best written sitcom in TV history. > > Oscar Leroy: I am not cranky! > Brett Leroy: Dad, you once punched a skunk. > Oscar Leroy: Well he deserved it! Corner Gas is amazing in that it’s an incredibly bland, formulaic sitcom that somehow manages to keep a consistent level of funny throughout. Basically, it shouldn’t be as calmly entertaining as it is. Very Canadian, I guess. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/89 "2009-08-01T03:42:24Z")
“Connections.” Turned my brain inside out. In retrospect, I will force\* my kids to watch it. - - Force here involves having it on while they knit or surf the net. Or, in my wife’s case, have it on while she knits, reads Kathleen Norris novels, or snoozes, but just try turning it off. “Hey! I was watching that!” “You were snoring.” “I was still watching it.” ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/90 "2009-08-01T05:36:18Z")
1. Prisoner (Prisoner: Cell Block H) an Australian Soap Opera 2. Seinfeld 3. I Love Lucy 4. Dick Van Dyke 5. Carol Burnett 6. The Simpsons 7. Fawlty Towers 8. Keeping Up Appearences 9. The Odd Couple 10. Kate & Allie To me the shows have to stand up to repeated watching and the humour while it can be topical must not hopeless date the show This is one of the reasons I leave out _All In The Family_ but I honestly cannot understand how anyone who is young can get that show. The humour is so topical. AITF is a great show, well acted, well scripted and I enjoy it but the scripts are so outdated. I love _Barney Miller_ as well but the jokes about NYC and how hopeless the city is (and was) make it so topical. It’s funny while the decline of Manhattan was such a spiral it was very incorrect to assume it would stay that way. Topical humour can be very funny but I can see how it can be hard to withstand the test of time. I recall jokes from the _Burns & Allen_ radio show Gracie) George if we have a child we must teach him to be honest, to educate him well and to become a Democrat. George) Why does he have to be a Democrat? Gracie) I want our son to be president. -----\> Another line from _Burns & Allen_ Peggy) Tell me a story Aunt Gracie Gracie) Once upon a time, a long time ago there was a prince Peggy) How long ago? Gracie) Oh a very long time ago, even before Roosevelt --------\> Yet another joke George) Well Gracie Tuesday’s election day Gracie) What’s that? George) Gracie, for as long as you can remember what happen every four years in November Gracie) Roosevelt’s elected. -----\> To me those are funny lines but way too dated for most people now to get, so I leave shows like that off ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/91 "2009-08-01T05:58:47Z")
Sesame Street Mr. Rogers Electric Company People’s Court with Judge Wapner I can’t remember its name… a youngsters show about strange Alien Monoliths, Necklaces, and Pagan Myths (British or Canadian). Mr. Wizard Love Boat and Fantasy Island (I can’t count these as seperate.) Riptide Northern Exposure Seinfeld ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/92 "2009-08-01T12:35:04Z")
**Star Trek TOS** - The original and still the best. **The Simpsons** - All the adult animation today owes them a debt. **The Twilight Zone** - Serling was a genius. **The Carol Burnett Show** - The perfect capper to a strong Saturday night on CBS. **The Honeymooners** - Lucy gets a nod as well, but the Honeymooners is more precious because there were fewer episodes **Hill Street Blues** - Before there was NYPD Blue, this show set the modern standard for hour drama. \*\* The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson\*\*- The master at work. **Your Show of Shows** - Before my time, but from the clips I have seen… Also a nod for Soupy Sales. **Gilligan’s Island** - Ya Srsly. All the human foibles on parade, and the quintessential 60’s goofy sitcom. Sherwood’s best work. \*\* _Chicago’s_ Bozo’s Circus\*\* (in it’s heyday) and **Ray Rayner and Friends** - God I wish we had a morning show like that again the whole family could watch together, goofy Ray Rayner, traffic, sports, classic WB cartoons, the perfect morning show, not like the salacious morning “news” shows we see today, or crappy kidvid that is usually on in most households these days before school. **Sherrif Lobo** (just kidding) Yah, I know it’s eleven. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/93 "2009-08-01T16:29:48Z")
I’m surprised at some of the lists that have shown up and some of the shows they’ve failed to include. With a requirement of ‘greatest of all time’ some of the older stuff has to trump the newer. Since this is Cafe Society and not great debates I guess its far enough to leave out news/current events programs. In my opinion the following must make any top ten list: Mash All in the family Star Trek(maybe some debate on seasons and stuff but the base concept) Simpsons The next 6 shows I feel are worthy but could see others dissagreeing The Wire Twilight Zone Sesame Street Seinfeld Law and Order Cosby Show ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/94 "2009-08-01T16:37:16Z")
I see that several folks who share my favorites listed Freaks and Geeks, which I’ve never seen. Guess that’ll go on my Christmas list. The Wire Mad Men Breaking Bad Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rome NYPD Blue Hill Street Blues Northern Exposure All in the Family Deadwood That’s ten. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867/95 "2009-08-01T21:49:34Z")
**boytyperanma** –_Twilight Zone_ is a strong contender. Wish I’d thought of it. _Outer Limits_ could make the list, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-ten-greatest-television-shows-of-all-time/503867.md?page=4)